Domestic Geek

I keep seeing these neat beaded bracelets on Etsy. At $40 or so, I couldn't justify getting one. I was sure they were time intensive and worth every penny the sellers were asking, I just can't spend that much on a bracelet for myself. I've got a plan brewing that I hope I can share soon, but at the moment, I need to save every penny I can. I saw on someone's blog yesterday (can't remember where, I surfed a lot yesterday) that she had been shown how to make one of these bracelets. Now I was determined to learn to make my own. I came across this tutorial (posted below) yesterday. As soon as I dig out my beads, I'm going to give it a shot.

AnnBenson Bead Crochet Primer

ETA some additional links to help me:

http://www.designstolove.com/thread/1058/bead_crochet.aspx
http://www.beadseast.com/primers.html
http://www.beadpatterncentral.com/tubecrochetprimer.pdf
PDF chart to graph designs: http://www.beadpatterncentral.com/graphtubecrochetPDF.pdf

I've joined Swagbucks a while ago, after hearing about it on Facebook, I think. I just started recently using it a bunch. I'm trying to get iTunes and Amazon gift certificates. Won't you consider signing up under me and help me out?

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Marcus and I have a three strike rule for businesses. We believe that everyone has off days and one bad experience at an establishment may not be a reflection of their typical service. By the third time, however, if service always sucks, then your business sucks and you no longer get the priviledge of us spending money with you.

Today was the last straw at a LYS (local yarn store). I was really excited when this place opened almost a year ago. I'm not going to name it, but it is located in the Lowry Town Center. If you know the Denver area, you may know of which I speak. It is the closest yarn store to my home (the one at Holly and Leetsdale failed my three strike test long ago) and I was really hoping that this place could be my new hangout.

The first time I went in, she had not been open long. There was very little yarn, but I chalked that up to being new. I tried really hard to find something I might like to buy, but as I had put myself on a yarn diet until I had completed a couple of projects, I couldn't justify anything. The owner also has an annoying little dog that wanted constant attention. OK, I like dogs. I can overlook that. I didn't issue any mental strikes yet because the shop was so new.

It was a while before I ventured back over. I was looking for yarn to make a felted bag. Every yarn store has at least one brand of felting wool in various colors, don't they? Not this one. Strike one.

The second time I went there, I was looking for a particular color of a yarn I knew she had. Of course, she didn't have this one particular color. I was going to ask if she could order it, but was too preoccupied with something else. I left. Strike two.

The third time I stopped in, I was looking for something tweedy to make a small sweater for a bunny that I'm knitting. I found something I liked, and albeit a tad expensive, I liked it and bought it.

Today was the final strike. Not only does she have one annoying dog, now she has two. The second one barked at me the minute I walked in the door and then continuously for the entire 10 minutes or so that I was browsing. She half-heartedly told the dumb dog to stop. Um, how about you stop surfing on your laptop and get off your butt and come get it away from me? "He just doesn't like new people," she says. Um, I could have been a paying customer. Even if I had found a chunky wool like I wanted (but big surprise - she didnt' have), I wouldn't have purchased it.

That's one yarn store that I will not be sad to hear of its closing.

I don't know what's going on with my subconscious lately. The last two nights I've been having really bad dreams involving work. Hello, these are my days off. Don't think about this stuff. They are those kind of dreams that even if you wake up from it, you go right back into it when you fall asleep again. I hate those. I even remember them vividly, which is also weird because I usually can't remember what I dream a few hours later unless I write it down.

The night before last, the company had purchased a new digital printer of some sort because a new client demanded it. Well, it didn't come with instructions or any kind of support to teach anyone how to use it. They made me go try to figure it out, but I wasn't having any success. The plant manager came and yelled at me because I couldn't make it work. I yelled back that if he was so damned smart, he could figure it out. Don't know if it got me fired or not, as Marcus' alarm woke me up at that point.

Last night, they decided to hold a company BBQ in the room where we house the digital printers. They had a George Foreman grill set up next to one of them. Never mind that there was a live job that needed to go out the door in the midst of this and the grilling burgers was splattering grease everywhere. As soon as we all ate, we went back into the prepress department to discover that all of our Macs had been replaced by tiny little netbooks and they had hired 3 more operators and crammed us all onto one tiny bench. They wouldn't give me a mouse and some kid kept kicking my chair. Turns out one of the new hires was allowed to bring his kid to work because he couldn't afford day care. I was just getting up to walk out the door when I woke up this time.

It's no secret that I don't like my job or the way things are run at the company for which I work. The sad thing is, as ludicrous as the dreams were, they're not too far off from some stuff that has been happening lately. I'm angry and frustrated at work because I don't have any input because those in power really don't care. I know things will never change. I was hoping the scare of this bad economy would help, but it hasn't. In fact, it has caused even more ridiculous things.

I came to the sad realization on Saturday that I have been putting up with this crap for almost three years. For some reason, I thought I had only been there two. I know, for my own sanity, that I either need to find a new job or start my own business. I don't want to be one of those people, like some of my coworkers, that have worked there for 10 years or better complaining about the same stuff.

Well, I've way behind everybody else that was participating in the She-Knits Mystery Bag KAL on Ravelry. People began posting finished pics to the group about six weeks ago (dang, where does the time go?).

I started working on the last clue (handle straps) about 3 weeks ago. First, I was knitting them on too small of a needle. I wanted the stitches to be tighter so they wouldn't felt as much as the rest of the bag. I'd been knitting on a 10.5 circular and as I didn't own anything in a 10, I tried my 9 circs. Too tight. Rip 1. I gave in and bought some size 10 double points. My LYS only carries bamboo, so I got those and cast on again. It's a cable pattern and about halfway into the first strap, I realized I had jacked up the pattern. Rip 2. On try 3, I got to the midway point and realized these handles were going to be too short for my liking. Back to the forum to find a finished one with handles I liked. The participant had put an extra cable repeat in and had doubled the amount of the center i-cord. Rip 4. I got to the midway point again and decided I didn't like where I had put the repeat. Rip 5. The day before yesterday I realized I hadn't knit on these straps in almost two weeks. So far I was liking where I put the repeat and was almost halfway done with the first strap again. I take this project with me everywhere, but kept putting off actually working on them. Now what was the problem?

As I was wandering around Strawberry Tree yesterday trying to find something I might like since they are having a 40% off going-out-of-business sale (last day of business is today), I saw some metal Addi double points. Got me to thinking that now maybe my problem is the bamboo. I went home and tried them...Hooray! Definitely working much better now.

Another problem I've been having is the darned yarn tangling up. This bag has been knit holding two strands and I've been working from both ends of the same yarn cake. Someone on a forum I read suggested putting the cake on an empty DVD spindle. So far that's working like a charm. After I finish the straps, I've got to sew down the four pocket sides and felt. Maybe I'll actually get this darned bag finished before She-Knits Mystery Bag KAL 2 starts September 23rd.

Speaking of Strawberry Tree, in addition to the needles, I only bought one small ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino to make some Fetchings (not sure there is enough yardage for my fat hands) or an iPhone sock. Frankly, I was a little shocked when I went in there. You'd never know the place was in its final days with as much freaking yarn is still in there. That's always been one of my peeves about that place and why I never purchased stuff there — too much stuff in too small of a space (and none of it is priced - you have to look it up in a binder). I was really hoping to score some yarn for the next mystery bag or for a hat I want to make for my father for Christmas, but no luck. Even at 40% off, the yarn was so overpriced to begin with that it wouldn't have been that great of a deal even if there had been something that struck my fancy. I overheard one of the employees telling a customer that the owner was going to move all the remaining stock to her basement. I hope her basement is huge.

OK, enough yapping. I've got knitting to do...