RAR MADE THIS!

In my element

I keep hinting about change.  There has been a lot of it here lately, which tends to be almost a constant in my life.  These past few weeks have been scary, exhilarating, freeing, and prolific.  I have been knitting on a more consistent basis than I have in years.  I've been dyeing yarn like a crazy person.  I've been spending time with friends.

Three weeks ago, I quit my job.  "The Job" as I always referred to it here, consisted of working as an inbound customer service representative for a major wireless phone service.  It was awful.  I did it for just over a year, and I cannot begin to express to you how thrilled I am to be out of that place.  I feel, oddly, like I got myself back from some dark place that I was trapped in.  I spent my days doing something I hated, and each morning as I arrived there, I had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that can best be described as the way it felt to show up at high school without having done your homework.

I walked out on a Saturday and only went back to turn in my letter of resignation.  I have since gotten my job back at The Knaughty Knitter (best LYS ever) working a few days a week and teaching scattered classes.  I'm also working at a bookstore, and have finally found the time to set up my own Etsy shop. I've been having a good old time over at Ravelry, and I have finished several things. 

Sometimes I can feel people not understanding when I try and tell them how much I love knitting, yarn, and the rest.  My goal now is spend a bit more time with people who get it, and spreading the love as much as I can.

These have been some of the best weeks I've had in a long time.  Welcome me back.

A list

1. To the left is a shoddy photo of my Easy Flame Lace Scarf.  All I have is the cellphone to take pictures right now, so the colors are off and the resolution is blah, but it's better than nothing.  I am well over halfway done with the scarf at this point, which is exciting.  I'm still not bored.

2.  I finally finished sewing up a sweater that I started last year today.  It's busy blocking right now.  Out of nowhere, we're about to have a finished product.  What do you think about that?

3.  The new Rilo Kiley record is rocking my socks off.  I can't get enough.  I highly recommend it.

4. I am not very good at dieting.  The only solid progress I've made in changing my eating habits has been switching from regular Mountain Dew to diet Mountain Dew.  At least that's something.

5.  I hate my job.  I just had three days off and the thought of going back tomorrow makes me want to pitch a fit.   Just thought I'd gripe about it.

No more nesting on the couch!

I signed up for Weight Watchers today.  This is something a bit foreign to me, as I've always been one of those people who claimed not to care about weight. Turns out I didn't care because I was happy with the way I felt.  That's changed.  I stepped onto a scale today for the first time in months and it was quite the eye opener.  I've got an initial goal of losing ten percent of my body weight which equals to about 17 pounds.  That seems like such a huge goal for me right now, but I'm going to try it.  Consider this my first official leap into the world of dieting.  Wish me luck.

In other diet news, I am officially on a yarn diet until the end of the year.  My stash has been sitting stagnant for months now, and I've become more of a yarn buyer than a knitter.  I've got too many projects in the works to count, but as soon as I find the charger for my camera's battery, you people are going to start seeing some progress.

I'll probably attempt to document the weight loss effort here as well as the stitching progress.  Right now I'm trying to focus on getting out of the funk I've been in where all I do is work and complain about work.  Somehow I've let The Job become my life.  The problem with this is, I hate The Job.  I would leave, but the benefits/pay are something I couldn't find anywhere else.

So... I'm going to do more things for me.  I'm going to start going to knitting group once again.  As soon as I get a firmer hold on my bank account I plan on starting up with some yoga classes.  I am going to knit for at least one solid hour a day.  These things aren't hard, they just demand that I shed the layer of laziness that has been covering me lately.   I'm pushing it off, though.  I'm knitting lace, socks, and sweaters.  I'm getting off of the couch more often.

I'm listening to more music.

Funny how easy it is to forget yourself sometimes, isn't it?

The Job, the movies, the needles

So today was my first day at The Job. It went well. It really did. It went about as well as a day full of orientation can go at a giant corporation. Or at least, I think it did, considering the fact that I've never had a job at place like this before. The people in my class are nice, which is good considering the fact I'll be spending the next six weeks with them. I knit during all of my breaks, which was nice, and the best part was I came home and spent an hour and a half working on my sock without having a single itch to put it down. It felt nice. Strange how not working at the knitting store left me feeling more motivated to knit. Which is good, because, well... I've got all this yarn.

In other news, I've seen a lot of movies lately. Three actually. In four days. Which is nuts. Friday I went to see Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man at The Belcourt. I had a lot of problems with the way the concert footage was shot, but by the end of the evening, I was able to officially say that I am in love with Mr. Cohen. I would be happy to sit at his feet and listen to him talk for hours on end. Yes.

Sunday, The Best Friend and I caught Little Miss Sunshine which I was extremely excited for and a little disappointed by. I suppose I expected to laugh more, which feels like a shallow reason to be disappointed, but oh well. It was worth seeing for sure. The little girl in the film was fantastic. She was sweet and real and completely capable of breaking your heart.

Lastly, I saw Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby tonight, and I laughed so hard I was doubled over in my seat. There were some pretty memorable scenes in this one as well as a pretty random and amazing pair of cameos.

Through these films, I had one recurring thought. I want some of those Needle Lite needles. Badly. I met the two guys behind them at TNNA, and they were incredibly nice. And they make needles. That LIGHT UP. No more idle hands in movie theatres. Has anybody tried them yet? Hmm? Maybe I'll indulge as "congrats on The Job" present. Sounds good to me.