Monday, 28 September 2009

  • GHOST DOTS!

    Ah, I haven’t posted on this blog in so long, and after going on about restarting it in my last post…

    In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea to set up a goal of bringing this blog back to life a week or two before I planned to move, get a new job, and have my girlfriend start her masters program.  Sigh, things always seem to get busier, never slower.

    But! I have some new goodies to show off.  First up, to celebrate the coming season, a crocheted Ghost Dot!  The little candies look so damn adorable on the box, but the real ones lack the cute faces.  These cute little guys make up for the Tootsie Roll company not having a plush toy line for them though.  I’ve even taken notes on how I made them and have a pattern. Enjoy.  I’m going to try and make a pattern that uses worsted weight yarn that’s just as small as the ones I’ve done in crochet thread, so expect that coming soonish.

     
    Ghost Dot Pattern

    Yarn:  I used Royale Fashion Crochet thread (from Michaels) in Lime.
    Hook: Size B
    Gauge: Not important.  You should be able to use any size yarn with an appropriate hook (you'll just get a bigger dot)

    Body
    Rnd 1: Work 10 sc into a magic ring. Join with a slip stitch to the back loop of the first sc.
    Rnd 2: Chain 1, sc into the back loop of the next stitch.  Sc around. Join with a slip stitch to the chain stitch.  10 stitches
    Rnd 3: Chain 1, 2sc in the next stitch, sc the next four stitches, 2sc in next stitch.  Sc in next 4 stitches. Join with sl st. 12 stitches
    Rnd 4: Chain 1, Sc around, join with a slip stitch.  12 stitches
    Rnd 5: Chain 1, sc 4. 2sc into next stitch.  Sc 4.  2sc in next stitch.  Sc  to end. Join with sl st. 14 stitches
    Rnd 6: Chain 1, Sc around, join with a slip stitch.  14 stitches
    Rnd 7: Chain 1, sc 6.  2sc in next stitch.  Sc 6.  2sc in next stitch. Join with sl st. 16 stitches

    Slip stitch into the next stitch and fasten off.

    Bottom
    Create a spiral disc of 15 stitches in size.  Here's how:
    Rnd 1: Work 5 sc into a magic ring.
    Rnd 2: 2sc into each stitch. 10 stitches
    Rnd 3: *2 sc, sc* to end. 15 stitches

    Sew the two pieces together, joining the back loops of the bottom to the back loops of the body.  Stuff when you are about 2/3-3/4 of the way around.  When you are done sewing and knotted, sew your tail from the middle of the bottom up through the top of the head, and back down.  Pull lightly to flatten out the head/bottom. Fasten off, weave in the tail, and cut.

    I’ve also been busy enlisting a legion of crabs fulfill my girlfriends desires for more cute crustaceans.  It seems I can’t go a week without her going, “when, O when will I get more cute crabs?”  She’s lucky I love her so much.  And so I introduce you to Fernando, Sebastian, and Harriet the crabs. Based of the pattern here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mini-crab.


    I recently went on a yarn splurge, buying one skein of all the colors I liked of Patons Classic Wool from Michael.  I bought five skeins (deep olive, chestnut brown, natural mix, paprika, and burnt orange), which might not seem like a lot, but it’s a bit of an excess in luxury spending when you’re living with your girlfriend who’s going back to school and you’re both trying to live off twelve dollars an hour (and my GF’s savings) in one of the most expensive states in the union.  Ah well, I was tempted by 50% off coupons; how could I resist?  The good news is that we’re about 250 dollars under our projected monthly expenses; the bad news is that we’d hoped there would be a bigger gap, and the good news that still gives us a silver lining is that next month should be cheaper (as we won’t be buying any more big items to set up the apartment, like the futon and bookcases).

    My job seems to be going alright.  I’m working through a temp agency as an accounting clerk.  I’m a little miffed that the company I’m working for has extended my job from two weeks to indefinitely without hiring me directly, but at least I have job security.  It just doesn’t make sense to me.  They claim they’re on a hiring freeze, but surely if they cut out the middle man (the temp agency) they could save money while still paying me a bit more, right?  It doesn’t make business sense to me.  I’m working to fix/reconcile their credit transactions and accounting records, because their currently missing almost a million dollars in the ledger.  You’d think that would be an important enough job that’d they’d want to hire me directly to make sure they could hold me accountable or something.  I’m pretty much twirling the company’s balls in my hands as it is, like I’m freakin’ David Bowie in the Labyrinth; they can’t fire me now, really.  I’m too deep into the project and I’m doing rather good work for them.  And yet, I met a woman last week who’s been a temp for them for over a year and a half.  Do companies really hire temps for that long?  I always thought that 6 months to a year was a long time to employ a temp.  Maybe this way they don’t have to worry about benefits?  But they have to still be paying extra so that I can get benefits from my temp agency.  Very peculiar.

    My girlfriend, A, seems to doing OK at school.  It’s rough, and she gets stressed out sometimes, but that really isn’t anything I didn’t expect.  It’d be nice if she could at least get a grade back by now though.  It seems dumb that her professors can keep assigning work when they haven’t dragged themselves off their asses to grade a few papers yet.  How is anybody supposed to know whether their doing their work correctly?  How is anyone supposed to improve?  I know A is biased and hates most scholarly, intellectual type people (it’s the pomp and presumption), but it does seem like at least two of her professors are either arrogant or incompetent (or both).  I just hope she doesn’t get discouraged to the point where she either gives up or stops trying (same thing really).  I get worried when she puts off things like e-mailing her professors/advisor/tech support because I know she doesn’t want to deal with people/the system, but I don’t want her running away from things.  She can be pretty commanding/demanding when she wants to be (see her insistence for more crabs, above); maybe she’d get more out of people/life if she could tap that more effectively with others.  The world does seem to belong to the people most willing to bitch until they get their way, but then those are the people I hate the most…so…I don’t know.  Ah, but I’m rambling, about everything and nothing, and I’ll try and stop now.

    I expect I’ll have more projects/patterns to post with the upcoming gift-giving season.  A is currently knitting me a collection of Halloween amigurumis for my birthday next week, along with a super secret, mystery gift knit!   I’ve pretty much demanded that she bake me a gluten-free cake for my birthday (hooray!).  This weekend, we’re meeting my folks to celebrate, as my mom is booked to spend time with my brother in Massachusetts next week.  That’ll be kind of a pain.  I hope A can come with so that it’s not just me and the old people, but it all depends on her workload for the weekend.  Hopefully it’ll just be a quick hello, maybe a lunch/dinner, and then good-bye.   I know that sounds mean, but they’re just so old, bitter, angry (mostly at each other), boring, and kinda gross (would you want to listen to a sixty-year-old woman go on and on about her ailments in gruesome detail? Would you?).  And not to mention dumb in that way that old people can be when they are no longer able to keep in touch with the world and how it works, but still act like they know everything.  Sorry…deep breaths…in and out…in and out……..

    Anyway, I’ll leave you here for now.  Enjoy the coming October.  I’m currently knitting a pumpkin as my second knit project ever, so be on the look out for that soon.  Signing off.
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