Back to the notes and needles

Though this blog was initially intended for the road trip this summer, I did intend to use it afterward. For the last five months or so, however, I haven't given it much though. Partly, I've been reallllllly busy. Finding an apartment, moving, beginning internship, continuing internship, working on dissertation, spending time with family and friends, car stuff, housekeeping stuff, etc., etc., etc. It's been a little crazy, overall.

To begin more or less where I left off (in a much shortened version) - I found a cute apartment about 10 minutes from work. A lovely old Victorian - in lavender - with 2 bedrooms, dining room, living room and a kitchen with a dishwasher. Yippee!!! So far the only downsides are it's old and quite drafty so I can see heating will be a major expense, and the bathtub, while nice and big for baths, was recently re-enameled and I'm terrified of damaging it. So no bath salts for me.....anyway....

Isis moved in. Kevin moved in, went to England, came back, went to Prague and is now back again. Internship is great - busy, stressful at times, challenging and all that, but really

fulfilling. I think I'd like to maintain a specialty in infant/early childhood work, particularly around parent-child dyads, attachment and trauma. Really, there hasn't been all that much else. Far more visits with family and friends than in the last four years. Joined a new gym - eh. Haven't gone much. (I miss Golden Gate Fitness.)

Annnnnd, I started knitting again! Woo! I started with this circle scarf, from a free Lion Brand pattern, to use up some Homespun I had in my stash and for an easy project to get the hang of it again. It came out tolerably well. Apparently there was some turn, slip stitch thing or something or other I should've done in order to avoid holes due to the short rows technique. Huh. Well. Missed that, as it wasn't on the pattern at all (there's a reason some things are free....). But it's okay. It doesn't hang as nicely as in this picture when I wear it - it's a bit all over the place for my taste. But I like the color...and the style is different. And I'm not giving anyone a hole-y scarf, so in my collection it will remain.

I'm currently working on the Side Slip Cloche, from Laura Irwin's Boutique Knits. (A wonderful gift, thank you!) The hat is from the cover of the book - very vintage, classic, etc. I'm doing it in Paton's SWS, a soy and wool blend. The skeins are amazingly soft, though as I knit I am feeling more of the itchy wool. I think it will work out alright. The color is "natural," so very neutral, should go with anything, etc. Currently, I've finished the ruffles and the band, stitched them together and blocked them. It's drying as I write....and hopefully will be dry by tonight so I can pick up the stitches for the body of the hat.

I've become rather absorbed by knitting sites, such as Ravelry (my user name is meditativerose). It is an amazing resource, though I tend to get into a pattern of looking at lovely things and discovering yarns and wanting to make them, so I have a long list of to-dos. I do know my next project will be a late Christmas gift for someone.....Meanwhile, as the hat band dries, I am trying to find affordable needles for this next project. I've given up almost entirely on Michael's and AC Moore. At least the ones near me - they never have the size needle I want! Or if I need several different needles for a project, they only have one. It is not worth the stress of driving in New Jersey to go to these stores for naught. So I'm looking online....right now tempted by the low prices of eknittingneedles.com. I might take the chance and see how they are, especially since they currently have free shipping. So there I go - off to obsess about knitting some more!