• Knitting a sweater for my honey
  • Falling over in disbelief that school starts in less than two weeks
  • Trying to find a job

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The end...the beginning

So, I've decided to switch over to WordPress for my new knitting blog, kind of like a fresh start. I'm all set up over there, and I've even imported all my posts from this blog cuz that's a heck of a lot of stuff to just abandon completely. This blog will remain for now, but will no longer be updated. Please join me over at my new "Knitapeace" blog and continue with me on my knitting journey. :)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Just point me toward the bed

So. Four straight days (and half the nights) of nothing but knitting that darn sweater for Dan. And today at 2:48 pm I wove in the last end. It's finished, and just in time for his birthday party tonight. Now I'll grant you, the sweater has monkey arms. And even though it's a size large, it fits me like an XXL. But I still need to soak and block it, so I can (I hope) get rid of the saggies and maybe shorten up the sleeves a bit. I just needed to go ahead and wrap it first. I know he'll appreciate it; I just hope he wears it.

As for me, I'm headachy and bleary-eyed and drained. I just want to sleep, but we'll be taking Dan to his favorite diner for dinner and watching him unwrap his gifts. Rebecca did ALL the wrapping ALL by herself. :proud: I was lucky that I didn't seem to strain any muscles in my hands, arms, or back despite the fact that I did a *lot* of knitting with very few breaks. In fact, for the past four days while the kids were at school I only stopped to eat and do a little laundry. I know it was dangerous, and I'm going to take a knitting break for the weekend. After that I have two pairs of nearly-complete socks on the needles that I want to finish before October. A group on Ravelry will be knitting (I think) the Nutkin sock in October, and I'd like to join them.

Photos of the Cobblestone sweater to follow...I'm guessing it will take several days to dry.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Overcast with a chance of knitting

I have a feeling that this blog isn't going to be around for too much longer. I've come to the realization, after gradually unsubscribing to most of my digiscrapping newsletters, that I'm probably not a scrapbooker at all anymore. All my free time and most of my brain space are devoted to knitting now. I haven't scrapped a page in months. And I kind of don't want to have my main web identity to have the word "scrap" in it anymore. So probably over the next few weeks I'll scope out some new blog possibilities, probably just stick with good ol' Blogger but better to see what my options are, and then I'll let anyone who still checks in know where I've gone to.

So, no go on that job. At least, I never got called for an interview so I assume it's no-go. My mom tells me to be patient, that the gears grind slowly at a public institution, but after a month I have the feeling that it's not going anywhere. I still have my eyes open, but I can't imagine anything more perfect than the situation I tried for.

The kids are starting a new venture tonight...karate. Dan isn't thrilled because he thinks it's too "disciplined and militaristic." Me, I don't go for militaristic either but I think the discipline is exactly what a couple of smart-but-slacker kids need. Heck, I probably should get my butt out there too for all that. The best part is that they'll be in the same class at the same time, so no going back and forth four nights a week like with soccer. And I can sit and KIP while they learn. I hope there are chairs or bleachers or something.

School is going well. Rebecca is taking advanced math and hates it. So far, each "problem of the day" has been incredibly difficult, and she doesn't like it when she can't breeze through stuff. The worksheets aren't bad at all, but they take a bit more time than she spent on math last year. I think as she gets into it, things will be better. She can do it, she just doesn't want to work that hard (see the "slacker" reference in the karate paragraph above). Ben is doing very well. He just did his reading evaluation and is now set into his reading level (level M, whatever that means). At home he's reading the Animorphs series of books right now, which is really at a fourth or fifth grade level, so I think he's doing fine for a second grader. :) He still has his hazy, out-of-focus moments, but they seem to be fewer than last year. Fingers crossed.

Today: I'll be running between the washing machine and the sleeves of Dan's Cobblestone. I was really, really hoping I'd have it done for his birthday, which is Friday, but that's looking less and less likely as the days float by. I'm past the sleeve increases and just knitting around, and around, and around, and around...I'm looking forward to attaching the sleeves to the body and hitting the home stretch of the yoke. If I get a lot done today, I'll be more optimistic about hitting my deadline. He knows it won't be done in time and he's totally okay with it. I'd just like to surprise him by getting it done in time.