Socks, finished

I finished the socks that I've been working on! And just in time, too, because it's 35 degrees outside! It's April 7th and it's barely above freezing. It's ridiculous, I tell you.

I'm pleased with the socks, even though the toes are different. I was running out of yarn towards the end of the second sock, and I had to join the leftover yarn from the first sock. The colorway varigation didn't match up. But they look cute anyway, and they are very cozy and warm.

This past weekend was my first weekend working at Keeneland. I'm waiting tables in the Lexington Kentucky room, on the 4th floor. It's nice, and so far I'm enjoying it. I'm working with a great group of people, most of whom have worked there before. The money is good, and it's pretty easy work. No food service, since it's all buffet on the fourth floor. I just schlep drinks and bread pudding, and clear plates. It was tough though, since I haven't been working, and my feet HURT! It should get better as it goes along.

I'm enjoying two days off before going back to work on Wednesday. I've got to clean the house, do some laundry, and maybe get some knitting done.

More about Gatlinburg

Yummy souvenir yarn! I bought both of these at Smoky Mountain Spinnery in Gatlinburg, TN. The one on the left is Cascade Yarns Heritage Hand Painted sock yarn, and the on the right is Berocco Ultra Alpaca.

I've already picked out a lace sock pattern for the Heritage, but I haven't decided what to do with the alpaca. I've been petting it, and admiring its softness.

I'm resisting starting on the new socks until I finish the pair that I'm working on. I should be knitting right now, as opposed to goofing around on the internets. But I realized that I hadn't posted about the yarn that I brought home from my vacation.

The Smoky Mountain Spinnery is a charming little yarn shop, located right outside downtown Gatlinburg. It's in the back of a fishing supply store, and both are owned by a husband and wife team. They are both charming and hospitable, and very friendly and helpful. I recommend that if you ar going to Gatlinburg and you're looking for yarn or fishing lures, check them out! The Spinnery has a good selection of both yarn and spinning fiber, as well as supplies. To be honest, I didn't look through the fishing stuff, but Donnie liked it! At last, a store that we both want to shop at!

I got a friend request on Facebook today from a girl that I worked with YEARS ago. As a result, I joined a group on Facebook of people from Rock-A-Billy Cafe. It is awesome to look at pictures from back in the day, and share memories. I had forgotten how much fun it was to work there, and how many cool people I got to work with there.

I got a job!!!

Keeneland hired me for the spring meet! Yay! I'm going to be working for the next three weeks! I'm super excited about this. (As if you couldn't tell, what with the exclamation points and all) I'm going to be serving in the Lexington/Ketucky rooms, upstairs on the fourth floor of the clubhouse. Quite posh, I tell you. It's all fancy-pants and high roller and whatnot. But I'm still excited, because I've wanted to work at Keeneland for years, and have never been able to, so to have this opportunity is just awesome. Besides, I get to go to the racetrack every day for the next three weeks. That doesn't suck.
I think that it's time for me to buy a new car. And by new car, I mean newer than the one that I have. It died seven times on my way to babysit this morning. By the time I got here, I was a nervous wreck, almost in tears. It's enough to drive a girl to drink, I tell you. I just wish that it would hold out for another month, let me get some money in the bank, and then I could face spending a crapload of money on a car. Arggghhh!
I've been spending some time lately with the knitting. Almost done with the socks that I've been working on, got Donnie's IPod armband holder done, finally sewed on button eyes on the sock puppets that I made for Thomas, and got a new sock pattern for the yarn I bought on vacation. I got all this done because I couldn't get on the internets for the whole week. It sucked.
I'm going to eat some breakfast and knit some socks, because that's how I roll.

Running to the mountains...

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?! We were enjoying a beautiful day outside, playing cars and trucks.

I'm getting ready for our trip to Gatlinburg today. We are leaving this afternoon, heading to London to spend the night with Donnie's parents, and then we will head to Gatlinburg tomorrow morning. I'm really excited about it! I'm just amazed at how much stuff we're bringing. I've been obsessively checking weather.com to make sure that the weather will be nice. I've packed three knitting projects, and we're going to a yarn store, so I should be able to get through the weekend without running out of knitting.

Speaking of the knitting, I'm almost done with the first sock, and I'm hoping that I will have the second sock started this weekend. The lace scarf is now languishing in the knitting bag, so it's coming along, too. I'll take pictures of everything this weekend, hopefully out in the nature.

Professionally, things are looking up as well. I went to the Keeneland spring meet job fair this past Tuesday, and they want me to come in for Captains training next. Their captains are like dining room managers. The director of dining services, who I interviewed with, said that if they didn't have a captain's position that suited me, then I could go to the servers' training. So, more than likely, I will at least be serving at Keeneland this spring meet. I'm excited about it; it feels good knowing that I'm going back to work, especially after not working for so long.

Well, the dryer is done, so I've got laundry to fold. If I have Internet access in the Great Smoky Mountains, I will post updates this weekend. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait till next week!

Spring, where are you?

3 days ago, it was 70 degrees. Today, there is snow on the ground. Welcome to March in Kentucky! I guess knitting wool socks is all of sudden smart and well-planned.
Speaking of the socks, they are gorgeous! The colorway reminds me of the ocean, all blues and greens. I've been a busy little knitter lately. Last weekend I knocked out an armband IPod holder for Donnie, in a funky camoflage yarn. Now, I'm making another one in gray, to match his work uniform. Because he likes to match!
The lace scarf is still hanging out in the knitting bag. I think that I'll be ready to go back to it when I've finished the socks. Or at least one sock. Right now, I'm trying to figure out what projects I want to take with me on our Gatlinburg trip next weekend. I'm sooo excited! I've never been to Gatlinburg, and we've got a lovely cabin about 13 miles from downtown. There's a yarn shop that I want to go to, and a Coach outlet store in Seiverville! We're planning on going to the aquarium, Dixie Stampede, the Space Needle, and ride the ski lift up the mountain. I'm most looking forward to soaking in the hot tub, whilst looking out into the woods for bears.
Of course, my OCD is kicking in. I've made a list of what I need to pack for me, and another list for what Donnie needs to pack, plus another list for food and beverages that we need to bring. Plus a list of where we want to go and do, and ..... well, you get the idea. I hope that the weather is nice, and I get lots of pictures.
Off to fix lunch and see what I'm fixing for dinner.

Woman, thou art fickle...

The more I looked at the sock yarn, the more I wanted to knit it. Then, I get my invite from Ravelry, which encourages me to list all of my yarn and books and patterns and such. And there's a place for your projects, and my page looked so lonely, what with only one project on there, and I thought, well just cast it on and then you'll have two projects to list. Just cast it on... famous last words! The lace scarf? What lace scarf? Can't you see I'm knitting socks? The scarf and I are on a break, free to do whatever we want with other patterns and yarn. We both need this. Time apart will make us truly appreciate each other. Besides, it's warming up outside, who needs a new scarf? (The argument could be made about who needs wool socks, but we're not going there.)
I'm spending the day with the most charming, lovable,gorgeous man I know. He's my nephew and I guess that at 21 months, he's not technically a man, but he is the little man! I'm so lucky that I've been able to spend so much time with him, since he was born. He brightens my day, and watching him grow and learn blows my mind!
Pictures tomorrow, of lots of fun things!

I told you there would be pictures!

Okay, it's just one picture. These are the first socks I ever knit. I was pretty amazed at myself.