Making Winter Bearable

My Favorite Thing

There are many things I would change about our home.   There is one giant thing I hope is here forever, our Jotul fire stove.  It’s my knitting spot, my reading spot, my man-I-just-gotta-warm-up-my-feet spot.  It’s turned into a gathering place for our family in the evenings, and it’s the best change we’ve ever made to our home.  Just seeing this photo on my page makes me warm and happy.

Ruby, this one’s for you!  Wish you could come sit by the fire and knit over some wine with me.  Wine, and whine.

Gotta go, the fire is calling me.

When Work Isn’t Work

Today as I was leaving for work DH says, “You really should read or something when students don’t show up so you know what you’re doing the next session. I can’t believe your boss lets you knit and soduku at work.” Those were fighting words. But,of course, it was too late and we were both out the door before I could state my case with more than, “Oh honey, you just don’t understand…”
Okay, I used to agree with him. He does have a point in that we should be prepared for the students and be able to help them in their classes. But, when I have done that it hasn’t worked. Either they stop showing up, or the instructor decides to skip the chapters I so diligently worked on. Either way, it’s my time wasted. I can see that it doesn’t look like a studious atmosphere when tutors are knitting, working cross word puzzles, and doing cross stitch, and Twittering, but hey, I cannot make these students show up. And even if I were to read when they don’t show, I cannot read for four hours per day straight.
So I spent the greater part of my work day being pissed at DH and not really making any attempt at doing much of anything except playing on the internet. I’m not sure that was his goal.

In knitting news…I’m knitting an angora/acrylic bunny head for kidlet’s doll. It’s not going well, and I may frog it before it gets too much worse. The yarn was more like worsted weight and the patt called for DK, and I used 5 needles and patt calls for 3. And so to avoid a killer bunny head, I had to alter the pattern. I have no idea what I’ll end up with. I am hesitant to go on with it. But I’m an optimistic knitter with loads of luck. It could just work out, then it’d be done!! I truly hate fuddly projects like that. tons of decreasing and stuff like k2, m1, k4, k2. ugh. I’ll be an old woman before it’s done. I have a feeling it won’t be something anyone wants to cuddle when it’s done. Stab with a pitchfork maybe.

The Many Interesting Ways of Avoiding Knitting

You would think that I would be chomping at the bit, as usual, to knit, finish knitting projects, read new knit book I got for myself for Christmas, read knit blogs, etc…. But something is amiss in the knit world these days…
1. I have a horrid two color hat on the needles that is a spaghetti mess and I’ve no patience for it, and though I’ve time to knit at work, this is not a project I can focus on there.
2. I have a massive sock project going also, BORING. Can’t care about that much, although it goes in my purse wherever I go. It’s eventually going to finish itself.

3 My daughter said two weekends ago…”I want to sew.”
Shoot me now. That’s like saying to an alcoholic, “Smell this wine and tell me if it’s okay.” So I am off and running, no- FLYING on this sewing project we started a week ago. It’s a yo-yo doll, a hand sewn doll made up of small sewn pieces, about 40 to be exact. I’ve been cutting and sewing the pieces at work in my free time. And though she technically has sewn some of them, this has suddenly dawned on my that this is basically my project. Damn. I’m such a craft whore. How exactly did this happen?
4. I am addicted to Facebook and now Twitter. Gawd, what frickin’ ginormous waste of my productive years of my life. I’ll be in the nursing home saying, “I remember Twittering, oh my it was fun.” I think not.
5. This really isn’t a reason I’m not knitting, but… I had my second night sweat last night. I had my first one about a year ago exactly, and though I am not alarmed, I can definitely hear my body clock clicking in my ear. I have my children so I’m not saying I want more, but my body is whispering in my ear, “Hey, it’s happening.” Joy. I told it to shut up a year ago, and it did work for a year, but I have a feeling this time I won’t be that lucky. I think they’re going to get more commonplace for me. No thank you. I woke last night as hot as a furnace and drenched. I kicked off the covers and just lay there, trying to sleep again, but then suddenly cold. By that time I had to get up to visit the bathroom. Then going back to bed, I realized what was going on. Oh, you again. The strange thing is, it’s normal and there’s nothing to be done about it.
Aging sucks.
6. Winter. There has been constant snow on the ground for months, it’s been hovering above zero for what seems like years, and my kids cannot go out to play, and I’m losing my mind. Especially for the past week, all I can think about is spring. And today I excited when I realized that ground hog day is next week. I was overjoyed. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. There really is an end to winter in Iowa. Yea!!!! We really will survive all of this. I just hope I can get those damned knitting projects done by then so someone can enjoy them before it’s 95 degrees this summer.

Those Damned Ungrateful Receivers of Handknits

So let me set the scene….  family birthday party, roomful of people.  My sister is opening her gift from me.  She opens the handknit lace shawl, a brown, rectangle, in a cat’s paw pattern, the Reunion Shawl for those of you who know me.  It’s identical to one I knit for myself back in June.  It’s truly a lovely pattern, lovely yarn, and absolutely a gift from the heart.   It was also, I have to mention, a gift she SAID SHE WANTED WHEN I KNITTED MINE.  This was not something I just thought she might like.  She knew it was coming at some point.  So she opens it and acts exactly as if I bought it at Walmart.  I honestly do not know why I do this to myself.  I don’t really expect her to squeal, rave about it, put it on, pet it, smell it, etc. as us knitters would do.  But a little excitement would be nice.

I’ve decided.  Just as in Seinfeld the Soup Nazi banned people, I too can ban people from my handknits.  Enough is enough.  Some people need to shop for knits at Walmart, it makes no difference to them.  A sweater is a sweater.  For others, a sweater is more like a religion.

No more handknits for unappreciative receivers.  SHE IS OFF THE LIST.  I do not mess around.

back at it

Today is a blizzardy day, no matter how you look at it. It snowed about four inches overnight and the wind is swirling it into a snowey wonderland. It really would be quite beautiful if I could stay home and enjoy it from inside my cozy house. Today is the first day back at work after the winter break. I am going to be happy to see my work friends again after four weeks, but finding it tough getting back into the routine.
I daydream sometimes what I would do with my time if I didn’t work. Taking care of the laundry, shopping and meals would take a huge amount of time, but realistically, I’d waste much of my time sitting here blogging, facebook, etc. It’s really probably good that I work.

The other thing I ‘m having trouble getting back into the swing of is my knitting. It’s quite disconcerting. I diligently finished the holiday gift knitting and then fell into a slump. I wasn’t excited about any projects, attempted to start a gift hat 5 different times. What an odd feeling, to not be excited about my knitting. For a brief moment I wondered if, left to run its natural course, I would end up not being a knitter. Hmmm. Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I ended up running out and buying sock yarn to remedy the situation and I’m up and running again. And the stubborn hat is chugging along finally also. It really feels right again, like everything is as it should be, with sticks and yarn in my hands.

Just So I Can Say I Did

I have been such a slothy blogger in 2008.  I am trying to be realistic about how much posting I will accomplish in this new year, but let’s at least  get the year off on the right foot.  So I’m at least posting this one time in January.  The truth is, everyone who used to read this blog has moved on and now it’s just me here, listening to the echo bounce off the walls.  It’s a little lonely, and not nearly as much fun as it was when many people read and commented on the posts.  

I swore I wouldn’t do resolutions for the new year.  But just this teeny one couldn’t hurt.  I am going to try to post once a week.  There, I said it.  Notice I included the word ‘try’. 

Today was the first day of kidlets going back to school after x-mas break.  I have never been so happy to see them go.  Bad mom?  Maybe, but this break was the longest one in history. They were supposed to begin break on a Monday, and instead we had bad weather and they ended up getting out the Thursday before at 1pm, that’s a day and a half extra hell for me!  We actually probably had the most calm break we’ve ever had, the kids are getting a bit older, more independent, and less fruity.  But still, I need to finish a thought now and then without being interrupted.  I need a bit of sanity.  I noticed myself taking it out on DH more than usual.  And by last night, I’m not sure he was speaking to me at all.  It was none too soon that this break was ending.   I hear of people home schooling and my jaw drops.  Are they nuts?  I would be a basketcase, divorced, and taking a few hostages before it was over.  

So now that kidlets are out of the house today, what’s on my agenda you ask?  I thought I was going to clean, plan dinner, make a quick batch of soap, and knit.  Though I am having nagging thoughts about crawling back into my bed, which I’m pretty sure is still warm due to the down comforter.  Oh, so tempting!!!  But I just got a call from my dad inviting me out for coffee.  So that changes things a bit.  I  feel almost guilty sitting on my can drinking coffee when so much ought to be done here, but I think I’ve earned a break. And it’s step one in restoring my sanity after two weeks of nuttiness.

So off I go, not much to blog about anyway today.  I could piss and moan about grumpy, piggish DH, that could fill a blog entry for sure, but it wouldn’t be very nice and not a good way to start off the blogging year of 2009.  So I’ll break myself back in slowly and leave you with a smidge of a post.  Mustn’t move too quickly.   The countdown:  Six days of peace left before I go back to work.  Seems like it ought to be so many more.  Pray for good weather so the kids will be in school!!