Wednesday, 9 January 2013

Purls of wisdom

I`ve been knitting for about seven years now.  And I`m still learning.  With every new project cast on (too many at the moment) I learn something new about knitting and my abilities.

For instance, the one and only pair of toe up two at a time socks made with Patons Kroy taught me that 2.25 mm needles and 4 ply sock yarn causes havoc with my arthritis.  They are pretty, but I`m not sure if it`s worth that pain again.

But this current knitting lesson you would think to be a no-brainer. After all, I am 32 years old and a mother to a five year old.  And it truly is common sense.  Which apparently I lack.

Never mix your knitting with hand sanitizer.

I work at a thrift store as a cashier and customer service rep.  Most people don`t realize just how dirty money is.  If I chose to run to the bathroom to wash my hands every time they felt icky, I`d be there more than at my register.  The common thing for my coworkers and I is to have the small pocket sized sanitizers attached to our lanyards.  Last time my local Bath And Body Works had a sale, I stocked up on them.

On my breaks, I love to make a coffee and sit in the lunch room and knit.  Most days, I remember to wash my hands as soon as I start my break.  But for some reason on my last shift, I was so desperate to work on my owl hat, I forgot.

When I picked it up again today, all I could smell was my frosted snowberry sanitizer.  Then I ran my hand across the piece, thinking that maybe one exploded in my bag.  The wool was a little tacky, but only on the last five rows.  The rows I managed to do at work.

Now that my lesson has been learned, I will think twice before knitting at work.  I will link to my Ravelry post when the project is finished.

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Let's dust this off, shall we?

Yes, I have neglected this spot for a long while.  But I am trying to change that.  Not because it's the new year, but because I've been meaning to for quite a while.

I've decided to do something a little different with this year.  Not like a resolution or anything.  Something to help keep the negative thoughts at bay.  I always try to accept the bad and take greater pleasure in the good things in life.  So today, I started a jar.

my goal for the year is to fill the jar with pieces of paper.  On the paper will be things that happened that were good and things that made me giddy happy.  I'm hoping that at some point, I will need to transfer these to a bigger jar.  In the meantime, my Planters jar will do the trick nicely.

That is all.  Please carry on about your business..