Weekend Jaunts for Jet-Setters

It used to be such a sign of prestige to be someone who flew to various places as part of their work.  And one of the perks was being able to fly off for long weekends to somewhere fun and exciting.

Vegas Baby!
So, I decided I'd try and take advantage of the flight-savvy among us, and take a long weekend in Las Vegas.

A co-worker pal of mine and I got free rooms at a hotel just a block off the strip, and instead of flying to our respective homes this past weekend, we took a detour to sin-city.

Believe it or not, other than layovers in the Las Vegas airport, I had never been to Las Vegas.

We went to buffets, went to see a Cirque du Soleil show (Zumanity), gambled, got a facial (the respectable kind!), had oxygen at an oxygen bar, and went to an amazing restaurant/nightclub.  Here are some random photos I snapped on the iPhone.

No...I was not hospitalized...I was rejuvenating with 90% oxygen.

This is actually a wine storage "cellar" with elevators...impressive.

First Class Knitting and Facials
On the flight to Vegas, I was upgraded to first class.  Sitting in the front row of the plane, I pulled out my knitting as soon as I boarded and the passenger across the aisle got very excited, because she had recently learned to knit, and had her knitting with her as well.

Her knitting was excellent for someone who learned so recently, and it was a blast getting to chat with another obsessed knitter during the flight.

While in Vegas, I decided to treat myself to a facial.  There were a couple of spas that used the skin care products my Spa-Manager/Friend recommended for me (Epicuren Skin Care products ), and one of the spas was right in my hotel.  I don't know how I've lived without a facial up to this point in my life.  It was INCREDIBLE and truly made me feel rejuvenated...in every sense of the word.

Plus, as a bonus, I found BY FAR the best lip balm I have ever used (the Skin Care professional at the spa put it on my lips right at the end of the facial).



 This stuff is amazing...it feels kind of oily, but absorbs into my lips practically instantaneously and doesn't look like I"m wearing lip gloss.

Current Knitting/Spinning
I'll post photos in the next blog entry, but I finished the pair of socks from the yarn I got at the Rocky Mountain Men's Knitting retreat last July from Skeindelous Yarns.  I ended up undoing the bind-off on the first sock and making them both a bit longer to make use of the very generous yardage of the yarn.

Believe it or not, I also finally finished spinning the singles of the Optim Merino top.  I will ply it this coming weekend when I'm back home.

I did a minimal amount of work on the Koigu Linen Stitch scarf as well.

Creativity, Productivity and Material Success

In my mind, there aren't many folks that combine all these factors in one.  I tend to believe that most folks focus on one or two of the three and considered the third somewhat less important.

The Whole Package

I know a lot of people who are productive and materially successful.  The hard-working types who do a lot of work and "get ahead" through determination.  These folks typically don't have a lot of creative outlets in their life.  I also know a lot of people who are incredibly creative and and could come up with 101 ways to re-use a coffee can that would amaze and astound others with the resulting beauty.  Yet often these creative types don't care to exercise that same level of creativity in marketing themselves and leveraging their creativity for material success.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think anyone should feel obliged to meet some standard of success in any of the three areas, but I do think that having some level of balance in all three of these areas has given me a strong sense of accomplishment in my life.

While my aptitude lies more in the area of Productivity and Material Success has come as a result, I honestly wish that I had more innate creativity than I do.  Being creative takes a lot of work for me and comes more by trial and error than by inspiration or some in-bred sense of aesthetic taste.  I guess most people are inclined to want what they don't have, and it's certainly true for me in this regard.

I look at someone like Kaffe Fasset or Trisha Malcolm and see people who have seemingly taken something about which they are passionate, and parlayed that passionate creativity (along with an incredibly strong work ethic) into something materially successful, and I revere that quality in them.

I will always encourage the risk it takes for a creative person to embark on a path of material success because when it's successful, it can be a truly amazing thing.

New Ventures
In that light, there is an amazingly creative and energetic soul who has been busy promoting the fiber arts, and he's got a new concept going that I think is fantastic.  Kyle William has begun a new series entitle Fiberguys (no, it's NOT a new laxative for men!), highlighting and encouraging the creative side of men in the knitting and fiber community.  His first interview is with one of my favorite knitter/spinner guys, Aaron Bush.  Suffice it to say, I will be following this series closely and will hopefully be able to find the up and coming, new and inspiring creative guys who I can try and help promote.

I'd also like to highlight a new independent yarn dyer in the U.K., Jon Dunn-Ballam, who is doing some amazing work.  Franklin has also encouraged this newcomer with good reason, and I would like to try and further expose the creatively beautiful work he's been doing.

Current Knitting
Just so you know, Linen Stitch progresses at a snail's pace...especially when there are more than 500 stitches in each row.

But as you can see, I am progressing on the Koigu Linen Stitch Scarf, and I am loving each and every minute color combination this pattern and yarn are creating.


I also want to note that I have been considering going from the current US4 needle to a US5 or 6 for the second half of the scarf, hoping to get a nice soft ruffle as Barb Brown described in her comments.   But I'm terrified that it won't come out how I envision it, and I'll have to rip it out and re-do it.  I don't know if I could take the rejection.

Work Ethic

Throughout my working life, I have often been surprised when someone else's reason for working is different than mine.

Not My Job
One of my least favorite expressions is "Not my job."  Saying that to a boss is telling the boss that they're mistaken and you won't be doing what they asked.  Saying it to a customer is just downright lazy and bad customer service.  Saying it to a co-worker, usually is a way of expressing disdain or disrespect.

Either do what's requested of you, or find some other way of replying;
"Let me find someone that can help you with that." 
"I'm not sure I can help you with that, do you mind waiting while I find Nick?  He's the expert."
"I'm sorry, the only person that can help you with that is out right now.  Can I have them contact you?"
"That role has been re-assigned to Julie, but I'd be glad to help out if she's not around."
"Jason's the person you need to speak to about that.  Do you have his number?"

A helpful attitude, even if faked, is always better than "Not my job."

Current Knitting
For those of you who couldn't find me on Pinterest, my current project is going to be a Linen Stitch scarf made with multiple colorways of Koigu KPPPPPPM (you can NEVER have too many P's).

The scarf is knit lengthwise on hundreds and hundreds of stitches, changing colorways any time you feel like it.

I love the way the Linen Stitch blends all the colors in each Koigu colorway, and even in areas where the colors pool a little, they never do it too much to create a blotchy colored fabric.  I also love how different sections of the scarf can look so different based on how the colors change in the yarn.

Normally, Koigu takes a US3 (3.25 mm) needle and I've gone up to a US4 (3.5 mm).  I kind of wish I had gone up to a US5 (3.75 mm), but I'm not going to rip it all out now.

2011 Blog Results
There's really on one result last year for my blog.

66 Meager Posts
Yes, in 365 days last year, I was only able to post blog entries on 66 of those days.  All the other results are affected by this.  Readership, number of other sites linking to mine, google hits, number of comments, etc., etc., etc.

Regardless, the blog results last year were pathetic, and I'm trying to make sure that I put a lot more effort goes into QueerJoe this year.

Even if I only post a short entry (like today's).

Current Knitting
With the completion of the nephew cardigan, I started a new project (instead of going back to works in progress, like the Hexapuff blanket).

Can you guess what it is?  If you followed me on Pinterest, you'd know.

Actually, I was knitting in the newly remodeled Courtyard Marriott room, and I just liked all the colors of the little tableau, so I took a photo.

Here's a close up of what I'm making (if it helps).

Stay tuned if you see something promising developing here.