The madness is now settling down. The kids are moved in and I'm back at work. Shelby moved into her dorm on Tues, Aug 19th. A day earlier than everyone else because otherwise I would have had to take Wed, Aug 20th off in order to move her in. So, the boss got permission to move her in early to free me up to start my job.
That was a lost day. We moved most of her stuff in and then it was the obligatory trips to BJ's for bulk stuff and then Ikea for extra kitchen stuff. Because Shelby loves to cook, she offered to outfit the kitchen. (She also had stuff from last year, so we had a good start already.) Still, a couple hundred bucks later, we had her stuff in the suite.
Next day, I was at work to move in the next crop of transfer students into my complex. Work the other job that night. Back at the Village on Thurs and Fri with overtime being worked on campus at the end of the day. Worked Sat and Sun for the rest of the move-in. My knees and hips do NOT (is there a way to underline that word 5 times?) like me standing in a parking lot for 10 hours at a clip. Work on Mon, other job afterwards. Work on Tues and Wed, with overtime after hours to help out with doing decals for the commuter students.
Thursday was a half day because it was Dee's 17th birthday. Happy Birthday to Dee! Happy Birthday to Dee!! No, I won't sing the rest because my voice is kinda shot.
Yesterday was my first "normal" day since the madness began. And, yet, it was a day of a few pitfalls and prats. It began early. I was checking email and went into the kitchen to refill my coffee for that frantic first few cups before I have to trot off to work. I'd just refilled and the cat jumped up on the counter to get my attention. Yes, I'd forgotten to refill the water dish with fresh, cool water. Bad Mommy! So I patted Phoenix on the head and assured him that I'd take care of him. So I refill the water dish and go to grab him... Let me break real quick because Phoenix is a hoot. If you run the tap, he'll just plant himself and drink from the faucet. I have no clue where he picked up this habit, but you've got to watch him. Leave a faucet running and he'll just block access while he sips away... /sigh/..... Okay, back to yesterday morning. I go to grab him and catch the top of my freshly filled coffee cup. Coffee everywhere!
Course, he just sits there and wonders why his feet are now wet. So I have to toss him down and mop up everything in sight. Lovely way to start the day.
Then it's off to work. Things are going well. I'm currently working on finishing the plain socks in Winter Wonderland while also working on the Pembrokeshire Pathways socks. To keep interest high (and keep boredom from setting in), I usually work on one colorway for a while, then switch to the other for a bit. Back and forth. This way I'm never working on any given project long enough to get bored with it. I also try to stagger my projects so I'm working on the first sock of one set while finishing the second sock of another. This way, every time I finish a "set", I have a new colorway or pattern to look forward to. This method keeps my interest for those long stretches of time that I have every day for knitting.
Anyway, so I'd started with the pattern. It takes a bit longer because it's a bit more involved, so I tend to spend a little more time with that. In the meantime, I also listen to podcasts and books in audio. I'd finally gotten over to Heather Ordover's CraftLit podcast and I have a LOT of catching up on the books. So I'm listening away to Tristan & Isolde (yes, I started in the middle and let's not even bring up the trouble I've had with my iPod lately) and paying attention because this was my first time listening to the final chapters when I decide to switch over to the Winter Wonderland socks. I can pay more attention to the podcast because this is straight stockinette stitch and I can practically knit these socks in my sleep. So I look quickly and figure I've got to turn the heel, so I put my hands on autopilot and direct my attention to the podcast.
So I spend the next few hours listening to chapters of books and switching between the two socks. It's about 2:30 in the afternoon when I look down and the ball of Winter Wonderland is looking mighty small. I'm only halfway down the instep and foot and panic begins to set in. I'm going to run out of yarn before I can finish the toes on this sock. This has never happened with Gypsy Girl yarn. Ever. And I'm thinking I might have to write and complain to Cathi....
Then I turn the sock to work on the other side (I knit all my socks in Magic Loop) and notice that it's looking VERY long...
I really should have saved it for a picture. Or even taken a picture with my phone.
I'd turned TWO heels. Thinking back, I'd just reached the end of the foot the day before. It was time to begin the decreases for the toes and I'd set it aside. I really hate beginning a decrease and then having to stop. The day before, I knew I didn't have enough time to finish the toe decreases, so I'd set it aside and made a mental "note" to just finish the toes the next morning and the sock would be done.
So much for "notes", right? Instead of doing the quick 20 rows of decreases and a Kitchener, done with the project by 10AM, I'd turned a second heel and spent half a day knitting a new 40 unnecessary rows....
/wry g/
Like I said, I really should have taken a picture of this thing with two heels. Luckily, it was early enough before the end of my shift that I simply frogged the whole thing back, added my toe decreases and was done with the sock in short order.
Needless to say, when I got home last night, I tucked away anything with needles and spent time with my wheel.
The other thing I did last night besides spin was to go to the Durham Fair website and begin the process of committing myself to what I'm going to enter. I picked out three categories--Fiber, HandKnitting and Sewing. In the Fiber Category, I'm going to enter some 2-ply handspun and a pair of knitted socks from 2-ply handspun. That's all I have to enter for Fiber. Maybe next year I can try a 3-ply as well as a 2-ply, but I'm not brave enough yet for that. I'll also need a Lazy Kate because my wheel itself has 2 posts built in to hold bobbins for plying, but I'll need 3 posts to do a 3-ply. Anyway.... In the HandKnitting category, I'm going to enter my PW sweater in a colorwork pullover, a plain sock, a patterned sock and I'm going to enter Dee's fingerless mitts (the ones that are purple, pink and white) in the Miscellaneous category. I have to check with my MIL to see the state of her shawl that I made her last year. If it's in good shape and she hasn't felted it, I'd like to enter that one in the shawl category. But I haven't committed to that one yet as I have to check. Finally, I have a bunny that I made _years_ ago that I'm going to enter in the Sewing category of Handcrafted Toy. I did enter another bunny years ago and won a first place ribbon, but this one has been adorning my shelves without a ribbon to call its own. So I'm going to dust her off and enter her so she feels special like her buddy.
I won't win enough points to earn the Hall of Fame in any way. Someone who enters Sewing stuff always gets that because you can sew a LOT more stuff than you can either knit or crochet. I always wanted to win a Hall of Fame (they display all your stuff separately from everyone else), but knitters and crocheters don't have a chance... /sigh/ Six articles won't get you into the Hall of Fame area.
Let's see if there's anything else in the past couple weeks. I wanted to mow today. The grass is almost knee high because I haven't been home to mow, but it's misting/raining. Too much to be a mist, too light to be rain. So, would that be rist? Or would it be main? /g/ That's okay, though. I have lots of laundry and housecleaning to do. When you only come home to flop for 10 days, things tend to back up and stall. And I have a cake to bake for Dee's official "party" tomorrow. We're taking her to Red Lobster so she and I can pig out on snow crab and then we'll come back here for cake and coffee. That's when I can check with my MIL about her shawl. I might have to wash and block it for the Fair, but that's okay. My mom has tons of floor space. Can't do it in my house because the boys would take one look and exclaim "CATBED!!!!!" White cats on a burgundy shawl. Not a good mix.
Okay, time to hop in the shower and then get on the cleaning gloves and work my way around the house. Start with the bathroom and end up at the radiator in the living room. It's amazing the accumulation of dust that can gather in the crannies of a radiator, isn't it? I've never been vigilant, but with oil prices going through the roof, I have to be better about "clean" heat so the boiler doesn't have to work so hard.
Have a wonderful week!!!! I'll gather items for pics for next week. I should have the Pembrokeshire Pathways socks done by then and they truly have turned out gorgeous. So gorgeous that I actually want to knit more patterns in the future. What a concept. After four or five years, I now want to knit patterns. Heck, I'm even thinking of an Aran sweater. I must be way too tired if thoughts like this are cropping up... LOL!
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