... for my lack of blogging.


Now, I haven't calculated the number of minutes/hours I spend on Ravelry in a given day or week, not do I want to (what an embarassing number that would be!). My days mostly involve working interspersed with checking Ravelry and reading the forums. I cut down the number of groups I belong to, but that only made me start reading the main forums more. I need to remind myself at home to stop looking at Ravelry and pick up my knitting! If I invested all of my Ravelry time (hell, even half of it) to knitting, Ward would be finished by now!


By the time it gets later in the day when I'm home and near the camera, I have little energy to take pictures and post them to the blog. Blogging now (or at least blogging with pictures, which we seem to be lacking here recently) involves not just MovableType and uploading a few pictures, but loading those pictures onto Flickr and Ravelry. And after staring at the computer all day (working and Ravelrying), I'm just too lazy.


This lack of blogging has become blatant enough that Kevin even asked me the other day, "does Ravelry make you blog less?" And I had no answer other than "yes." Gah!


I'll try to be better! Ward is zooming along with a little focused time yesterday. I plan on spending the Super Bowl knitting furiously on it. I have about half of the back left to finish, then sewing, and finishing the collar. My goal is to be able to wear it by the end of the week (although a more reasonable goal might be to wear it by the 12th, but we'll see).

I am decidedly not a morning person. I hate waking up and getting out of bed. I requested (and thankfully got) a schedule for the Fall semester that doesn't start before 10am. I just don't like mornings.


That said, I am most productive in the morning. Oh, the irony! (That is irony, right? Not in the Alanis Morisette way? Hmmm....). Excepting the little snooze I took from 9:30-10am this morning, I started doing work around 8am and plugged away (even while eating lunch and with a few internet breaks) until about a few minutes ago (about 12:45pm). I still have a lot to do. At the very least, I need to write one more lecture for tomorrow and make a study guide. In an ideal world, I would write 3 lectures, create a study guide, and make up an exam. I know the ideal world isn't happening, so 2 lectures and an exam can be worked on tomorrow.


But for some reason, especially when working at home (like today), when it gets to be 1pm (or close to it), my work productive screeches to a halt and I have zero motivation to continue (hey, that's why I'm blogging instead of lecture writing!). I can usually convince myself to sluggishly solider on promising myself a break to watch General Hospital and then a bit more work (terrible, I know!). It seems that I'll make it to 3 o'clock with little more finished than at 1, and after breaking for TV time, I can't get back to it. I'll be on the computer, but I'll be sucked into that damn hamster launching game the Yarn Harlot blogged about a few days ago.


Remember that pretty schedule that I posted about a week or two ago? Yeah, haven't yet gotten that to work. It is possible that after this week, I'll be ready to be on the schedule, but I fear that it might be Spring Break before I really get that together. Two weeks of school finished and already I'm looking forward to the break in the middle of March... oh, and then just the long haul through April and it will be summer vacation! And lucky me is teaching the same courses next fall that I taught last fall and many, many times in grad school!


Ok, now I'm rambling... work, work, work... send productive work vibes my way...

So I was thinking about this last night as I was trying to sleep and listening to the hamster chew on something unbelievably loud, I want to form a better blogging habit. I think to facilitate this I am going to try to blog as often as possible, even if it is non-knitting related. I know, knit blog should equal knitting related, but if I keep that up, I'll lose the three remaining readers I have (not that my random ramblings are going to keep them either, but it is worth a shot... and besides I'm paying to have this web space, I really ought to use it).


I have class in about 15 minutes. This is always the toughest time. I've reread my notes and am ready to go, but I have to wait...


Geez... this is going to be more boring and harder than I thought... why did I have so many good ideas last night, but now they are gone!


Ok, here's two of them, but I'll elaborate later:
*recognizing a knitter's pattern style is like recognizing the style of a specific artist
*yarn is so much more complex and interesting than I thought!

**Ok, students are showing up for a meeting in 28 minutes... gotta make this efficient**


I was pondering the other day people's ability to recognize famous artists. Not everyone has this ability, but those who like art and study it can look at a painting (without seeing the artist's name) and know that it's a Smith or a Johnson. I am no good at this. Art is interesting to me, but I can't tell a Monet from a Manet (oh, that brings back a funny memory from college of running through the Philadelphia Art Museum moaning Monet, Manet).


In any case, I'm impressed when someone can just know an artist by the style of painting, colors used, and lines created. I have been realizing slowly, that I do have some of that same ability, but it has no relation to painting or sculptures. But I've found that when browsing through Ravelry looking at patterns or flipping through knitting magazines, there are some designers that I can recognize simply by looking at the knit. One of my favorites (and probably the easiest to spot) is Norah Gaughan. But there are others as well.


I also find the same skill when identifying yarns. I can look at a picture of a skein (unlabeled) or something knit, and make a pretty good identification of the yarn. Now, I'm not saying I have some master skill or amazing ability. In fact, I can probably only do these things 1 or 2 times out of 10, but I like thinking about the knowledge I'm gaining about knitting, yarn, and design. I like to think about it in comparison to individuals who study art or architecture or music. You learn the elements and compositions, you learn the styles and trends, you learn the traditions and combinations. I like that knitting is becoming more than just a pastime and more than a productive process, but that it includes learning and thinking and artistic type knowledge.


Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a knitting museum? There can be samples from famous knitwear designs, or even famous designs that everyone had to have (clapotis?). There can be skeins of yarn to represent the popular brands, unique fiber compositions, and beauty of handpainted. You can spend a leisurely afternoon with your knitbuddies exploring and petting (this would have to be a "please touch" museum). "Hey come check out the Elizabeth Zimmerman wing," "wow, look at the wall of every color of Koigu ever produced," "let's check out the hall of knitting horror!"

I like when Sundays are both easy going and productive. Here's what I've accomplished so far (and all without pressure or urgency).


*Quick trip to Target and dropped Kevin off at the subway station
*4 loads of laundry, which is everything except some delicates (i.e. knits) that I'll do tomorrow
*Watched the new episode of Rock of Love (I love that Vh1 shows new eps at noon on Sundays)
*Watched two episodes of old General Hospital on SoapNet while knitting about 3 inches on a hat for Kevin
*Ate a snack
*Got one of my lectures for Tuesday about 90% finished in both the lecture and PowerPoint (should be able to finish the rest in about an hour or so tomorrow morning)
*Did the dishes
*Worked on the NYTimes Crossword puzzle


When Kevin gets home, we'll cook dinner and finish the puzzle. Yay for Sundays! (And Sundays are a million times better when you get to work at home on Mondays!)


In knitting news, I finished Ward. I had a near meltdown over it before finishing the collar (which saved it). But now I'm feeling indecisive about whether I like it. I think I'll wash it tomorrow and block it. I'll get some blocking pics and explain more about the meltdown later.

From this:

To this:



Well, I didn't get to wash her yesterday because the landlord had to shut off the water for a while. I decided to wear her to work today to see how I like her.


When I was finishing her on Sunday, I finished the body knitting, and then seamed her up. At which point, I tried her on. The fit was terrible. Even though the back and sides were perfectly matched, they didn't fit right on the body. I was nearly in tears and about to throw it in the trash. Then I decided that I would finish the collar and give it one last chance before throwing it away. Thank goodness I finished the collar! The fit is entirely different with the collar in place. There are still a few weird poufs on the sides of the front, but it otherwise seems ok. I'll see how I feel after wearing her today.


One last look...

Ugh! Trying to write research methods lectures makes me want to stab myself in the brain with a pointy size 35 knitting needle!!


Somehow despite having an "easy" week last week (i.e. only 1 lecture out of a possible 6) because my students were engaged in in-class activities (i.e. tests and group work), I managed not only to not get ahead like I had hoped, but to fall behind! How did this happen? I'm completely off my schedule and barely finishing lectures before giving them.


I started a new sock, but haven't touched it since the weekend.


Anyone want to write an hour and 20 minute lecture on threats to validity for me? Please?!?

ARGH! I just typed up a post, was proofreading it, went to make a correction and POOF it is gone!!!!!


Here's the cliff notes version...


1. I'm at work right now and that pisses me off. There is no reason to make staff and faculty and students drive in in this weather. (I took the bus, but still...)

2. I did a good deed by rescuing a guy's dropped glove from the bus steps and returning it to him. I almost didn't because it was a store-bought glove, but figured he would miss it just as much in the cold and snow as if he'd made it himself.

3. My most favorite winter hat has an enormous, nonrepairable hole.

I got my yarn for the replacement hat yesterday. Hopefully I'll have some time to cast on tomorrow (tonight is the late night of teaching, which means I get home, eat, stare at the TV for 20 minutes, and then go to bed). I started another hat, but am not sure that I like it, so that will go on hold for the replacement.


Yesterday was double package day as I got my package from the 80s TV Swap on Ravelry. My pal sent me the 1st season DVD of "Growing Pains" and yarn to make a lovely bulky scarf. I'll take pics and post them tomorrow (hopefully).


And lastly for knitting, I've been plugging away on a ribbed sock. Everything ribbed except the toe (yes, a ribbed short-row heel!... why? well, cause I was curious to see if it could be done). It is a super skinny looking sock because of all the ribbing. I got to work on it a bunch while waiting around yesterday. What is unfortuante is that I might not be able to enjoy the sock or any of my other hand knit socks in the forseeable future. The stupid eczema on my legs has reached new heights of horribleness (including waking up multiple times last night unable to sleep because of the insanity of the itchiness). Basically, I need several weeks of sitting in a vat of moisturizer. Right now at work, I am sitting with my pant legs pulled up over my knees and heaping gobs of moisturizer on my legs. I'm not itchy, but I hope no students need to come talk to me!

(and others in the NYC vicinity)...


Yarn Harlot - April 2nd, 7pm, Borders at Columbus Circle