Resolutions

Ah, it's that time again. Time to reflect on the past year and plan for the next. Honestly this year has been such a mess that anything I plan for the new year has got to better. With that in mind I've been giving my personal goals a good look-see and I've decided that along with the move, the hospitalizations and the poor adjustments I'm not in bad shape after all. I've really gotten into a workout program and I'm losing actual weight (down a pants size). I got a 3.85 GPA despite the daycare drama. And I do like the new house. So it's not all bad. Which leave me with the question of what next? The new seed catalogs are rolling in and the new calender is begging for me to write all over it. So what's the plan? First the boring stuff: keep up the exercise and weight loss in hopes of lowering cholesterol; decide on window treatments for the kitchen/great room; finally get a headboard for our bedroom. And then the fun stuff, my biggest goal this year is to get work ready. I am so very tired of school, and it's finally drawing to a close. So it's time to look towards a job. This is tricky because I want to be a writer. But I don't write enough in my daily life. I write many papers a semester but that's not the same. My first initiative is to finish the research study that I started this fall. I won't be doing it for class credit now, just for the thrill of digging through science journals. I'm hoping to make some contacts and find a few interesting story ideas along the way. As much as I love fiction and memoir, I need to focus on the science writing if I want to eat. As a fun project I will be rededicating myself to the blog. And not just quick posts about knitting or lack there of. I'm planning longer essays as a way to flex that creative muscle. So these are my resolutions, simply put to keep it up and write more. What are your resolutions or lack there of? Personally I think keeping it simple is the best resolution of all.

how about that

A New Me!

Well sort of. I've had the cut for a few months now, but the color is new, and didn't show up so well. Should have taken a shot in the sun before we went shopping. It's a deep violet, red, with intense red burst here and there. Since it's so curly it makes a nice red glow all around. Yippee! I was feeling very middle age boring, so it was this or body art. Seriously I almost got pierced but so far this is holding me over, maybe a new lipstick too. And the fact that I've lost ten pounds this fall doesn't hurt either. I just might be sexy by Christmas. :)

Well back to my sourdough bread (that's rising very slowly) and final papers. After this coming week I'll have time to knit! And it's a good thing too, with Christmas coming and all.

Gobble, gobble....

Happy Turkey Day wishes go out to my Indiana peeps! While I am happy to be having my brother over tomorrow, I am missing you guys something awful! Last Thanksgiving was exhausting but so much fun! I'm putting in for Martin Luther King Day so we can plan our knitting retreat that weekend. Complete with midget and new crock pot recipes. There won't be a fire, but I'm working on a nice candle display to fake the warm glow. Hope you're all finding a little peace and happiness this week, even if it's not with your families. :P

I do like this one

You Are the Bow Pose

You are an open hearted person. You seek connections and make them easily. You are naturally generous - especially with your love and your time. You have a knack for thinking up interesting ideas. You are an inventor and a creator. You approach everything in life with a relaxed attitude. You accept what you can't change.

What Yoga Pose Are You?

Hopefully I'll have something crafty to post at the weekend's end.

High end sock day

Here's a pic of my Noro Kueryon socks. It was my first Noro project. I love the colors but it isnt' the softest yarn in the world. But they are very comfortable on.... So I guess they get a thumbs up after all...

These are my Olympic knitting socks, from the Socktopia Ravelry Group. I used Socks That Rock medium weight in Beryl.

And a close up shot of the ring pattern.....

Today I spent some time knitting after my ill-fated trip to the ER. Appherently I am allergic to Bees. Hmmm, who knew? But I have a nice start on a Minimalist Cardi now, in rose colored Rowan Cashsoft. Mmmmm it's so yummy to work with that I almost don't care that I was a human pincushion earlier.

the swimming lesson

As promised, here are some pictures of the munchkin's first swimming lesson....





She is having so much fun. And when Daddy comes with us, I get an workout in. That makes Mommy happy.
Tomorrow I'll post some sock pictures. Yes I have actually finished some knitting. Can you believe it?

For all the outlander fans out there, check this this out.

And while you're there check out the "Zoe Chronicles." Seriously, knitting girls (and you know who you are) check it out.

Everyone needs goals

As I look through my syllabi and plan out the week it occurs to me that I have too much to do and it likely won't be letting up as I near the holidays. So an action plan is order.

First I need a list of Xmas projects:
*Woodins set
*Sheldon set
*Dragon puppets
*WI afghan
*sew up bath gloves
*make up bath treats
*felted fuzzy slippers
*Jughead hat
*Ladder of Life socks
*Sweet Suede purse
*beaded votives
*gnomes and house set
*Elijah
*Subway mittens?

And now for the small manageable chunks:
this month I will finish Vince's vest and the chemo socks and one of the xmas projects (because I just can't help myself)

Now let's see if can meet my goals.....

Eye Candy

The new Knitty is Out! Hazaah! I have a new laptop and I'm finally falling into my new schedule. So there will be pics of the munchkin's first swimming lesson up soon, as well some FO pics and a piece I'm writing for class. It's knitting realted, sort of so why not advertise, right?

ps: Courtney, Jenn and Joy... I miss you so guys so much it actually hurts.

A Beautiful Day

After the torrential rain passed, we've had some nice weather, so the munchkin was able to spend time in her new favorite place, the sand box.

And what do i do when she's ensconced in sand?

This is the current sock, a birthday present for my sister.
And since it's a lovely day, here's a shot from the new deck....

Back from the Dead, but Wearing the Knitting Funk

So I'm am happily installed, mostly, in our house. And im loving being back in Wisconsin.No offense to my Indiana friends, but it never felt liek home to me. I feel as though i belong here. And it's a really good feeling. But hte knitting, it suffers. I've lost my mojo. I was kickign butt on the Mystic Light shawl, until the 4th clue. And now it seems that I'm ruining everything I touch. I swear I have a mistake in everyhing right now. So I've decided in order to turn things around I need to knit for someone else. Karma, right? So I'm trying to finiah the infamous Jesse's Flames for my brother. Maybe that will snap me out the pit of yuck. But in the mean time, I'm picking up the muchkin tomorow and pics will follow. Then I can shoe you all th lovely new house.
Maybe that'll help......

Enough is Enough

My stash never seemed that big to me. Perhaps its because so much of it is inherited acrylic that I don't think about. However while prepping the house for sale I was floored when I saw just how much I yarn I have. Boxes and boxes and a couple more boxes. So I've started working on a stash buster log cabin afghan, to get started whittling it down. Since I'm using scraps it will be a patchwork of primary colors. DH and the Munchkin love it. DH agreed that it really isn't my style which must be why they like it so much.
So yeah, we're moving, and between that and finals I feel like my head might explode. We'll be moving to Wisconsin this summer, so DH can start a new job for the fall semester. So far there is interest in the house, which is amazing in this town/market. And when all is said and done we'll be much closer to our parents. That's the other bit of excitement in my life. A couple weeks ago, my Dad went into a diabetic coma, and we didn't even know he was diabetic, neither did he. It was scary for a few days but he's back home now, a little whoozy, but doing much better. So not only will the Munchkin get more grandparent time, but it won't take me twelve hours to drive up there if needed. We'll only be two hours south of them and an hour and a half north of the in-laws. And of course I've already scoped out the local yarn stores.

Fridays are for posting

I don't know why but I seem to post on Fridays. It's not intentional, I just seem to get caught up with everything on Fridays. Hmmmm..... 'Tis a mystery. And this week is no exception. The good news: midterms are over and it's just about Spring Break. I say just about, because I have one more French class before it's official for me, but we're not doing anything serious in it, so my brain has pretty much turned off. In fact I'm bringing my knitting to school today because it's far more important/exciting today. Well that and I'm on deadline. The DH is going to New York by way of Milwaukee on Tuesday and I'm tryign to get his belated Xmas sweater vest finished so he can take it with him. It's the Knotting Hill vest from Knitscene and I'm doing it in green so it'll be perfect for St. Patrick's Day. And yes he'll be in New York for the parade. I am so jealous. i went last year and it was amazing. I thought I might have a stroke when I saw all the young, hot, bagpipers filling the streets. Yum.... But due to my recent hospitalization and weird health situation I'm staying home this year. Boo. However he's going by way of Milwaukee in order to drop off the munchkin, so I'll be getting a week of peace and quiet. Now that's a Spring Break. I plan to sew and knit all week long. Well, okay I'm going to throw in a yoga class or two as well, but that's it. :) So I'm off to finish the vest and take pictures of all the projects I've been working on and I mean it this time, when I say there will be pictures this week. After all what else will I have to do.....

something fun for friday

Which Alice in Wonderland character are YOU? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Alice You scored Alice! You are kind-hearted and curious and give yourself very good advice, but seldom follow it, which leads you into trouble. You always try to be courteous and polite, but you become cross when people speak in nonsense to you and scold them sharply. Alice 92% The Dormouse 75% Cheshire Cat 58% Walrus 58% Mad Hatter 58% Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum 58% March Hare 58% Carpenter 50% A Playing Card 50% Caterpillar 42% The White Rabbit 42% Flamingo 33% Queen of Hearts 33% Oyster 17%

Getting back on top

I have a very good reason for not posting in forever. I was in the hospital. I got the horendous flu bug that was going around and then it got very warm here, adn my lungs couldn't keep up. My husband called it the perfect storm of asthma. And indeed it was. My doctor tried to treat as an outpatient for nearly a week, but it became clear that I need constant care for a few days. And of course during the admitting process my cell phone is vibrating becasue the munchkin had a fever and needed to be picked up from daycare. Of course she did... Needless to say I fell behind in everything, the kiddo needed to be re-programmed once I got back home, and I'm finally getting back on top of my crazy life.
In my previous post I mentioned that somethign was brewing. Well here it is: we're moving back to Wisconsin. My husband took a job in Oshkosh and after some debate over my chances of transfering and finally finishin my degree, we decided to go for it. Our parents are over the moon! We'll be an hour and a half to two hours away from both sets. My brother's super excited as well. He's already planning to spend all of his weekends with us. So that's the exciting news.
On other fronts, I recieved my Vintage Sock Swap package. Thanks Eveline! The socks are beautiful! I also signed up for the Mystic Lights KAL. Sign-ups are open until March 25, so come along. I've bought Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora. I wound it up yesterday and now I really can't wait to start. Squeeeee! It's a good thing I have Icarus and all my UFOs to keep me busy in the mean time. That's the bad part about moving, dealing with the yarn stash. I need to do some serious organizing and packing before we can think of having people look at the house. This is going to be a busy spring. Well that's all for now. I felt I had to break my silence. I'll have pictures tomorrow.

stand still and drown, will you?

Okay so life is really weird right now. We are waiting to hear some potentially life altering news, no illness or baby... but life changing all the same. While we wait, and freak out, I'll have written four paper in three weeks (by next week) and worked through 5 chapters of French and read more than I read in the entire last semester. Don't get me wrong, I love my classes and most of my teachers, but Good Lord! The munchkin has truly fallen down the two-year-old-rabbit hole and is lucky to be alive. So how do i manage all this? How do I cope? Aperhently lace does the trick. Yeah I did it. DH's Xmas sweater is not finished but I started Icarus. I am such a yarn slut. But the funny thing is, I love this pattern. It's so easy to follow and soothing. And the yarn is so yummy.... Ah.... I will take pictures of my lovely this weekend. after the paper stampede dust has settled and I can find the camera. But for now just know that I am in love and a woman in love can do anything! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.