the doo dad itch

So yesterday morning, very early morning, our son was banging around in the house at 2:30 am, which woke up Hubby. His leaping out of bed to tell him to quieten down woke me up in turn. By 3:00 am, they were both sound asleep, leaving me buggy-eyed awake! Thanks a lot guys.

I was late anyway going to sleep due to being really nervous about a job interview, something I haven't had to do in ages. Apparently interview trends have changed in this decade - who knew? And then I had that way-too-early waking up. Sigh.

What the hell else does one do at 3 in the morning? So I played some WoW, ate a bologna sandwich, and started the coffee at 4:30 am. All the while, trying not to think about the interview coming up in a few hours, while at the same time thinking about what all I might say. Yeah, I know.

Pulled my portfolio together, which is a new thing for me, but something I learned about while taking those classes at Pellissipi State. At first, I thought they were kind of silly, unless you're the sort that has like designs of some sort to show off. But once I pulled mine together, I felt like a proud five year old admiring my latest crayon creation (chuckle). Okay, now that I see it all done, I get it. Gotta confess to the brief urge to add some scrapebooking doo dads, which I did manage to resist. But wouldn't that have been fun?

So instead, I got the buttons put on that new Iris Vest so I could wear it over a cap-sleeve Tee. There, doo dad itch scratched. I turn into a magpie over buttons, everytime.

Did I mention I was really nervous about that job interview? I've been dragging my feet all summer about seeking a new job. Mostly because I really enjoyed the knitting time, but yesterday I started to realize that there might be a bit of self-consciousness behind that too.

And I didn't even seek this one out; it came to me while I was wearing pajamas and playing WoW yesterday. My former coding instructor called me to share that she had some phone calls from folks looking for new hires, and she asked me if I was interested. Logically, of course I am. Emotionally, it felt like one of those God wink things, so again, of course I am.

So I drew a deep breath of courage and just went. Nicely dressed in my freshly knitted vest, make up and all, with my portfolio and a print out of the Mapquest directions in hand. Made sure the chicken was in the crockpot, though, before heading out (never name things you plan on eatin' - I'm just sayin').

And ya know, it went great! I really liked the people I met, and their set up is intriguing, and they came across as very supportive of the fact that I'm new in the field. They made me feel welcome instead of scrutinized, and I guess that's it in a nutshell. I'll spare ya the details, but there were tell-tale signs that they all really care about the comfort of one another, just as they cared about making this scared hillbilly feel okay. And setting aside job particulars, they're just good people. So even if I don't get the job, it was still a rewarding thing having met them yesterday.

I came out of there inspired and excited about new possibilities, and all fired up - and wound up tight as a clock! My nervous jitters turned into excitement combined with the relief shakes ya sometimes get. I needed a fiber fix and a milky way candy bar - in that order.

So I pulled off onto the exit that leads right straight to my favorite LYS. There were three things I had in mind as definite purchases, and I was already allowing myself some room for impulsey things after squaring away the definites.

First off, the little girl in me showed off the vest. I can't tell you how happy I am with it! There just might be another one done someday in that other colorway that's haunting my mind. The one with the lavendar, cream and copper (sigh).

I picked up some of those 9" KA circs, to see if those won't work better for stitching the FLS sleeves. And I got the new Jared Flood booklet, Made in Brooklyn, for its vest pattern. And I'm kinda diggin' the hat the model is wearing in the vest photo. Yup, its pattern is in there too. I can't find a direct link to the book, but here's a link to his blog where he's outlined it.

Ivorywitch came in while I was still there, with an itch of her own for some sock yarn. It was fun seeing the colors she was drawn to, and to hear what fibery things were on her mind.

The third thing I made sure to pick up was some single skeins for Calorimetries. I just love that it only takes one skein, or less, to make those things! I scored some Geode and Paint Box for that.

And that brought me to the impulse portion of my shopping show. With the have-tos in a tidy little stack on the counter, I turned my attention to the sock yarn corner. Hmmm . . . how do people choose? I petted every skein several times each, before deciding on the UT Vols sock yarn. These are from J Knits, but this colorway was made just for us Tennesseans, with its colorway even being named "Go UT!" Gotta love it! I'm thinking toe-up, two-at-a-time for those.

And while I was in yarn heaven at the Yarn Haven, decompressing with tactile candy, my phone started chirping its little brains out from a flood of incoming Tweets. I had forgotten that this is Blizzcon weekend, and apparently they opened the doors to let the madness begin at 1:00 eastern time. My phone went bonkers at 1:01 pm. Funny how one big thing happens with 26k+ people in California, and it causes a lone knitter in Tennessee to nearly jump out of her skin. Strange and amazing times, for sure.

Got back home to empty my purse of the new yarn, to put the new stash in my Ravelry database, and to snag a fresh soda. Then it was off for round 2 of my day: errands.

The bank, then the gas station for fuel and a milky way. Ahem, 2 for 99 cents! Yeah, one for right then, and one to go in my purse for later. Then grocery shopping, where I got Vogue's latest knitting magazine. Wish I'd thought of magazines while I was at the LYS, 'cause I would rather have that store get the sale. Not that there's any profit margin on mags. Did you know that stores only offer them as a courtesy or incentive, instead of for profit? Yeah, they make next to nothing on mags. But still . . .

Added thought: discovered another rewarding thing about using the Knit Wars! site. If I make a comment on each task as to what part of a pattern it was I worked on, I can actually track how long it really does take me to make something. "How long?" is a question most of us have a hard time answering. You ever figure it out and add it up by how many episodes of something or how many times you watched a movie while working on it? Okay, maybe that's just me.

By the time I got back home for good for the day, I got our chimichangas fried up, ate mine, took a phone call from a WoW guildy who was watching the live streaming of Blizzcon and filled me in on all the details . . . and then I crashed. I was sound asleep by 8:30 pm last night! So come 5am this morning, I was awake and fresh as a daisy (chuckle).

Watched a DVR'd episode of Sunrise Earth (the one with the bisons in a meadow), while the real dawn birds chirped and sang outside our open windows. Had coffee, the other milky way bar, and the Jaywalker sock going on my needles. Then I remembered I got them new needles for the FLS sleeves - gasp! Put the sock down, transferred the sleeve stitches onto the new 9" circs . . . and choirs of angels sang, Jesus sunshine rays broke through, and the new little needles all but hummed with their divinity! This is the only way to do these sleeves! I shivered just a little.

And today being Saturday, it's raiding day with my WoW guild. So Hubby's eating his Redneck Mush tonight, our son will be at work, and I'll be hyped up on coffee and Oreos all day. But ya know, it's only 8:30 in the morning, as I'm currently writing this, and it's already been a fantastic Saturday. The raid will just be a bonus.

Oh, did I mention that tonight is the cup race at Bristol - you know, the summer night race at Bristol? And tomorrow is our Fertile Turtles knitting group . . . I got the warmy fuzzy feelings already. This is like several good weekends all smooshed into one!