Deadlines

There are some things you can take for granted when you read knitting blogs. One is that this weekend is slow for blogging, but there will be a ton of posts tomorrow morning. Another is that you can pretty much figure out which bloggers work at colleges/universities, because we all become quiet towards the end of the semester. True even for me, and I don't teach or take classes any more. I follow a slightly different cyclical pattern of activity, and this is one of the busy cycles.

There's a major deadline on the 15th for abstract submissions for a big meeting. That's taking up a lot of my time, plus trying to make a manuscript go away. Major revisions were requested, and I'm working on them, slowly but hopefully steadily. At least when I'm not filled with fury over some of the changes one of my co-authors made without my approval. I could go on and on about that one, but let's leave it by just saying that I am very mad and I will never ever work with this person again, and will be happy to never deal with this person ever again.

I finally frogged Juno Regina, as I realized that I was just too unhappy with it to want to knit it. I really like the pattern - just not with that yarn. I'm now knitting the Adamas Shawl by Mim instead. Because it's a triangular shawl, it's breaking up the horizontal pooling of the yarn. And since it's an easy, strongly geometric pattern, I think it's actually working fairly well with the variegated yarn. It looks a bit less reminiscent of Spiderman this way (not that I have any problems with Spidey.) The lace pattern is pretty simple, but that being said, I still managed to mess up the last two rows I knit while sleepy, and of course I was working without a lifeline. Hah. I'll get it fixed, but it may take tinking back one more row. I'll get a picture sometime in the near future.

I knit a second, child-sized beret out of some leftover sock yarn. It was very satisfying to knit, and I'll be making a third in the near future. I like hats. Summer of Socks is also rapidly approaching, and I'm playing along again this year, even though I know that by saying it, I'm not likely to finish a single pair. I have 3 on the needles right now, none of which are getting a lot of attention. Two more socks are technically in the rotation. One was frogged back to oblivion due to a gauge issue, the other just hasn't been cast on because I am just not motivated to do so.

I'm still trying to finish the Phiaro scarf, which has totally lost its novelty. It's now getting unwieldy, but I'm not ready to start casting off just yet. I also have been ignoring my cardigan so long that I can't remember what I was doing when I left off. I think I have a few more rows to knit of the first sleeve, then I can make a second. I am not certain, but I do know that I want to make an enlarged copy of the chart for the yoke for ease of knitting. I haven't done that yet.

Time for me to stop procrastinating and get back to statistics purgatory. Ugh.

Cute quiz

you are mediumspringgreen #00FA9A

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is very high - you are all about getting things done. The world may think you work too hard but you have a lot to show for it, and it keeps you going. You shouldn't be afraid to lead people, because if you're doing it, it'll be done right. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Found via Perknitious

A weird photo of a hat

So I knit a hat. A beret, specifically. I used the Purl Bee Beret pattern, which was popular a while back. I have no idea why. It's too big around the crown, and the color isn't particularly flattering; as you can see, it sort of blends in with my neck. (This is a photo of the back of my head - the hat is oversized, but not that oversized.)

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it. But it's done, and it was satisfying to knit. I'll probably make another one, in fact. Just because I can.

I seem to be in the mood to do nothing more than knit in a circle. Socks are too complicated. I have regressed to tubes. I'm on the 3rd skein of Oasis for the Phiaro Scarf. It's still a green tube. A larger green tube, but a green tube nonetheless. I rather like the yarn. It's too heavy to make a garment out of, but it has a pleasant feel to it, even if it is environmentally suspect.

I also started a cowl out of some leftover alpaca and silk. Because one always needs a cowl in the summer in the south. It is a very pale pink and will look horrible next to my face as I am extremely pale. I also don't wear cowls. Regardless - I seem to be knitting tubes.

Today was a rotten day. A really really bad one. I'm not going to vent much about it, only to say that it's no fun at all to work with people who have such negative attitudes about everything that you actually feel ill when they come into a room. All the joy gets sucked out by their crappiness. Even an iPod couldn't save me today.

But all is not lost. There's still this out there:


And one of these days, I'm going to go sit on that bench and knit a tube.

I went for a walk this morning

And spotted this:



I'm really glad I had my camera with me.

A good sign your child has been using your computer

Little bits of nothing much.

It's lovely and quiet at my house, and I am going to stay here and work on a manuscript today.

When most of your knitting has been this:

there really isn't a whole lot you can say.


I still have a love affair with Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns.


Comments, please. I think it might be really garish. Your thoughts?

Evidently I don't have a whole lot of words today. Maybe later.

Saturday Night

Doctor Who. Torchwood.
Harney and Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice tea.
Crunch 'n Munch.
Mindless knitting (scroll to the Phiaro scarf).

Ahh. Good to be home.