I’m terribly boring lately and I can’t say that I have much to write about because I’ve been living my life doing…not knitting. I have no idea why I’m not knitting because I know that if I don’t knit, I don’t write. I’m going to work on that, I promise.

I’m still working on the blanket. I’ve got five squares done and one skein down. This means that I’ll either have to re-think the whole blanket to make it smaller, or buy more yarn. I’m leaning toward buying more yarn.

I still don’t have a job. I got a call from my last prospect, who put me through FOUR HOURS of interviewing over two days only to deny me this morning and dash my hopes of having an adult life. I was crushed and I’ve been in the doldrums for the last day; so much so that I’m doubting my purpose in life and thinking about if I should be changing my career.

I decided to knit the WendyKnits knitalong shawlette: because it was a shawl and lace, both things I have yet to fully achieve. There’s only one hitch in this plan: I have no sock yarn.

You know me… I don’t knit socks. I did some spinning in the hopes of making 400 yards of sock-weight yarn by singling a gorgeous merino in a wine color, but I think I only managed to get about 250, which is unfortunate.

So I’m going to Cream City Yarn tomorrow to buy some purdy sock yarn and get an application to hopefully have a job.

I’m knitting a blanket.

I only have four squares done.

I’m doing them out of Cascade Eco + in Navy blue and a natural gray/white ply.

They’re all garterstitch. 40 stitches by 40 bumps.

They’re very boring.

I’m going to knit as many squares from one skein, figure out how many I can make out of three skeins and make my blanket accordingly.

I’ll be trimming it with more garterstitch and applied i-cord.

I only knit it when I’m insanely bored and need to knit.

On another note: The Marine and I broke up. I’m fine. George has a cone on his head due to a cut on his ear. I don’t have photos of anything today. I also made another no sew blanket today to replace the USMC-centric one on my bed. It’s Wisconsin Badgers-centric and seems to be very soft.

May 1 was my deadline to make a sweater for my new second cousin, Ellie Reagan. I saw the invitation for her baptism the day I came home from California and set to making the sweater I was going to make months ago for her birth. I found the Cascade 220 Superwash Paints and found a baby shrug pattern from Debbie Bliss.

Debbie had it wrong: I got half-way through the pattern to find out that it made absolutely no sense. After three days, I adapted the pattern by cutting out the second half of the pattern and finishing it at that.

I put it in the sink with my last sample of SOAK and watched the purple colors bleed out of the yarn.

With the Superwash Paints, there’s some color loss, so I had to make sure Ellie’s mom knew. I was more worried about the sweater fitting, rather than the minor color loss that would occur with washing.

I set it out to dry and kept a wary eye on it whenever the kittens were around. I sounded like a demon screaming NOOOOOOO when George decided to attack the sweater.

It dried beautifully and we added a green button with the word Love in a 70s style print and we wrapped it up and were on our way to the baptism.

Baby Ellie is gorgeous, and looks a lot like her daddy. I got to hold her for a few minutes and she is the sweetest baby. I am so happy for her parents and can’t wait to see the young lady this little girl is going to grow into.

I woke up to a call at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday April 17. “Hey baby, I’m in Minneapolis”

Homecoming would be in a matter of hours, and I was too late for the 6 a.m. flight. I booked the flight, ran on adrenaline, showered and fixed everything up, chilled out and made it to Mitchell for my 11 a.m. flight. I had a layover of what was supposed to be less than an hour in Memphis so I hoped that he would be laid up and we might be able to make it around the same time.

The flight to Memphis meant that I had time to knit, but not enough yarn: Clapotis got rather well done, but I was finished with my knitting by half-way through the flight. I finished the 440th yard and put it back in my bag.

I got off the flight to a ton of text messages and a voicemail from The Marine saying he had landed and was on his way to Pendleton. I was crestfallen; I had missed homecoming and there was no way for me to get there in time. Then my flight got delayed by 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes. I got pissed.

I made it to California to text messages from six different people. LAX is a huge airport and I had no idea where I was going. It took an hour to get a car and another hour to get to Camp Pendleton.

The Marine looked great when I finally saw him. I wished I had more energy to run into his arms and never let go but I settled for a giant hug and lots of kisses. It felt so good for him to be home and to be accessible.

The next three days were spent shopping and spending time together.

After he got his new phone and after our lunch date, we went shopping for yarn! I bought two skeins of Manos Del Uruguay in a springtime color, two skeins of Mochi Plus in purples and greens and a size 10.5 ChiaGoo 60 inch circular needle. I’ve already cast on a scarf with the Manos and I’ve created a neckwarmer that’s currently blocking in the Mochi Plus.

Before our day was over, we had to get Justin a haircut. BUT Before we went over, he took me to another yarn shop I didn’t know about. This little place had “the needles you like” as he said, referring to the wall of Addi’s (of which I bought a size 7 circ) and some gorgeous Ella Rae yarn. I thought it was too sweet that he took me to a yarn shop to help feed my addiction.

We went to a movie one of the nights. It was truly terrible. On our way out, I pushed Justin into a photobooth. He went along with it like a champ and the photos are waiting for a frame at home.

He took me to a shooting range and I held and shot my first gun. It was a total rush and I couldn’t wait to do it again.

My cousin came out to California to visit her husband and we spent the afternoon together playing mini golf and drinking at Chilis.

She was so happy to see her hubby

And I loved the double date, especially since she and I are in Wisconsin full-time and our men are in California.

Leaving California was bittersweet and I cried through security. It hurt leaving him after only a week. It wasn’t enough time. I knit the entire day and finished a neckwarmer out of the Mochi Plus and size 7 Addis.

I came home to two kittens who appeared to have doubled in size. They were scared of me for about 10 minutes, then realized who I was and loved me again.

Upon coming home I started the job search again. It’s going well! I have interviews coming up for full time positions and I’ll hopefully be rolling in the money so I can make it out to California again soon!

Because I have been such a bad blogger and I haven’t updated you all on my whereabouts and my doings, I am going to make today a special case of making-up-with-you. Especially before my mother asks if I’ve stopped blogging again.

SO! Here we go.

Yesterday I did a knit-deal. It’s like a drug deal…only knitterly.

I found a woman on Craigslist who was selling a good chunk of her knitting needles (Why? I didn’t ask) for a considerable markdown. I got two sets of size 2 and one size 9 Addi Turbo/Lace and paid less than the cost of 2 for all three sets.

The size 9s have not been used yet, but my size 2s….

Have become at least one sock.

I had been asking the ladies about sizing and why I felt all the purls and it’s more than likely due to the size needles I was using. The ball band for the Louet Gems calls specifically for size 1-3 and I used a 3 to make the last sock. While the sock itself was made relatively quickly, I found that it was too uncomfortable and I soon threw it away. So I went down a size and I’m noticing a much better effect, even though just that above amount of knitting, took 12 hours to achieve.

I’ve also been–kind of– working on the WendyKnits knitalong, but I’ve become stonewalled on the second chart because I messed it up royally and forgot to put in a lifeline which resulted in two dropped stitches and 100 stitches being tinked back. Not fun. Right now it’s across the living room in one of my felted bowls… I’m scared to start knitting again.

My last active knitting item is the Felted Market Bag. This supposedly requires 400 yards to complete but after knitting most of it, I have my doubts. I am knitting this on size 10.5 ChiaGoo 60″ circs and it is taking FOREVER but I’m finally onto the next skein. I did this pattern backwards because I hated how it was increasing, so I started from the top working my way down and I’m going to attach the handles later with a possibly different color than the yellow I have going on here… I just haven’t figured out what color.

I have not been spinning, though I’m feeling the need to do it soon. When I’m not knitting, I’m applying for jobs.

I wish my life were more exciting for the sake of this blog.