Ravellenic Glory

So I finally managed to compete in the Ravellenic Games. I’ve wanted to since I heard about these shenanigans and tried to once, but my “real” life always interferes. This time I told my “real” life to sod off and bug someone else for two weeks. The result was 2642 yds (yes that’s supposed to be 4 digits) of yarn spun up and a pair of ankle socks that my feet seem to like a lot. The socks weren’t a huge project as the toes were already done (I don’t know what it is about me and toes) but the spinning was pretty prolific. I am attempting a modified yarn diet, where I only buy yarn for specific projects. Unfortunately this does not address my expanding spinning stash (which includes two fleeces for some reason). So I spun with specific projects in mind and hit the mark pretty well. The only one that was a problem was the blue and purple merino rovings. Somehow they got compressed or slightly felted. Half way thru the games I found myself recarding 124 grams of wool that was fighting me all the way. The ravings ended up being spun at a heavier weight than I planned but my queue is so huge that I still found a project to make with the yarn.

 

 

 

 

 

On the studying front, I am working part time as a programmer which has given me some time to study (YAY!!) and I hope to have my certs done by the end of January.

What I’m Working On

That would be HTML. I’m reviewing HTML4 and then I’m going to study HTML5. Once those are done, I’m gonna hit the CSS and JavaScript. Why am I starting there you ask? Well I use TSQL everyday at work. While I am no expert, SQL is the area that I feel most confident. Plus several of the jobs that I’ve interviewed for lately have emphasized that I will need to know front end design. And not to worry. MVC, C#, and all the rest are forthcoming.

In the crafty arena, I’ve been doing this.

Mum's Puzzle Ball

And then there’s this.

Tumbling Blocks Weave

Oh no, the puzzle ball spawned but has been assembled.

Little Puzzle Ball

This weekend I’m hoping to tackle this.

Loom Warp

And apparently an audio file type is running for office in Erie.

Ogg Election Sign

The Plan

Study my ass off. I have to get thru 4 MCTS certifications as well as learn Android, Ajax, jQuery, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, XML, MVC, SOAP, ASP.Net, Java, SQL, and ADO. Not necessarily in that order. I already know bits and pieces of that list but do not have a comprehensive knowledge. I’ve got 7 months to get it. Any suggestions, leave them in the comments. And wish me luck.

Ella Louise Rodriguez

Picture used with permission of Joshua Lucy

Ella Louise Rodriguez died July 23, 2011. She was 7 years old.

While her early life has been lost to obscurity, it was during this time that she developed her patented Whump Defense Maneuver. While her critics claimed that running a few steps then falling over and being terribly cute was not a viable solution, she proved the movement to be victorious on the field of cat battle.

Her place in history secured, she moved on to philanthropic pursuits. Her work on the mean streets of Cherokee earned her the nick name Squinty while her tireless efforts to provide everyone with snot showers earned her the Sneezy Accomplishment award in 2009. Only months before her death, she was awarded the royal title Countess Shmelly of Belly for her lifelong service to the community. She died of kidney failure at Cheshire, surrounded by her family. She is survived by her grandparents R and S, her mother Stringgeek, her favorite cat furniture Josh, her aunt Bobby Sue, and her sister Mynx.

Insanity

So the cat’s not diabetic. Monday night she went into insulin shock and we took her to the ER. Then three days of hospitalization. All because she had an infection that shut down her kidneys. We brought her home Friday and she is definitely more active. She’s still not eating much, which is hampering us in giving her meds to her, but she’s running about and fighting me on being locked up in my room. Anybody know how to make a cat eat?

I frogged the yellow beaded cowl. I loved it but could not see myself wearing it much. So I’m using the same pattern to make a scarf. The sewing is still not done but has to be finished or moved before Thurs as my guy will be in town for a couple of days. My heart is atwitter with anticipation.

The review continues. I’ve decided that flash cards are the way to go. While I understand the concepts, I’m lousy at memorizing things. Flash cards are the only way that I’ve found that I can memorize anything.

Mum is excitedly packing for her Hawaii trip. So I get to block her shawl next week. I’m so excited to see how it looks once it’s blocked.

Burn Out

That’s where I am.

My youngest hadn’t been feeling well. This usually lively and rather spastic cat was sleeping too much and generally listless. Turns out she’s diabetic. Today she’s still a slacker but she’s awake and obviously feeling better.

In crafty news, I have this sewing to do.

But this is what I’ve been working on instead.

 So why the title? Because I’m approaching burn out on my studying. I love writing code and getting things to work right. But reading about it can be gods-awful boring sometimes. And as I’ve been studying 7 days a week, it’s getting really boring. All the trouble I’ve had with my machine has not been helping either. So I am limiting my studying time from now on. Until I get a job, I will be studying only M-F, from the time that I get up (which will start being normal with my cat’s new feeding schedule) until 17:00. I am in the home stretch of studying for my first .NET cert and as soon as I’m done, I will format and reinstall my system. Hopefully that will reduce the pains on studying for my next cert, which is on SQL Server Implementation and Maintenance.

I have also picked up a book on Android development. I keep thinking of these apps that I want that no one has in the market. Mind you alot of them are focused on my very strange set of interests. But that will be cracked once the format and reinstall is done.

Frakking Computers

So I am in the home stretch of the studying for my first certification exam. I have about 5 more hours of reading and labs according to the time estimates in the book. Now if only my computer will cooperate with me. I have found several tools missing (like Event Viewer?!?) and have wasted a great number of hours downloading and installing them. I might format and reinstall once my first cert is done since the next one I will do is on installing and maintaining SQL Server.

In crafty news, I’m nearing the end of the second tool bag for my spinning wheel. I began the strap last night and hope to have it done by Thursday so that I can felt it down while doing laundry. Once that is done, I want to work my way thru the stack of sewing I have. It’s just some pillows that need to be stuffed and sealed and the baby quilt for D&K but some how sewing always has to be done before knitting or crochet in my mind. I think that’s because it goes faster. But once they are done, mum’s socks and F&M’s baby blanket will be the new priorities. They are the last of my deadline projects *crosses fingers* and that means I can do some work on the multitude of projects I have slated for me. I don’t think I’m going to make stuff for the holidays this year. It give my friends and family the impression I have enough knitted stuff for myself.