Since my husband lost his dedicated truck route on Monday, we've been scrambling to try and figure out what to do for money.  While he searches for another job here in Michigan - a state with a 25% unemployment rate - I have decided to sell my random striped afghan.

This closeup shows the detail in the stitch pattern, including a better shot of the colors included.

The random tan and brown stripes in all hues of tan remind me of a day at the beach!

This edging was taken from a pattern book I purchased secondhand, published in teh 70's.  It reminds me of a pinwheel!

This afghan was prewashed as I come from a smoke-free, yet pet-laden home!

This afghan can be found for sale on Etsy by clicking the link, or by typing www.wippedufoer.etsy.com into your browser.

So I've been working on a family afghan for what seems like an eternity.  I fooled around with patterns and had created one when I first started crocheting.  The stitches were even, tight, and there was precious little wrong with it - save my choice of yarn, which I will not name even if it rhymes with Said Fart.  The yarn disintigrated in little over a year, which means I put a month of work into it and got exactly 12 months out of it before it fell apart.  Even with repairs, the yarn snapped at random points.

I decided it probably wasn't Red - I mean SAID - Fart's fault, but possibly mine in that the afghan (couch size) was too heavy for the hook size.  I created this new one with an I hook (first one was a J in DC) in a SC pattn.  The edging I took from a stitch pattern book, and wasn't exactly complicated, but looks fancy - a huge plus.

I haven't taken pics of it, because I can't stand it yet.  I have been hounded by this project since before Christmas (it's July in a few days, mind you!).  I hate looking at it.  I hate the fact it's been staring at me, like some huge albatross around my neck, sitting on the couch with it's ends not woven in, and it's general randomness of color patterns... I hate it.  I want it gone.

I will have to look up how to join some sort of sharing/selling site.  I wish I liked it more.  I wish it hadn't eaten up so much of my time for something that should've been so quick and easy! I can't believe how much hate I have for an afghan - does that make me crazy, or do other crafters have projects they end up hating?

It matches everything, it's so warm and functional, it fits on Diana's twin bed AND functions as a family lapghan, and you wouldn't believe how soft it is!  I'm going to bed - my hate must be fueled by a lack of sleep.

What a week!  I still have to go to work today yet.  I normally work Wed, Th, Sa, but my boss asked me to work Friday.  They brought this up on Thursday, and I swear I heard NEXT Friday, or next week or something.  I got a call about a half hour into the shift I was supposed to work, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"  OMGoodness! I told my boss I thought she was talking about next week, but if she'd give me some time to get ready, I'd be there as soon as I could.

My poor boss was all stressed out because of a large party coming to the hotel, and an assumed large response for a job ad in the papers.  The room we use is a hotel room next to the elevator (who could sleep with that noise? LOL) and it was almost cleared of all the junk we normally toss in there, but was just dirty from neglect.  Since it's not usually any sort of show room, it needed a lot of attention to push it to our normal room standards.  It took me nearly 2 hours to get that room looking nice.  I set out tables, I cleaned everything from top to bottom - cabinets, walls, mirrors, floors, everything.

I also set up the interview room for her so she didn't have to do too much this morning.  I hope it works for her.  I like making things easier for others at work, it makes me feel good.

I have to cut this short, I just remembered I have to wash my work slacks! Yikes!

Till next time!

May the 4th be with you!

Oh, hahaha! I love being a geek! The twitter community got me started on this!  I'm going to celebrate it every year.  So witty!  Better than that 'other' May holiday where the main American tradition is to, what, drink? I've got better things to do.  I'd much prefer to celebrate Star Wars Day.  Maybe next year I'll put my hair in Princess Lea buns, LOL.

Homeschool today was just math. Diana needed to catch up a little, and it was a good review and step forward in those dreaded timestables.

She's doing laundry now! She offered, I taught her, and now she does her own laundry.  I can't believe how responsible she's getting to be.  Today, we were at a 'Superclub' store and she needed to use the bathroom suddenly.  We were at the opposite end of the store, and I urged her to run ahead (as I'd rather her run than have a public accident, you know?) and not only did she know exactly where to go, but she made it!  I was impressed.  When I was a kid, I barely paid attention to where anything was, except the exit. (I wasn't an avid shopper until I earned my own money!)  I wouldn't have been able to find the bathroom in a "Superclub" on my own until much later in life.  Maybe I was just a stupid child, LOL, but I am impressed that she could find it from our location.

We also hit the library, only to find out it didn't open until after NOON today.  Grr. At least we returned all 37 books on time this time ;)

I got my first paycheck after working nearly all month.  I went to open a bank account today, which was an adventure.  My kids had the suckers from the lobby, and my son was all sticky and drooley from teething still, and when the banker went to get an extra chair for us, that baby climbed on the banker's chair and drooled a huge, quarter sized puddle on his seat!  I apologized for that, and pleaded for a tissue to mop it up.  For some reason, this bank was against tissues!

I'm trying to corral the toddler, keep him quiet (it was before his nap, so he was a little tired!) and listen to the banker guy. A few moments after he has my ID and everything, he found I couldn't open an account because of our old joint bank account that was overdrawn.  Well, he COULD open an account for us, but it was such a scam!

I don't doubt Voldemort would've overdrawn and run, but it was embarassing that the only bank to offer me any account of any sort was some ghetto bank with a ghetto plan where I would be charged 10 dollars a month and need to keep 100 in there at all times.  I told them to stuff it.

Actually, I said nothing of the sort, but after hearing this information, my baby boy turned off the banker's computer.  For this, I did NOT apologize.  I recognize that might have been considered evil, but I didn't care.  I still don't.  I hope his system crashed.  He'd have gotten a half day off.

I paid $3 at a party store to cash the check.  I figure $6 to the local party store owner is better than a national conglomerate bank that extends credit lines to illegals, right?  Plus, not to sound all Great Grandmother on everyone, but my money from my part time job is probably safer in the matress (so to speak) than at the banks given the current economy.  I work hard for my measly $30/day take home pay.  I'm not giving a third of that hard day's work for the "honor" of keeping my money in their bank.

I took the cash to the 'superclub' store and bought groceries.  I have to get to the local stores to finish off our grocery list for now, but I didn't do awful at the big store.  I only spent $87 there! And I won't need ketchup for a year, LOL!

I have to go, I fear I've been on too long and it's no longer Star Wars day :(

I totally did it!  I finished knitting my first pair of socks.  "Pair" should be used loosely, as they don't match.  I messed up the pattn on the 1st sock, fixed it on the 2nd one.  Messed up the heel on BOTH socks, but fudged my way through, and the toes don't match either, but I made them and I love them!  Anyone looking close enough at my socks to notice they don't match exactly either needs to mind his own business, or is a heartless, unforgiving knitter who has never made a mistake in a project ever!  It was my first attempt at a sock, and I was striving to complete them to learn from my mistakes - I didn't expect them to be perfect.