I'm not dead yet!*

Yay, miss ewe! How did you know I was so stressed for blog material? That was so nice of you to write something I could lift without feeling guilty!

Mark with bold the things you have knit (or are knitting), with italics the ones you plan to do sometime, and leave the rest. (UNLESS OF COURSE YOU USE A MAC WHICH BLOGGER HATES AND SO I HAVE TO WRITE YES NO OR SOMEDAY - GRRRR)

Afghan - Y
I-cord - N
Garter stitch - Y
Knitting with metal wire - N
Shawl - N
Stockinette stitch - Y
Socks: top-down - Y
Socks: toe-up - Y
Knitting with camel yarn - N
Mittens: Cuff-up - Y
Mittens: Tip-down - N
Hat - Y
Knitting with silk - N
Moebius band knitting - N (and I have to say, I don't get the whole moebius thing. I'm weird.)
Participating in a KAL - N
Sweater - Y
Drop stitch patterns - Y
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn - N
Slip stitch patterns - Y
Knitting with banana fiber yarn (wait, is this serious?) - N
Domino knitting (=modular knitting) - N
Twisted stitch patterns - Y
Knitting with bamboo yarn - Y
Two end knitting (I don't even know what this IS)
Charity knitting - Y
Knitting with soy yarn - N
Cardigan (zippy hoodie) - MAYBE
Toy/doll clothing - N
Knitting with circular needles - Y
Baby items - Y
Knitting with your own handspun yarn - N, and it will never happen, either!
Slippers - N
Graffiti knitting - N
Continental knitting - Y
Designing knitted garments - N
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran) - Y
Lace patterns - Y
Publishing a knitting book - HA HA
Scarf - Y
Teaching a child to knit - Y
American/English knitting - Y
Knitting to make money - N
Buttonholes - Y
Knitting with alpaca - Y
Fair Isle knitting - NOT YET
Norwegian knitting - N (drool)
Dying with plant colors - N
Knitting items for a wedding - N
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…) - Y
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on one or two circulars - Y
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn - Y
Knitting with dpns - Y
Holiday related knitting - Y
Teaching a male how to knit - N
Bobbles - EW!
Knitting for a living - Again, drool
Knitting with cotton - Y
Knitting smocking - N
Dying yarn - N
Steeks - N (whimper)
Knitting art - N
Knitting two socks on two circulars simultaneously - No, but now my brain hurts
Fulling/felting - N
Knitting with wool - Y
Textured knitting - Y
Kitchener stitch - Y
Purses/bags - N
Knitting with beads - N
Swatching - Y
Long Tail CO - Y
Entrelac - N
Knitting and purling backwards - maybe unintentionally!
Machine knitting - N
Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegated yarn - Y
Stuffed toys - N
Baby items - Y
Knitting with cashmere - N
Darning - Y
Jewelry - N
Knitting with synthetic yarn - Y
Writing a pattern - N
Gloves - N
Intarsia - N
Knitting with linen - N
Knitting for preemies - N
Tubular CO - N
Freeform knitting - N
Short rows - Y
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers - Y
Pillows - Y
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine - Y
Rug - N
Knitting on a loom - N
Thrummed knitting - N
Knitting a gift - Y
Knitting for pets - N
Shrug/bolero/poncho - Y
Knitting with dog/cat hair - N
Hair accessories - N
Knitting in public - Y!!!!!

*Monty Python, I love you.

mo half fo

It's Monday, and one half has been finished.





This is an ankle (ish) sock for my friend Donna, seen here reclining gracefully and enjoying the late afternoon sunshine that is so sweet today. The toe is a bit pointier than I had anticipated, even though I left twelve stitches on each needle for Kitchnering. But I spread it out on my hand and it seemed okay.

I like this yarn a lot. It's the thinnest sock yarn I've knit with yet, and I've never used size 0 (US) needles before. I'm amazed I haven't bent them into crochet hooks, they're so delicate!

I still haven't finished the Monsoon socks. I don't know why I don't like it, I just don't. I am looking forward to the new yarn that came, but not with that pattern. Plain socks make me smile, so plain they shall be.

Have a lovely week.

Random (i.e., no photos)

1. I'll be getting my third crown in May (sympathies to Norma who'll be going through Number 1). Thanks for the good bone structure, Mom.

2. The forsythia have bloomed, and I should have planted the peas already, but we were away the whole (first) nice weekend we had. So we will have late peas. God knows about the potatoes.

3. Never wear a grey bra under a pink sweater.

4. My Snickerdoodle is out camping with her Biology class for the next three days. Almost all grown up yet can't stop playing in the mud.

5. I can't miss a Gilmore Girls re-run.

6. Some days I'm so drained when I get home from teaching I'd love to eat mashed potatoes and go to bed.

Wow, how'd that happen?

After finishing the perfect sweater, I went back to the STR Monsoon socks, and I guess I just didn't want to have the yarn in my hands reflecting the morose weather outside. Needing a baby gift for next week, this happened:




Did a little more on the Monsoon, especially when there was darkened-theater knitting to be done. Yet I went through the boxes, found some of this:



and cast on for another sock. I am LOVING this. It's Greater Adirondack Yarn in the Soxie Heather color - it's like a colorful peacock in my hands! I'm using size 0 (US) needles, and it just feels right.

Not perfect

It's finished!!

Here's the V-neck with seed stitch I opted for. The one side looks oogly, but I was so happy that it came together, I'll figure out what went wrong later:




Now here's a charming photo of my arm, apparently giving the closet a perfect punch with the perfect sleeve:




Don'tcha just LOVE that shiny bra action I've got going on? Do you think anybody at school today told me I was looking a bit glisteny around the breasticle area? No, of course not. Probably had spinach in my teeth, too.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that it's too big. YES, I swatched. YES, I followed protocol and kept measuring. YES, I blocked before I sewed, then blocked again. (And YES, Cascade 220 smells like wet hound while it's blocking.) It's just that, in my world, it's a giddy feeling when something's too big.

Anxiously awaiting the perfect sweater in the cardigan version! (hint hint Ann )

Some random for you Wednesday people.

1. Saw my first episode of HOUSE last night. Yeah, I'm marrying this show, it's *awesome*, where have I been?

2. We took a l-o-o-o-n-g drive to Ohio to visit The Ohio State University. Snickerdoodle is thinking of attending, so it was THE visit. She loved it. We did, too. But it's really far away. NINE hours of driving.

3. Junior prom is Friday night (yes, the 13th). She's very excited.

4. Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite reads.

5. Still using the Kodak. Eh.

Oh, yes, there's been knitting

These are all the pieces I have so far of the perfect sweater; the back and two sleeves with a seed stitch border. I'm amazed because the border is not curling, but flipping up.




One sleeve top, one sleeve bottom. What's that? You can't tell the difference? Trust me. They're different. This is their cute-as-a-bug-curling-all-over-the-place-haven't-had-a-bath-yet portrait. I'll be using my SOAK for the first time with this baby, can't wait! Grapefruit scented!




This is the back. Okay, enough said.




This sad picture is the first time I've been a victim of the disappearing yarn. Every pair of socks I've knitted -- whoa.

Wait a minute.

I learned to knit socks last year, during the Olympics.

I've now knit NINE PAIRS. This is my tenth.

Wow.

I just needed to reflect on that for a minute.

Anyway, every pair of socks I've knitted I've had lots of yarn left over. This is the first time I've been betrayed, and I'm having a tough time accepting that they've broken my heart. See them languishing so devil-may-care on the hardworking back of the perfect-to-be sweater? No shame, I tell you. I'll have to rip everything out and re-knit, because that little bit is only enough for my big toe (without nail polish). grrrr . .. . . . . . .

And now, my own artistically phallic shot of the Socks That Rock club sock, posing gracefully on a Poland Spring water bottle, looking out over the melting snow in the backyard:



(still educating myself about a camera. Canon?)

What Keeps You Going?

Yesterday I had to take a sick day for a doctor's appointment. Yes, a whole day for one appointment, because the doctor only comes in on Wednesdays and he's only available between 9 and noon. I have a dentist's appointment Friday at 4. Gee, wouldn't it have been nice if I could have combined the two in one day? But the dentist doesn't work on Wednesdays, and I've been waiting four weeks for this appointment, anyway.

The appointment went fine, but I wondered how it could be that you could actually have a business and proclaim that you will only be "open" when it suits you. I guess when your Health Care Provider (everybody snicker now) decides who you get to see, you see them on their terms.

So I went back to work today, and I was so frustrated and angry and sad and depressed I wanted to cry. And scream. And throw a heavy black metal music stand through the windows.

I have concluded that this stressful job is doing a number on my health. Now, it's not fair to my husband to shoulder the entire burden of providing financial stability but it's not fair to me to become a raving lunatic capable only of staring at computer screens and television screens when I get home. I can't even concentrate on a book anymore, I keep reading the same paragraphs waiting for sense to sink in.

So I will be looking for another teaching job, but I'm sure I will have next to no luck. I know I'm a very good teacher, but that has nothing to do with it. How high on the salary scale, how far is the commute, how much am I willing to stay after school, etc.

I wish I had the power and position to say "I'm sorry, I'm only available for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, between the hours of 9:30 and 2:30" and have people calling ME a month in advance begging to see me.

So when you know it's impossible for the situation to change, and you have to just bear with it until something else can be done, what keeps you going? Besides the knitting. Give me something to focus on other than this rampant pity party I'm creating here.

(I'm secretly shopping for a camera. Talk to me about that, too!)