Some Philosophical Knitting Questions

• When I started knitting in earnest back in 2005 I was unable to frog back to a mistake, put the stitches back on the needle and begin again. Depending how far into the project I was, I either had to start over or abandon the project. Well, today I am able to frog and get the stitches back on the needle like it's no big deal. Yet I wonder, can I say I am a better knitter because I can fix mistakes? Or am I no better a knitter because I still make mistakes?
• Are all perfectionists drawn to knitting? Or does knitting make you a perfectionist?
• If a knitter drops a stitch and no one is around to hear her, does she still curse and scream?
  

Discuss.

Blasphemy (Or PMDKD*)

Sometimes knitting aggravates the shit out of me is a challenge.

• When it's freezing, you can't get your hands warm and the robe you are wearing interferes with your movements and your needles keep getting hung up in the sleeve. Not to mention 3 cats that suddenly want to snuggle...one for each side and one for your lap.
  
• When, 5 minutes later, it's hotter than the eternal fires of hell and you have to disrupt the cats and take off the robe.
• When the cats start screeching at/blaming each other for making mommy mad.
  
• When your hair gets in your way and you have to get up and to get a clip to get it off your neck and out of your eyes (note to self: make hair appointment.)
• When you realize the circular you are using is going to be too short when all the increases are done and you get up (again) to find a longer one and discover that out of the 4,213 size 7s that you own, none of them are over 24" long.
• When you have to frog back several rows because of one damn YO you missed.
• When a cat decides the mound of frogged yarn next to you would make a wonderful nest.
  
• When your husband starts to pout because you aren't paying enough attention to him.
• When you check your progress before turning in for the night and realize you are no further along than when you started 6 hours earlier.
  

Knitting is awesome.

*Premenstrual Dysphoric Knit Disorder

A Mish Mash

It's been a while, hasn't it?

• Hubadub and I returned from Disney World on Friday. We had a great time, but now I have PDWD (Post Disney World Depresion)
• We got about 2" of snow here in the Deep South. I did not take pictures. Please accept my apologies. Another inch was predicted for this AM, but it's been downgraded to rain. (I'm really beginning to wish for drought conditions. This is one of the wettest winters I can remember.)
  
• The knitting "mehs" have returned. I did a bit o' knitting in Florida and finished a couple of dishcloths, but I'm back to having no desire to knit.
• The Big Boss canceled the trip to the Shrine up north due to inclement weather. We now have a day to work in our rooms and catch up. Prayers do get answered!
• Yet again, I have gotten sucked into following the Olympics. I never seem to care about the Summer games, but every four years I'm glued to the TV for the Winter events.
• The "n" key on my keyboard is starting to give me iffy performance. Sometimes I hit it and it works, sometimes not.

• I finished book #s 6, 7, and 8 in my 50 book challenge:

6. Spain for the Sovereigns by Jean Plaidy
Offspring and I do not agree about this author. She is a Phillippa Gregory fan (I've never read her) and says she just can't get into Jean, but I love her. This is book number 2 of the Ferdinand and Isabella trilogy.
7. Daughters of Spain by Jean Plaidy
Book 3. Also enjoyed this one, though the ending didn't have much closure for me. I want to know more about Juana and Catalina... which I think she does cover in Katherine of Aragon. As a whole the series is a good one. There were times that I was a little bored and wondered if I should just forget reading it, but the story grabbed me enough that I really wanted to find out what was going to happen (which lets you know how little I know about history.)
8. Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
After all the "heavy" reading and since I was traveling in Central Florida, I decided to read this. It was good, but sometimes when you are reading a children's book as an adult you can't tell if it's good, but simple writing or just bad (I learn toward "good, but simple" because this book is still around 50+ years later.) I also began to wonder if, thanks to the popularity of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, historical/pioneer fiction was the "genre du jour" in the 1930's and 1940's. Strawberry girl had a slight feeling of "copy cat." (But I admit I am cynical. I feel the same way about all the books today that have to do with a down on his luck child discovering he has magical/mythical powers a la Harry Potter.)

I'm currently reading book #9: The Yearling and unfortunately I discovered that it does not end well, but I can't stop reading it now.

Thoughts? Comments?

February 15th is President's day. Most teachers in Alabama will be going to inservice meetings to be Professionally developed (wink.) I won't be.

I'll be traveling by school bus to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. Our activities will include a spiritual talk, adoration, a healing(?) and mass.

Now, I have the utmost respect for my employer and how devout she is to the faith, but my hackles are raised by a few things. (And maybe "raised hackles" is inaccurate. More like that thing a dog does when it tilts it's head 'cause he thinks you're crazy. In my head it's usually accompanied by that sound of confusion that Scooby Doo makes.)

• Not one of the day's activities will count for the professional development hours I am required to accumulate to renew my teaching certificate. (I do admit there will be plenty of other opportunities before my certificate expires.)
• The big boss has stated that the only way to be excused from the day is to have a medical excuse written by a doctor. She will not allow anyone to use their personal days (we are only given 2 per year.)
• One of my colleagues will have her pay docked because she won't be there because she committed to being someone's bridesmaid LAST YEAR BEFORE SHE EVEN TOOK THIS JOB. (And, by the way, she hasn't used any of her personal days this year.)
  

I'm going either way, but legally what control does an employer have over personal day use? I'm not trying to be snippy, I'm just wondering.

It all just strikes me as weird. Am I just being a disgruntled employee?

Nothing New

Just popping in to let everyone know I am still here. I haven't knit a lick and I seem to be falling asleep every night at 8. Would like to have some energy, or motivation or something. I'm not depressed, just sluggish.

meh.

Last Published on January 17, 2010 (and Book #6)

I feel like I'm letting folks down by not posting very often...which is quite egotistical since deep down I know very few people are at home saying "Hey, I hope Sara is ok. She hasn't posted lately." And I don't mean to imply that no one cares, it's just that aside from some of the big names, most of us bloggers have other lives and we totally understand when our blog buddies go awhile without posting.

I honestly don't know what has happened to my motivation. I've done nothing since late December. Nothing I work on gives me any pleasure. I start a project, decide I don't like it and frog it. Or I look for something to make, and nothing appeals to me. Let me add to this sad little list the fact that football is winding down for the season and it makes me a little sad.

I have managed to read. Apparently, I have three hobbies: crafting, reading and blogging and I can only focus on one of them at a time. So while I'm reading, the other two hobbies suffer.

Anyhoo...

Book #6
Spain for the Sovereigns (Book #2 of the Isabella and Ferdinand series) by Jean Plaidy.
I'm really no good at book reviews. I liked this book. Good escape while still learning a little history.

Hopefully today I'll manage to get some pictures of a few of the things I've made this month. I have to warn you, the odds are not in my favor.

Now I Understand Bears

When it is stupid cold, there is nothing to do but hibernate; conserve energy. I haven't felt like doing a thing. I've picked up SIL's shawl and worked on it a couple of hours (only 10 rows left!) I started a granny blanket. Otherwise, nothin'. I have taken lazy to a new level the last week. I was even given a bonus day off work (for snow that never came) and I didn't do bupkis...actually I was happy for the bonus day since I stayed up so late Thursday watching the CRIMSON TIDE WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope I get back some drive in the next few days.

The Other Stash

I have too many books.

Literally closets FULL of books. Shelves FULL of books.

Obviously, I have an addictive personality and when I quit smoking I transferred all that energy to yarn and books.

No more.

Starting January 1st I will no longer buy any books and I will actually read the ones I have. I am going to read 50 (maybe 52) books.

To that end, I read So Many Books, So Little Time this week (#11 in my 50 book challenge.) It's about a woman (Former Publishers Weekly Editor Sara Nelson) who decided to read a book a week and then write about them. (Hey, self, Copycat much?)

Calm down, my dear readers. I am not going subject you to the torture of reading book reviews written by moi (Well, not here at least... I'm kind of debating starting a short term blog for the project.) I'll just periodically let you know what I'm reading, when I finish it and as briefly as possible I'll let you know what I think of the book. (As for So Many Books, So Little Time - I enjoyed it immensely. I often found myself exclaiming "Yes! Exactly!" .)

Now about Books #9 and #10 (DOUBLE DIGITS!!!!)

Book #9
8 Sandpiper Way by Debbie Macomber

Book #10
92 Pacific Boulevard by Debbie Macomber

I love this series, but I have to admit that so many characters have been introduced and sometimes it seems as if Ms. Macomber feels compelled to mention all of them in each book. As a reader I really don't mind if an author chooses to focus on only 2 or 3 characters in any given book of a series. I promise I'll continue to read the series. I won't get huffy and refuse to read just because you don't mention someone.

But then, I'm pretty easy when it comes to reading. Does that mean I'm a book whore?

Oh dear (and please forgive this stream of consciousness turn), I may have just stumbled upon the reason for my unreasonable stashes. I am a yarn and book whore. And by that I mean that I am not picky about these things at all.

Wait, I think I've mixed it up.

The yarn and the books are the whores.

Cheap. Sometimes not the finest quality. But I, desperate for a thrill, a taste of pleasure, willingly pay for them. Then, shamefully I return home and hide them away so no one knows my shame.

December Goals Wrap Up

Leftover from November Goals

• Finish October socks
• Finish Echarpe Pointes Violettes/Violet Points Scarf
• Start Ophelia

Knit/Crochet Goals

• Make 2 more mini stockings for Offspring’s Christmas tree

• Finish and mail shawl for SIL

• Make 2 squares for Heartmade Blessings

• Work on Pi Shawl every Tuesday (which is Knit Nite) erm...I kind of played hooky a couple times.
  

Book Goals

• Read 2 books

Organization Goals

• Go through queue, get ready for 2010

• Go through magazines at home. Put in chronological order.
  

I've also got some blogging goals:

• Post at least 4 times per week.
• Organize the sidebar a little better.
• Be a better commenter ('cause blogging is a two way street.)

Ugh. Only a 53% completion rate. Hmmm...if I worked all day today I could possibly finish and mail the shawl by tomorrow. That would get me up to 61% (Which is passing at my school.)

Nah.

A Downer of a Mish Mash

Let me apologize in advance for this post. There is no knitting. I hope you will indulge my whining...even though it is Thursday.

Sometimes working with teens is so disheartening.

• From what I observe, they care not a whit about an education or knowledge. They just want the grade. (Which forces me to grade almost everything. Many will only do their best if it is for a grade.)
• They rail against the adults over the littlest things...like the uniform policy, yet when given the opportunity to fight against something important, like poverty, they do nothing. (Each student at our school was recently asked to donate $5 so the SGA could buy items for a family in need at Christmas. Some students actually said "I'm not giving that. They can just go out and get a job.")
• They are mean to each other, then when you call them out on it...they are "just joking."
• They sit passively in a class and do little to actively engage themselves in the learning process and then accuse the teacher of "not teaching" the material if they do not do well. Please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't learning a two way street?
• The parents aren't much better. To quote a parent from Open House: (speaking to me about her son) "You do your job I'll do mine." Does little Johnny have no responsibility for his own grade? (I dare not call it education.)

Now I need to spend the day noting the positive aspects of teaching teens. If I keep up this mindset, I'll make myself crazy.

Monday Mish Mash

• A la persona de Jerez que visitó el blog...¡Gracias!
• I am tired of Christmas already. I know, I know I celebrate Chanukah. It's not the religious holiday I am tired of, it's the commercial stuff. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas should not be airing before Thanksgiving. A wise man once said "You have to be thankful before you can be merry."
• That being said, I am already getting my netflix queue ready for my two week vacation in December. I plan a Quantum Leap/Little House on the Prairie marathon.
• Though I'm still waffling about where my blog should be hosted, I have now made at least one decision. Not Wordpress. My sidebar is just as important to me as the blog, so I want to be able to have the ability to customize that, too. Blogger and Typepad are still considerations. (With blogger taking the lead just because a move will mean time and effort.)
• I spent yesterday alternating among several activities: cat snuggling, knitting, magazine reading and football watching. I now remember why I stopped subscribing to some of the magazines such as...
• Knit n' Style. While the projects are well photographed, many seemed ill-fitting. Not to mention that every issue will have at least one (sometimes more) back-baring or tummy baring design. Ick. Not my style at all. I went on to...
  
• Knitter's. Waaaay to much color-work for me (and an obsession with mitred squares, it seems.) I prefer boring and granny-ish please, thank you! Which brings me to...
• Vogue Knitting. I really like this one quite a bit. I'm not entirely sure why I let this one go (It may be, however, that it was just this particular issue which was good.) Great articles and fair number of designs I could actually see myself knitting and wearing (although not particularly well photographed.) I was struck by...
• WTFBBQ? What's this on the bottom of page 14? (Holiday 2009 issue) "Watching Julie and Julia this summer Mary Taylor had an epiphany." So MT has decided to knit her way through Knitting on Top of the World by Nicky Epstein. There's a blog and everything. Wish I had thought of that. Oh..wait..I kind of did. (Yes, I'm feeling a bit egotistical. So sue me.)
• A word on commenting. For many of you who comment, I have your e-mail addresses and will respond to you that way. I've had a couple of comments from folks who do not have their addy listed on their profile (which is fine.) I will respond to those here on the blog in the comments box. It is important to me to respond to all comments when I get them.
  

That's all, folks!

More Word Verification Fun

On RC's blog.

shipstsu- traveling companion/mascot for a Chinese sailor of old.

Now I Remember!

WAFFLES

• Feed. Full or Short? Full is a convenience for subscribers. Short makes people click over and "hits" numbers grow. (Except, of course, that most of my posts are so short that a "short" feed is a moot point.)
  

Jammies Engaged

I don't know why I feel like it's been a busy day, but it really hasn't been. I guess 'cause I didn't do a lot of knitting (which must mean I was busy, right?) I'm glad to be in my jammies and as soon as I finish posting it will be "needles engaged" mode.

I spent a couple hours rearranging some of my books and pattern leaflets. A few years back I put a bunch of stuff over the washing machine. (Scroll down a bit.) Well, I forgot that I was short and it got annoying looking for stuff, so I decided to move it all to a lower location:



Normally, this makes me feel all productive-like. Today it just disgusted me. I have too much junk. I don't need all these books and patterns and if I live to be 100 I won't make an eighth of them. In my defense, I've been amassing patterns since around 1984, but that's still no excuse.

Now do you see why I included books and patterns to my yarn diet? I think I'm also going to start resisting the urge to buy reference books, too. I don't even design anything and I've got scads of stitch pattern books and I only use one or two reference books!

Well, I better quit with the kvetching and do some knitting. It's almost 10 PM!

Friday Fill-In Mish Mash Spam Post

I begin with Fill-In:

1. Plans and schedules suck .

2. I'm happy when things are quiet .

3. The last thing I drank was Starbucks Gingerbread Soy Latte (triple grande) .

4. One of the most valuable things in my life is my hubadub, Offspring and cats . (That's three, deal with it.)

5. I like veggies and no cheese on my pizza.

6. Dear November, I love you. I'm sorry you are sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas, but Thanksgiving is really the best. A time for family and love .

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to knitting, tomorrow my plans include 'Bama ball and Sunday, I want to go to knit group...the Vikings have a bye week!

Then I move on to Mish Mash:

• There's actually a Vestvember Group on Ravelry. It's kismet! (A word I should include on my "List of Words that Please Me". If you haven't actually been to the blog, stop by and check it out in the sidebar.)
  
• I really have a warm fuzzy going for my readers right now. I appreciate all of your comments and such. Ya'll rock.
• Mean people and holier-than-thou types suck.
  
• I'm living for my day off next Wednesday.

And to explain the "Spam Post" of the title. It would not surprise me to find out that posting multiple times in one day is considered a faux pas in the blogosphere and very against Teh Roolz of Blogging. Unfortunately, there's this other rool that says your posts should contain one topic. (I read it somewhere, but of course can't find it...but I did find this site full of roolz!)* If we add the "500 words minimum" rule I really get into trouble.

But guess what...

I don't care. So there.

Sometimes I have stuff to say; I'm a terrible writer and smooth transitions and segues are just not my thing. It's much easier for me to post separately. Otherwise it's mish mash everyday and that would lead to anarchy and we can't have that!

* And now that I think about it, I think it is actually a rule about writing. Remember those? We had them back in the day...before the interwebs, instant messaging and other forms of technology began to slowly erode our punctuation and spelling skillz skills.

PS: The above post only contains 389 words. Yoinks! 500 words? Ain't never gonna happen!

Titles I Got...

• "The Knit Nite Cast"
• "Online Knit World- Middle School All Over Again"
• "Quarterly Report"

Too bad I can't think of more than a line or two. I may posts these (with content) eventually.

I'm still slaving away working on MILs shawl and the sock. Maybe the sun will come out tomorrow and I can get some pics.

I'm stuffed up and tired. *whine* (And it's not even Wednesday!) BLARGH!

PS: I'm skipping today's Ten on Tuesday. It didn't appeal to me at all (meaning, too hard.) Next week looks pretty fun, though.

Sunday Afternoon

I would love to report that I have made stellar progress on some projects, but I can't. Most of Saturday was wasted looking for canned pumpkin. I don't even know where today went. I did manage to block and stiffen some of the snowflakes:



I ran out of T-pins, so I couldn't get them all done at once. No, I have no idea where the rest of my T-pins are. Surely I have more than 20-30?

So anyhoo. That's all there is to report. I'll leave you with a kitty pic (I'm a WendyKnits wannabe I guess.)

WIP Weekend

Accountantgrrl is brilliant. She declared a WIP Weekend last week and I'm totally ripping off her idea. If I play my cards right I might make some super progress on my Socktoberfest socks and MIL shawl.

Playing my cards right will mean:

• Getting up at the butt-crack of dawn because...
• I need to get the grocery shopping done so I can...
• make a pumpkin pie, muffins, vegan pizza and vegan fettuccine alfredo for next week's lunches.
• I also need to go to the post office.
• Walk with hubby
• Write the flippin' Socktoberfest post I've been planning since about the 5th of October.

All before the 2:30 'Bama/Tennessee kickoff! Ciao!

You Aren't the Only One, Hon.

So, Bubblesknits apologized for her blog silence and I sort of feel I should do the same.

I know, I know. Two days does not blog silence make, but I did commit to Blogtoberfest '09 and I sort of wimped out.

According to the roolz of Blogging one should not blog if it feels like it is a chore.

Oh? The roolz of Blogging? You don't know about these? I think you do. I speak of all that advice around the 'net and in books.

Some roolz include:

• don't curse (shit, I'm screwed)
• don't rant (seriously? *sigh* whatever will I talk about?)
• Syndicate a full post feed
• Syndicate a short post feed (wait. Don't those contradict each other?)
• Don't write long posts
• Don't write short posts
• include high quality pictures (aw, man!)
• stay on topic (so if I just say "I went to Knit Nite", can this still be a knitting blog?)
• Avoid the minutiae of daily life (I had a bowl of cereal for dinner. I rinsed the bowl and put it in the dishwasher. I petted the cats... In case you're interested.)
  

Happy blogging, my friends! I will be back to break the rules...when it doesn't feel like a chore, I have nothing to rant about, I have not too much and not too little to say and tons of pictures to prove it.

Goal List 10/18

To Do Lists don't seem to work out for me, so I'm going to try a different tactic. If I call them "goals" I won't feel so bad if I don't actually "do" them.

Goal #1: Finish my thneeds...today. There's perhaps 45 minutes of work left and can call them done. Surely I can spare 45 minutes?

Goal #2: At least get to and turn the heel of my first Socktoberfest sock. (I'll worry about the second sock on some other goal list.)

Goal #3: At least swatch for Ophelia.

Goal #4: Work on MIL's shawl. She has surgery next week. I will not have it finished by then, but it would be nice if I could get it to her during the recovery process.

Last but not least goal: make the last snowflake for the Christmas in July giveaway then stiffen them all.

Secondary Goal #1: Start another Lillian Tank
Secondary Goal #2: Work on crochet scarf.
Secondary Goal #3: Work on Pi Shawl
Secondary Goal #4: Stop starting new projects