Who doesn't love a baby sweater?

Just popping in to show a picture of the baby sweater I just finished:

 

Seriously, how CUTE is that? The pattern is the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan. I knit it up in KP Brava Worsted leftovers from the sweaters I knit for my parents. It's set to be shipped out this week and the baby is due in 6 weeks.

Missing In Action

Sorry I've been a bit absent of late. When I started this blog, too well aware of my own commitment issues, I vowed to write once a week. Then last week happened. And this week. And, well, the blog didn't. But I'm back now and have decided to give a sort of random overview of life, excitement, goings on, etc. So I give you a random list of occurrences:

1.  In knitting news, my sister's mitts are done and she loves them (and the length). They ended up being almost to the elbow, super squishy, and totally two different shades of blue/black. I also finished by husband's escalator socks, which he loves. Still not sure how I feel about the KP Stroll Tweed. It seems a bit "floppy" for a sock yarn. But it is very soft and he likes them (though mentioned that the can only wear them once before washing because they stretch out more than his other socks). I also am working more on my Bubbly Personality Cardigan (no pictures, as it is still just a really long strip of stockinette right now). I'm about a quarter finished with some plain stockinette socks in Felici (sadly discontinued; get it while you can), and have finished a baby sweater for a friend (pictures to follow). Moral of the story, I have been a knitting machine. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that I have tons of school stuff to do that I am avoiding. 

Stuck Pot Rice with Yogurt and Lemon

2.  In cooking news (because knitting isn't quite enough avoidance on its own), I've made two great recipes that you should take a look at. The first is Rustic Tortellini Soup, which is amazing and warm and wonderful. I add more liquid to it so that it is a bit more soup and a bit less stew, but it is one of my go-to recipes. I also made the smitten kitchen's Stuck Pot Rice with Lentils. LOVED it. I think I will add more onions next time (personal preference), but it has been my meal for the last two days. Total win.

3.  I find it odd that now that Lent is over and I no longer have to limit my meat intake, I start cooking vegetarian. Ironic?

4.  Easter with family is great, but not productive. I spent two days with my family eating, playing cards, laughing, eating, cooking, eating, dying eggs, eating. My sister, husband, and I had our annual Easter Egg Show-Off competition (I think I won). I lost miserably at cards. And I got absolutely no reading or grading done. Worth it? Absolutely.

5.  The research, writing, reading, etc. that didn't get done is still waiting for me, and will likely make the blog late this coming week too. I have two big papers due in the next week and am in intensive research mode (as I take time to sit down and blog instead of reading). Joyce is occupying my life. Daniel Defoe haunts my dreams. I will soon be moving into the library and establishing squatter's rights.

6.  I do not foresee more time coming my way in the near future. This is disheartening.

In the mean time, I'm going to try to squeeze a blog post in when I can in the next few weeks, but if I start fading, bear with me. I will resurface after graduation (Master's degree in hand) and resume our normally scheduled program. 

Knitting and Other Weird Things People Do In Public

I am a knitter. This means that I basically want to spend every free moment playing with sticks and string. It means I treat waiting rooms, long lines, and delays as opportunities rather than annoyances. It means I am magic and can create wonder and wooly goodness using the bare minimum of raw materials. To me, knitting is practically a super power. It defeats boredom, it creates wonder and amazement, and it is generative in ways so many other hobbies are not. Knitting is bad ass.

With all of the awesomeness, however, being a knitter also makes me weird, unabashed, and old-fashioned. Especially because I frequently knit in public. The hype surrounding knitting in public has always seemed odd to me, and for the most part I have ignored it all and knit anyway. Daily life is full of knitting opportunities--queues, waiting rooms, coffee shops, car rides. It never occurred to me that it would be weird for me to try to use my time productively. Even as a new knitter I was willing and enthusiastic about whipping out my work at every opportunity.

Despite my own willingness to bring my knitting out in public and my confidence (read: obliviousness) while doing so, I have still incurred some strange looks and comments. Apparently knitting in public is strange. People aren't supposed to do it. A part of me is okay with that. Generally I accept that I'm going to be weird and I'm going to knit. But recently, I had a colleague ridicule me for knitting during a conference presentation and it got me thinking; people do far stranger things in public. Things that are far more intrusive, offensive, distracting, etc. For example...

• Making phone calls. It just fosters some weird kind of voyeurism and no one really wants to hear all about your personal business.
• Taking selfies. Just plain awkward.
• Changing babies diapers. Public exposure. Fecal matter. How is this not something people think twice about?
• Breastfeeding. Not remotely meant as an insult. I have absolutely no problem with public breastfeeding. But it is certainly more distracting than knitting.
• Mouthing lyrics to an iPod. Just makes you look crazy. That music you're enthralled with? No one else can hear it.
• Making out. Again with the voyeurism. And the swapping of bodily fluids. And the grossness.

Me working on my husband's Elevator Sock at school.

So really, in the end, I don't think knitting is that weird. It's virtually silent. It doesn't take up space. It doesn't require me to expose myself or invade on anyone's public space. It doesn't make me unapproachable or self-absorbed (at least not if the number of people who approach me when I'm knitting means anything). Quite frankly it is one of the more normal things that a person can do in public. So I knit in public and slowly the people I see everyday have stopped staring. My knitting, at least, is starting to normalize. I have just become that one weird instructor who knits in the coffee shop in the mornings. Personally, I see this new apathy as progress.

If you are interested in helping to normalize knitting (and maybe gain some converts), I recommend you take part of World Wide Knit in Public Day. It's awesome, it's widespread, and it is a great way to meet other knitters who aren't afraid of being "weird" if it means they get to play with sticks and string whenever they want.

A Bad Case of the Mondays

So I wrote an entire blog post and then accidentally deleted it instead of posting it. Because that is the level of brain engagement I am currently functioning at. This last weekend/morning have been a little strange. I've been feeling a bit off. Not necessarily bad. Just not quite right. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that everything right now seems in flux, and like it isn't supposed to be. People keep asking me how school is going, and I keep replying in the same way. "Great! Everything is going great!" (cue overly enthusiastic thumbs up and smile). And it's true. If you were to objectively look at it, things are going pretty great.

I'm about to finish my Master's. I got accepted to a good PhD program for the fall with funding. I like both of my classes and professors this semester. I have research topics and a plan for the research on my final papers. I am, for the most part, caught up on my teaching. Everything seems to be going well. I can't complain.

The only problem is, none of it is finished. It's a lot of in-progress kind of stuff. The Master's degree, while virtually a given at this point (I would have to go brain dead to not pass this semester) is still a month away. I have stuff to do before then in order to earn the degree. The PhD program is another to-do list of things that need to get completed. Exciting, lovely things that I am looking forward to, but really the acceptance letter is  as much another task as it is an accomplishment. And as for this semester, everything is in the progress stage. I have topics. Great. Lovely. That has yet to translate into "I have a draft." That needs to happen. Soon. The problem is not so much that I'm not being productive. Stuff is getting done. It is more that all of the projects are long-term things. They take time. So while everything is "great" everything is also "unfinished." And that can get a bit frustrating as the days continue to fly by.