Reading over my last post, I can’t believe how much has changed in a year. I completed my first year of the Master’s program at Teachers College (no, I’m not studying to be a teacher), and am now starting to apply to doctoral programs. I’ve stopped working as a temp and have been slaving away at my work study job, coordinating a GED program at Columbia. (You’d think work study would give you some time to, well, study. Not so much.) And… (drum roll please)… I got engaged!

So, while I now have absolutely no time to do much of anything, between finishing up the MA (I’m planning to graduate this December), applying to PhD programs, working and volunteering, and planning the wedding, I thought I would open the ol’ blog back up. I have no illusions that I will be writing regularly; I just sometimes need an outlet for all the craziness – and V needs a break sometimes.

Knitting pictures and venting (about school, work, wedding stuff) to follow…

It’s been over a week since my last post, and, strange as it may seem, nothing much is new. Knitting-wise, I still have the same three projects on the needles. Sheldon literally hasn’t moved, still due to the lack of black embroidery floss (or sport/sock yarn). Hopefully I’ll be able to finish him soon, though – when I went into my local craft store last weekend, the owner said that they were, in fact, expecting a shipment of black embroidery floss this week (I’m not sure why, but I find that a little hilarious).

The shrug has made quite a bit of progress (if only I didn’t post from work, I would actually have pictures… maybe this weekend). I got my order from Knit Picks on Saturday, so Saturday night I had the Harmonies up and running. This pattern goes so quickly anyway, and when you add gorgeous wooden needles and Hulu it just flies. Of course, that meant I was up till ridiculous hours watching old TV shows on my computer and knitting… but it was so much fun! The only problem is, now that I’m done with the part that needed the size 10 and 10.5 needles, I don’t know when I’ll use my lovely Harmonies again.

The first Baudelaire is also coming along quite nicely, if a bit slower than the shrug (that would be the difference between size 8-10.5 needles and size 0). This has been my subway knitting, and it’s definitely the type of project that gets noticed. People are generally in awe/confused when they see someone knitting socks, but long, lacy-cabley socks seem to be particularly eye-catching. The only problem with knitting them exclusively on the subway is trying them on. I’m 6-8″ into the leg, and last night was the first time I actually tested to make sure it would fit over my heel! I had been paranoid for the past few days, certain that I would have to frog the whole thing, but it (just barely) fits. (For the record, I did try the sock on in the subway once. I was in flip-flops, the train was fairly empty, and I was about to turn the heel and needed to check the fit.)

By the way, there is a great fundraiser/giveaway going on over at Spinning Athena to raise money for the Red Cross. I feel kind of bad that it takes the possibility of free yarn to convince me to donate to a good cause, but I guess it’s better than nothing. Maybe this fall I’ll try to do my own raffle for the Race for the Cure…

Yes, that’s right, I have three WIPs on the needles! It all started with Sheldon, who is going to be a gift for a friend’s (now almost 2-month-old) new baby. I have all of the pieces done except the very tip of the face, because I have to put the eyes on before I can finish. And therein lies the problem.

Because it’s a toy for a baby, I would like to avoid adding pieces that could be choking hazards. And, although my local craft store insists otherwise, button eyes are choking hazards. So the plan now is to do a little embroidery… except that the aforementioned craft store apparently doesn’t have black embroidery floss. They have every color imaginable, but not black. Of course, they could have just been out that day – maybe they’re expecting a big black-embroidery-floss shipment any day now. But the point is, they didn’t have it when I went this weekend.

So, having some time on my hands, I decided to start a new project – the Retro Redux Shrug from Lace Style. Now, I knew going into this that I didn’t have all of the needles I would need, and I knew that I wanted to order some Harmonies, rather than picking up whatever the yarn store had (most likely more expensive, definitely less pretty). I just didn’t realize, after knitting socks and lace for so long, how quickly 6″ of knitting happens on size 8-9’s. So, later the same afternoon, I was yet again without a project.

Enter Baudelaire. I’ve had some Knit Picks sock yarn laying around for a while, for emergencies, and I figured this would be a good time to use it. I wanted a toe-up sock, so they could be nice and long and I wouldn’t have to deal with leftovers, and I wanted something interesting, since the yarn is a solid color. These seemed to fit the bill perfectly (and it only took me one three a few tries to get the toe started properly).

I promise, I will return to Sheldon and the shrug as soon as I get the materials! Really!

*This post refers only to knitting projects. If I took into account all the other “projects” I have on my list… my head might just explode.

As promised, I finally have pictures to share. I didn’t get the chance to take them until this afternoon because of the weather – it rained most of Friday and Saturday – and my landlord/neighbors (I’m sure they think I’m crazy already, but I think taking pictures of my knitting in their fig tree might be too much). But today was gorgeous and sunny (and the neighbors were nowhere to be seen!) so I was free to take as many shawl-in-the-tree pictures as I wanted!

Now, I know I went on and on about this project while I was working on it, so I promise this will be the last Laminaria-heavy post….

I do have to say, though, that this is still one of my favorite projects ever. It was fun to knit, and I’ve worn it more in the last week than all my other projects put together (it gets cold in the office!)

Of course, now I’ve had to move on to new projects, and I have to admit I’ve broken my monogamy rule, just a bit…

A little taste of things to come…

]]> http://vtgirl4.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/pictures-at-last/feed/ 1 vtgirl04 http://vtgirl4.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/motivation-or-a-lack-thereof/ http://vtgirl4.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/motivation-or-a-lack-thereof/#comments Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:42:23 +0000 vtgirl04 http://vtgirl4.wordpress.com/?p=46 ]]>

Right now, I should be learning my understudy lines for Saturday (ok, if we’re going to be picky, I should really be working. It’s a slow day, though.) One of the other girls in the cast – the one who plays 4-5 small parts in the play – is going to be out of town for the last night of the show, so I’m taking her second-act roles, while “Margaret” takes her first-act ones. It’s nice since, for one night, I will spend four times my usual amount of time on stage AND do some swordfighting. But, on the other hand, I have to actually learn her lines.

Sadly, though, my lack of motivation is winning out over line-learning right now. This seems to be a constant problem in most areas of my life: I have trouble motivating myself to do pretty much anything (other than, perhaps, to knit or go running). And while this problem has bothered me for a while now, I’m starting to worry that it will be a big issue for my grad school plans. That list I made of things to do this summer to prepare for school? So far, it has been more or less neglected. And it’s not just the preparation part that’s problematic – without some power of self-motivation, school itself is going to be pretty tricky.

Which is part of why I’m writing here. I’m hoping that if I can motivate myself to write for a few days, it will become habit. My daily run started this way, and now I don’t feel quite right if I skip it (I’m now at the point where, when invited to a happy hour, I have to convince myself it’s ok not to run for a night). And, I figure, if I can start a blogging habit, I can probably start a paper-writing habit when the time comes… right?

Just as a warning, this will be incredibly boring for non-knitters. Sorry.

I have a knitting dilemma. Nothing life-or-death, or even terribly exciting, but it’s something that comes up often enough that I thought I should mention it.

I’ve been working on my Laminaria (that’s a Ravelry link – login required) for a while now, and it’s been going incredibly smoothly. The pattern is complex enough to be interesting, but repetitive enough to still be relaxing, and by following a few rules – the main one being “No Lace On The Morning Commute” – I have been error-free. Until now.

I was halfway through the first edging chart when I noticed that two repeats (two tiny little repeats out of ten? 20? I don’t know, but it’s a lot) didn’t line up the way they should with the row below. Each time, I looked back in my current row – no mistakes. So… I cheated. The first time, I knit three together instead of two; the second time I knit one instead of knitting two together. Simple, barely noticeable fixes, and the rest of the row worked out fine.

Now, however, I feel tormented. Because the shawl is so big, I can’t spread it out to see the full pattern, and the potential damage that I’ve done. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me so much – as I said above, this comes up from time to time, and if the root of the problem isn’t clear, I don’t mind these little cheats. But, whether it’s because things have gone so well so far, or because I’m afraid any error will be hugely noticeable after blocking, this time is different.

And so, the question: to tink or not to tink? Do I backtrack the last 3 rows (since I know that my cheating row was otherwise fine, and there is a stockinette row before and after it that I don’t think I messed up)? Let me emphasize that I am at the end of a crescent-shaped shawl, and these are long rows. Or do I continue ahead, ignoring this gnawing feeling, hoping that the next rows lines up and that I won’t discover my glaring errors upon blocking?

On the positive side, if this weren’t such an enjoyable pattern I wouldn’t even consider this stitch-by-stitch backtracking… part of me kind of wants to make this project last a bit longer.

I’ll let you know in my next post how everything turns out!

After attending the Teacher’s College Admitted Students Arbitrary Two-Day Period Weekend last Friday and Saturday, I feel both better prepared to enter grad school… and scared out of my mind. I’m not sure if they purposely designed this event to evoke both of these emotions in such a rapidly-alternating way, but they did a damn good job of it.

I learned that for the next year (or more), I will have little to no free time. Classes (so I was told) will take up less than 10 hours per week, but studying will be my life. I will also probably be working, at least part time, in order to keep paying for things like food and shelter. I will need to be self-motivated, and begin school with goals in mind for my life after I get out.

I don’t know about you, but those are some scary, or at least overwhelming, facts. It’s been four years since I was in school, and I have a feeling that my study skills haven’t improved. If anything, the intervening years have let me perfect the art of wasting time without accomplishing anything (temp work anyone?) I can’t even imagine trying to study in my apartment (a slightly larger, far more cluttered dorm room). And how do I manage a work schedule while trying to motivate myself to study? Am I even ready to go back to work “in the field?”

Whew. Sorry… minor freak-out there.

As I mentioned at the top, this was not just a fear-inducing event. I got to meet some lovely people, both from my program and others. I got a bit of group academic advising, and even found out why my program is called “Psychology in Education,” when it has little or nothing to do with education. And it looks like this will be an encouraging and supportive atmosphere to study in. Most importantly, I am genuinely looking forward to the subject matter. As corny as that sounds, when I looked at the list of required classes, I got excited about the idea of learning about psychology again. Which is what counts, I suppose.

After last weekend, I have a list of all (or at least many) of the things I need to do before starting classes in September – everything from reading my potential professors’ research to buying a desk. For the moment, though, it will all be put off. Tonight is the third performance of Henry VI, Part I (let’s hope it’s better than the second performance) and tomorrow is WWKIP Day! I don’t know yet whether I will make it to Central Park, or go to LIC (although that one’s a tad early for me), or just meet whoever comes to Astoria Park, but I will be out somewhere with my Laminaria (I’m up to the edging rows!) It should be a good weekend – lace may be challenging, but it has yet to make me freak out.

Not even a week into my regular-posting resolution, and I’ve already missed a day. I have no real excuse for not posting yesterday, except that the sun was out and I spent most of the day outside.

Today, though, was good and busy. A friend of mine will be going on maternity leave soon and she figured, rather than hiring some random temp, why not bring in me? She arranged for me to come in and interview with her bosses this afternoon, but first I had to join the temp agency that her company uses. Fortunately, since I already had an interview scheduled, or maybe because I’ve already worked as a temp for over two years, I didn’t have to do the usual Word/Excel/Powerpoint tests (few things make you feel stupider than realizing how much you use trial and error in basic programs, and how bad that looks on a test). Yup, I just had to fill out a stack of paperwork and agree to a background check and a drug test. Is it just me, or does that seem like a little overkill for a temp job?

Anyway, assuming I haven’t eaten too many poppy seed muffins the day of my drug test, I will be gainfully employed through the summer. While I appreciate the flexibility of my current situation, lately it’s been a tad too “flexible.” A few days without work is fine, and gives me an excuse to sit at auditions for a day, but after a few 8-hour work weeks in a row I’m ready for more stability (i.e.: consistent income). And with school starting in the fall, I know I won’t be stuck in a cubicle indefinitely.

In other news, the Anouk is speeding along- pictures to follow soon!

Tomorrow is my birthday. I usually try not to highlight that fact, but I feel like my readership here is small enough that it’s not like having it announced at a cheesy chain restaurant or anything (not to minimize the awesomeness of all of the people reading this!! You are fabulous, and I appreciate you putting up with my rambling, more than you can imagine!) As long as I can remember, I have hated having “Happy Birthday” sung to me- a friend who has similar feelings says it’s because you’re getting a lot of attention for not really doing anything (perhaps we should all sing Happy My Birthday to our moms instead). For me, I think it ties into my innate shyness and introversion, although I have trouble reconciling that with my need to be at the center of attention almost any other time. And, of course, the fact that I want my life’s work to be performing in front of many people. So maybe it’s just my own personal weirdness.

Anyway, this upcoming birthday has gotten me thinking a bit about age. Now, I know I’m not old by any normal, adult standards – I have to add “adult,” since I once really impressed a group of kids by saying I remember a time without DVD’s – but I keep getting reminders that I am, in fact, getting older. Today, for example, I auditioned for the part of a 17- to 20-year-old. I’ve always looked young, so it wasn’t a huge stretch, but it got me to thinking about how long it’s been since I was that age. Even my little brother is older than that now. When I was 17, it was still the 90’s. (On a similar note, a kid who’s 17 now was born in the 90’s- how’s that for scary?)

Of course, this trend of people my age getting married and/or having babies is also a little off-putting. I was talking to a pregnant friend who’s birthday is also coming up, and she mentioned how old she feels, hitting a quarter century and having a baby. I don’t know how she feels, but seeing someone a year younger than me turning 25, married, with a baby on the way makes me feel pretty darn ancient.

I guess, though, that’s it’s not so much about feeling old as it is about feeling like a grown-up. I think living in the city helps keep alive that college-kid feeling, especially if you live in a dorm-sized studio as I do. So when your peers start having careers instead of jobs, or buying homes, or giving birth to another generation, or any of those grown-up things, it can be a bit jarring. I’m not sure if I’m quite ready to be a grown-up yet… maybe next year.

*Bonus points to anyone who understood this reference. For the rest, it’s from Peter Pan: “For growing up is awfuller than all the awful things that ever were! I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up, not me!”

For the last few weeks, I’ve been planning to revive this blog, probably making it more knitting-focused (I’ve signed up for Secret of the Stole and, well, everyone else has a blog!) However, after reading this article, I couldn’t not respond.

I have known for some time now that our president and I do not agree on many things. I don’t think we should be at war- he does. I think schools should get funding for non-abstinence-based education- he doesn’t. And so on. This time, though, he’s taken it to a whole new level: I, personally, think we should guarantee that all children have access to health care. He doesn’t.

What’s worse is this (restraining myself from letting loose all  seven words and then some) man’s justification for opposing health care for children: it would be “an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American.”

Maybe I’m biased, as an American without health insurance, but… um… why is this a bad thing? And why don’t we get rid of a leader who will deny children proper health care because it might result in the entire country having access to health care? Does anyone else find this incredibly twisted?