Melancholy

This is the way I feel today. Today was my last day at work. I have been so full of emotions the last 30 days of my employment. On one hand, I hate the fact that I was let go from my position, that I have had to say good-bye to many really great patients, and that I have had to say good-bye to the people that I work with. Life changes can kind of really suck! On the other hand, however, I am happy, and excited with the direction my life is going. This turn of events has led me to make some pretty big decisions, including starting my own business. This is really scary, really exciting, and I sometimes can't believe that I am actually doing it! I am one week away from my big move back home, and though I have been apprehensive about living with my parents again, I am getting really excited about it as well. My family has had quite a big year, with another big year ahead...its a great time to be closer to them! I got this email from a friend last night that basically summed up a lot of the feelings that I have had the last year. I have lost a long term relationship, lost a loved one, and lost a job. There are so many things I have to be unhappy about. This email, summed up, stated that we can wait to be happy once we meet "the one", once we get married, once we get the "right job", once we have kids, so on and so forth. But why should we wait to be happy? Today is the best time to be happy with our lives, the best time to be thankful for the things we have. There couldn't have been a better email sent at a better time. I have so much to be thankful for in my life, and so much to be happy about. I let myself have a little pity party this afternoon when I got home from work, cried a little, whined a little, and contemplated drowning my melancholy state in a bottle of whine...I mean wine. But I didn't. I decided that this is my time to be happy and excited about where my life is leading. Take the advice of the cheery little forwarded email, pick today to be happy about your life and what it has to offer...its a great time to be happy!!

Road Trip!!

I have recently taken to reading the blog by Crazy Aunt Purl. I find her incredibly hilarious, and find her posts to speak to me and my thoughts and inner monologues. When I found out she had a book available, I checked it out from my library, and really enjoyed it. There are some of the same stories from her blog in the book, but it didn't feel like I was just reading the same stuff over and over, because the book is more sentimental and touching than the blog, which is sarcastic, hilarious, and totally reflects the things that go through my head...daily!

I was so excited to see she was going on a book tour. Since I live just outside of Chicago, I thought for sure she would have a stop on her tour in Chicago. Sadly, she didn't. But she is stopping in Peoria to speak at a Women's Expo....AND I AM GOING!!

I have met very few people with any kind of celebrity in my life. And most of those are local celebrities, and professional celebrities...you know, the kind that only the people with the same career and profession as you would ever know of. So I am super excited to travel the nearly 3 hours to Peoria to listen to Laurie speak, walk around the Expo, register for fabulous prizes (that I probably won't win), and maybe get her to sign a copy of her book for me. If I am lucky (and courageous enough, and don't look to dorky doing it) I will try to get a picture with her and post here on my blog!! She invited everyone to bring their knitting, so I think I will....it will be one of my biggest KIP events ever!!!

So, think of me Saturday, as I make the road trip to Peoria, IL to see Crazy Aunt Purl in person!! I will be back with updates and all the scoop!!

2 posts in one day???

Then it MUST be BIG BIG NEWS!! I got my Ravelry Invite today!!! Super excited...but it's going to be a lot of work to get everything under control and organized on there...but it will happen!!

So if you are on Ravelry, my ID is JenLoves2Knit (just like the blog!) Look me up, send me a message! I look forward to seeing you there!!

Where did it go?

So, I puruse the Virtual Stitch n Bitch Forum daily. Until the last few days...it is in maintenance mode!! Where did you go my friendly forum? I feel as though I have lost touch with a group of long time friends, with no one to turn to for lovely pattern advice, finished objects, and the general day to day discussion of knitting. To Miss Debbie Stoller (who, if she read my blog, I would just die of excitement, but there's a chance!) please bring back the forum soon!! I miss it and everyone who posts on the forum.

Maybe Ravelry did this to our lovely forum! On that note, I checked my status today...

You signed up on September 11, 2007
You are #32304 on the list.
359 people are ahead of you in line.
14643 people are behind you in line.
65% of the list has been invited so far

ANY DAY NOW!! But, I promise not to abandon my first knitting forum! Hope to see you all back at SnB very soon!!

I'm a Bad Blogger :(

Sorry that I left the last post such a depressing one on the tragedy that was that week. For an update, things have ben looking good on the homefront. I am getting things taken care of and plans are made. I am definitely taking on this challege with open arms! I have less than one and a half weeks left at work, then one week to pack, then its moving day! My parents are coming to pack me up and move me back to the wide open spaces of rural Iowa!! I have lived in the Chicago area for the past year and a half. I have the tendency to adapt pretty well. So moving from a large city/metropolitan area to a rural town of 5500, where my parents live in the country, on a dirt road no less, will be quite a culture shock! I definitely have to get my road rage under control, and learn to drive the posted speed limit again! On the upside, while I am in the process of getting things together to start my own business, I will have a TON of extra free time to knit!!! Look out Christmas, HERE I COME!!!

So here are some things that I have been working on...
My co-worker's wife had a baby! So I followed the lead of some Virtual SnB'ers and made Saartje's Booties


I love the little teddy bear buttons. They were found at Hanock Fabrics. They chose not to find out what they were having, and thankfully, I had some green Paton's Grace on hand. Knit on US 3's.

I am knitting the Tree Jacket from Zephyr Style for the Sexy Knitters Club KAL. It is really a fun knit, and this picture is now not accurate, as I am half way through the garter stitch portion of the body


I am knitting this out of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Firecracker Heather. I was a little unsure about the color...thinking it might be a little *too* red...but I LOVE it!! I love red, and I have been told that red is a good color on me, so we shall see. I am hoping to finish it before or very soon after I move. My parents have a ton of trees and I would love to photograph it with all the fall foliage! HAHA Like how I plan out my modeling pictures in advance?? I am such a dork!

After I got the *wonderful* news of my future unemployment, I started to fear a yarn shortage for all the projects I wanted to take on, so I made an emergency order to Knit Picks. Maybe not the greatest idea since I will be financially impaired for a period of time. But, I know that I have a TON of sock yarn, so at least I will be set for knitting socks! But here is my haul...



I got the brown (actually their "Mocha Twist") for the Back to School U Vest from Fitted Knits, the gray and black is for a scarf for my sister's boyfriend. This will be knitted in simple 3x3 rib, keep it simple, and manly! :) To the right, that's my Tree Jacket...well, not so much yet, but well on its way! Finally, I got some sock yarn, cause I need so much more of it *insert sarcasm here*. Gloss and Essential Tweed. Not sure what this yarn is going to be when it grows up...but I have some options in my pattern binder.
For those of you with the Options needle set. I am finding it frustrating that I don't always know what size the needles are because they are not engraved with the size or anything. I never used to understand the needle sizer until I got this set. I always thought, "Well, all my needles have the size either on the end, or engraved somewhere on the shaft, so I will always know what size they are." But not so with the Options, especially if you have the tendency not to put things away in their "right" spot. So, I got the needle sizer. I kinda like it! Definitely makes figuring out my sock knitting needles a little easier!


So, off the subject of knitting for a moment...I *LOVE* Starbucks!! Random, I know. But let's remember the first paragraph where I am moving to rural Iowa...no Starbucks there, but I do know they have some pretty good local coffee shops! So, I had to find a solution to my problem quickly. The coffee is one thing, I have a cappuccino machine, so I know that I can probably buy Starbucks coffee somewhere in a grocery store. But their pastries are so good, and this time of year, my favorite flavor is out in full force....Pumpkin Spice!! I love anything and everything pumpkin! So Starbucks makes these pumpkin scones with really great, thick icing, and its really too hard to resist for breakfast. I have been getting one every morning for the past few weeks, since they put them in the bakery case. Love them!! Well, back to my lack of Starbucks in Farmland, USA...I had to find a suitable replacement. (PS I do really love my hometown, and think it will be a great place to unwind, refocus, collect my thoughts, and push forward in my goals...I am looking forward to being back there!)
After some searching, I did!! This recipe is AWESOME!!! If you like pumpkin, I highly recommend them. She gives a recipe for pumpkin butter, but I didn't make that. Instead, I made a simple vanilla frosting glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

milk - enough to make the frosting the thickness you wish (I made mine thin enough to drizzle over the scones rather than frost them) Here they are


They were delicious!! I plan on making them all the time and eating them everyday! Well, maybe not everyday...I have cut down on my daily scone intake after realizing just how many calories are in one, and that's a little scary!!

OK...I think that I have been a little verbose, but that's what I get for not posting in almost 2 weeks! Sorry, and that won't happen often. Take care everyone!!

Week From Hell...

This has been my life this week. You know, I have heard people say that stress can really screw with the body. I have seen stress screw with people's bodies...I am in healthcare, so it's a daily thing for me to see. I have not experienced this level of stress in quite sometime...probably since this last winter/spring with my grandfather's death and the break up of my relationship. So, this week, as I am trucking along, thinking everything in life is pretty good, I get hit *SMACK!* right in the face! And my body seems to be rebelling against me! Stress can mess ya up (but I won't give you the grim details :P )

I work in a multiple physician, of which I am one, multiple clinic healthcare facility, . The head physician, who owns everything, calls me into the office last Wednesday, and tells me the one thing that I am not prepared to hear. I am being let go. WHAT?!?!

So apparently, the clinic that I am working in is in some pretty dire financial straights. The cannot afford to keep 2 physicians on staff, so I am the one to go. I was/am devastated! I have quit all of my jobs, never been terminated by the employer, so this is a whole new game to me. I am usually prepared to be without a job if that is the case, but today it is not. I must say that I have all new respect for anyone who loses their job without any notice or without any clue. It truly turns a person's life upside down.

Now, there is a fine, barely visible silver lining to this cloud. I have recently hired on a consulting firm to help me take steps to open my own business. Fortunately for this, I have a long term plan in place, and a direction that I am starting to go in. My family and friends, though also shocked with the news, have all been hugely supportive, and feel that this change is a blessing in disguise, because now working on my business plan and everything associated with this will become my job, and I will make much faster progress. I agree. I am positive now, a week and a half after the bomb dropped. I have a plan. Part of this plan includes something that I said I would never do again....NEVER SAY NEVER....

At the end of this month, at the age of 28, a professional in the healthcare field, I will be moving back in with my parents. Yikes. I LOVE my family...I MISS my family, but do I want to LIVE with them again??? The question really is HOW LONG do I want to live with them again? Not that long! Fortunately, I don't think it will be much more than 3 or 4 months. And that's great, since it is coming upon the holidays, I know that I will be able to spend as much time with them as I can for this time of year, which has been something that I have missed the last couple of years. I live in Chicago, they live in rural Iowa...8 hours away. This is the furthest I have ever lived from my family, and I originally moved out here with my ex to be halfway between our respective families (his is in PA). Since we are not together anymore, there is really no reason to stay...so I was planning on moving back to the great state (??) of Iowa in the next 6-8 months anyway.

Maybe the silver lining of that cloud is a bit more substantial than I thought! :) All in all, I feel pretty good about things...but like I said...losing a job unexpectedly really turns a person's life upside down...making quick plans to move, buying out 6 months left on your lease, NOT BEING ABLE TO BUY YARN FOR, LIKE, EVER!! I made a "final" Knit Picks purchase just to pump up my stash, and for some specific projects to get me through the next few months...and Lord knows I have plenty of sock yarn to choke a large sheep! I should be set for a while...and packing up the yarn in a storage tote will help me to organize and hopefully find some yarn I had forgotten I had. Its all good!

So finally...I apologize for not posting for a while...I have been really thinking about what to say about this here/if to say anything at all...but if you can't share with your blog friends, then what has this world come to?? :) In conclusion...here are some pretty yarn pictures...

My beautiful Noro (will be the Irish Hiking Scarf when it grows up), and soft and silky SWTC Bamboo (which I think might be the Knotted Openwork Scarf):