Focus, learn, reknit.....and refuel!

I tell my students frequently, "Your focus is key--if you're not centered on the content, you'll be wandering around the edges and wasting time."  Well, I say to self, listen up!  While I'm loving the yarn and the pattern in the knit-along (by the way, first one other than Ravelry's Socks 2012 that I've participated in!) from Celtic CastOn, I should be adhering to my own advice and remember that I can't talk, wander around with "The Big Bang Theory," AND keep track of how many stitches I need to knit on what row between the cable-front and cable-back portions.  Yeah.  I should stay focused.

So, after finally frogging back to the cuff and starting the pattern over again last night, I'm making progress.  Look at those pretty stripes running along through the cable pattern!  Woohoo!

I also found out that instead of knitting the cable stitch off of the cable needle, it's easier with this one stitch cable to put the stitch on the cable needle, knit the next stitch, and then return the cable stitch to the needle and knit it from there.  Of course, that's probably something more experienced knitters already know, but I'm learning!  That shift certainly took care of much of the trouble of balancing three needles while I knitted between them!


All that work meant the need for some good soup, especially in trying to chase away the chill from outside, so I took a break from the needles and stirred up some bodacious potato-leek soup.  Really, it was a good excuse to use my beautiful Christmas present--a Biltmore "belly" soup pot.  The pic doesn't do the pot justice, but it's a dream to use!  What you don't see are the dumplings that finished out the soup--and after a bowl of it for supper, I was refueled and ready to knit again.  Who knows--I may just finish these socks in the KAL timeframe.  They'll be good ones for spring weather! 

Knitting along....frequent stops....

One afternoon years ago, when my kids were little, we were driving along and a church van in front of us gave vent to my sometimes kwirky sense of humor.  On the back doors of this passenger van were these statements:

(Left-side door in beautiful script)   ROLLING FOR JESUS
(Right-side door in standard block script)   FREQUENT STOPS

What a reality, I thought, and giggled at the sense of those juxtaposed phrases.  Isn't that life--we roll along with such good intentions and aspirations only to experience everyday life that pops in and says, "Whoa....just a second, Sassy--there are other things afoot!"

I am thankful that as I returned to my college campus in January this year, it was with great relief that some of the "extra duties as assigned" had been accomplished, and I could give more attention to my teaching.  In part, that has been possible, but I also looked forward to having a bit more time to do fun things, and last evening I gave in to that portion, whilst perhaps I should have been doing more grading.  Oh me....anyway, I knitted awhile on one daughter's camisole and then cast on a pair of socks that are part of a KAL (knit along) from Celtic CastOn--a neat little blog with great ideas and a welcoming writer.  Scroll down the page and you'll see the Business Casual socks for this KAL.  The yarn I'm using is one from my stash that has long since lost it's tag, but it's fine, soft and silky.

Here's my start:

So now I have two "distractions" that will provide that escape I need after reading several essays.  Really, to be fair to students, I need that break so I can give each paper the attention it should have.....yes, really.  And as I think about, it's not a stretch to appreciate the honesty, along with the humor, of that church van and its back-doors' message.  I believe, even if they didn't realize it, they were right on the mark.

Winter.....not soon enough!

Days turned into months (skip the weeks!) very quickly as fall began last year.  A torrent of work and other "opportunities" took my time and truly made it a fleeting glance experience.  With the start of the New Year, I have been determined to spend some time with things I truly want to give attention--like family, knitting, reading....and soon I hope, more writing.  One interesting result was this happy little giraffe, who turned out a bit larger than I think either I or my granddaughter expected. He's from Susan Anderson's "Itty-bitty Toys"--a great book with fun pieces.  I changed the horns and mane a bit from the original pattern, but the pattern is easy to work up.

The gloves are a "me" gift, and I have to laugh at this experience with using such interesting yarn from it's "Keltic" from Berroco. The two gloves initially look like they've been made in two different colourways, but I swear they are the same skein....just that lovely twist in tones and hues that are barely seen from one glove (the darker) to the next. Interesting!

And a fun little project was this little owl who became a quick posted gift to my sister who was in the throes of coursework in a graduate class.....having just been that road, I knew she could use a bit of a laugh and tangible hug, so this fellow did the job and was so much fun to knit!

Our mountains are covered with a nice bit of snow, but I'll have to say I've been disappointed that there isn't more--makes me jealous of places like Canada and Norway, but then the snow is probably always brighter across the fence!  The dusting we have will have to suffice for now....and I have to balance work and this other creative bent, so there we go--another resolution I suppose!  It's Saturday, though, and a rare one in that we are not on the road to family somewhere.  My bag holds several projects, so I'm going to continue to play a bit and get some of those things closer to finished!  If it would just snow a bit more.......