Lately I’ve been feeling rather blah about my knitting. Well, actually to be fair, I’ve been feeling rather blah about a lot of things, which just so happens to include my knitting. Not sure if it’s holiday stress, weather, the fact that I’ve been sick, or something else, but things are just very blah.
Usually for the holiday season, I plan on knitting an impossible combination of gifts and decorations. This year? Zero, zilch, nada. I thought about knitting something for my mom, but never got beyond the idea in my head. (Sorry, mom, maybe for mother’s day, or your birthday, or next year)
There’s nothing wrong with the projects that are on my needles. In fact, I’m pretty happy with the projects. I’m hoping that over the next few days, an increase in family time equals an increase in knitting time, the trip to Lambeau field not only provides several more hours of knitting time, but also serves to inspire me to translate a couple of football related ideas from my head to actual knit goods (or just to paper, before the ideas leave my brain for that matter) and writing about the projects serves to inspire me to pick up the needles and knit more.
So here’s what is on my needles right now:
Socks, of course. Currently, I’m working on Cookie A’s design, Cubist socks. As the name implies, it has a geometric pattern that resembles cubes. I’m knitting them out of Malabrigo sock yarn in the colorway Abril, which is some beautiful shades of purple. The pattern looked a little intimidating at first, but really isn’t too bad. I’ve gotten past the gusset decreases for the first sock.
Spatterdash Fingerless Gloves. I’ll admit it, I’ve become a convert to fingerless gloves. At first, I thought they were useless, but after making a pair, I’m hooked. I had a beautiful pair of End Paper Mitts, but they are now happily on the hands of a friend, so I needed another pair. This pattern, Spatterdash found on knitty.com, combines buttons and ruffles, so I can’t go wrong. I’m using Knit Picks Imagination sock yarn in the colorway Wicked Witch for those. The green in the yarn looks like it will match my winter coat beautifully, so I’m happy so far. I am a little concerned that the gloves might be too small, and I might need to start over with a bigger needle, but I really need to get more done before making that decision (Yes, I know, this is usually a recipe for me griping in a couple of weeks wondering why I didn’t just rip out and start over when I first suspected they might be too small, but this pattern for gloves is different than any I’ve done before, so I’m honestly not sure).
Sheepcote Pullover. This one started out as a love story. I saw it in the Twist Collective and had to buy the pattern, immediately went out to find suitable yarn and couldn’t wait to get started. It immediately jumped ahead of the February Lady Sweater, which has been next up forever (but things seem to keep budging ahead in line…I really need to do something about that). So I casted on, over a month ago, and have completed one sleeve. I still like it, and I’m not sure what the actual problem is. Maybe it is that sleeves just aren’t that fun and things will get better once I get to the actual body of the sweater, either way, progress has been slow.
Of course, there are some perpetual works in progress out there on the needles. The Scrap Sock Yarn blanket, which may very well never be finished, and the Yggdrasil Afghan; which, without a deadline, just gets neglected. I might buckle down and make it my Wednesday night project to work on while husband is away at Lions and basketball.
So that’s what is on my needles, hopefully I will be able to report some actual progress sometime soon!
Way back when, in late September, I received a bit of a crushing blow, career-wise. My longtime goal of being a teacher wasn't going to work out, at least not a this point. I didn't want to talk about then and still don't. But I will provide a bit of an update what I've been up to.
The first month or so were pretty tough on me. A lot of soul searching, and trying to figure out what it was I really wanted out of my life, a lot of fretting about getting older (turned 30 last week) and a lot of applying for jobs that, well, frankly, I wasn't sure if I actually wanted to get or not.
A conversation with my sister offered an interesting theory. I'm not the sort of person who is defined by their career. I'm a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, along with being a knitter, reader, and aspiring writing. I want to spend summers growing things in a garden and fall canning homemade food.
There are few things I love more than curling up on my couch with my pets, a ball of wool, and two sticks. Maybe a career isn't what I need right now, maybe I just need a job.
There was a teller position open at one of the local banks in my hometown, I applied, interviewed, was hired, and started last Monday. It is full time, good hours, with some pretty good perks.
Is it a forever job?
I honestly don't know.
Is it a right now job?
You bet.
I'll be working between 30 to 39 hours a week, mainly Monday to Friday, eight to six with a hour for lunch. Sure, I'll have to work the occasional Saturday, but it works out to about one a month. The pay is not the greatest, and I'll supplement with extra hours at the grocery store, (okay, with grocery hours, it'll work out to every other weekend). There seem to be oppertunities for advancement within the bank. And, one of the main things I like right now, I can leave work at work. I'm not devoting my hours at home to my job. I can come home, have dinner with the husband, and spend the evening doing activities of my choosing. It should work out just fine for the foreseeable future, maybe longer.
Things are still new right now, I'm not entirely sure what my typical schedule will look like. I'm expecting things to settle down a bit more after the holiday season, and am looking forward to getting into a bit of a routine in January.
There’s nothing wrong with the projects that are on my needles. In fact, I’m pretty happy with the projects. I’m hoping that over the next few days, an increase in family time equals an increase in knitting time, the trip to Lambeau field not only provides several more hours of knitting time, but also serves to inspire me to translate a couple of football related ideas from my head to actual knit goods (or just to paper, before the ideas leave my brain for that matter) and writing about the projects serves to inspire me to pick up the needles and knit more. 
Sheepcote Pullover. This one started out as a love story. I saw it in the Twist Collective and had to buy the pattern, immediately went out to find suitable yarn and couldn’t wait to get started. It immediately jumped ahead of the February Lady Sweater, which has been next up forever (but things seem to keep budging ahead in line…I really need to do something about that). So I casted on, over a month ago, and have completed one sleeve. I still like it, and I’m not sure what the actual problem is. Maybe it is that sleeves just aren’t that fun and things will get better once I get to the actual body of the sweater, either way, progress has been slow. 
