Tentatively peers out from the crazy ...

Things have been a little crazy. Good crazy, but crazy.

Things are always crazy in the fall, mostly because half the weekends between Labor Day and Thanksgiving are taken up being at and recovering from the Iowa games. Not that I am complaining because, frankly, it's awesome. It can just take a lot out of you. Especially when the team seems determined to take every game down to the last second.

Plus, I am teaching on Tuesday nights. At first that was going well, but then I realized that I am having a hard time deconstructing the knitting process. How do you pick up a dropped stitch? You just stick your needle in and do it. Duh. I found all my attempts at being clever and imparting wisdom ended with a confused class and a frustrated teacher. Not with the class, mind you, but with myself. I think I am over thinking the whole thing, so this week I am back pedaling a bit and slowing it down. Fewer tricks, more skills.

Add that to the usual craziness at work, mixed in with some extra crazy this year, and you've got a recipe for a very tired DiscKnits.

And I have a new obsession: Wicked. My Momma and el Paparino took me to see the show at the Civic Center for an early birthday present a couple weeks ago, and I have been 100% obsessed since then. (I know, it is totally not like me to go overboard and obsessive, right?) The soundtrack has been on perma-play on my iPod since the show, and I have been playing all the roles in a limited engagement in my car. I really enjoyed the book, and I love the show even more (despite it being very different from the original text). Put it to music and I'll buy it, I guess. And sing it over and over until your ears start bleeding.

Still, my obsession is waning a bit. And this week marked the mid-season point for both the Hawkeye games and class. Work will continue to be crazy through January, but for the first time I am feeling like I have a grip on it and can totally handle whatever comes my way. Here's to being halfway throught the crazy!

WIP Report
I have made a bunch of progress on my WIPs. I finished the Baroque socks, Paparino's hat and all the class projects. I frogged and re-cast on the Cat's Paw scarf and only have the CFK hat and Wacky Warmers left.

To be fair, I did cast on two new projects. But I have totally reasonable excuses. I had to have something to show my class how to begin knitting in the round, so I had to cast on a new hat. And the CFK hat wouldn't work because it's black and you can't teach with black yarn. And I promise not to do any work on it until I finish my other WIPs. Well, not a lot of work, even though it is Malabrigo.

Also, I need new yellow mittens for the Hawkeye games. Sure, the grey ones are warm, but these are yellow! And they're a tighter knit so they'll be warmer. And I'll be done with them quickly, so they're just a minor diverson.

So, the WIP Score stands thusly: WIP--2.75 (because those last two don't count), Discknits--11.25. (For those of you who don't want to cheat, it's 4.75 to 11.25.) So close!

A Little Perspective

So, the St. Louis Cardinals officially clinched the NL Central division this weekend. Even though there is still the chance that the Cubs could go to the post season via the Wild Card, I am not holding my breath.

Though the heartbreak wasn't as acute this year, it still sucked watching them flop around between awesome and awful all summer long. A friend recommended to me yesterday that I just get another team. I explained to her that it isn't that simple--Cubs fans don't just give up because of a bad season. We know that when we do go all the way, it will be all the sweeter because of seasons like this one and last year.

In honor of that sentiment, I'd like to present you with two things. First, my post written a couple days after the Cubs' epic FAIL in the post season, when I was close to giving up. Second, a link to Eddie Vedder's "All the Way." These two things remind me that being a Cubs fan is about things far deeper than World Series titles.

So, I'll keep the faith. Come March, I'll be there believing with the best of them!

I am feeling rather liminal

lim·i·nal (ˈli-mə-nəl) adj. of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition

That's kind of how things are right now for me. It is neither summer nor fall. Although the Cubs are all but done, baseball season is far from over. Some of the trees have started to move toward the autumnal color explosion, but some are still clinging to the last rays of sunshine, steadfastly demanding that summer is not yet complete.

Still, this is my favorite time of year. The anticipation of the season to come is exhilarating. Anything could be just around the corner; the possibilities are endless. It could be snappy and cold tomorrow, or it could be lazy and warm. The fall/winter sports have just begun, and the season's winners and losers are yet to be determined. Even the Cubs could still pull it out and go all the way (theoretically speaking).

Maybe it's leftover from school starting in the fall, but I always feel like this time of year is when I get to start over. It's the time to dream and hope, as well as to look back. The rush of the holidays is ahead of me, and the relaxation of the summer is behind me. Even the winter doldrums seem like a far off to be dealt with later and, at the same time, a distant, long-forgiven memory.

Many people like the certainty of the seasons, but I thrive in the changes. When you're in the season, you know what's coming. But when you're in between, anything is can happen.



WIP Progress Report:

Even my knitting projects seem to in the liminal mood.

First off, I finished Seester's sweater, and it fits! That's a big load off. So big I am having a hard time not jumping into another brand new project. I also finished another dishcloth, the garter stitch mug mat and the grandma's favorite mug mat for class.

My baroque socks are close to done. I am about to turn the heel, and then the finish line is in sight! I want them done by next weekend so that, if it's cool enough, I can wear them to the Hawkeye game v. Arkansas. I even bought a pair of shoes specifically to show off these socks (well, and other knit socks, but these are the ones I pictured).

So, the plan from here on out is to transition between projects. On the needles now are Paparino's hat and the socks. Once I finish the socks, I'll pick up the Cat's Paw scarf/shawl thing and work my way through CFK's Hawkeye Hat and My Momma's second pair of leg warmers. Of course, I have class projects to finish, too.

By the time I finish those, I should be ready to pick up Muir-ly a Shawl again and start a brand new project. Will it be the Vine Yoke Cardigan or the Rivendell Socks? Who can say for sure?

WIPS: 10, DK: 4

WIP Wednesday

Essjay reminded me today that I promised to keep up to date on my WIPs. Plus, Liz already updated her blog with what I can only assume were WIP mittens (otherwise, she is the fastest mitten knitter on the planet.)

I was hoping to have something better to offer, but, alas, no. I don't even have any pictures to show you. I am 8 rows from done on the bottom of the Seester Sweater, which would just leave the neck and sleeves. And, of course, the praying to FSM that it fits her. I also finished the first pattern repeat in the second Baroque sock. Only 32 rows, a heel, a gusset, 37 instep rows and a toe to go!

I did finish something this week--a dishcloth for class. I decided that learning stockinette is more important than yarn overs, so I am trying to tweak Granny's Favorite dishcloth to little success. My first try ended up a little wonky because (duh) stockinette is "taller" than garter. But let me tell you, it scrubss the heck out of potatoes! I also made a Granny's Favorite mug mat. Woo.

To my dismay, I also discovered that the needles I have for my class are 2 sizes too big for the hat I was intending to teach and I need to reknit another one (rather than killing two birds with one stone and using an existing hat, like Paparino's Bears Hat, to teach). So there's another thing to add to my WIP list. And the damn mittens in various stages.

Did I mention that I added to my stash, too? Damn LYS side trips.

WIP Score: WIPS--12, Discknits--negative 4. It's worse than the Cubs!

Liz, Sarah, Stacia, I hope your WIP Season is going better than mine.

It's WIP Weather

Today marks the beginning of Open Season on WIPs. Works in Progress. Those unfortunate projects that, through no fault of their own other than a tragic proclivity towards being time sucks, get ignored and tossed aside in favor of shiny, new, projects that promise immediate gratification.

I haz them. The score as it stands on opening day is is WIP-7, DiscKnits-0.

Muirly a Shawl, Seester's Sweater, Paparino's Christmas gift (from last year), my momma's second half of her Christmas gift (again, from last year), CFK's promised Hawkeye hat, Baroque socks, Cat's Paw scarf.

Frankly, it's a little overwhelming. In much the same way one pays down credit card debt, I am trying to force myself to not add to the knitting balance with new projects until the old balance is knit off. I can go without casting on those Rivendell socks or the Garter Yoke Cardi, right?

(whimper)

Contributing to the fiber claustrophobia, I feel like my stash will somehow go bad if I don't use it. Like milk. I'll open up my stash closet one day to find the stench of spoiled wool and know that I have missed another fiber opportunity because my eyes were bigger than my needles. Or, even worse, the yarn will resent being stuck in a drawer for years and will be so filled with spite that by the time I get around to using it, it will make the chosen project a living nightmare.

Part of the problem is there were lots of babies in our lives this summer. And every baby needs a wonderful knitted object (or two). Some of them need blankets. Also, I am teaching a class in a couple weeks, and it would be nice to have actually completed the class projects before I ask new knitters to do the same. But those are emergencies, and it's okay to break the knitting budget for emergencies, right? Somehow I don't think Mr. Husband (or my neglected projects) would understand.

The good news is, with the Hawkeye games and the nearing season premiers of the fall television lineup, I should have lots of opportunities to knit. And, my friend Liz and I have agreed to cheer each other on as we attempt to work down our embarrassing WIP piles.

I hope to have everything completed by November (except Muirly a Shawl, because no one should be expected to complete a knitted shawl in two months). Go me!

Iowa Love, Take 3

First, watch this:


Okay, you all know I am not an "Iowa State Fair" girl. I think I can count the number of times I have been to the Fair one one hand. I went with my dad last year just because I figured I hadn't been in ten years, so I was due.

Here's what I love about the Fair:

• Greasy food on a stick, especially corn dogs. Corn dogs are made of pure WIN and I believe the first one had to have been made by Jesus himself. They are THAT good.
• Feeling better about myself as a knitter when I see all the knitted objects that win prizes and I think to myself, "I could totally do that. Probably better, too." (I think a lot of my knitting skillz, apparently.)
• People watching. I didn't know that the Iowa stereotype was real, but I guess there really are people who walk around in short-sleeved plaid shirts, trucker hats and manure-stained jeans with giant belt buckles. And they aren't being ironic at all (I'm looking at you, Kutcher).
• Learning about tractors with my dad. For real. Did you know that hay doesn't just roll up into a bale by itself and that they have a special tool for that? I didn't. Also the giant thing that spits the grain into the elevator.

Now, I haven't really felt the need to go more than a couple times a decade. Not having grown up on a farm (or even near a farm), I don't really get the urge to check out bulls with giant balls every year. Also, I hate crowds, especially crowds of idiots out wandering around (yes, I know that's what "Iowa stands for.")

But I still love the concept of the Fair. It really is celebrating Iowa and all its hokey, down-home absurdity. It's like we say, "Yeah, we have a cow made of butter. What of it?" So I may go again this year, if for no other reason than to see my friends' entries in the fair and find me some fried pickles. I have embraced my home as the Best Place Evar, so I might as well go whole Blue-Ribbon hog, right?

P.S. I don't want to hear anything about not posting in a month. I've been busy, okay? Lay off.

Nerd Love

To all my nerdy friends,

I need to share this with you: How to Meet a Nerdy Girl.

So not 100% of that is right on, but I'd be willing to bet that most of you will have at least a 60% hit rate. Especially if you substitute "knitting" for other nerd-culture references.

We should be proud of our nerdy-ness. There is nothing wrong with expecting the rest of the world to be able to use commas correctly or getting excited about a new superhero movie or thinking a good night out does not involve any time doing shots at a meat market. There is no shame in getting most of the jokes on Big Bang or wanting to understand all sides of a policy before deciding to post it. It is healthy to be fascinated with how things work or why things are the way they are or what happens when you push that button.

Put on your dork glasses and raise a pint of microbrew because you are, in fact, better than them. There's no one else like you. That's saying a lot, in my book.