Finished Sweater

sewing sleeve up the side (look at the yarn ugh)

 So I went to the textiles studio so she could be there while I sewed the shoulder to the sweater. It took a little longer than it probably would have had I been at home doing it.  Then she insisted on trying it on.  It looked good, and it will look even better with the grey and beige stripped oxford shirt underneath.  I did mention that we needed to find something to spray it with (due to the yarn used --- cotton from a barrell that we turned into yarn), because it is so heavy, it pulls on the stitches when it hangs on the body.  I'm not sure if she ever sprayed it with anything.  She is currently in Charleston, SC for Fashion Week --- I can't wait to see how it came out with the complete outfit.

 

sweater sewn together

(FYI its inside out)

This was written to me by a friend

I figure if I post it here, I'll never have to go searching for it through my inbox again lol. I hope to print it one day, because whether it is known or not, this touched me deep inside.  It gives me hope, makes me smile, and reminds me to keep going (when I sometimes forget) .....

Great things done by great people are not always seen as greatness by the world around them. This could be due to a number of different factors: looks, background, superficial nonsense, etc., but that does not take away from the level of greatness in their existence. Just because society does not see something, does that mean it does not exist? No, it does not. If you can do something in this life, and know that it was good for you, or what you had and or wanted to do, then it is just that. No one has to accept something for it to exist. If you can believe in what you do, then others will have no choice in the end but to accept whatever it is as great, and move on. The thing about greatness is it has no set size, characteristics, color or smell. It does not make a difference whether you are a single mom, struggling to get by, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. You can be equal in importance in this life, as well as equal in your level of accomplishments.

You show me a mother who comes from a rough childhood, has a kid early on in life, and picks up the pieces of her mistakes and does what is best for her and her child; gives him a home, a good upbringing with positive morals; a kid who knows it is better to work for something than to steal; a kid who knows that it is ok that mommy has made a mistake or two in her life, and may have to pay for her them for a while, but still knows that does not change the way he loves her or she loves him, and you will show a much more successful and great person than any CEO in the world. She has managed to prove herself to be great through her child. Her offspring is an extension of herself; she has both created, and molded a human being that can grow up to pass along these positive morals and characteristics along to not only whatever children they may have, but also to other human beings they may come in contact with throughout their life.

So to you Nicole, I want you to know: I have learned a great deal from you of strength, will, determination, and courage. You have exhibited all of these attributes in the time I have known you. You have done great with your son, and with yourself as well. Thank you for providing a great set of morals for your son, and for those around you. You truly are an amazing human being, and I hope you grow to realize and believe in the greatness of you. I thank you for existing. :]

Written By : J.E.P.

Living Life As A Felon

I probably could have come up with a better title for this. And I'm going to write for now (help me get ready for bed) and edit and add more later.  I plead guilty to my first two felonies not long after I turned 18.  One day I will go into what those felonies are and the story behind them.  I had a public defender (stupid me) and plead guilty pretty quickly because I had real life still going on and couldn't keep going to court.  I could have beat the case.  But I plead guilty to get it over with, not knowing what it really meant.  I got 3 years of probation, and that was difficult and easy at times.  Anyways, as the months turned into years, having felonies got harder and harder.  Not only could I not take certain programs in college, but I couldn't find a real job.  Eventually I found a family owned company that didn't do background checks.  I didn't lie, they just never asked.  I worked there until that company eventually went under and closed.  A month before the company laid me off, I escaped from a bad relationship.  This is when I realized that apartment complexes, Realtors, etc do background checks and I couldn't find anywhere in my area that would rent to me.  I finally found an apartment out in another town about 40 minutes from my house, job and child's school.  It was far, but they didn't do background checks, the complex and apartment was awesome and the rent was super freaking cheap.  One week after I moved in, I got laid off. Great, now I have no income but I still have to commute 40 minutes to take my son to school each day. I did receive unemployment which I budgeted very well and survived for awhile.  Two months before my lease ended, a neighbor set our building on fire (by accident).  Maybe this was a blessing, because I certainly didn't have an income to move somewhere else.  But because of the fire, Red Cross and other services were provided.  I found a private owner to rent to me in Raleigh, and I explained to him my background. I lived there for a year before my lease ended and I left my spouse for good. I moved my son and I into my moms house.  Working here and there when I could find work. 

I am now once again unemployed and have $0 income.  I have been unemployed since July 2010.  I lived off my savings for awhile.  And I have currently been looking for work since November 2010.  I am currently on probation for another matter (this one I WAS guilty of) for 3 years, with a suspended sentence of 3 years.  It has been specifically written in my probation that I have 120 days to gain and maintain employment in an establishment that doesn't serve alcohol.  So here my headache begins.  #1 anywhere I apply has to hire felons (supposedly there are tons), #2 they cant serve alcohol (so no waitressing or bartending for me), #3 they have to be relatively close to my residence because I don't have a drivers license and wont for 3 more years, and #4 I have to be off work in time to get my son from the bus stop by 3pm. Wow huh.  Really narrows it down. There are tons of bars, clubs, restaurants around my area that I could get a job at immediately, but opps, they serve alcohol.  Ive looked online for administrative/clerical positions. But those are 9-5 --- and i cant work til 5. 

I have used every resource that I can find through my county and state that are established to help ex offenders and whatnot.  There are many resources for individuals getting straight out of prison, which I'm not.  I was given a list of company's that hire felons, WOTC participants (they get a tax credit for hiring felons) -- but of course out of the 25 that are on the list, online 4 of them are in my county, and I have heard back from none of them.  I was also told that I could get bonded.  The state will bond me (like insurance), but I haven't come across a way that that can help me.  And I was also recently given a 3 page list of companies that have been known to hire felons.  Ive gone through most of them.  1/4 of them are trucking/transportation companies (no good, i have no license), another 1/4 have no locations in NC, another 1/4 I'm not qualified for, and the other 1/4 i have no idea of how to apply lol.

I'm writing this on March 7, 2011.  My probation states I must have employment by March 15,2011.  If by that date, I don't have a job, I will then me violated, given a court date to go in front of the probation court and see what happens.  The judge could say screw you and send me straight to prison for my 3 year prison sentence, OR he could tell me to keep looking (because I'm going to provide him with all my job search efforts).  I'm hoping for the 2nd one.  If I get to continue on probation, i still have to have a job or be in school while on probation period.  That goes for everyone.  I comply with all classes and treatment I require, I also pass all my drug tests, make all my appointments on time, etc.  Oh yea, but even tho I managed to pay off my restitution in full, I still have a monthly $40 supervision fee, and I'm already behind $160.

They hold you down, and give you no way to get up.

But they wonder why people who get out of prison, etc go back to selling drugs, gang banging, robbing people, etc.  We felons, have no other choice. I'm not trying to make excuses or justify illegal avenues, but I know that finding a job, staying out of prison, raising my son, living my daily life, planning and thinking of my goals and aspirations is a DAILY thing for me.  I obsess over finding a job.  Some days it gets so depressing its debilitating.

Well I'm not out of days yet, so Ill keep on chugging.

Baby Dreads

Started December 2010 (Today is March 6th 2011) 

I'd say they are coming along nicely.  Can't wait for them to tighten up more <3

Knitting Update

So I have sewn up the sides of the sleeves, up to the bicep line.  And I managed to sew up the sides of the sweater by gluing the scrap yarn together lol.  But I really had no other choice.  Since it wasn't a yarn that we could purchase, I had to do something.  Right now, all that really has to be done is to sew the shoulders to the sweater, but she wants to be there.  And because I don't drive and she can't drive right now, we haven't been able to get together.  Which isn't good because we are running very close to our deadline.

Our deadline is March 14th.  That's 8 days away.  Not only have we not finished the sweater.  But the hat/scarf, is FAR from being completed.  I finished the scarf part of it, but I can't proceed any further.  I need more yarn, and I have to figure out how to design the hat piece and the connecting piece.  There is no telling how long that will take.  It's kind of frustrating me and scaring me at the same time.

Then she emailed me with a third garment that she wanted done.  The third one will be extremely easy, but very time consuming! And I don't have the yarn for that yet either.  So I have 3 garments to finish in 8 days.  And there are 12 items in her line that she designed.  I'm really hoping she has almost finished the other items.

We haven't discussed what she is paying me.  We started to in the very beginning but that was only for the sweater, and the amount she came to me with wasn't and isn't sufficient.  We will figure it out and I'm not too concerned about it.

She was supposed to get the materials and whatnot to me Friday, and something happened.  Saturday then turned into Sunday, and I haven't heard from her today. I guess because there is nothing I can do, I'll just wait and be hopeful.

The Accident --- sweater must go on

sleeve with no shoulder

To the designer that I am creating this sweater for was in a bad car accident the night following our meeting.  I found out a few days later.  She is on crutches and has a neck brace because she fractured her spine.  But she is still designing the rest of her clothing line.  I had our friend take me over to the textiles studio at NCSU were she was working.  She finally got the yarn for the other item/garment Im creating for her.  We pinned the sweater (front and back) to a mannaquin to see how it looked.  The sleeve would fit perfect.  But we ran into yet another dilemma, the remaining pattern piece and yarn that I needed to connect the other sleeve to the sweater (because its a cowl neck) wasnt going to happen.  She realized there was no more of that yarn (and since it was handmade cotton, we couldnt purchase any).  I suggested that we connect it with the grey that we used on the ribbing, but she thought that would throw things off.  So instead, she decided that she wanted me to remove some rows from the sleeve, starting at the top of the shoulder, all the way down to the bicep line.  Oh yea, what fun and difficult this would be. But I managed.  I will hopefully be meeting her this week to sew the sweater together (she finally got the yarn needed to sew it).  Even I am excited beyond words.

Sweater Continued -- Making the front & back

Front of Sweater

So I was given one pattern piece for the front and the back. I found it very funny that (starting at the bottom) the sleeve was wider than the sweater.  Again I had to go with a trial and error type pattern design (that I'm designing to create the sweater she drew).  So every so often I had to take the stitches off of the needles and place it (stretch it out) over the paper pattern to make sure it fit.  Then I did some more equations and problem solving to use the right stitches, increases, decreases, etc.  Starting at the bottom it was pretty square shaped for awhile, until I started getting towards the armholes and neckline.  One side needed to be decreased for the armhole minimally, while the other side had to have dramatic work, because the neckline is a swoop/half cowl.   So I decreased drastically repeatedly on one side and then stop and continue for awhile to make it up to the one shoulder. Luckily I wrote it all down as I went (in my version of pattern writing, since Ive never done one).  And because the back of the sweater is identical, all i had to do was the reverse.  But unlike the sleeves were I could copy the pattern I wrote identically, I had to reverse the pattern I wrote for the back because it was opposite.  Boy was that fun, but I figured it out. Go me! I do rock if I say so myself.

waistband

Eventually the designer had time to meet with me.  And I brought all the pieces with me (2 sleeves w/cuffs and front and back).  She fell in love immediatly.  That gave me a great feeling (I know my knitting is great, but i completely designed this, and somebody else truely adored it).  I brought up the fact that maybe we could add a waistband (like the cuffs).  And she loved the idea.  That brought up a bit of a dilemma because unlike the sleeves, the front and back had an odd number of stitches at the base.  There were 15.  Well you cant make a ribbing with an uneven number.  So as I picked up the stitches at the base of the sweater, I kinda had to pick up (create) an extra stitch.  But once I figured it out and made sure that I picked up the stitches on the right side (so you couldnt see them) it went quickly and I had JUST enough yarn. 

I did come across one dilemma while adding the waistband.  When you castoff (finish your knitting/get to last row) the method used, is tight and doesnt allow for any stretch.  Well, if I expected a model to get this roomy chunky sweater over her bust, I would need some give.  I finally came up with the solution.  Even though I used size 17 needles on the ribbed waistband, when I got to the last row to castoff, I used a size 50 needle (the ones I used for the main sweater).  So it wasnt as tight. Yah me.

Close-up of ribbed waisteband