SNOW DAY!!!

I fully intended to go to work today - got up, made breakfast for Peter and me, got dressed, cleaned off the car, got in the car, drove to the corner, realized I'd forgotten my: a) Blackberry, b) security pass, c) parking pass. Went back to house, got a.b.c., drove back to the corner and headed down Bank Street. Tiny white powdery snow + high winds = very poor visibility. I did, however, see the DUMP TRUCK slide through the intersection right in front of me, about 10 minutes away from the house. Turned in at the nearest safe place, called home, told Peter to stay put, and crept carefully back home again. Snow day!

This morning, Hilarious House of Frightenstein and knitting on the baby blanket. Then we took down the tree (finally, but I still have to take down the village), and caught three back-to-back sequential CSI: Miami episodes (apparently, there's a fourth 'to be continued', dammit). Exciting stuff, finished another ball of yellow on the baby blanket and turned to Peter's sweater, got a dozen more rows done on the back. Phone call. S&D - "let's go for a walk in the woods in the snow!". Peter says "SURE!" Note to self: answer the phone to NOT get dragged out in the snow. We went. We walked. About a foot and a half of snow on the trails (thank heavens at least there ARE trails!), and we were out for an hour or more. Came home to slow-cooker chicken stew and bread machine bread. MMMMM! (though I have to say I prefer my handmade Amish bread to the machine-made French bread. This is quicker though!).

Then, out again, to be a good girl and go to class. Slight miscommunication from the Prof last week - we had to read 4 Greek tragedies to cover the next 4 weeks of class, not just for this week. So I'm WAY ahead on readings, which is good, because I'm behind on housework. :) Next week we get our term paper topics so I'm planning to get a headstart on that also. Got a few rows on my sock done during the break at class - I'm at the heel flap now and the colours are SO cheerful - however, the horizontal stripes make my 'cankles' look very ... cankle-y. A cankle, in case you don't know the term, is where your calf muscle and ankle pretty much make a straight line without any nice tapering. You know, like a cylinder. This is what I have, and the socks will, sadly, emphasize that. However, I love the colours so phooey on the cankles. :)

And now, after a nice hot bath and a browse through the Vesey's Seed catalogue, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be BLOODY cold, and I've got a day's worth of autoCAD to catch up on. But it was totally worth it. Snow day!

Monday monday

Na na, na na na na...

Sorry, had a Mamas & Papas moment there. After a busy weekend it was a busy Monday, but I did get some knitting done on the weekend and even a little bit today. Update:

1) the baby blanket. This is growing steadily, about 1 1/2 balls of the main colour done now with four more to go... yikes. This thing is going to be long and narrow, I think! We'll have to see how it goes. That's TV knitting now, so will be working on it this week a couple hours, at least.

2) Yumi's "fire" shawl. At that middle stage where each row gets longer and longer but the shawl doesn't actually seem to grow. However, the ball of yarn is shrinking bit by bit so I expect to have a "ta-da" moment sometime in the next couple of weeks. Computer knitting, a couple of rows a night (more on weekend!)

3) Peter's sweater. Well, the back came back from the New Year's party - yesterday. Will have to put it in rotation with the baby blanket, I think. I'd like to finish it for his birthday in March.

4) Socks for me! Yes, I realized I had nothing on the go for me, so cast on Saturday night for some funky socks. The colourway is "Tequila Sunrise" (dang, can't remember the dye-er right now - I'll post it later). Bright yellow, purple, pink. Perfect antidote for this grey blah weather. About 1 1/2" past the ribbing, going on 2 circs for portability and (minor) increase in speed. This is "waiting around" knitting, in my tote bag for before class, doctor's appointments, etc.

I think four WIPS is enough for the moment, I don't want to get overwhelmed again. Started back to class tonight and we have to read four Greek tragedies for next week. Guess I'll be using the recumbent bike at the gym this week! Had a great workout today, mixed it up with the rowing machine and some of the leg machines, and a good stretch session. Every little bit helps!

Sleep and soup and knitting

Except, I don't have any soup. I do have a variant of that flu that's been kicking everyone's butt over the holidays and into the new year - felt cough-y and achy and blargh yesterday, this morning it hurt to get out of the bed to call in sick. Spent ALL DAY in bed with daytime TV, an audiobook of my course text, and my knitting. Knit while watching TV and then when I couldn't move my arms anymore (no, really), I popped on the iPod and listened to the british guy read the "Metamorphoses" at me while I napped. I hope sleep learning works!

A bit more progress on the fire shawl for Yumi, and knitted up almost a whole ball of yellow Patons "Be Mine" in the body of this baby blanket.(scroll down the link - it's the gingham border blankie). It's soft and fuzzy and gosh-darn cute. BUT - the three-colour checkerboard border just about made me mental, and I have to do it on three more sides. Louise says I need to learn to knit continental so I can do two-colour knitting more easily (read: less tangling up). Ziploc bags are a big help though.

No more progress on Peter's sweater as it's been staying at Sandy & Dan's since New Year's Eve party. Gotta go retrieve it on the weekend, but I'm about 1/3 of the way up the back now.

And now, dinnertime. No chicken soup in the house so I'm going to do Shake'n'Bake chicken with rice and wash it down with about a gallon of water - my lemon tea and honey has worn off and my throat feels awful - again. I hope this is only a 24 hour bug because I have to work at the office and the store tomorrow. I think if I'm back in bed by about 8:00 tonight I should be okay. Wish me luck!