Knitting Angel

Tired....

You know, I have been struggling to keep ahead of everything lately.

In terms of work. A friend of mine in the philosophy department (also a new prof) said that his department chair found him working away late one evening and said to him "Go get a life!" 

But it is hard to have a life when you are a new full-time professor, trying to write all those lectures for your surveys, keep ahead of the grading, and trying to be a good colleague.

Goals, Goals, Goals.

The grading is sucking me under. As is the lecture writing. I come home in the evenings to finish my lectures and find myself just so tired. So tired.

So not much knitting. But I will knit. I have to knit! I actually miss my knitting.

To celebrate being done with my dissertation and having everything, including the edits in, I bought some yarn.

The deep blue is Ultra Alpaca- that actually is from the stash, and I have wound it and have begun a sweater project (more on that in a minute.) The green, orange and red cotton classic are for a gift, and the reddish-orangish, pinkish yarn is Handmaiden Sea silk, for a me. I am going to make a Texas-weight winter scarf (meaning, purely decorative and very pretty)

The Ultra Alpaca is for the Girl Friday cardigan from this fall's Knitty. I started it last friday and proceeded to knit my hands off.

One evening of sitting around, pretending that I did not have a whole lot of work to do. One evening where I just tore through my knitting. It was glorious. Let's hope I can keep with the cardigan, however. The pattern is really easy lace and well-written. And for now its mindless, until I get to the armholes and have to findangle decreasing in the lace pattern.

Finally, Milo and Chloe have not been pleased that they get left alone a lot these days.

In the mornings they often sit together and watch me get ready for work. This morning, however, I got to witness Milo subject Chloe to her daily grooming.

You know, certain cats need to make sure their dogs are clean.

Especially the ears. 

I cannot imagine how this must feel. In case you didn't look closely enough, Milo is WAAAY into Chloe's ear, doing some serious cleaning. And Chloe just sits there and enjoys it--so it seems anyhow.

I guess friends don't let friends run around with grimy ears. Who knows. But really watching them in the morning is one of my favorite things to do.

Well, time to go--I have a lecture (2 actually) to write for Wednesday. Here's to hoping that I can resume knitting again sometime soon. 

a real working woman

This past week went by in a flash. Every day I was busy with something and then I would be busy again with something else. Writing lectures, keeping m kids in line, getting to know new colleagues. My head feels like it is spinning.

It also rained a lot this week. Finally. The main street outside of my apartment complex offered up a spectacular flash flood, that I watched from the safety of high ground. Texans in their big trucks would go roaring through it all creating waves. What is with Texans and the big trucks? Everyone here has a large truck, but so many people don't use them because they need them (like for instance if they work construction or if they are gardeners.) I have been watching the trucks a lot lately I think because I am considering getting a small truck myself and have been struggling with this dilemma. I like to drive a small car because well, it seems like a waste of gas to drive a big one, but I will soon be doing a lot of research on Native American reservations in the remote parts of the Southwest... and in many of those places you need a truck that can handle unpaved, tough roads. A small car would get torn up.  My friend S and I discussed this the other day- she offered  a compromise-get a small car new and a small truck used. Hmmm...so I am thinking of this- I am looking at buying a Honda fit (an itty-bitty little car) new and maybe buying a beater truck used. Something that I can get for a few thousand that is reliable, and that I can use only when i need it for my research on the rez. (So I could drive my little car the rest of the time.) At the same time this seems extravagant to me- to have two vehicles for one person. My mom told me to just buy a small SUV- a compromise position, but I don't want an SUV. Oh groan. Any advice? (And the Subaru option is not ideal. Too expensive and they don't get great mileage.)

Anyway onto knitting. Or lack thereof.

The sock is Hedera from Knitty. You cannot really see the pattern thanks to the sock yarn, but I think I am gonna keep going with it. The JoJoland Harmony is the start of the Bridgewater shawl from the Jared Flood pattern book. Its lots of garter stitch for the middle and will take forever but it is my phone knitting (when I am chatting on the phone.) 

Meanwhile I want a sweater project and I went through the stash and hemmed and hawed over everything. I have a few options, but I am leaning towards this one:

The little textured short-sleeved cardigan if from Berrocco family knits booklet. I have the right amount of Comfort and I thought that this being Texas (where it is still in the mid 80s despite a rainstorm) this might work. I dunno- what do you think?

(And thanks to everyone who send me good wishes upon the completion of the PhD. Many thanks!)

Where did my Knitting Go?

So-

Starting a new job, defending a dissertation and moving to a new place are all not conducive to knitting much. That and the fact that we have had 55+  100+ degree days here this summer. Knitting has only happened sporadically. 

(On another note, I like my new job. I like my colleagues and I seem to have made friends quickly. My life has become a whirl-wind of social activity that is unlike how I have lived for the last six years. Its a bit disconcerting because I am not home much anymore and I feel guilty leaving Milo and Chloe alone constantly.)

I did however, finish up a pair of socks

These are the "Van Dyke" socks from "Socks from the Toe Up" by Wendy Johnson. I really like this book, and I really enjoyed constructing a fairly simple pair of lace-patterned socks. These are sport-weight socks, knit in Reynold's Soft Sea Wool (which I LOVE)

Yes, and they are Kermit the Frog green. Love them.

The blanket is on hold. Milo got ahold of it and shredded a large portion of it. I don't really wanna talk about it, but I think I am instead going to make my friend a nice hat and scarf set. The blanket is too big a project right now and won't be done in time. I also have to frog the shredded parts and start over and right now I don't have the heart to do it. So no blanket and the cat is in the knitting dog house.

The other main (also green) project that I completed was for a crochetville toy swap. Meet Mr. Frog.

He really came out too cute for words. I am gonna make another for myself. Mr Frog has gone to go live in Nebraska now with my swap partner. I hope he enjoys his froggie life there.

Finally, I picked up some yarn while in North Carolina (we stopped at my old LYS in Chapel Hill.)

The Made in Brooklyn pattern booklet (yes I am in denial about the fact that I will likely never wear a wool sweater again) 2 skeins of Plymouth baby alpaca lace, 4 skeins (two colors) of mini-mochi sock yarn and 2 skeins of jojoland Harmony. I picked only things that I the LYS here does not sell. Now I gotta figure out what to knit with it all.

At the moment I only have a sock on the needles and am itching for a bigger project. I have a few baby sweaters planned, but maybe something for myself? It has been a long time since I have knit a sweater- maybe a sweater? I dunno. I have to go through the stash and see what possibilities await me. 

Doctor, doctor........

The blog has been quiet all month. Much has happened, and I'm just gonna get y'all caught up on the important stuff. 

Last Saturday I boarded a plane to North Carolina. I spent a very short (too short really) weekend with friends. On Monday, at 10am I entered the exam room for my PhD defense. Around noon, I walked out, finally, officially, Dr. ------  It was finally finished. Six years and three months of my life given over to one degree. I finished school at the 24th grade. Six years and three months....

My friends and family cheered me. My co-workers in Texas called to congratulate me. I really just felt stunned. It was done. Door slammed behind me. Six years and three months of my life. Done.

After the defense some friends took me to lunch. They cheered me, but I sat sipping water, unable to think, to really let it all sink in.  The PhD is, I think unlike many other degrees, a long and lonely road. It is isolating, occasionally demoralizing, and sometimes painful. You conduct your research- you write what amounts to a book (313 pages in my case)- pretty much by yourself. Especially in the humanities, where you typically work alone, it is all on you. 

I struggled a lot. I almost never wrote about those struggles on this blog because this is supposed to be about knitting- a place away from my dissertation and its difficulty and struggle. But I did scratch along. At the end I felt like as if I was just barely crawling over the finish line.

Yesterday afternoon, after lunch I was taken to the airport and I boarded a plane to Texas. I made it home and got up this morning to teach a class (the semester started last week.) I sleepily walked the students through the discussion at the beginning and as I got rolling I woke up, and I directed the conversation-- I asked them questions and I pushed them. And I paused for a moment and realized something.

I love teaching. I love what I do. My students get me up every day. Even when writing the diss was difficult, even in those dark, dark moments when I doubted myself, and think I was not smart enough... even then I would enter a classroom and see my students and know that I was doing what I was meant to be doing. Even when I dealt with the pain-in-the-ass students. Even they make me smile.

I am a teacher-scholar. Far more teacher than scholar and that is okay (I used to feel guilt about it.) Today, as I watched a student get excited about a reading--her young face shining with an idea-- I know that this what I am meant to do. I will do enough scholarly work to contribute to the academy, but what I love are the kids. My big, goofy football players in the front row. The smart -ass kid in the back with the smirk. The nerdy, smart girls, always with the answer to the questions... the shy kid, who it takes weeks to coax a smile out of...

They remain the reason why I get out of bed each day even when I gripe and moan about it.

So yeah, I got that PhD. Right now I am a mix of happiness and sadness- pride, and relief. 

Its finally over.