Knit Picker

Halloween Party

I didnt attend my company's Halloween party Friday night because TOAB was there, so N. and I got dressed up and on Saturday went to another party as Jackie and JFK. Of course I wanted to kick myself in the butt for bringing a digital camera with dead batteries!!! I mean, I could never pull off such a perfect look as that ever again, down to the pillbox hat, the pageboy wig and the 3 strands of pearls. And depending on who you asked, N. made a very dashing JFK, or a dead ringer for Agent Smith from the Matrix...

N, whom I have a HUGE crush on, cheered me up by reminding me that TOAB is actually a very miserable person. And, I started asking about other jobs and making some phone calls. She really is miserable to work for and I don't have to put up with it or dread going to work tomorrow. In any case, I am exhausted from this weekend. I miss my knitting and hope everyone has a Happy and safe Halloween!

Source of Stress Discovered...

It's 1:20 in the morning, and it finally dawned on me why I have had a problem sleeping and why I have been miserable for the past week or so, and I realized that it is something that I've been suppressing and I should just let it out. And what better place to do it inconspicously than in my harmless knitting weblog? There are references to knitting, by the way, so I guess it can be posted in my blog, so here goes:

My work, although done with good intentions, is overseen by an absolute Tyrant of a Boss (hereafter known as TOAB.) Just about everyone who is on the same level as I am justifies her bossiness and bullying as "motherly behavior" and excuses it as such. I think I should also point out that my fellow managers are all male, and that I am the only female. Lately I have been coming into work, feeling like I am walking on eggshells. That is the best and honest way that I can describe my work situation. And guess what? That TERRIFIES me. I know, I know, the average work environment is fraught with unhappiness at times, and I try to recall the times when work has gone smooth, without drama and being stress free. But those days are so few and far in between. Not a day goes by without outbursts and unhappy workers who threaten to quit and I have to put out fires and excuse my TOAB. As you can imagine, my workplace has an extraordinarily high turnover rate.

The problem is, now it is affecting me. I am losing sleep. I am certainly not feeling the way I did when I took the photo that sits up on the right sidebar. I am interested in dating someone but I catch myself holding back because I see this development as a stressor instead of a possible positive experience in my life.

Because I am an Aries, my first instinct is to fight this battle. But TOAB, was one of the first employees of my company, and don't get me wrong, she is a great administrator. It's her people skills that need work. She is a bully, and I never thought I'd repeat this, but truly abrasive. To top it off, she has these mood swings, and frankly I am almost at my wit's end. I'm beginning to think I need to look for another job. Any thoughts out there would greatly be appreciated.

By the way, she thought it was a riot that I knit on the train, and thinks knitters have no life. It is quite apparent that she is clueless, and if my mother were alive today, she'd say TOAB was just jealous of me. And then my mother would try to run her over with her car.

Insomnia, Night 2

It's definitely the weather, combined with a little healthy anxiety that is keeping me up these past two nights. Okay, maybe I'm a little paranoid, I wonder who is googling me, not that I have anything to hide!
This is a KNITTING blog, fer goodness sakes! The real juicy stuff remains tucked away in the unpublished section, sorry folks... unless you have a yarn fetish!

I can't help but suspect some folks at work wondering about me. I still get weird looks from some women, like I'm a freak or something for knitting. I know for a fact one person at work who thinks I'm bizarre, yet I bet this person Googles me from time to time.

I need to get some sleep...

Knit NY's Bagels

It's Sunday AM, and like 2 Sundays ago I am feeling the urge for a latte and bagel at Knit NY...should I indulge in this guilty pleasure??? I say this because it really is torture, especially when I've promised myself to only look at yarn, not BUY it! Not to mention that I can't just have a plain bagel, but I gotta have one of those "everything" bagels, the ones with poppy seeds, onion, etc. sprinkled all over. And it wouldn't be just an everything bagel without a giant schmear!!! Well, since I gotta head off to work at 1:30pm, might as well stop in!!! See ya!

Callin' for Kerry...

That's the name for the Xtra Credit Project I took on at work. My office is allotting part of its space to do some last minute calling on behalf of the Kerry campaign, and I'll be one of the managers present on Sunday.
Subway knitting has destressed me somewhat and paid off. The back of the sweater is now the required 20' length and I and posting this and binding off at the same time. The back is actually wider; the sides roll because of the Stockinette stitch.
I would love to knit a scarf as the temperature is dropping; but I'm obsessed with the hoodie sweater! I am casting on for the front now, TGIF!
I have incredible insomnia this evening. I thought it was the change in the weather, but I realize now it is the incredibly poor diet I have been on, the one too many vodka martinis, the partying!!! Must head to the gym ASAP before I start to look like the Fish Taco...And yes, I couldn't help myself, I took the quiz too. I am a PROGRESSIVE GIRL.

Mindless Subway Project and other Musings

The Mindless Subway Project (MSP): The Hoodie Sweater, is knit on--you guessed it--the NYC subway, en route to work. A significant portion was also knit on the 45 minute ride from Astoria, to Park Slope, where a guy I've been seeing lives. Yes, it has become official. For a while now, the long-distance Boston-NYC relationship thing had taken its toll, and combined with our erratic work schedules A. and I called it quits a few months ago and are now just friends. It was sad, but unfortunately necessary as our worlds had significantly grown apart, with different interests, different friends, etc. I mean, if you have to read your girlfriend's weblogs to see what has been going on in her life--well, that doesnt make for a promising relationship!!

Anyway, the back of the sweater is looking good. My only pet peeve is that I forgot to knit selvage edges on a sweater-- the edges dont roll and look neater. Oh well, maybe on the next sweater project. The Filatura di Crosa Zara Superfine Merino is a dream to knit with, and spongy too! Once again, my trusty cheapie HP digital camera doesnt do the colors justice, but I used Zara Brown as the MC and Oatmeal as the CC. I also used the leftover Diakeito Diajuliano from the poncho for the trim.

On Friday I taught Alexa, a newbie from the Astoria Knitting Group, how to cast off so she can finish her scarves. And now her sister wants to learn how to knit! I wish I could make it to this week's Knitting Meetup in Manhattan, but once again my work schedule makes it impossible this week. It's really cool, there are about 35 people at the Meetup and it feels like I'm sitting at the Kids table, all the young'uns and new knitters sit at one end, and the pros at the other. But the vibe was very good, and folks help each other out, so despite the large size of the group it worked out very well!

Despite the windy weather yesterday my new friend and I went for a 3-mile run in Prospect Park. I didn't think I could do it, what with the drinking and carousing on Saturday night, first at the Orbit in East Harlem, then down in the East Village at the Russian bar, imaginatively called Kiev. But I did it, finished the run only 12 paces behind the dude, who was hauling @$$ (we were both trying to impress each other, I guess!) and now I can't wait to do it again! Afterwards I went to see "Hero" which to me wasn't as engaging as "Hidden Dragon," but beautiful to watch. I went home and fell asleep while knitting and watching a very, very bad Late Night Movie on ABC.

There's Beauty In Breakdown

Read the recent posting of Yarn Harlot, and immediately the Frou Frou song "Let Go" came to mind. There is definitely beauty in breakdown, as evidenced by YH's cables in her WIP. And she's hosting a Thanksgiving dinner!!! How does she do it?!!!

As for me, I am trying to knit something while riding on the subway that wont drive me crazy if I drop a stitch. Socks may be a portable project, but definitely NOT on the NYC subway! Knitting with more than 2 needles scares folks on the train. So I broke down, went to Knit NY and bought a bunch of Filatura di Crosa Zara to make the Hoodie sweater in the SnB' book. It is almost time to mark the row in which I will be knitting a pocket.

Also on the weekend to-do list: picking out a color of KoolAid for the Project, slowly but surely it will get done! Maybe do it after the 3 mile run in Prospect Park I foolishly agreed to do with someone I was trying to impress. I guess I'm ready to run again, its been weeks.

Thanks, absintheknits for this:

You are Fish 'Tacos.' You might think you're
exotic and worldly-wise, but in reality you're
just a bunch of crap on toast. Repeat after
me: 'just because you put something in
quotation marks doesn't make it so.' And
'taco' isn't Spanish for 'toast.'


What Weight Watchers recipe card from 1974 are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

RAOK Thank You's

Thanks Margene for the Lemon/Lavender Cuticle Bar from Cedar & Sage. I got it in the mail and it helps the attractive looking scar on my right hand heal! Thanks so much!

And Thank you Knit-Steph and Nathania for the icards.

This weekend was all about me, meaning that from Thursday to Sunday, no parties or bar crawling in the city with pals till the wee hours like the past 2 weekends: Afraid I'd be holed up in my apartment alone because of my injury, dear co-workers took me out for some lost weekends all over NYC. Hung out in the East Village, at this really great Russian bar the other weekend, then met up with a buddy in the Deep Slope area of Brooklyn, bar hopped, and had a whole lotta fun. To top it off, on Sunday we spent one of the few remaining beautiful Indian Summer days in Prospect Park. I think I was at home for a total of 5 hours last weekend. What a way to recuperate.

So yesterday, as part of my relaxing weekend, I went to see Red Lights, a Hitchcockian French film at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, and although I went to Joe's Pub last night, nothing was going on, so this morning I woke up early and headed over to Knit New York and treated myself to a hazelnut latte and an everything bagel w/cream cheese. Yum! I love that place! It makes me really love NYC and how fast the city landscape changes. Years ago I used to walk past that storefront everyday to get to my high school on First Avenue! Who knows what it used to be back then.

I have been inundated with folks who have been hinting at wanting hand knitted gifts for the holidays. Like I can whip these things up in a day! Gotta get back to knitting, working on my slouchy socks and okay, I'm thinking of frogging my purple sweater. The novelty wore off, I guess and the K2P2 ribbing was getting really boring for me. Maybe I'll put it aside again for another week or so. Maybe it's because work is getting stressful again--autumn is the start of many performance seasons for arts organizations like the NY City Opera, Amer. Ballet Theatre--so I can't think of knitting anything too elaborate. I need something simple, like a stockinette stitch and, for variety, maybe changing colors. Something that'll calm my nerves.

A Weekend of Knitting

I am so tempted to take the Greyhound Bus to Atlantic City just to check out the Market at Stitiches East tomorrow, but I cannot buy any more yarn!!! I promised myself!

I have been waiting for my right hand to feel better, along with a doctor's blessing to be able to knit again. And now I can! So, after I finish this I am going in search of my needles and a couple of UFO's. This has been one of the longest periods I have gone without knitting; it was very strange! First, I was really cranky and havent been myself at work; people had stopped asking me about my knitting--although I think they got the hint when they noticed my blog hasnt been updated since 9/22.

I have been walking around a lot since I couldn't run. Recently went to the Atlantic Antic, a huge street fair in Brooklyn, NY with a friend and guess what I saw--Knitting Hands, a LYS on Atlantic Ave. I was with a male friend and since it was his idea to go to the street fair I knew it would be torture for him to just leave him and spend time in a yarn store, so I made a mental note of the place and will be visiting the store very, very soon!

The Astoria Knitting Group took off without a hitch! Well almost--the owner of the Volo cafe neglected to tell me that there would be a little live jazz music on the same night as my group! So we were treated to a jazz quartet performance, free cookies, and knitting! How perfect was that???!!! Then I had my little running accident and havent been around. I now have been getting emails saying what's up? Are we meeting again? We sure are!!!