poor princess

this is my poor, sad, princess. but it had to be done we just aren't ready to raise kitty babies

we got her fixed last thursday and they are making her wear this cone. she so depressed over this cone and it's frustrating because i can't explain to her the purpose of the hated cone is so that she doesn't lick her stitches. i even took pitty on her this afternoon and took it off so that she could relax and 3 minutes later she was licking her stitches so the cone had to go right back on.

but i have to tell you, as sorry as i feel for my little princess for having to wear this evil (in her thoughts) cone, it sure is entertaining. she's running in to things and watching her try to figure out how to eat the first time was hilarious. i know i'm a horrible kitty mom but seriously it's just too much. but fortunately she only has two more days to go

on knitting side of things

i finally cast on my first project on my Knit Picks Options!! and oh how i love them... i started with the wavy scarf for my friend...

and i must say that i LOVE them. they make knitting even more fun! i like the sharp tips, the shinny needles and the purple (memory free) cables. they were totally worth the wait and i'm holding my self back from buying every other needle that Knit Picks offers! (hehehe)

this is where i'm at on the baby cardi.... it's coming out quite nicely but i'm trying to figure out how to incorporate some purple into it now that i know it's going to a baby girl

the pattern calls for extra longs sleeves so that they can be folded back to make cuffs. i'm thinking that i'll make the cuffs the shade of purple and then stitch on some matching flowers on to the front. but i'm open to suggestions if someone has a better idea....

it came! it came!

my stash came!!!


anybody see that little case towards the back? yup thats the Knit Picks Options set!!! I KNOW! i'm so excited that i have to stop my self casting on a new project right now

the Knit Picks Telemark in Colonial Blue was princess' very favorite of all


but smelling and exploring all the new yarn was exhausting


i think i'll use this Cascade Yarns Pima Tencil in Ice to make the Crisp Rectangle Tunic from Fitted Knits


and with this same yarn (Cascade Yarns Pima Tencil) only in Orchid i'm planning to make the Drop Stitch Lace Tank from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel


finally i'm going to make this scarf with Rowan Tapestry in Lakeland for my friend who brought me all of this yarn back with her from the States!! isn't she just so sweet!!

the rest of the yarn is for when i'm inspired to knit something. i can be more spontaneous and cast on rather than ordering it ahead of time... but i'll keep you posted on all my new projects! as you can see i have my needles full for a while : )

as promised

can you believe it?!?! i'm managing to get the photos of my husband's scarf up the very next day!!! i'm so proud of my self for not procrastinating another week. although had i not gotten off of work a few hours early the out come may have been completely different

anyhow here they are





i have included multiple pictures, well because i'm just so darn proud. not cause i did a garter stitch until my husband said "STOP!" but because a took the support of a team of people across multiple continents (read previous posts) in order for me to pull it off. in case you want to knit your own i'll provide you the pattern here

HUSBAND'S SCARF

YARN: Noro Kochoran colorway 41
SUPPLIES: Needles size US 6

CO 22
R1 k
R2 k
repeat rows 1&2 until you have reach desired length then CO

i know it's a complicated one, what can i say (voice laced heavily with sarcasm) but that's what my husband wanted so i happily knit it for him and fortunately he loves it! too bad it's 100 degrees outside ; )

princess is all grown up

this weekend, as i was puttering around the house, i realized just how big my princess has gotten since we got her at three weeks old in october... here's a reminder of what she looked like back in november.

now she looks like this

can you believe how big my little kitten has gotten?
the good part is that she's starting to calm down and not attach every piece of dust that moves around her. she's starting to cuddle more and want to spend time closer to us for more than three seconds at a time. i wish i had more pics of her but she kept trying to smell the camera and then she finally went under the bed and slept for a while.

on knitting new i have an amazing development! i have finished my husband's scarf! it is done and it is the length my husband wants... i'm so relieved to have it off my projects list! i have been trying to post pics for like a half an hour and the internet is just not working with me and i need to sleep. so you will have to wait a day or two until the internet is more cooperative. sorry!

oh it's them

i have another one to add.... after that long post yesterday i was reminded not once but twice today of another one of the things people do that bug me!

not listening to me when i'm answering your questions!
episode number 1
CW: "is your boss in the office or on vacation?"
Me: "neither he's traveling for work"
CW: "so he's on vacation here in the country?"
Me: (bangs head against desk hoping to soften the frustration)

episode number 2
(mr joe's assistant calls me)
CW: "is your boss in? mr jo really needs to talk to him"
Me: "nope he's out of the country"
CW: "when will he be back?"
Me: "sunday"
CW: "oh... mr jo needs to talk to you" (hands phone to mr. jo)
mr jo: "hi i really need to speak to your boss"
Me: "yes i understand but he is out of the country"
mr jo: "where"
Me: "africa" (ok i was more specific for mr jo)
mr jo: "when is he getting back this is very important"
Me: "sunday"
mr jo explains what he needs from my boss
Me: "ok i'll email him for you and see if i can give you an answer"
mr jo: "when will he be back?"
now this is the THIRD time i'm answering
Me: "sunday"
mr jo: "this is very important i need you to email him or call him"
for reference my boss is quite senior in the company... mr jo on the other hand, no so much
Me: "ok no problem i'll let you know as soon as i hear from him"
mr jo: "ok please just email him cause it's important"
Me: (really loosing patients) "i said i would and i will"
we hang up the phone --- finally but 3 minutes later phone rings again it's mr jo's assistant
CW: "what day is your boss back?"
Me: (face turning read but trying to remain calm) "like i told you and mr jo before, he will be back on SUNDAY"

people NOT listening actually bugs me more than people not reading my emails. you go through the trouble of detailing all the necessary information that people need in an email and what do they do? reply asking the exact things you explained in the email!!! oh well let's not get in to that one now

is it me???

or is it them?

lately it seems that i am becoming more and more bugged by my co-workers! i annoyed with so many of them right now that i am starting to wonder if maybe it's me. hmmm nahhh. let me tell you what REALLY drives me insane at work

• asking me dumb questions that you can get the answer yourself.
CW: “hey who’s our guy in Africa?”
Me: “i’m not sure… did you check our internal search engine for employees?”
CW: “no. i just thought you would know.. but could you check?”
Me: (heavy sigh) “ok here you go”

• asking me to do things you can do yourself
CW: “hey who’s ships our packages?”
Me: “we each do our own?”
CW: “yeah i know but this one is big”
Me: “same processes. do you want me to show you how?”
CW: “ummm no i’ll ask someone else”

• asking me things you shouldn’t ask anyone!
CW: “i need a box please get me one.”
Me: “a box? what kind of box”
CW: (gives me you’re stupid expression) “a box for paper”
Me: ”cardboard?”
CW: “yeah”
Me: “where would i get a box? i don’t have boxes” –note that i have a desk with some drawers and that’s, it no storage, no office, just a desk with some drawers
CW: “i don’t know i just figured…”
Me: (turns around and goes back to work)

• asking where people are!!!
CW: “where’s dave?” (dave isn’t on my team, doesn’t sit on my floor and i have only talked to him a handful of times)
Me: “He sits down stairs I think”
CW: (looks at me like I’m dumb) “i know. i checked. he isn’t there. ho you know where he went?”
Me: “nope he’s not on my team so i have no idea”
CW: “how would I find out where he is?”
Me: “did you try his assistant or someone who sits around him?”

• making me rush on something just so you can sit on it
CW: “i need you to get me some info ASAP”
Me: “when exactly do you need it by cause i have a few (a ton) other things i need to get done (for my boss!)
CW: “i would really appreciate it if you could get it to me by end of day”
Me: “ok i’ll try my best” (work my butt off and get them the information as requeted)
Me: (1 week later) “did that info come in handy as you had expected?”
CW: “not sure i haven’t used it yet”

now i must stress that my boss does NOT talk to me or treat me in such a way. in fact most of upper management doesn’t talk to me, or any other assistant, this way. No, it’s the people who sit among us. The ones, who like me and the other assistants, don’t have offices but feel they should. they are as important and hard to replace as the ceo (at least in their minds) and i should feel privileged to get them a phone number or a BOX (true story btw).

ugggh i just had to get that out cause i’m going crazy here! do you have any stories to add??

i’m going back to my knitting now

oh and yesterday i got the new skein of noro for my husband's scarf so i have put the scarf back on the needles and attached the new skein on! woot woot!

i finished the back of the baby cardigan (again) and i'm working on the two front pieces. i'm doing them at the same time on the same needles to make sure they come out the same size. this is either going to work out great or going to totally stress me out!

sorry for the delay

so as promised here are some pics from my trip to Oman last weekend. we had an absolute blast! it started at 5 am on thursday and ended at 2 am on sunday... hence the exhausted post last weekend! we went out to this little itty bitty town 3.5 hours out side of Muscat to watch a Red Bull kite surfing competition that was going on. it was a long drive (with questionable rest stops) but the town was great the hotel was clean and fairly new (way above what i was expecting) and the surf was up!


kite surfers competing in kite surfing stuff... i couldn't qute figure out what the aim of this competition was but made sure to say "looked great!" & "good job!" a lot when they got back to shore


that's me on a boat out watching (and perhaps chasing) the kite surfers...

but let me tell you a bit about the boats. they have flat tops and are pushed in to the surf by a jeep. this is when you run into the surf and jump on and hold on for dear life! the boats are manned by 2. one controls the engine/steering from the back and the other sits in the front pointing out the waves and in our case the kite surfers. getting back to the beach consisted of us heading for shore as fast as possible until right before we hit the sand! my heart was racing a bit on that one but i suppose they know what they are doing ; )


this is the little town we stayed at. the locals were so kind and friendly


it's kinda hard to tell in this pic but the mountains are purple! yeah purple! they are amazing and then set right next to all these rugged rocky mountains were perfectly clean and soft looking sand dunes! they looked way out of place but the effect was amazing


this is one of the MANY block factories we drove past. i just loved that the block factories consisted of an empty lot with a wall around it, a shed in the corner, a small cement mixer and of course blocks drying in the sun. i guess they don't really need anything else but when i read "factory" i expect a giant building with small windows and smoke coming out of the top


this is some old tower at the top of a hill/mountain that we saw as we were leaving the city. i noticed that oman has a lot of old buildings and a lot of history that is a nice contrast to the new/shiny/gigantic cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. overall definitely somewhere i would love to go back to again... perhaps september

so sleepy

we had the most wonderful (but exhausting) weekend.... we went to oman for three days and it was so much fun! we got back sunday morning and i'm still super tired (uggh) but i have pictures and everything! so as soon as i sleep i will post some and give you details about our action packed weekend.

update on the baby cardigan is that i finished the back and then had to frog half of it because i realized that i had read the pattern wrong! when it said decrease by 1 at the end of the next 6 rows i read that to mean 3 for the front and 3 for the back! that's 6 rows.

but did i check the number of stitches i had before i went on for another 4 inches? NO! not until i was binding off at the end and was wondering why i still had so many stitches on my needles (sigh) did i check. after much confusion and counting and reading and sighing i FINALLY realized that they meant for me to decrease at the end of the next 6 rows for the front and 6 rows for the back! 12 rows all together. am i the only one who would jump to this wrong conclusion? can i not read knitting speak?