I knit one more row on my shalom today. Boh napped. I managed to snap a picture.
Things are going to be crazy (and thus, sporadic around here) for another week or so, but after that, I’m really looking forward to catching up in blogland. I may not be commenting/responding as quickly as I usually do, but I’m still reading. (And Boh is still napping.)
For me to let the dishes pile up like this, something has to be going on. I haven’t even picked up my knitting this week. And I haven’t yet written my conference paper. (Well, I’ve written a page of it.)
I wrestle with categories in all parts of my life and work, and while I’m unsure exactly how much I want to say about my week here in this space, which is somewhere between private and public in ways that mean a lot to me, I also feel like you’ve all been here as I’ve tried to think about and work through some very personal things, especially in this last year. So it seems only appropriate to tell you that I’ve started seeing someone. He’s been smiling at me for weeks. The occasional conversation turned into the occasional email, which, last Wednesday, turned into a lecture, dinner, a movie screening, and tea (all in one afternoon-into-evening). So much is unexpected and surprising about this for me: there are many things about us that are quite different, and yet, we have great conversation and chemistry.
I probably won’t say much more about this. I don’t know what it will become, how it will develop. But my real-life community can see me grinning (and is giving me a good-natured hard time about it), and as you all are also part of my community, I wanted to tell you too.
So there it is: the reason the dishes have piled up, that my work is not getting done, that I have no knitting, or even silly Boh pictures to share — and the reason I’ve been smiling all week.
Another picture of last week’s daffodils as a way to say that I’m still here. I’ve had a week that has me all upside down and turned around (in good, surprising ways). And although I still haven’t written that conference paper (note to self: do that tomorrow), I am celebrating spring.
More soon.
My yard’s first daffodil. I woke up early yesterday and got a fair bit of work done, as well as some plying and Easter baking.
I had to request consultations with my dough advisory council (my dad and my friend K.) when my Slovenian Easter buns took forever to rise, but I think everything that was supposed to happen occurred, and the result is delicious.
I also made an enormous Caesar salad (above), and then dished myself a 2-quart mixing bowl-sized serving. Yum. And that would have made for a pretty good day.
But then I did something rather uncharacteristic: I went dancing. Something about the arrival of spring gave me a burst of energy last night, and I stayed out way past my bedtime. And had fun. And consequently, I’m having a tough time motivating myself to do anything of (academic) import today.
But I’ve got daffodils, and the sun is shining.
As you can see, today’s post is also sponsored by the letter S. Despite yesterday’s whining about the snow day that was not to be, all of my students showed up for section. If things had been reversed, I would’ve picked snowshoeing over school, so they all get a great big high-five. When I returned home, a mountain of shoveling awaited me.
The door to my apartment is on the back of the house. I’d say my part of town got about 15 new inches of snow on Thursday and Friday, and then some high winds helped to create some substantial driveway drifts! I shoveled a winding path from the street, zigzagging around the cars in the driveway, and around the back of the house to my door. Every time Boh and I walk down it, I feel like I’ve created some kind of Olympic ice luge or bobsled track. I also had to dig out my car, which I did in two 1-hour chunks.
My friend T. did quite a bit of shoveling yesterday too, and she came over last night to commiserate with a bit of wine and some sour cherries, which we promptly turned into coffee cake!
T. is a teacher, and she used part of her snow day to defrost these cherries and pit them. (So even though I didn’t get a snow day, I certainly got to enjoy the spoils of a snow day project!) We made this coffee cake, and it was fantastic.
T.’s sweet dog, Coltrane, came over to play with Boh, and once we convinced him to get up on the couch, he decided to spend much of the evening lounging.
Best friends. (Though Boh was whimpering a bit at the idea that he had to share his couch with Coltrane!)
One last picture — I think I am subconsciously responding to all of the bright whiteness outside! A glance in the mirror had me laughing at my apparent attempt to wear all of the colors of the rainbow at once. Silly rooster!
Yesterday morning, here’s how much snow had managed to accumulate and drift under the overhang at my apartment door. It snowed continuously all day, and well into the night.
I can only get the door open this far. Usually Boh can nudge open the screen door with his nose, even if it is closed, because the door doesn’t close very tightly. Today, he needed help. In many places, the snow is deeper than my almost-to-the-knee boots!
I love the way the boughs outside my door droop with the weight of the snow. I also love running around with Boh in the snow — there is so much that he prefers to gallop, or hop sort of like a rabbit, rather than take one step at a time. (No pictures of that — we were too busy playing!)
Snow is part of life where I live, but because of the sheer volume that has fallen continuously over the last 30 hours or so, I was hoping that perhaps my university would declare today to be a snow day. Local schools were closed yesterday, and they are closed again today. I woke up to the news that my university is delayed: the first classes of the day are those scheduled to begin at 10:10.
What time do I TA? 10:10.
Sigh. At least my walk to campus will be beautiful. And it is snowing again.
Happy Friday!
Today is the day: I’m wearing my GYC out the door, and I’m thrilled about it. Which got me to thinking: wouldn’t it be great if blocking worked for papers, and not just for sweaters? I’m giving a paper in a few weeks that just isn’t quite ready. In a lot of ways, I’m happy with it, but it still needs to be tugged and stretched. The stitch definition could be more even, the hem straighter, the lines cleaner. I’d really like to be able to dunk this particular project into a warm bath with some soak, and then reshape it on my kitchen table in order to get the results I want.
Alas, I’m stuck with revisions, more reading, talking to myself in the shower, and occasional full-on questioning of what it is that I am arguing. This is yet another area where I think knitting has the right idea: a lot can be solved with a warm bath.
At least prepping for reading groups involves both reading AND baking. These are Deb’s our favorite chocolate chip cookies, and they are super tasty, despite the fact that I may have slightly overcooked some of them because I was too busy reading…
Also, check out what arrived today! I won the blogiversary giveaway over at Doodles in String — as commenter #1. Chris blogs about all sorts of inspiring knitting and spinning, so you should head over there if you’ve never been. These goodies are awesome: gorgeous yarn, beautiful fiber, and a book filled with patterns for kids. (And while I do not have children, all of the babies I’ve been knitting for lately are growing!) Thank you, Chris!
And since I don’t have any new knitting to share, here’s another knit-in-action. Remember this?
I realize it is hidden under several layers, but today I’m wearing my Rusted Root. I haven’t worn this in ages, and I have no idea why.
Alright, off to a new reading group. Happy almost weekend!
I got up this morning, and pulled the covers up to half-heartedly make the bed. Usually, this is Boh’s cue to do some kind of dog stretch and get out of bed.
Today, he didn’t move. In fact, I put the kettle on, ground the coffee, and served up his breakfast, and he stayed in bed. It wasn’t until I grabbed the leash and opened the door that he reluctantly decided to get out from under the covers.
I feel your pain, Boh. I’m tired too.
Despite my sleepiness this morning, I do have some knitting progress to share. I woke up early yesterday to give myself a bit more knitting time, as I’ve been feeling a bit overextended this semester.
My Kerrera is starting to look like a cardigan! I’m into a very soothing stretch of stockinette, and I absolutely love how this Ultra Alpaca feels in my hands. Even though I should keep reading the book I have to teach this week, I’m going to try to squeeze in a few rows this morning before getting to work.
Time for coffee, but before I pour my first mug, I wanted to mention The Weepies. Their first two albums, Happiness (2003) and Say I Am You (2006) — which I have only just learned are actually two shorter albums, rather than one full length album — are some of my favorite early in the morning or late at night things to listen to. (*This is the name of a track on Say I Am You. I’m listening to it right now.)
I took a break from my work on Friday night to make another cup of tea, and I returned to find that Boh had decided to sit, and then lay, with my book. If only he could help with the reading. I alternated reading chapters with knitting increase rows on my snowbird cardigan, and now I’m working on the first sleeve.
This is the first pattern I’ve knit that calls for knitting the sleeves before the body, and I think I like this approach: after knitting the longest rows — the raglan increases — I get to knit the shortest rows!
Also, the birthday celebration continued on Saturday. Boh’s favorite people and his best dog friend Coltrane came over with a full-on triple-decker coconut cake! (Which, by the way, is every bit as delicious as it looks. I might eat part of this piece for breakfast.) We ate cake, and then took a nice wintry walk. Boh snored, with his head on my lap, for the rest of the afternoon.
The combination of the cold weather and my need to feel extra cozy means I’ve been wearing a lot of handknits lately. I snapped this picture yesterday morning before heading out to a nearby coffee shop to get some reading done. (With some books, I just need a bit more din to stay focused.)
Yesterday I was looking for an extra layer, and dug out my sassymetrical, which provided just the right amount of warmth under my slouchy navy (store-bought) wear-all-the-time cardigan. And that’s today’s handknit-in-action.
(I feel sort of weird taking pictures of my outfits in the mirror, but these are the photos that I really like to see on other people’s blogs and on ravelry — how they actually wear the stuff they make. Sometimes seeing a handknit incorporated into someone else’s wardrobe convinces me that I could/would wear said handknit.)
Alright, enough of that. Happy weekend, folks. I’m off to curl up with my (canine) valentine to knit a bit/read a lot.
barefoot rooster 