Obsession + A Job = Trouble

Sorry I haven't been posting lately... I've been a little obsessed with my new projects. Plus, I had an interview with a company called Bionovo. The description of the position was too detailed for me to get a good understanding of what I would be doing and then they SHOCKED me with a group interview. I was so nervous I was damn sure I had failed the interview. Then I called them and harrassed them a few times because they were taking so long in getting back to me. I was certain they just didn't have the guts to tell me that I wasn't hired. The next day I got an email to go in for a second interview. Well when I got there one of my future coworkers said, "So I heard they offered you a position." Tthat was news to me, but it sure put me at ease! Woohoo!!! They're not sure when I'm going to start working because they have to get corporate in California to send me the necessary paperwork but it sure is a relief to have a job to look forward to. I'll tell you more about it later, perhaps after my first day. This post is dedicated to all my on-going projects.

First, I spun up some of that merino from morehouse. I'm not sure if you can tell the difference between this picture and the previous one but I really haven't put a dent in the fiber.
The wool actually has a little too much grease in it and I'm losing almost half of the fiber to preparations but its spinning up very strong. I'm forced to spin it a little thicker than I would like because it snaps on me if it's any thinner. But now that I see it in the picture, perhaps it's plenty thin. I plan to navajo ply it and knit up some socks for both Michael and my mother.
When I first got this wool I was using Fez's cat brush to prep the fiber and for some reason I decided that I needed something more appropriate for the project so I went out and bought this:
It wasn't until I got home that I realized this was a direct violation of the yarn diet... I really have no explanation as to why the diet completely slipped my mind. But I was VERY good in the yarn store, Michael was with me and he made sure that I only got what I went in for. I was sidetracked several times and each time he wacked whatever I picked up out of my hands. It was quite humorous and I'm sure the other women in the store heard my laughing.

I also received my first allotment of wool from my spinning club. It's 4 oz. of Rambouillet.
I've already spun up a decent chunk of the first ball before taking this picture.
Here's the yarn:
I'm quite enjoying spinning with this! I'm not sure if it's the fiber or the fact that I don't have to spend an equal amount of time prepping the fiber before spinning it. This I'm also having to spin up a little thicker because it's already been washed and doesn't have any grease in it to help hold the fibers together. But again, this is certainly something I love!

Last night I went to Michael's softball game and brought along my jaywalkers. The weather was a little chilly (even with me in my sweatshirt) so I thought that it would be a perfect time to get some work in. Also, I need to turn the heel on the second Hedera and I'm not confident enough in my skills yet to not keep referencing a pattern. Anyway, I was sitting there, watching Michael and his team warm up when I got recruited to play for another team on another field cuz they were short one girl. MAN I forgot how much I used to love playing softball. They said that they could probably use me every week so I'm thinking about doing that! The league runs through early June and then I'm thinking about joining a more local league in the fall (which is August through October)!

I made some good progress on the Jaywalkers last night while watching the X-files we received from netflix:
Since we're discussing socks, here is the progress of my second Hedera. And I really don't think I've got second sock syndrome with this. I've just been obsessed with other projects lately....
For example, here is the progress I've made on my shawl. And those of you who look close enough will notice that the pattern is not at all what I decided on in the last post.I was having such a hard time working out the way that it was supposed to look that I just gave up on it and found that I really liked the pattern on page 68 called 'A knitted veil in Pyrenees wool.' I like the fact that I don't have to think too much with it and should be able to have a nice end product. Don't get me wrong there is some necessary concentration when knitting the pattern, but it's not like I took several pieces of other patterns and tried to make them fit!

And last, but certainly not least, I treated myself to a visit to the yarn store in celebration of my recent employment! I got two skeins of tofutsies because they are quite cute and something I haven't knit with before. I was only going to buy two skeins of sock yarn, but then I spotted an older yarn harlot book and snatched it up!
This picture shows more accurately the peachy shades in the skein on the left.
Now I know that they are very similar in shades and colors, but they were really the only ones that I saw that I liked! Oh well, I'm quite certain that I won't be knitting them back to back. I really think that I'm going to just be knitting these in a simple ribbing or striping pattern as something that I can use to keep my hands busy when I can't fully concentrate on a pattern.

Also, I haven't done any more work on the two sweaters. I'm really contemplating ripping back the neck shaping on the front of the cardigan and making into something more 'me.' And I'm not too worried about finishing Rachel's sweater in time. I've just got the sleeves left and seaming, that shouldn't take too long with the way it's shaped and pattern for the sleeves.