An Interview with Amanda

So Amanda, what do you think about all of the comments about your work?
It's cool, I guess. I didn't think so many people would really care.

What's your favourite colour?
Pink. (As she rolls her eyes. She's slow getting into the spirit of this interview thing)

Who do you want to win Big Brother?
Erika

Who do you wish could have won?
Chicken George

Is your room as neat as Julie's shelves?
Noooooo! (I'll take a picture and then you other mothers won't be jealous)

What was the best part of your day working at The Store?
When my mom let me help on the cash register. She told me what buttons to push - I didn't make any mistakes.

Do you know how to knit? Are you knitting anything right now?
Yes. No.

What is your favourite thing that you mom ever knit for you?
The pink pom pom hat. The one that Cheeky Monkey ate the pom pom's off of. Can you make me another one this year?
Get in line kid Of course, love.
Are we done yet?

She's shy around new people. No worries though, once she gets to know you she'll be telling you enough to write epics and their sequels with.
Seriously - thanks for all of the positive & encouraging comments. Amanda loves having her pictures on the blog & gets a kick out of the comments.

This is Ted. He is my Personal Nerd from Nerds On Site. The desktop has been slowing down exponentially over the last year. I literally walk away and knit a few rows or make a pot of coffee or take a potty break while the POS expensive paperweight boots up. Then there's the scanner problem where I have to unplug it before the computer reboots or else I get an error message - a big one that can't just be clicked away. Then when I set up the wireless router for Etienne I managed to screw up the internet connection to the destop. Since Etienne & I are up & surfing I wasn't too worried about it; the children on the other hand have made it quite clear (on a daily basis) how they feel about being unplugged.
But Ted fixed it all! And when he said that he could/would network Etienne with Andrew so that Etienne could print for me without have to save to a data key - I swear that it required all of my willpower not to throw my arms around Ted and kiss him! I even said "Ted, if you do that for me I will have to stop myself from kissing you!" Fortunately he was only slightly freaked out and covered it up smoothly with a chuckle.
Ted was prompt, professional and knowledgeable. He did his thing without being intrusive or invisible. He was friendly without being familiar. I am really impressed.

The Children are super impressed! They came running out to meet me after school. "It's so cool!! It's really fast now! Did you do that?!" I think that the emphasis on the last question implied incredulity rather than awe. They know me too well.

Amanda @ Julie's

Amanda really wanted to try her hand at working with me at Julie's. Kyle had been coming with me for the last few years (I've actually forgotten how long it's een) but recently has felt like it's too long of a boring drive each way ('bout 2.5 -3 hours). So Amanda convinced me that she was good for it. And she was. She neatened shelves and tidied up some of the Anchor tapestry wool downstairs.
She has a whole different style than Kyle does. He prefers to do one or two cubby holes at a time & if he finds yarn further down for a shelf that he's already done, he'll move the neat front yarn and put the new ball in the back. Amanda wipes out the entire section that she's organizing. (and when I say 'wipe out' I mean it) She then begins sorting out what will go where, finds all of the appropriate balls that belong there and then puts everything where it belongs. Here is one of her completed shelves. She also demonstrated a keen eye for subtle colour variations. A couple of times she asked, "Are these the same colour?" It turned out that the yarns had different dyelots. She now knows about the colour & lot #'s on the ball bands.
Without bias, I have to say that she worked more consistently and tirelessly than Kyle did on his first day. We stayed a bit late to finish a section that I had started in the store room (I just couldn't leave it in a half-finished state. It would have been worse than not having started it in the first place). I had to alnost drag her out of the store. I swear, she would have stayed the night if I had encouraged her even a little. Julie - Amanda would like to know when we can come back. And it isn't just the about the money for her - she really enjoyed herself! I've missed working at The Store too - it was nice to be back, even if it was just for the day.

Okay, maybe it's because I aced it but this was a fun test/game. Give it a go & let us know how you did!

English Genius You scored 92% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 0% on Beginner You scored higher than 99% on Intermediate You scored higher than 99% on Advanced You scored higher than 99% on Expert

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Edited to add: I apologize for not knowing how to tweak the code for this test so that it doesn't spill into the sidebar. I tried but have lost this battle. That and some really sick (and I don't mean that in a cool way) grammar. A Hard Mike's is good to find but hard on my skils (sic).

Next Hurdle Please

Fastest Knitter - I've won it once so I am totally cool if it was a once in a lifetime event. I mean, I really hope that it won't be and I will always give all comers a run for their money, but I've met that goal so I can go back to being the bridesmaid.


Published Designer - I dabble in design when inspiration strikes and while Crystal is available as a free pattern, it was first published by KnitNet back in 2001.


Pusblished Author - I love talking. When I talk it's fast - I just have so many thoughts and if I don't get them out in time I forget them. Writing should solve this, right? I mean, if I could get the words on paper (or screen) then they'd be immortalized and could still be forgotten but still be retrievable. The problem is is that I can't type nearly fast enough!!! Curse me for not taking typing in high school.
So now when I really want to write - as opposed to just jot down some thoughts or record events - I make all sorts of jots on whatever is handy. Knitting patterns work great because I will never accidentally toss them and it's highly unlikely that I would allow them to become illegible crumpled or soggenly blurred. Then I save the draft, and over hours or days (depending on how quickly I need/want to get the thing out) there are additions, cuts and edits involving dictionaries and thesauruses to find the exact word to say what I mean. I know that there are a few of you out there thinking, "Can we get Wannietta to write everything?" I love you for only thinking that and I know that you love me just the way I am or you'd stop calling me, making eye contact in public (yes, eye contact is just an unpsoken question and the perfect conversation starter) and asking me out!
I mentioned awhile ago that I had written an article about the Back to Back Wool Challenge for Spinners' Quarterly and encouraged you all to take out a subscription. Not just for my article ... really!! I know that most of you aren't spinners so this was impractical. Lorraine must have sensed this as well and to keep an all-out spinner/knitter war from starting, she has posted my article on the SQ site. When I read it I actually went back to my drafts because there were some things that I didn't even remember writing! Lorraine is an awesome editor and makes me look like not an illiterate with spell-check!

So, next hurdle - I dunno!!! You can bet that I will take you all on the journey - unless it gets messed up and makes me look bad, then it will be vaulted.

Here is the Lacy Riverine scarf blocking. That's the headband on the upper left. There just remains a pair of mitt/muffatees. They're like long shaped cuffs that you can wear as fingerless mitts or long cuffs.

Back on Track

Whew! I can get my routine back on track. School is back in and Kerwyn is back at work. Not that I don't love having him around - I really do. He does yard work & manly fixing things. When the kids come around harassing me "Can I have ... Can you make ... Where's ..." I can re-direct them. "Go ask your Dad." Mostly that's a conversation stopper, and even if it's not then it's not my problem. Win/Win. So it's great having Kerwyn around. Except I don't like doing a lot of housework with him around. Not that I've had a lot of time for that sort of thing what with the knitting deadlines that I've had. I just really don't like cleaning around him, feeling like the maid. I mean, if I had the cute little outfit and there was going to be a little big something in it for me, then that would be different, but I don't so there isn't so I hate it.

Kyle didn't want a "1st day" picture taken and I forgot to take one of Amanda in the morning, but here she is doing a bit of homework after school. She also made the necklace that she's wearing. Beading is the hot thing right now - you can tell by going into Michaels and walking up and down 3 aisles + the end displays of beading supplies.



And what does this moon mean? My grandmother always talked about the moon and different colours and what they portended. She absolutely lived by her Farmers' Almanac. A bright ring of light has to mean something - a harvest moon? impending Apocalypse? another Fastest Knitter win? Someone help me out here!!!

Saturday I am going to be working at The Needle Emporium so if you're going to be anywhere near Ancaster, ON - please stop by and say "hey". You don't have to buy any yarn or yarn accessories. I mean, you can if you want and I am more than qualified to hook you up with a fix help you pick out the perfect yarn for the perfect pattern. (And when I say "qualified" I mean that as an Enabler without a support group, I won't be able to stop myself from gushing about any number of great yarns/books/needles and your options are to nod agreeably, purchase something anything and back out of the store slowly or to sit and knit with me.)

Lacy Riverine is coming along nicely - I am going to try to block out the scarf and headband tomorrow and will take a picture to share.

Another one down

Let's pretend that this is Monday and I'm here with the picture that I promised.

Blurry, but you can see the whole body

Not a cropped cardigan

Fiona & Rob came to pick it up today and of all of the things that Amanda remembered to do while they were here (I swear, you'd think that our children led sheltered lives and that we never had people over.) she didn't think to remind me to take a picture! I think that I actually forget to take more pictures than I remember to take. Well, you've all got imagination - go to see Fiona and then imagine her really happy with the above linen sweater. Got the picture in your head? Perfect - that's just like it was! Give yourselves a hand, you're a great audience!!

Stock had their start up meeting. Now, not that these meetings aren't very informative - they are. It's just that they start late and the imparting of the information is, well, not all that riveting and it just keeps dribbling out. Like Chinese Water Torture. Knitting keeps these meetings bearable and me from going insane. Here is what I have to show for 2+ hours (well, I have my run sheets & route # and a nice t-shirt too, but let's keep our priorities straight here). I'm sure that the line where the stitches sat on the bench waiting to be sent into the game will block out.

I started on a lovely scarf set for Elann today. (And when I say today, I mean we're done pretending that it's Monday - it's Saturday again.) It's a Heartstrings pattern out of a nice laceweight mohair from Elann. It's not on their site yet but I'm really looking forward to seeing the colour range.

I took a quick pic of this moth that Amanda & I saw on our way through the BK drive thru. Not invisible camo, but I thought that it was beautiful. There is inspiration for something in this picture, I'll let you know when I figure out what it is!