Blah

So, we survived Sock Summit, and had a good time in Portland. I wish I had signed up for more classes, and taken several shorter classes instead of 2 long ones. Next time....I did buy some yarn, but was overall pretty good (the yarn purchases were my birthday present from hubby, so yay!). I would promise pictures, but we all know how that would turn out! :)

I did finish some socks for hubby's birthday, and I've seamed up several sweaters lately - pretty exciting huh? Not much knitting going on in the past few days, as we're getting ready for school to start tomorrow. I've been under a great deal of stress lately, since I got assigned a new classroom on Thursday night and had to set it all up by Friday at 7 for Meet the Teacher. Yikes. Still not all done. I also didn't find out what grade I was teaching until 5:30 Friday night. I'm a wee bit stressed. I'm not able to perform my usual stress relief (casting on 5 million projects) as I have no time for knitting (or blogging, but here we are).

I've been feeling a bit cranky lately about my knitting - lacking inspiration I think. I was fired up about Sock Summit, but then sad when I realized that I had no one to talk to who I thought would really "get" it. I love my knitting group, but that kind of experience doesn't translate well. I also have been really missing have a local yarn shop. I am still buying yarn here and there (mostly on trips this summer), but nothing compares to walking in and seeing what's new, what someone's just finished, etc. And I really really miss the people. I miss seeing folks I only knew through the store, or people I only saw every once in a while. I miss the vast variety of projects and colors and yarn choices. Ravelry is great, but it's not the same as seeing some things in person.

OK, that's enough crankiness for now - must go clean while the bambino is sleeping so we can play for a bit before bedtime - and then, more schoolwork!

Still breathing

But barely sometimes. We're still alive. Just incredibly busy. Barely knitting. Barely making through the day due to work stress. And this week our house decided to start falling down around us. Fantastic.

But next week is Spring Break (or, as one of my coworkers pointed out, spring break starts today at 3:10), and we have big home projects planned (as is traditional around here), and one of mine is to sew/knit/photo/blog. Hopefully my plan will work. Stay tuned for more, including 6 month pictures of The Bug (next Thursday - where has the time gone?).

Darn it!

So, a pictureless post, again. 

Last week was a bad week for socks - my embossed leaves socks, worn for the first time, blew out the toe (I knew I should have kitchenered it!). Grrr. 

And then hubby announced that he had holes in the bottoms of not one but two socks (separate pairs)!!! 

I find myself in need of a darning egg - any resources? I found a grand total of one on etsy and my googlefu must not be good today, as I can't find any. 

Bad week

I really had good intentions about blogging more. I was waylaid by lack of pictures (darn that winter early darkness!) last week, and by sickness of The Bug and myself. (Luckily, she's getting better, while I'm getting worse - lovely).

But the real blow to the week was the news late Saturday night that my second home and part of my heart, my LYS was closing. 

Hubby walked in after putting The Bug down for the night to find me crying. When I told him the news he said "I thought someone had died." And I do feel like something has died. The shop was a refuge for me, a place where I have made some amazing friendships. A place where I learned more about knitting, taking risks, being confident, than I had before it existed. Where I learned that my heart really lies in teaching - teaching knitting. I have missed working so dearly while on maternity leave these past few months. And now I won't work there again. It is heartbreaking. And while my close friendships will remain, and there will still be a knitting group somewhere else, all the people I knew as casual friends, and folks I saw every once in a while, will probably be gone. And that crushes me. I'm sure many of you can relate - the shop was a home for me. I was always comfortable there, from the first day I went in. I felt loved, welcomed, accepted. The Bug was showered with love, and gifts from these wonderful people. And to think that she won't grow up in that store breaks my heart. 

Tears are falling as I write this. And I know EZ said to knit on, through all crises. But what if the crisis is that I may run out of yarn to knit with? 

I'm not going to make it

I knew it was a little crazy to think I could get everything done. But I've done it in the past. I knew I had a baby - that's why I had a short list this year. But still, not going to happen. I have finished all of the gifts for anyone who is not my husband though, so that has to count for something. And he doesn't mind getting things on the 27th, or the 27th of December 2009. I might squeeze out the sweater and maybe the 1/2 sock left of one of the pairs. And one of the other socks is done, so I'll wrap it up and finish the pair this weekend. Again, my xmas sweater is not finished (the same one I had hoped to finish for last year). Perhaps it will be a priority in January. And it looks like  The Bug will not have a stocking this year, much to my dismay. Ah well, she's too little to know, and I have nothing for her stocking anyway. 

A sleeve cap, seaming, a zipper (agh!) and half a sock. I can do it. Right?

Grrr

My f***** computer is on the fritz again - and it wouldn't be such a big deal if the pictures from the shower and the sock pattern that is due tomorrow weren't locked inside it. And this is after we paid over $1000 to have it fixed two separate times last year. Cross your fingers - we can't afford a new computer right now, and I'm not paying to have it fixed again.

Ditto

Second verse, same as the first. No time to say much, no time to knit. Gah! But if you have time, and need a quick gift, why not a hat? Odessa is cute with or without beads. Fake Isle is one I've admired for a while, while Zee Bee appeals to my garter stitch side, and Calorimetry is quick and easy.

Ok. Off to knit.

Nothing

I got nothing. No pictures of knits in progress or finished. Nothing to say about my knits unless I say that I haven't gotten anything done since last night. I do have the second clog knit, now to knit two soles. Too bad we have another (unexpected) event tonight. Argh.

But for those of you who will be home, enjoy The Christmas Wish, A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker, Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, and Snowglobe (which kind of sucks, FYI).

While you're watching, if you need more knit ideas, whip up a pair of fingerless gloves. Try Fetching or Dashing. I also like the Endpaper Mitts and the Fingerless Mitts from Weekend Knitting. (I may have a pair of these hiding on the needles for me. For after Christmas, of course.)

Must think good, positive thoughts. Like how I'm going to stop sleeping and going to the gym in order to get some more knitting time.

Bubkis

For all my talk last week, I've managed to finish nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. I'm still close to finishing a few (and may actually accomplish that this week), but I didn't get anything of note done last week.

In all honesty, this school year is kicking my butt. I'm under constant scrutiny from my administration, I have the pressure of three state standardized tests weighing down on me, and the constant data gathering, benchmark taking, etc. on top of weekly day-to-day teacher tasks (grading, planning, meetings - and, well, teaching), mixed in with a new reading curriculum, and I'm exhausted. I'm lucky if I make it through 1, maybe 2 TV shows a night, and if I'm not in bed by 10, I'm a wreck the next day. (Man, I'm whiny.)

I'm also trying to get back in shape, so I'm getting up at the ugly end of dawn (4:45) every day to go to the gym before school. In an effort to make my family not the thing that suffers, my knitting is taking one for the team. Other than two socks that were really almost done, I don't think I've finished anything since school started two months ago.

I felt bad for a few weeks when I thought seriously about the number of projects I have going, (and one night I nearly had a heart attack when I counted them) but I've decided that if this is the way I deal with stress (as opposed to copious amounts of drinking) that this is the better choice. So cast on I will, and finish I might. I will try to refrain from buying more needles, in order to keep the WIP list below 100.

I know the blog's been boring for the past few weeks (few months if I really think about it), and I apologize. I really appreciate those of you who check in still, and leave a note every once in awhile. I know there's not much to see here, and there are many other blogs to read, and your time is valuable, so I feel unworthy that you spend it here (but I'm not complaining). I'm trying to stick to an every-other-day schedule, in order to motivate myself to do something. I'm going to not stress so much about the quality of the pictures in order that I might have a post about something.

There are several projects that you've never seen, so I'll try to dig them out every once in a while. I'm also working on a few secret projects, but I may tease you with them. I keep telling myself that there won't be a lot of Christmas knitting this year, but I told myself that last year, and that didn't stop me. So we'll see.

As Dory would say, I'm going to just keep knitting, just keep knitting, and if all I get is a few rows a night, someday it might equal a sweater. And if it's this winter, or next winter, I'll love it just the same. No pressure. Just knitting.

Run-by Fruiting*

There has been almost zero knitting progress this week, owing to the enormous amounts of schoolwork I've been doing. However, I did run into Michael's yesterday (for cute Mary Engelbreit Christmas stuff in the dollar section), and happened to bump into the clearance aisle, where they had Lion Wool for $2.00/ball. Um? Deal? Yeah!


I may have purchased enough of the red to make the cute skirt on the cover of Folk Style (sans flowers),

and enough grey for a project TBD.

Unfortunately, having enough knitting time to complete either of these projects (not to mention any of those already on my needles) is not looking so likely these days. I did, however, have enough time to rip the scarf, per y'all's advice, but now I don't know what to do with the yarn. I didn't quite have enough for my socks last time, and I don't really want to buy another skein of yarn for each (especially at $24.00/pop), so I need ideas. If you're interested in swapping for it, let me know (via email, since I can't reply to comments - knitnlit AT gmail DOT com).

*Every time someone uses the title "Drive-by blogging" for a post, I think of this line from Mrs. Doubtfire. One of my favorites.

Baby's been a bad, bad girl

I haven't been blogging much in general, and very few posts have had actual knitting content lately (beyond a few FO and notes about starting new projects!), but today is different! Today I bring you my nemesis.



Vanessa is really pissing me off. I found her. I cast on. The ribbing looked way too small. I thought "I don't want the ribbing making me look any more pudgy than I already am." I decided that I would knit the largest ribbing size, and not do any increases for the waist shaping. Mistake #1.

I never measured Vanessa. I never even glanced at the schematic for her. I thought, "Look at the picture. I looks long on the model. I won't need to add length. It'll be nice and long." Mistake #2.

I never held Vanessa up to me. I never tried her on prior to seaming everything and weaving in every end. Mistake #3.

The thing that's really pissing me off? I never have done any of the stupid things before. I'm usually very careful to look at the finished size measurements. I add length to almost everything I knit. I always measure, I always hold up pieces to myself and try it on as I seam.


Now I know the price I pay for being an arrogant knitter. I'll spare you the belly shot of me trying Vanessa on. It may scar you for life. To help solve the problem, I've bought another ball of yarn, and I've knit 3 more inches of ribbing. Now I have to figure out how to graft in ribbing. (I didn't pick up and knit down 'cause then my "v"s would have been facing the wrong way.) I haven't figured out a solution for the lack of waist shaping issue (other than eating an entire panful of brownies every night, which isn't really the look I'm going for today), but I'm thinking about trying to take it in in the seam somehow.

The ribbing is finished. The grafting should begin tomorrow. Don't blame me if I start more new projects instead (this would be in addition to the several I've started recently and haven't shown you yet. More on them later.).

Lesson learned? You are never "better" than your project, and don't trust models. This one probably had a torso measurement of 15".