I wish I were...

working on this:



instead of working on this:



But I have no choice. I have friends coming over for dinner, and I have put this off for far too long as it is.

Housework! How I hate thee!

Finally Feeling Festive

Yesterday, my day off, I put up all of my Christmas decorations: the garlands, the wreaths, the tree!

(In order to do so, I had to rearrange ALL of the furniture in the living room...I actually like it better this way, so I will probably leave it like this...the fact that my couch is REALLY heavy has nothing to do with it!)

So, tonight I am sitting here knitting in my muck luck slipper socks and snowflake pj pants. My Christmas tree lights are twinkling, Karen Carpenter's voice is singing, and a mug of peppermint hot chocolate sits at my elbow (with marshmallows)...I finally feel festive! I might just put on the Muppet Christmas Special when the CD ends.

Part of my joyous mood might also stem from the fact that I am 3/4's done with my Christmas Queue! And that includes the crazy commissions I have taken on!

Testing the Appliances

I have, in the past week, knit 4 coffee cup cozies.

I know.

I'm crazy.

Or at least, I have way too much free time on my hands.

Personally, I blame the knee injury. I have no choice but to sit on my couch and knit while Fred and Ginger dance across my television screen.

Still, I figured that this was a good opportunity to test out the felting abilities of my new apartment's washer and dryer.

And the gift stash rejoices!

Getting Reacquainted.

I missed many of my belongings this past year as they sat in storage.
I missed my books.
I missed my photo albums.
I missed my sewing machine.
I missed my purses.

However, I think almost more than anything else, I missed my swift.

I had quite the night last night winding skeins that have languished in the stash awaiting the unpacking of the swift.



Bliss.

In Praise of Audiobooks

It is commonly known that I can knit while: talking, eating, watching a movie, riding in a car, listening to a lecture, sitting on the beach, etc.

It has even been rumored that I can knit in my sleep. (This is not true. Although, when the holiday crunch comes I sometimes wish it were.)

However, depending on the activity, I have to limit the skill level of project I am pursuing. Movies that require attention or a lot of eyes-on-screen time need brain-free knitting. Car rides through scenic venues need brain-free knitting. Talking to friends who actually appreciate eye contact needs brain-free knitting. Eating definitely needs brain-free knitting.

Enter the audiobook.

These boogers are GREAT!!!! I get all the mental stimulation of a movie plot, the rapier wit of a good writer, AND my more complex knitting projects get their required eyeball time.

Since moving into the apartment, and my quarter ending, I have successfully completed 4 audiobooks AND made huge progress on some of my more intricate projects.

(Currently knitting to: Comforts of a Muddy Saturday by Alexander McCall Smith, narrated by the DIVINE Davina Porter. In audiobooks, the narrator makes all the difference.)

Samples Samples Samples

I have been working hard to have a respectable number of dishcloth samples for my program tonight. I have 2 that are actually the pattern I am teaching them, and then two that require knowledge of a YO and a K2TOG.

Had this been a year ago...or better yet the day before the 2007 company Christmas gift exchange...I would have had SCADS to show the students from my gift stash. Sadly, having most of my stuff in storage, in combination with the deluge of incoming babies, has totally depleted the stash.

So, instead of going to my handy dandy shelf, I have been scrounging in my kitchen drawers for examples that are not TOO TOO grungy. I also have decided out of desperation to take along a couple of burp rags...they are essentially the same thing anyway.

This whole adventure has led me to two conclusions:
1. I really need to work on beefing up the gift stash again...I mean seriously...there is only ONE coffee cup cozy in there.
2. I am in dire need of some new dishcloths for my own use. Honestly, some of these are shameful.

Moving Moving Moving

I missed a day of posting...I never know what to do on months with 31 days, since I try to post on odd days. Do I post two in a row? Do I skip a day? Which day do I skip?

I feel justified in skipping this weekend, since I moved. I am up to my eyeballs in boxes. I forgot that I owned most of the stuff that I've been unpacking...storing everything for nearly a year will do that I guess. On the plus side...I have ALL of my knitting, scrapbooking, and quilting supplies in one handy dandy place again...and an accessible place no less! They get their own closet! (My sewing machine. I have my sewing machine back. I can hem my pants finally, instead of using scotch tape!)

Moving also means reorganizing. I have a lot of "display" baskets and bowls that I keep leftover balls of wool, sock yarn, etc in...not to mention the project box and basket that go in my living room. I am going to be forced, to sort through ALL of my yarn in order to determine what goes where now! What a hardship!

(And by the way...I am almost done with the last bunny blanket buddy for the library commissioned baby gift. I will hopefully be posting the pictures on Wednesday sometime. The downside to moving is that I don't have internet at my apartment yet, so I will have to upload my pictures and posts on breaks at work!)

Knowing What Really Matters

I spent a good part of yesterday with my friend Sushi looking for an apartment. I had been hoping to move the beginning of July/August.

We went to a very nice complex and talked to the management, picked up a rental application...and most importantly toured a vacant apartment.

There were several things that I definitely needed to know, such as: does it include a washer and dryer? is parking assigned? what utilities are included? is high-speed internet available?

Still...in the end...I knew what really mattered:

Would the closet hold all of my yarn?



(Turns out it would...so I went ahead and rented it. Now instead of mid-summer, I am moving next Saturday! My stash and swift will finally come out of storage!)