Archives for the month of: August, 2007

I am Such a Joiner Today… Again

August 27, 2007 //
2

So to continue the topic from the last time, here is the status update on Ravelry:

Found you!
  • You signed up on July 27, 2007
  • You are #21089 on the list.
  • 10497 people are ahead of you in line.
  • 8118 people are behind you in line.
  • 35% of the list has been invited so far

3400 people had gotten their invitations since July 27th. Wow.

So this time, I joined Secret of the Stole AND Christmas Around the World Knitter Swap. Well, I’m not sure I’m accepted to the swap yet, but definitely Secret of the Stole. So now I just need my lace weight yarn order… Sunflowerfiary~

I also joined Football-a-long since Friday, however, I missed the Fantasy team sign up :( That’s okay though, I’m sure I have plenty things going on by the time football starts.

On top of all the things I joined, I started Autumn Rose KAL with Sneaksleep, and I still need to knit my Dad the second vest (the first one is almost done), and my wedding stole yet need to be knitted, and MS3 is incomplete, and… you got the idea. As editorgrrl put it, “This is so out of her boundary!!!”

My name is jennsquared and I am a Knit-aholic.

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Categories Knitting

Society of Women Engineers

August 26, 2007 //
0

So today, I want to talk about Society of Women Engineers (SWE). I’m actually gonna make a little AD out of this. Why? you asked. Here is why…

I got my first internship through SWE, when I thought I wouldn’t be able to work anywhere. It was in Maine, and it was a research job. That internship taught me two things – Maine in the summer doesn’t necessary mean cool (it was 100F with black flies everywhere) and I hate research. Most of the people would say “oh that sucks that you didn’t like your internship”. I looked at it “Cool. Now I won’t waste my time looking for jobs in research, and I got to live in Maine!”

After that internship, I decided to get involved more with the student section at RPI, so I became the Treasurer. It was a very good experience, even though we were a very small section.

When I moved to Connecticut, I wasn’t very involved in the professional section. Actually, I didn’t even know anything about it. Work sent me to the national conference in Wisconsin and I met Claudia there, who is from Connecticut and belongs to the local professional section. Shortly after that, her and couple of the ladies from there contacted me, asked me if I would take on a position as Section Rep for the local section. I thought it would be a great experience and meet some new people so I decided to say yes.

The past two years, I had been a big part of SWE-CT and enjoyed every single minute of it. Every year, we do fundraiser to raise funds for Jean R. Bear Scholarship – an annual scholarship we give out to girls that are interested in studying engineering, technology, science and math. The scholarship is need base as well, which is rare in the scholarship world now a day. This year, we decided to go with Entertainment books. I really liked them when I was in high school and always thought that was one of the best fundraiser program I’ve seen.

So here is the AD:

I have Entertainment books for sale. They are $25 each and you can get the New Haven edition or the Fairfield edition. If you know anyone who would like to buy it but lives far away, they can purchase it via the link below and the headquarter will mail it to them and give SWE-CT the credit. (prices varies for different editions)

Thanks for your attention for my ramble about my passion for SWE and let me know if you would like a book!

I promise, my next post will be about knitting… hopefully, there will be picture of a FO :)

Categories SWE

Contest

August 21, 2007 //
0

Well, no, I’m not running a contest, but Golden Purl is! Click over to check out her contest. Leave her a comment and you are in. Make sure you mention I, jennsquared, referred you over and I’ll get one more chance in the contest. Now go win some yummy stuff!

Categories Contest

Autumn Rose Pullover

August 20, 2007 //
1

I went to two Barnes and Noble today to look for Interweave Felt (I had gift card money that I can used at BN, otherwise I wouldn’t even go there in the first place!) and both stores don’t have them. I was all disappointed until I came home to this:

My Autumn Rose Pullover Kit!

I ordered it from Two Swans Yarns and I had a great experience from there, and Karen, the owner, is extremely friendly and responsive. I was originally gonna order from Camilla Valley Farm but they were way slow in response time.

Look at the pretty sweater!

And after leafing through the pattern book, I already decided that I want to make this:

I can’t wait to get started! But I have to finish my dad’s vest first… GO VEST GO!
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Categories Knitting

Farmhouse Yarn Sale!

August 19, 2007 //
1

You didn’t think I will miss a sale, would ya? Especially I have 158 dollars of credit from there!

Emily, Sami and I drove out there using my GPS… well, lets just say we had fun driving around in circles. It keeps taking us over to some people’s house! There must be a road there before. We finally called Carol, the owner, for directions and got there around 3pm.

Silly me forgot to take a picture of the sale, but lets just say there are A LOT of Rubbermaid bins out. I looked through the $11/skein section but nothing really caught my eye. I was a women with a mission – I wanted something very felt-able because I really want to make a Farmer’s Market Bag. And all of the sudden, I hit Jackpot!


8 skeins of dark red 3-ply merino
I found at least 20 skeins of these under some sweater skeins. I felt so soft and nice and I couldn’t believe she discontinued it when she told me! She doesn’t carry the 3-ply merino anymore because she couldn’t get enough wool to make it. I was so glad I found these I took 8 skeins of them home! Some for the bag, and some for a vest/sweater. Then I found these:


4 skeins of single ply merino in Wine Rose

This color way is very similar to my sweater skein that I bought at the last sale, but less red, more white. I’m thinking of making either a vest or a lap blanket out of it. I was very happy I found these, and I decided that these are the only ones I’m gonna take with me from her fill the bag. So the three of us ended up sharing a bag, which worked out very well. Carol actually weighed each portion and make it percentage, then multiply that with the dollar amount, which is what each of us paid for! It was very scientific.

Besides the filled the bag and the $11/skein section, this time, she had a 2 dollar per item section (or 10 for $15) – all the stuff came from her sales guy, which are mostly acrylic stuff and samples, a lot of patterns and needles as well. I actually found these in there:

Paton’s Kroy and Bernat Hot Sox


A skein of Nature’s Palette


A skein of Jaeger Alpaca


Lots of cotton crochet threads

I couldn’t believe it either! I was so psyched! Then Sami found this at the pattern stash:

Paton’s Classic In Kroy Socks and Gloves
Of course I had to have it. I already see pattern in it that I want to make!

After we paid, we decided to stop in at this restaurant we passed by on the way to the sale:

We ordered these:


Emily’s Chicken Picata with no capers


Sami’s Shrimp and Scallop Penne a la Vodka


My pizza with fresh garlic, onions and broccoli

We left as happy women. We left at sunset and got back in town around 8ish. We had a little ball winding party at Emily and Sami’s and I left home with lots of wounded yarn.

Carol had mentioned that she had more yarn to have another sale, but probably only one more, then she is done with the sale. Next time, I should probably stock up! She also mentioned to me about more sample knitting, although not right now because she is behind on the patterns, but she’ll let me know whenever. Oh the fun!

So where is your loot from Farmhouse Yarn???

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Categories Baby Makes 3

HOT-tlanta

August 17, 2007 //
0

So this is a long overdue post that I should have done couple of weeks ago, but camera cable disappeared and I wanted to make sure the pictures get into the post. So I went to Best Buy and bought a cord the other day, and here I am…

I went to Atlanta for the Primerica Convention. There were approximately 60,000 people flue into Atlanta for this. They had warn the whole city that we were coming, including the MARTA (their subway system), the hotels, etc. My friend Lynn and I went down together, and we stayed at the Hilton along with three other people:

Unfortunately the first event was canceled so we had some free time on our hands and we decided to go visit my friend Kelly and her fabulous restaurant – Pacific Kitchen. They treated us like queens! When we first sat down, they brought out a fresh fesca they made with mango, guava, passion fruit and some bubblies to cleanse our pallet, and some fresh bread with WHOLE HEAD of roasted garlic!!! YUM! Then she treated us with some cheese platter that’s paired with different type of fruit chutneys that were all fresh made in the kitchen, using the freshest ingredients that came that day. I ordered Sea Bass that flue directly from Hawaii that morning on dry ice, with roasted sweet yellow beats, sweet potatoes, and spinach. Everyone ordered a different dish and everybody said their dinner was excellent. Oh, did I mention we had White Sangria? Oh yeah… For dessert, we ordered EVERYTHING on the menu and Kelly sent out five flavors of sorbet, made in house, as complimentary. My favorite was the coconut lemongrass. When the desserts came out, we played musical plate – everyone take one bite and move on to the next dessert! All the desserts were good, but I have to pick a favorite, it would be the Strawberry Brown Butter Almond Torte. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of all of these…

The next morning, I didn’t have any general sessions, but I had to go to the convention center to pick up my ticket for one of the paid sessions (they missed it in my packet). After that, Kelly came to pick me up at the hotel and went to Flying Biscuit for breakfast. This time, I remember to take a picture of all the good food:


My breakfast: 2 eggs over hard, 2 chicken sausage patties, grits, oatmeal pancake with fresh peach compote, and of course, biscuits with cranberry butter


Kelly’s breakfast: 2 eggs over-easy, 2 chicken sausage patties, 2 turkey bacon strips, French toast with raspberry sauce, potatoes and biscuit with cranberry butter

We also ordered “Love Cake” which is this beans concoction… The hostess couldn’t stop talking about it so we had to try it!

We said our goodbyes after the yummy breakfast and she dropped me off at the convention center for my first general session. It was a very good and useful session, and I got to meet several people who makes lots of $$ doing what I do, which validates my belief that I can do it. The opening night ceremony was also unbelievable – we filled the entire Georgia Dome!!! There were a lot of speakers, including Governor of Georgia, the CEO of Primerica, and a few million dollar earners. There were also a lot of recognitions as well.


Left to Right – Miriam, Diane, Lynn and Myself Front – Brian and Jen

Saturday morning was more recognition and general speakers. A lot of us had to sneak out so we can go to our next session – Women in Primerica. There were over 20,000 people in that single workshop! I got to listen to a lot of women who had done very well in Primerica, their stories, how they did it, why they did it. That workshop along was well worth my trip down to Atlanta.

Saturday night was the closing ceremony – again, the Dome was filled, everyone was cheering and more recognition was done. At the end of the ceremony, there were fireworks inside the Dome! It was quite a sight!

I learned a lot during the 4 days I was down in Atlanta, and the whole convention blew my mind. Meeting all the people who are making a ton of money validated my belief – it is real, and I can do it and make it be, and be somebody! I mean, which company in the world that you know pays 59 people OVER ONE MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR as their salary? They even had a record breaking this year with a couple making 5 million dollars this past 12 months!!!! Yeah… I believe I can be one of them someday. I know I will.

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Categories Travel

In No Particular Order…

August 12, 2007 //
5

Yesterday, Katy, one of the SnB member, had a garden potluck party. I was originally gonna make the Chocolate and Zucchini Cake, but Mick got sick so we ended up at the Vet instead. But I made it up by going to Julia’s Bakery and bought a Peach Pie for the party. I met quite a few people there, and Archiknist and Soozies were there as well. Archiknist came with her new toy and I told David that I want one too!!! :)

Today was slow and relaxing. I went to SnB and got to talk with Costumechick. I haven’t seen her for awhile so it was great seeing her again. And speaking of someone I haven’t seen for awhile, Lilith came too! And she brought WIP Clessidra with her! I think I’m gonna either make that or Monkey next. And I get to cast on as early as now, if I want to, because I finally finished my first pair of socks for Summer of Sock 2007:

Pattern – Falling Leaves by Jessica Landers on Knitty.com
Yarn Called For – 2 Skeins Koigu Painters Palette Merino in #823
Yarn Used – 2 Balls Reynolds Soft Sea Wool in #0650
Needles – 2 Addi Turbo size 2 circular
Gauge – 7.5 sts per inch
Knit – July 05, 2007 to August 12, 2007
Modifications – Universal formula sizing, Magic cast-on, 2×2 Ribs

This pattern was an easy knit and a great introduction to lace. I love the way it came out and I really like the yarn I chose – I think solid yarn show case the pattern much better than the variegated version. I knitted both socks at once and I think it’s a great choice and from now on, I might just do both at the same time! I actually didn’t use 2 balls and I think I might actually have enough left to make a pair of ankle socks. We’ll see what comes out of it.

Right before I went to SnB today, I found out a local Farmer’s Market that happens on Sundays – I am so excited because usually they have it during Wednesday on mid-day and Saturday mornings, which both are bad for me. They had been expanding it and added Thursday late afternoon/early evening and Sunday during the day. I stopped by before going to SnB and bought some fresh peaches and a blueberry lemonade – yum!

Not much progress was made for MS3… only 20 rows into the Clue 4…

After SnB, I decided to use the giant zucchini my brother brought home:

I tried the recipe “Sweet Potato & Zucchini Frittata” from Moosewood Restaurant New Classic. Besides sweet potato and zucchini, it calls for onions, eggs, cream cheese, garlic, milk, smoke cheddar, marjoram, salt and pepper. I love Moosewood cookbooks – although it is vegetarian, I think anyone can find something in there that they like! My friend introduced me to Moosewood back when we were in college and now I have almost all of their cookbooks!

YUM!

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Categories Food, friends, good finds, Reading

What kind of Sandwich are You?

August 11, 2007 //
2

Me:

You Are a Tuna Fish Sandwich

Some people just don’t have a taste for you. You are highly unusual.
And admit it, you’ve developed some pretty weird habits over the years.
You may seem a bit unsavory from a distance, but anyone who gives you a chance is hooked!

Your best friend: The Club Sandwich

Your mortal enemy: The Turkey Sandwich
What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

David:

You Are a Turkey Sandwich

Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust.
You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible.
Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend.

Your best friend: The Ham Sandwich

Your mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich
What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Hmmmm… according to this, David and I are mortal enemies…

ps. I stole this from Anphoe
pps. Mick is doing fine and came home this afternoon. He slept a lot this afternoon and is back to himself already! :)

Categories random

In Love with Autumn Rose

August 10, 2007 //
1

Yes. I’m in love. Autumn Rose Pullover, published in Simply Shetland 4, is a new design by Eunny Jang, the newest editor for Interweave Knits. The book just came out and Sneaksleep and I had decided that a knitalong is needed for this beautiful design. So let me present you:

In Love with Autumn Rose

Now go and tell all your friends about it!

ps. Mick is sick and in the Doggie ER :( The doc is keeping him overnight for observation. We are pretty sure he is gonna be okay, but it’s just not the same without him home.

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Categories critters, Knitting

Rockin’ Girl Blogger

August 8, 2007 //
1

I have the honor receiving an award from Anphoe:

Yup! You see that right! :) Rockin’! And now I’m suppose to select five of you that rocks… Oh… this is hard… How about this, if you are reading my blog, then you are DEFINITELY Rockin’!!! YEAH! So consider yourself had received this award and proudly display a Rockin’s Girl Blogger badge and display it on your own blog! And if you are a guy? WHO CARES? You rock anyways!

When I have some time, I’ll have to tell you all about my Atlanta trip for the Primerica Convention!

Rock On!

ps. I finally finished Clue 3 of MS3.
pps. I joined Hanami KAL… yeah…

Note: Just make sure you kindly save the image to your own server first then upload to your blog. Thanks!

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Categories Blog, Knitting, random
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