The End of February

Time to check in for February's goals! (Although technically I still have a whole extra day to knock them off, eh?)

Knit Baby C's blanket.

Yes! I don't think I can get a yarn along post in today, because I am really busy and have no camera (my husband took it to California with him), but all it needs is a good soak and block--hopefully something I'll accomplish tonight.

And then I can start a sweater or something. :)

Make a registry/join St. Paul's/baptism classes.

Yes to all of the above. Hurrah!

Register for a birth class/clean out the second bedroom.

Well, all I can say is that I tried on both of these. The class at the hospital (the only one before my due date) is full, and we are on a waiting list. When Keith gets back we'll probably look into other classes at other hospitals nearby, but I don't have much hope. In all honesty, I know that all the information we'd get in a class is more than readily available to us from other sources; but taking an actual class just helps you feel more prepared.

As for the second bedroom ... it's getting there. We have a changing dresser (now full of baby clothes from my shower!), and the twin bed is gone, and there are fewer boxes.

Change my name at the university/apply for graduation.

Yep. All I have to do is get a new student ID. Which seems kind of silly, since I'll only need it for seven weeks or so, but oh well.

Revise 3 stories.

No. I have not done this. Partly because I have been really busy with other school--it seems that every week this month there have been two or three things other things that needed IMMEDIATE doing, like grading stories or writing a paper or what have you. (This week it's student conferences.) But the other part of the story is that I am terrified to tackle the stories in most need of revision, and I haven't been able to meet with my committee members about them for various reasons to get some needed guidance. Next week is spring break, and I intend (I need!) to get a good start on them.

Close my old bank account.

No. This has become a spring break goal.

Yarn Along! (Finally!)

I have to finish a paper within the next two hours or so, but I snatched five minutes and my husband's camera before breakfast this morning and snapped a picture of Baby C's blanket.

It's nearly finished--2-6 more repeats of the four row pattern (I haven't decided how many yet) and then the garter border, and then blocking. It would have already been finished, except that this week is crazy (nothing new), and yesterday was a Super Crazy that resulted in very high levels of stress/anxiety ... which probably could have used some knitting. But one of the reasons for Super Crazy was this paper, and while I can knit and read at the same time, I haven't yet found a satisfactory way to knit and write. (I know about voice-to-text programs; but writing isn't the same thing as talking!)

Now my breakfast of penitentially plain oatmeal* is about finished, I should get to work before the anxiety takes over again.

And then once this paper is done I can knit.

Linking up with Ginny.

*Thanks to my friend Christine for suggesting ways to still participate in Ash Wednesday when I can't really fast. ;)

Still no camera, but plenty of yarn ...

Yesterday my friend Evangeline and I went to Natural Stitches. I needed to pick up another skein of Tosh DK for the baby blanket; Evangeline needed yarn and needles for her first lace shawl.

As we browsed the fingering weight yarn looking for something appropriately soft and neutral for her Haruni, I noticed a ton of Jamieson, and I felt very clever, because I recognized it. Let me explain: right now I am reading Sweater Quest by Adrienne Martini, which I am very much enjoying. She chronicles her year of "knitting dangerously"--in other words, tackling a very difficult Fair Isle sweater by the very famous knitting designer, Alice Starmore. In it she writes about her own knitting, about other knitters, about the history of the craft, and about yarn and fiber. (It's the kind of book about knitting that I wish there were more of*--very Creative Nonfiction.) Anyway, Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift plays an important role, both in the history of Alice Starmore designs, and in the knitting of the title sweater.

So I saw the shelves of it in the store and thought, a-ha! That stuff!

As I go along, I am becoming more and more familiar with various yarns, designers, techniques, etc. I feel the knitting part of my brain slowly expanding and adding layers. And it is a contented sort of feeling.

When Keith gets home I shall nab his camera and take a (poorly lit) picture of the baby blanket, and hopefully I will get an official yarn along post in today.

*I've been thinking a lot lately about writing and knitting. The kinds of things I'd like to read--and perhaps to write? I will probably blog about this someday ...

Sick Day

Keith is home in bed today with a bad cold or infection of some sort. I myself have a sinus infection; but the worst of that was yesterday, and today I am just stuffy with a scratchy throat from breathing through my mouth all night.

Unfortunately, for me, a "sick day" doesn't mean no work--especially since I'd be home today in any case. My to-do list for today was to grade 11 stories.

Now that it is nearly 6pm, here is a list of what I have actually done:

-grade 4 stories

-do 4 loads of laundry (and a fifth, I expect, since there's just one more left in the hamper)

-clean all the dishes

-clean the stove and counters and table and garbage can (it's white and gets gross-looking if I don't wipe it down with a damp paper towel now and then)

-knit past the halfway point on Baby C's blanket

At this rate, the stories will be done around midnight, as well as the kitchen floor, the bathroom mirrors and trash, and a heckuva lot of a folding.

February Goals

New month, new goals. I still have to cast on my friend's shawl and register for a class/tour at the hospital, but I'm hoping to get those things done pretty soon.

Crafty goals:

• Knit Baby C's blanket. (On the 12th repeat! Hopefully I'll have a pic for the next yarn along.)
• Thread my sewing machine. This is a low-key goal.

Baby goals:

• Make a registry. This is way overdue. We've gotten started, but it's a slow process, and very overwhelming for me. I've already had one pregnant-woman-meltdown over it. Hopefully I'll have it finished by next week.
• Clean out the second bedroom to make way for a crib and other baby things. Another slow process, but that's okay.
• Join St. Paul's so we can get the baby baptized. :)

Other things:

• Change my name with the university.
• Apply for graduation (and pay the late fee ... sigh).
• Revise 3 stories.
• Finish up any necessary business with my old bank account so we can transfer everything and close it before the baby arrives.

It's a little frustrating, because if I wasn't in grad school right now--reading 200 pages a week, teaching three days a week, grading grading grading, all the various little deadlines that must be met, and then that pesky manuscript that needs revision--all this other stuff would already have been done already. Plus the laundry basket wouldn't be always on the verge of exploding, and there wouldn't be spans of time where the dishes just sort of piled up for a few days. (Aside from those days, they are usually nicely washed, because I like a clean sink. Especially when I'm supposed to be doing something else.) Just thinking about juggling all this stuff makes me want to cry on bad days. I don't understand how working mothers do it--I mean, this kid is still in utero and I'm having trouble!--and I am so grateful that once Baby C is here, I will be able to stay home with him, even though I will miss the structure of school.

(I was just working on the registry, which is why you get to read this little rant.)