CAL progress and a life update

Hey everyone!  This is just a post to express my appreciation for everyone who is participating in the CAL.  I’m very surprised and honored by the turnout!  And everyone seems to be enjoying what we’ve done so far (at least I hope so!).

Just as a reminder, you can post pictures of your progress on the facebook page or the Ravelry group page, and if you’re on Instagram you can use the hashtag #nyaccal to show what you’ve done!  And don’t be shy if you have questions or problems — I know these stitches can be tricky and if you’re stumped I’d love to try to help!

I’ve been so excited about the CAL that I’ve already made the post for this upcoming Saturday.  I scheduled it to be published at 00:01 Saturday morning (Eastern Standard Time).  Would you like a teaser preview picture?  Here’s one of the steps of a certain stitch we haven’t done yet:

cal53

Hopefully that didn’t give too much away!  It’s not enough for anyone to go off of so I’m afraid you can’t really rush ahead.  😉

Anyway, thanks again for everyone participating and also for everyone observing our progress.

I also wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers concerning my friends in the Oklahoma storms and also concerning me finding a job.  It means a lot.  My friends are all fine, thank goodness.  There still hasn’t been a job opportunity available for me to take in the counseling field (or a full time job that I’ve applied for that’s not in my field), but I did pass the NCE (that test I was so worried about at the beginning of May)!

I have, however, found a temporary sort of job working on a food truck.  My boyfriend, who is a sous chef, naturally has a head chef at his restaurant.  The head chef has a girlfriend who is also a chef (I’m surrounded by amazing cooks!) and it’s her food truck that I’m working on.  It’s not every day but it will hopefully be enough to pay bills!  That’s exciting in itself, and it’s an added bonus that it’s really fun!  The food truck is a mobile restaurant called The Herban Legend, and the food is “international street food.”  I’ve tried most everything, from the shawarma to the Chicago dog to the gazpacho, and it’s all amazing!  We go to breweries and events such as concerts or parties around Charlotte.  The heat is a bit rough — it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside the other day (32 degrees Celsius, I believe), so add the additional heat that builds up inside a vehicle in the summer and then add the heat from a flat-top grill and a fryer and, well, you get the idea.  I sweat so much that my clothes stick to me and the Band-Aids covering the blisters on my ankles are just sliding right off, haha.  Despite the heat, I have a great time with the lovely chef I’m working with and it’s really nice to be doing something to earn money!  I’m very much enjoying it.

Anyway, that’s enough about me.  As always, thanks for stopping by, and that next CAL post should automatically pop up Saturday morning (I’ll check it, just to be safe).  Bye everyone!

Comments

  1. Amanda Hensley says:

    Hi Hannah,
    I am one of the late comes from Australia to this CAL, starting tonight. Please give me an idea of how much wool is needed per colour.
    This is sooooo exciting, thanks for a lovely project.

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    • Im so glad to have you along! as to your question, it really depends on what kind of yarn you’re going to use, what hook, and how big you want your blanket to be. If you use a DK weight yarn and a G/6/5mm hook like I am doing, I can give you a guideline. I’m going to try making a throw/lap blanket out of 10 colors/skeins, each of my skeins of Stylecraft Special DK having 295 meters, with one additional color for the border. If you want to make a twin size, I’d get two of each of the 10 colors but still just one skein for the border. That might be enough to make a double size but I’d get three of each of the 10 colors and two border skeins, just to be safe. That should do a queen size, but I’ve never made a blanket that big before so I can’t say for sure. I hope this is helpful — if you have more questions don’t hesitate to ask! And again, I’m glad to have you along! 🙂

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  2. It is a stunning project. Just wanted to say good for you for doing “other” work while waiting for a more suitable opportunity. Nothing ever goes to waste, and who knows, your first novel one day might be centred around food trucks and chicago-dog eaters 🙂

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  3. It might not be your dream job but its fantastic life experience. Mr P worked as a dog catcher ( he has the scars to prove it!) and drove a street sweeper in his younger days when he couldn’t get work. Makes for fantastic stories now!!

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  4. Thanks for the teaser. I think I know which stitch it is but I have no idea how to do it. 🙂 I can’t wait for 12:01 to get here. I might stay up late just to see. 🙂
    I also appreciate the life update, I have been wondering if you had gotten a job and moved, as you thought you might have to do. While the job is not all you had hoped for, I think you and other commenters are right – it is what it is, enjoy it while it lasts, and learn from it. Abraham Lincoln said one of my favorite quotes “most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” There is something good about almost everything. I have a niece who is one year out of college, and has patched together an interesting array of part time work to fill her checkbook and her resume. None of it is what she thought she would be doing, but she is finding something to learn in all of it. I think you have that same outlook, and it is refreshing to be around (even just on a blog.)

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    • You’re right! My boyfriend has been telling me the same thing for a few months now and I’ve really started to just be happy in the moment, knowing I do what I can. I love that quote, too!

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  5. Thank you for arranging the wonderful CAL! I’m thoroughly enjoying myself and I love getting to see the next few rows every week!

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  6. Kathryn Rubidoux says:

    I wondered how your job search was going, at least you found something and it’s with people you like. You can start a blog called the culinary counselor, where you analyze people based on their preferred comfort foods. Yes? No? Love the CAL, no I haven’t started yet, but I’m thinking I will make a pillow following your pattern so it shouldn’t be long before I get up to speed.

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  7. enjoy your stress free life Hannah, and about all the good food, enjoy!!!….I am enjoying the CAL progress too, you are doing a great job, I love the pics 🙂

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    • Thank you! I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I’m glad I’m doing the pics too because they seem to be helpful for quite a few people! Plus it makes the posts more interesting. 🙂

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