I knit the cutest pair of booties for a friend then promptly wrapped them without taking a photo.

I'm right now, touching up my stupid gray roots because I've discovered, after much research, that I cannot afford to have my hair professionally transitioned back to it's natural colour. This reinforces what I always used to say about covering the gray. Once you start, you're stuck. Shoulda listened to myself.

My boss wants me to start coming in an hour earlier every day to catch up on the data entry. Said data entry is behind because the data base has been crashing since November. November. Now I, who already eats my lunch at my desk while working, am supposed to work an even longer day? I think not.

OK, really, I'm not that cranky. There's good stuff going on too. I have a new MP3 player. It's blue.

No Knitting or Anything Else

Blog less, journal-less and devoid of personal contact. It's all been about work the past few weeks. There have been long, crazy hours and that's OK. Sometimes, life is like that. It feels like there's a Pause button that has been pushed and everything stops except the hours and hours of getting the job done. It feels pointless at times except that it's not. The point is the paycheque.

I work with several young people at the beginning of their careers and also, successful mid-career people in my age range. To these people, their jobs are their lives. It appears that so much of their self-worth is wrapped up in what they do at the office. It makes me feel apart from my coworkers. I could understand that attitude if one was a doctor or a poet, but I generate sales reports and sell tickets. My job supports my life. I've come to realize that this is why I lack career ambition and am not more financially successful. That's OK too.

It's a beautiful morning here and it's my first day off in two weeks. The Daughter just woke up and I'm finishing my second cup of coffee while I write this. I'm taking the Pause button off today.

It Was A Nice Day

nice 
–adjective, nicer, nicest.
1. pleasing; agreeable; delightful: a nice visit.
2. amiably pleasant; kind: They are always nice to strangers.
3. characterized by, showing, or requiring great accuracy, precision, skill, tact, care, or delicacy: nice workmanship; a nice shot; a nice handling of a crisis.
4. showing or indicating very small differences; minutely accurate, as instruments: a job that requires nice measurements.
5. minute, fine, or subtle: a nice distinction.
6. having or showing delicate, accurate perception: a nice sense of color.
7. refined in manners, language, etc.: Nice people wouldn't do such things.
8. virtuous; respectable; decorous: a nice girl.
9. suitable or proper: That was not a nice remark.
10. carefully neat in dress, habits, etc.

Barbie Never Wore Natural Fibre

I picked up this natty little flyer at a second hand store yesterday - because everyone needs to knit Barbie size intarsia pullovers. O the agony.

In other news....Remember the UN Year of International Fibre? Well, they have an AMAZING NEW WEBSITE!! It is truly informative and not at all dull, as one might expect from the UN. There are also some fabulous photos of fibre farming, animals, and production. Go there. Go There Now!

What Can Be Said?

Here's my problem with hand-paints. The yarns with radical colour change, while looking intriguing, striking even, on the skein and the swift (see below), often knit up into a tangled mess. Nothing can be done with this in terms of stitch pattern. It's a tad violent, isn't it? The yarn feels quite cushy and will make a nice sock for wearing with hiking boots. It just doesn't look particularly appealing. So, stocking stitch it is. These socks are definitely a morning commute project.

Circles and Holes

I'm enjoying my new swift. It satisfies the round and roundness part of me. It helps soothe the anger bubbling up when the insurance company-hired contractors tell me they want me they want me to move out for a week. WTF? This is seven weeks after the burst pipes and flood. My sweet landlord is giving me a break on the rent for all the aggravation but the contractors say 'tough luck'. Where I might stay, and who is going to pay for it is not their problem. Well, I've decided that I'm not going to make it easier for them to run rough shod over my belongings and do a crappy job. I intend to stay right here. They can work around me.
Round and round we go.
Cute yarn though.