In my efforts to prepare for my (soon-to-be) eventual move, I repacked and re-organized some of the stuff that has been stored in the garage for the last three years. Over that time, I’ve gotten a new handmixer, a new blender, new cutlery, new cookware utensils and a variety of other items, so I needed to start the pile of things to “gift” to Goodwill. I heaved boxes, I moved heavy things and I did it all by myself.
Well this morning, I paid the piper with that idea. My whole lower back is aching and my hamstrings. I’ve pretty much been immobilized finding any movement to be unsuitable and cruel and unusual punishment. So what did I do? I knit.
I finished the Yoga Mat Bag from Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation. It turned out a little shorter than the pattern indicated. (I didn’t realize until it was too late I was 20 stitches short and I didn’t have the heart to redo the pattern again. See previous post.) But the yoga mat fits in the darned thing and with the strap, only needed one skein. With those added stitches, that would not have occurred. So I’m pretty happy with it (mainly because now it’s done, off the project wishlist queue and out of my life forever!). I swear, it was the lace stitch, not any pattern error or anything like that.
Friday evening, when I was exhausted from my afternoon burdens, I watched One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. It was an interesting movie and I can see why it’s been honored with an AFI nod (it apparently was the first major film documenting the operation of a mental hospital at the time of its XX release). I told Netflix that I give it a three out of five stars.
Today, again, completely unable to move, allowed me to check out An Officer And A Gentleman and Sense And Sensibility (a AFI 400 flick). Both were really good and soothed my inner romantic. I just knit, knit, knit away through both. I got back to the Eyelet Scarf and the striping is really working out! I’m going back and forth between the tannish color and purple color completely two sets of all 18 rows before switching colors. I only have one skein of each color so the scarf is probably going to be fairly short but oh so pretty. It’s naturally curling under it self nicely showcasing the stitch and making a little tube in the process. Here’s a shot from Saturday of my progress.
You may notice a resurgence of some long forgotten projects. I’m trying to empty out my project bin and tie up all these loose ends (literally! OK, dumb knitters joke). I still have second crocheted baby afghan to power through (hopefully this week), the second Clessidra sock, the second Thirassia sock (if the yarn ever comes in) and a Socks That Rock swatch for my Swatch Journal. After all of that, I can dive into the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. Yay for productivity!
Be inspired.
I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.
I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.
One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.
Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!
Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.
Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.
Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.
Kate is a real professional and a pleasure to work with. She is a great communicator and always put her client's (my company) interest first. She is tremendously personal and had a great understanding of our business and how she could help it. She is great and is a tremendous asset to any company.