In which I've been a bad blogger

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything since July! The Interwebs is not going to submit to my total domination if I don't post more often, that's for sure.
So here's a recap of what's been going on since last we talked. Panera never called m back, so there's ANOTHER job I didn't get. The restaurant I used to work at, 6 years ago, was hiring for their second location, so I applied and now I'm waiting tables again. It's not bad, and the money is okay (it will pick up once football starts), but I'm disappointed that I couldn't find a suitable management position in 8 months of trying. It's a little disheartening to not be wanted.
On the knitting front, I've almost completed the first of the lace socks, and just finished a handbag that needs felting and sewing up. And a leather handle. I guess finished is to be taken quite loosely here.
The garden still grows, and I've pickled peppers and made homemade pepper jelly. Hopefully I will be able to can some tomato sauce before the tomato plants quit producing. Canning takes a lot of effort and equipment and time. I hope that all the effort is worth it.
I promise to post more frequently and put up some knitting pictures and maybe relate some interesting stories from work.

Job Interviews and First Dates

Going on a job interview is a lot like going on a first date. There's the elation of the phone call, setting up that first meeting. Then there are the nerves, the anxiousness, waiting for the day to arrive. What should I wear? These pants? That shirt? No, that shirt is too sleazy, maybe this shirt instead. What shoes should I pick? Don't want to be uncomfortable; I'm nervous enough already. Don't want to look too formal, but not too casual either. What about my hair? Straight, in a ponytail, should I get a haircut? (I should have gotten a haircut) Crap, why the hell is it raining? Okay, different shirt, pants and shoes. Does this outfit make me look fat? Professional? Like a skanky girl? When should I leave to get there? Don't want to be too early, that looks desperate. Definitely don't want to be late, that looks like I'm not interested. Will he like me? Will I like him? What will we talk about? I hope I don't talk too much. Did I eat anything today that's going to give me gas? Did I put on deodorant? Man, I wish I could smoke. Can't smoke beforehand, there's plenty of time for him to find out about that later. What if there isn't a later? Can't think about that now. Damn, I'm early. Okay, drive around the parking lot. Still early, screw it, I'm going in.
Now I'm here, and he's here, and he doesn't seem to mind that I'm early. So far, so good. Let's chit chat about things, about work, and jobs, and experiences. Give a little, get a little. Don't make any assumptions, but I think it's going well. Good eye contact, laughs, feels like a real connection. Okay, now he's talking about other people that he has plans to see. Don't feel rejected, this is just a first meeting. He can't offer me the moon the first time he meets me, right? Now he's saying that he will make a decision next week, and I will hear from him by the end of next week.
I hope he calls. I hope he calls and it's good news. Has he called? Damn technology has us so connected that we expect immediate results. Did he like me? Was I smart enough, funny enough, talented enough, ENOUGH enough for him to pick me? God, why did I even put myself through this? It will be okay, he will call and it will be good news.
Just like a first date, with the same pressure and nervousness and excitement and all that. Now I have to wait and see what becomes of it.

How does your garden grow?

Mine grows through the inifinite patience and wisdom of the boyfriend. He is, after all, a landscape professional, and making things grow is his forte. My forte? Killing green things. This is why I'm not allowed to mess around in the garden unsupervised. We will have an abundance of tomatoes and hot peppers by the time summer is over, I don't know what I'm going to do with them all. I think I might need to learn how to can so that I can put up some of this bounty for winter. This lovely purple flower was grown from seeds, and lives in a pot on my back patio.

This is a lovely ornamental chile pepper plant, also growing in a pot. I don't know if they are edible, but they look awfully HOT and I'm not going to try any!

This is one of the banana pepper plants. I've already picked one, and it looks like 2 more should be ready in a week.

Here are the jalepeno peppers. They should be ready within a week or two.

Here is one of the four tomato plants. This one is a better bush, and has already produced two yummy tomatoes!

The funny thing is the boyfriend doesn't even like fresh tomatoes. He'll eat salsa, and tomato sauce, but he does not like tomatoes on sandwiches, salads, nada! He just likes growing tomato plants!

I've found some recipes for pickling peppers, so I'm hoping that the pepper plants produce enough for me to try out pickling!

Back to our regularly scheduled knitting tomorrow.

It's too hot to knit

Today reminds me of a country song that goes, in part, "It's too hot to fish, too hot to golf, and too too cold at home." It's almost too hot outside to knit, y'all! Especially since my air conditioning unit is doing this freeze-up, thaw out, leak water under the wall and soak through my carpet thing today. I've got it turned off for now, but I don't know how long that will last.

I'm cruising towards the home stretch on the February Lady sweater. Got the first sleeve done, the second is in progress, and the finish line is in sight. I can't wait to get it finished so that I can wear it! Of course, it's WAY too hot to wear a wool sweater anywhere, but wear it I will, just because I made it.

I do love this time of year, because gardens start producing their bounty, and there's nothing better than the first tomato of the season. I ate mine tonight, and it was delicious. I've also got banana peppers that are probably just a few days from being ready, and jalepeno peppers that should be ready in a week or so. Anyone know what to do with fresh banana peppers? All of my experience has been with pickled and/or processed banana peppers, so I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do with them. Any suggestions would be quite welcome!

I also like this time of year because this is when county fairs start popping up. I love going to county fairs, with the cotton candy and truck pulls and corn dogs (and lots of other food on sticks) and other fun stuff. If you know of a fun county fair, let me know! I LOVE them lots and would love to go to a bunch this summer.

In which we explore what's on the needles

Today is all about knitting. Not going to talk about anything but knitting. Just as soon as I talk about the power outage last night! There I was, watching Intervention, and all of a sudden, the power goes out. I had a brief moment of panic (did I pay the electric bill?), then realized that they wouldn't disconnect your power at 9:30 at night. (And I had paid the electric bill.) I went outside, and the neighbors were outside and NO ONE had power. It was that time of night where the sun has almost completely set and there's only a little ambient light left in the sky; I think one would refer to it as "gloaming." Everyone was on their phones, calling friends and family throughout our small town, seeing who had power and who didn't. All told, approximately 3000 people lost power, due to a transformer blowing up. The power was restored permanently (there was an instance of "now there's power, and now there isn't") around 12:45 AM or so. Funny how once the power was restored, I was able to go to sleep. Without it, it was too quiet!

Now we return you to your regularly scheduled knitting!

This is the progress on the February Lady sweater. The body is done and I've started the first sleeve.

Here is the sleeve. As always, click to biggify. The sleeve is quite easy, way fewer stitches than the body, and therefore going quickly. The only thing that I had a bit of trouble with was picking up the stitches. Other than that, it's been a relatively easy knit. My mom likes it so much that she wants one too!

Since I hate to be a one project knitter (everyone else is multi-tasking on the knitting, so why shouldn't I?), Saturday I cast on another Oriel Lace Scarf, this time with some laceweight that I ordered from fearlessfibers.etsy.com. This yarn is gorgeous, came in a neat, well-wrapped skein, wound up on the ball winder with no problems at all (which is huge for me, since I don't own a swift and the boyfriend objects to standing around holding yarn), and knits like a dream. This yarn could star in knitter porn!

These pictures don't do the colorway justice. It is called "majestic" and it's all purple mountain majesty, to me anyway. It's purple, dark smoky gray, lighter gray, and just lovely. I will take it outside today and try to capture a better picture of the colors. I highly recommend going to the Fearless Fibers shop on etsy.com and browse through the yarn. Prices are good, shipping is fast, and the yarn is scrumptious.

When you have nothing else...

You knit. And when it seems like everything is going against you, you knit. You knit, and you exercise control over this one thing in your life. You take yarn and needles and you bend them to your will and you make them do what you want (most of the time). You have this one thing and it's yours and you own it and you (sort of) master it.
This is what I hold on to in these tough economic times. It's what I turn to when I get rejected, yet again, from another company who doesn't want or need my exceptional services. It's what I do when I think that I can't do anything else. At least I can still knit, I think to myself. At least I still have yarn and patterns and ideas and the desire to create. And then I can face that umpteenth rejection email from some anonymous HR drone whose algorithms didn't come close to computing who and what I am and what I can offer.
It sucks not having a job. It sucks even more to not be able to get an interview, much less a job. It sucks to get rejected by a computer program which takes your resume and your online questionnaire and comes up with a mathematical probability of your ability to do the job. That program doesn't know me, doesn't even take the chance on getting to know me. I am more than my resume, and no one seems to want to know that.
I know, I should be grateful for the things that I have. And I am, really. I just want to go to work. But I knit. And I try not to be bitter and mad and depressed. So I knit.

Even though I have nothing to say

I thought that I would post anyway. Nothing exciting has happened in the past week. I thoroughly cleaned my house yesterday. I watched a 2 day marathon of Ice Road Truckers. I got a new Lego Star Wars game, the first trilogy. It rocks! I totally love it more than the first game. I knitted a bit, but the sweater is boring me because it's just the lace pattern till it's as long as you want it.
My grandmothers are coming into town this week, for my nephew's birthday. They get to meet my sweet boyfriend! I'm excited about that, not too sure how he feels about it. Um, that's really all I got.
I know, I bore myself sometimes.
My nephew said my name last week. Sort of. As well as an almost two year old can say it. He hasn't said it since, but we will work on that today. He may have been saying Cheetos, now that I think about it. Hmmmm. Cheetos sound good.