My Shiny Balls

These balls actually do not belong to me.  I was trying to explain to Cookie what a small, boring town I live in by telling her about the big "haps" here in Holland, MI. 

It is a HUGE deal right now that the City of Holland spent approximately 50k on new holiday decorations for our downtown.  Now the very first thought when I saw these planters was "kids are gonna start stealing those immediately".  I don't think it's a malicious thing, but we're a college town (and a resort town really) and there are drunken young adults roaming the streets pretty much at any given time after dark.





Don't get me wrong, I totally love them.  In my book, there are very few things more fantastical than a big bucket of super shiny, colorful balls.  About the only thing that could ever make them better would be glitter and sequins.

Oh but you don't want to miss the hanging balls.  These are on every light pole.




Anyway, about a week later, FRONT PAGE NEWS:  People are stealing this shit.  And I am not even joking.  That was really front page, not like a figurative, metaphorical front page thing.

Well, no duh.  So because they are like magical, weather-proof, glass from the moon, blah blah or something, they had to spend something like another 2k to replace the stolen big balls.

This is really the big news where I live.  Now there are a lot of people who are PISSED about this money being spent on decor, and I do get it, but I also get that we live in a town where this area actually draws in dollars from outside.  On the Lakeshore, there is some seriously stiff competition for tourist dollars and if we look like we decorated out of your Grandma's basement, people will go elsewhere, truly.

Plus, it really is kinda pretty right?



*Next time we put wallpaper in our bathroom, it'll knock this off the front page.  

**Sorry about the tipped view.  The boy took the photo in order to make up for the accidental deletion!

Second Place is Still First Loser

And that's me apparently. I made it to the top two for the job. On Monday I had a second interview.

Let's just say; they didn't pick me.  So although I made it to the top two, it was a little bit of a disappointment.  I really REALLY hate one of my jobs (yeah, I have two), and I was really hoping to leave, but it'll happen eventually.

Also, if you came to see my shiny balls, come back tomorrow.  we got photos (the boy and I) but he accidentally deleted them on the way to his haircut.  I think we can do better anyway. 

In the absence of those balls, look at the silver Romney batts I dyed and carded last week for sock yarn.





I tried to fix the colors and ended up making the photos look weird.  I suck at this!


On another note, I did take a picture of some of that washed fleece I bought last Friday.  




It's love.  It's shiny and soft, but so fine I really can't drum card it. I guess hand combing will. be in order.  That is SOOOOOOOOO SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, but hey what else would I be doing?  Working one of my two part time jobs?  Cooking or cleaning for my family?  Laundry? Shopping for holiday gifts and baking and dinners?  Trying not to freak out at the job I hate?

Oh right, I will be doing all those things.  



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Ollie's Skater Sweater

So, I'm supposed to find out about the job today.  We'll see.  I had a second interview yesterday.

And I was going to show this baby sweater I made.  I have been crap at photographing finished projects lately.  I've actually been cranking out lots of fun stuff, but not taking pictures.

John's great-niece had a baby about two weeks before Thanksgiving.  He is absolutely darling and his name is Oliver (which i love).  Anyway, she is young (17) and the baby daddy is a skater, so I thought the typical baby sweater I would make might be too cutesy.  Instead, I grabbed some schematics and designed him this little guy.





I had to put the buttons on in the car and weave in ends. I had blocked the evening before and it was barely even dry. Didn't it turn out cute? They actually loved it and the Zach (baby daddy) thanked me like three times. Kinda makes you think they might be ok even if Ollie wasn't planned.



Been dying and washing around here. Maybe I'll take pics soon (but don't hold your breath or anything).

I've Always Thought Cookie Was Magic

Because I have a second interview Monday morning!  And, apparently they are down to two candidates.

One interesting thing that happens to me is that every time I think I'm going to get a job offer, the job I have starts going swimmingly.  Until I have an option, it sucks.  It's a little bit like the haircut appointment phenomenon.  You know the one:  you schedule a haircut and day of the appointment, you wake up and your hair is perfect.  Then comes the big question, cancel?  Or keep the appointment?  And we all know what your hair looks like the next day if you decide to cancel.

It does make it hard to make decisions though.

Hey guess what I did yesterday!

I went to visit a sheeplady.  I bought three BEAUTIFUL (but small to those who think my stash is way too large) fleeces.  In fact one is already washed.  She had lots more.

And, when I was driving to work yesterday, this is what I saw.



It's tough to be pissed off about driving to work when you get to do it under that.  But I managed.

But I just got used to 2011!!

So I've been knitting a ton lately, but not taking pictures. Maybe I'm too wrapped up in my life to blog anymore? If only I could decide.

I finished that huge spinning project I was working on!




Sort of. After the 18th bobbin of singles (and that's not an exaggeration like bajillionth), I weighed what was left and it was just a teeny bit more than 4 ounces. Since I have lots of stuff in my stash that was bought purely to blend with wool, I figured I'd save that four ounce batch. You'll see them later.

Anyway, then I plied those 18 bobbins of singles into a nice 4-ply. Something like 2349 yards or something. Just today, finally washed and thwacked (finished plying 10 days ago).




It actually looks a little better now that it's washed and all, but whatever.







I also had a job interview for a position I really wanted. They took my references and acted like it was gonna be me. They haven't called any of my references yet (one week today) and I haven't heard, so I guess it's a no-go. Should I be disappointed? I can't quite muster up disappointment. Maybe tomorrow!

Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY!!!

Ah yes, the opening of firearm season here in Michigan. I married a deer hunter (not like the one in the movie). He grew up hunting with his uncles, Dad and brothers and it really is a part of him. I know when he goes, he feels like he's connected to all those people and happy years at deer camp. And now, he's passing it along and taking my son and my third bonus son. Do I think it's barbaric to shoot and eat an animal? I guess kinda, but then again. I'm not all that sure that it's more barbaric than what we do to domestic animals that we eat. Am I gonna give you all the ecological arguments which actually have a lot of validity in our area of the country? Nope. BUT, would I kill an animal if it was really necessary to feed my family? Hell yea! Anywho, this was all a convoluted prologue to TRIGGER MITTENS Now these are designed so you don't have to remove your mittens to shoot a deer, but you mostly still get the warmth of a mitten. (You know, like where your fingers can all huddle together and share body heat in a non-Broke Back Mountain style). They are made from handspun jacob lamb yarn and he says they're perfect. That's what counts.

Turns out Perception is NOT Reality (at least not for me)

Don't know why I don't post more often. I've been doing a ton of stuff. I'm working on spinning some Shetland right now. I took the photo below on 11/3. .



So far, I've spun 7 bobbins of singles. I showed John the bag and he was like "wow, you've spun a ton already!" meanwhile I was thinking, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this bag is growing right in front of my eyes!"


This actually explains a TON about our relationship and why it was a good idea for me to marry someone who is actually grounded in reality. Draw your own conclusions.

I also washed a ton of fleece and dyed a batch of CVM. It turned out PERFECT. It used to be this:

but OMG I am so tired of spinning and knitting with gray! That was just NOT going to work for me, so I got out the big galvanized tub I wash and dye fleece in, mixed up a big batch of blue/black/red dyed (mostly blue of course)

and ended up with this:

(those little white spots are just water droplets reflecting flash. It's exactly what I was going for and the roving is still nice and fluffy. Must finish the tan Shetland so I can spin it!