Happier Note

My first knitting commission went over very well. As in, she loved them.

See how lovely they look together? I'll post the second pattern (also my own design) later.

And to answer a question from one of my Knitting Buddy MW, yes we do have decorations on the Christmas tree. This has yet to stop our little live-wire Cable. We went to the vet yesterday to get our first round of shots and she is completely healthy.

why bother with a title?

Let's just get straight into it, shall we?

I woke up last week and realized I had no clue about my Mod Brit Novel paper, let alone the presentation that went with it. Somehow I did pull it all together and did not embarrass myself. (Granted, this is minus the whole episode where I dropped the double-pointed needle while the girl before me was presenting. Thankfully, I was able to discreetly locate it and pick it back up.) I did not knit while I was at the panel, but obviously I was using a needle to keep my hands from shaking. Yeah, I was that nervous.

My rough draft for Kid Lit was completely torn to shreds by my prof. That's cool, I am only 3 pages short of the final paper length and nothing done to it since I got the blasted thing back.

That leaves me with the Skeptical Tradition. It's final 10 page paper is due Tuesday. Where am I with it? Let's just say there are lots of notes but nothing on the computer screen yet. It will get done. I plan to have a rough draft before Saturday night.

Oh wait. There are 2 weddings this weekend. I am in none of them, and will only attend one. This does throw a knick in the breaker box though.

Is it any wonder that I've begun to spend 90+ minutes after every school day knitting at Stash? On top of the school stress, there is the holidays. I really get low around them. Low as in the desire to just keep popping happy pills like they're candy. I think I need to knit some more.

I could be on Ravelry

But thought ya'll would like an update instead.

Cable has yet to knock the tree down, but she is winning over the Older Cat that we have. They may now touch, sleep, clean, and play together...so long as no bitting is involved.

Puppy hates the cold weather--less walks.

My Thesis Adviser helped me get a better idea of my thesis, just by listening to my rants. And I have another book to by, but it's only a few bucks. So no big. My Regular Adviser wants me to do a closer reading of the Thrum novels, focusing on classes. Then I go back to him and he'll talk theory with me. Fun. (please note the sarcasm)

I present a paper to my Modern British Novel class on Wednesday.

the great christmas tree adventure

Cable had a very interesting day. First she discovered the tree (with only lights on) was a great thing to smell. Then she figured out how to climb.



She told me hello and posed for the camera.



Then she started to climb some more.



She was pretty high up and stopped for a quick nap.



Then she remembered a camera was around and started to climb some more.



Until she could not climb any more and I had to get her down. She has since learned this trick for herself.

the turkey needs an aspirin

Oh, wait. It's dead. I'll take his.

Yep, you guessed it. I had one hell of a migraine this week. Monday to be precise, there I was watching little children read (yep, I was subbing too) and my head starts to throb. By the time I got home, it was a level three (cold dark room, no electricity, fetal position, crying).

I tried my best to go to class the next day, but had to come home before 9:00. In fact, the engine was still warm when I got to the car. Good for me, the Maternal Grandfather drove me to Memphis SnB that night.

Which is where my friend the LeftOutKnitter told me to just post my scarf pattern. That since I was not inspired by any particular pattern or had seen it and figured it out; then the pattern was mine to post. So after this, I'll put it up on Ravelry.

I still do not feel like me (maybe I should have let the Family take me to the hospital). However, I had a lovely day shopping with Mom in the morning and working at Stash in the afternoon. That's right, I now work for store credit at a yarn shop. Mom and the Maternal Grandparents will have to pay for me to quit.

Anyways, here is my completed scarf and pattern for it, just in case you knit.

Pattern for Quick-y Cable Scarf:
width: approx 4.5 inches
length: approx 60 inches
gauge: none, it is a scarf
needles: US size 9/ 5.5 mm
yarn: provided without information. 2 skeins of a teal, bulky wool yarn was used. I am guessing about 22o yards total, but it is hard to guess.

Row 1: (P2, K2)x2, (P2, K4)x2, (P2, K2)x2, P2
Row 2: (K2, P2)x2, (K2, P4)x2, (K2, P2)x2, K2
Row 3: repeat Row 1
Row 4: repeat Row 2
Row 5: (P2, K2)x2, P2, C4F, P2, C4B, (P2, K2)x2, P2
Row 6: repeat Row 2
Row 7: repeat Row 1
Row 8: repeat Row 2

i'm not quite dead sir...

Just the first bout with SAD of the season. Still not really over it just yet, but I do have my moments. No, really I do. Like the times I felt like myself and not like crying.

Classes were alright, I have to show up with a rough draft in Kid Lit on Tuesday. I present next Wed for Mod Brit Novel. And have three papers due the week after that. I feel like quiting knitting to take up chain-smoking; I would hate for my wool to smell like smoke. Even though I said I would never knit for money, both my camera and iShuffle are wearing out on me. The camera can wait, I can fed it batteries when I need to. Charge will not help the fact that only one side of my (new) earphones has sound. Hence, I did not turn down a commission when the owner of Stash asked me if I was interested. One of the two scarves is nearly finished and the other should not take long at all.

In Twin News:
It was the Elder Twin's week to be star student, an honor that comes with being line leader of the week. Her poster was completely parent-free and her life story was typed by an outside contractor, on of Matriarch SLW was on a computer at the time and dictated. The paragraph contains sentences like: "I hope everyone and God have a great day." "I always love anybody." and my favorite, "[The Maternal Grandmother] says I'm going to grow up to be a Warrior Queen." Friday, as Mom was driving the Twins home, the Younger Twin called her daddy: "It's a sad day. Sissy is no longer the line leader." Tough break. Anyways, next week it is the Younger Twin's turn.

Which reminds me, I need to get stuff together to do next Friday. I have been asked to come as the Younger Twin's special person and talk to the class. (The Elder Twin had her Paternal [my Step-] Grandmother and our Maternal Grandfather come.) Since the Younger wants me to talk about knitting, I'm thinking I need to bring a drop spindle. So what if I don't know how to spin? It would be so cool.

In Pet News:
Cable has taken to eating Puppy's food. Puppy has taken to eating Cable's food. No wonder they're having digestive problems. Cable can safely climb most places in the house and the Older Cat is tolerating the new family member much better.

Spring Registration

Yea! I have completed registration for the Spring. This is a big deal, since I had so many problems with the whole system on Monday. But I found the person who needed to click a button and the problem just vanished. The lady seemed like she was going to take awhile, but since I had some knitting and time, I stated knitting. Suddenly she put me at the top of her list. Amazing.

The latest KnitPick catalog came in yesterday. Me happy camper now. Just wait until I get my check next week. I know, I don't need more yarn. But I do. Hard to explain.

I have read all the material for Mod Brit Novel and 17th Century Skeptics. Another happy moment.

Cable can once again climb up to her perch by herself. Puppy was very happy. Kitten on perch means she is not bitting tails. Or in my case, ankles. Speaking of Puppy, she seems rather down lately. I am hoping it is just the weather change, since it affects nearly everyone here.

monday

Well, I volunteered some time at the Twin's school's book fair. I was assigned the Twins and one of their friends, the librarian dug through the wish list in order for this to happen. Each of the girls found lots of books, some Mom bought after lunch. I know, Mom, the Twins, and I had lunch together. I did not get a tray. I brought my lunch. A few minutes ago, Mom told them she was going to give them $5 each. The Elder Twin decided that would not be enough money, therefore she called the Maternal Grandmother. After a few brief sentences, the Maternal Grandmother said she would give everyone $5 more dollars. What can I say? The girl can solve problems.

I actually have uploaded pictures of the Younger Twin's jacket, however, I have to ask ya'll to take this jump. Why? Because the little bit-bit figured out this site was under Favorites on Mom's computer. I do not want to endure yet another round of: "Is it finished yet? Why? When is going to be finished? When will you knit me one?" There is only so much pressure I can take. There are more images on my Ravelry account, but I know that not everyone is on there yet.

My Kid Lit second paper is at 8 pages and growing fast. I also finished reading all the materials in 17th century lit. Now for the papers...

my life as of this moment

I knit. This lovely item is the body portion of Marina. Sleeves are coming. Someday.

I study. Here is my bookcase. The middle shelf is nothing but JMBarrie material. If this keeps up, I'm going to start claiming to have the largest private collection of Barrie in the Mid-South.

Cable has a new perch on my window. Puppy likes it because the kitten cannot bother her from there. Cable likes it because of the warm sunshine. I like it for the great photo opportunity.

normal chaos

The Maternal Grandmother has returned from her annual state meeting, Twins are here for the night, Cable is playing (or hiding from the Twins, hard to say which), and I survived another day of subbing.

I have pictures but no wire to put said pictures on the computer. Which really irritates me, having three projects on Ravelry that have no images. Ugh! But on the bright side, the book Dad ordered for me came in today (I need it for my thesis and was asking for it as a Christmas gift).

McClintock, Anne. Imperial Leather: Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Knowing how I've been pacing around the mailbox looking for books to come in, the Maternal Grandfather brought the package to me at the school I was subbing at. Needless to say, I was very happy. However, the cover was not appropriate for fourth graders and I had to make a quick book cover from the ads that came in the package. The entire thing was rather humorous.

Cable's 1st day of kindergarten

The Twins' show and tell letter this week was 'K.' The Younger Twin in all her brilliance thought 'Cable' was spelled with a "K" (we're still in the phonics stage of learning) and wanted to take the cat for her "K" item. Well since 'kitten' starts with a "K," the Maternal Grandfather took Cable to kindergarten. After all the love, affection, and attention that a room full of 5 year olds can give, the poor thing was worn out and slept all afternoon.

While my cat was off being the star of the day, I was at the Dixon here in Memphis. The Babar exhibit was bad. I had expected scenes of Babar from the books. What they had was bad rip-offs of good art where Elephants stood in for the real figures and were in pastel or bright colors no matter what the artist's pallet was. For example, Rembrandt's picture lacked the light/dark contrast and shadows; Titian's image looked nothing like the original glowing figures. I was the only one who appeared outraged about this heresy. No one was interested in my mock-lectures about the real art.

I had every intention

...of not posting anything until I had downloaded some knitting pictures. I am often scolded for that by some nameless people in my knitting life. Obviously, this thought is just that: a thought.


Company has left again, and the house is just for family. The shame of it all is that when I sleep on the sofa, Puppy and Cable sleep together at my feet.

My Annotated Bibliography for Kid's Lit is done, though I might add a few more sources tomorrow. We are going on a class field trip on Tuesday and it is not to the library. I know, this is heresy among some of us but there is an exhibit at the Dixon about Babar. So, we go.

I need to read. A lot. And I need to get started on the homework my Thesis Adviser gave me. (He thinks I can start writing in December.) This thing is starting to get scary.

All Hallows' Day

Yes, I am still among the living...at least I have a pulse. Living? Hmmm, not after this week is over.

On Monday, Mom and I took Cable to the Vet for a follow up. She is back up to a pound, yea! And I subbed all day for a Pre-1st class (it's pretty much for the kids who need a little boost before going on to 1st grade but not a kindergarten part II.)

Tuesday, I began paperwork for next semester. Fun. I was a little down, so I popped over to Stash to perk up. I bought the Cable a puppy collar and cat bell at the PetCo, since all the cat collars were way too big. She also learned, sometime around 3 a.m., that if she bit my nose enough I will get up to feed her.

All Hallows' Eve, I spent some more time on paperwork, this time with my Thesis Adviser. He recommended some books to me. I still felt blue but as a whole life was fine. Then my tempter light comes on the car. Since the Maternal Grandfather and I added water that morning (the light had been flickering the day before), I took the car in to be looked at. The Elder Twin had a good phonics tutoring, don't ask about doing homework with her at night, bad thing indeed. Cable let me sleep all night, the extra dry food appeasing her at supper.

And that brings me up to today, All Hallows' Day. My end of the paperwork is done. The car will be ready this afternoon. And for the first time in about 5 1/2 years, someone else drove me to school, no other than the Maternal Grandfather. He will pick me up on the porch at 3, I am not to go to daycare.

Tomorrow, I sub the special needs class.