Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Peace and quiet

Well, it's cooled down a bit, and should stay that way for the next few days. There was actually a marine layer this morning, and I wished for a light jacket while walking the dogs this morning. What a change from the past few days. All of this is making me think that maybe it's our year for solar panels and air conditioning, but there's a part of me that balks. I live eight miles from the ocean for goodness' sake. I shouldn't need air conditioning -- that's what the Pacific is for! However, it would appear that the climate, she is a-changin'.

I was very amused by the enthusiasm that everyone showed for watching me knit a sweater at 9 sts/in. I note that almost no-one else is willing to jump on that bandwagon with me, but watching me do it seems like a very good idea. (Ellen, you're off the hook on this one!) Of course, I'm a fine one to talk, as I'm all for enabling people to go out there and do the things that I'm not quite willing to take on myself (like dyeing, for example). I'm really leaning towards Aberlady in spite of the gauge. I just love the subtlety of the textures in that sweater. I figure I can always do Cromarty as a next sweater, right? The one thing that's giving me pause is the fact that Aberlady is a pullover with a relatively high neck. I'm not a fitted-sweater person, usually; I always feel constricted somehow, like I can't move freely. So I need to consider whether I'll wear it, and if I think I won't, whether there's some way to turn it into a cardigan, or whether that would ruin the lines.

Meanwhile, I've also got to find the right yarn. I think this must mean that I have to visit my LYS, right? Darn. We all know how horrible it is to have to go yarn shopping. (Not.)

Today is looking to be a quiet day. Yesterday I got the word that our faculty meeting was cancelled. I know that it is unbecoming to a professional to cheer when getting such news, but I will confess here that that is just what I did. I then promptly cancelled all other obligations for the day (I even said that I wasn't going to my knitting group, which should be some indication of how desperately I need time all by myself), packed up the huge pile of grading that needs to be done (it's about eight inches high; that may not sound like much, but think of all the paper in those eight inches), and said I'd be at home today if anyone needs me. A whole day, alone in my house. Wow.

So I've taken the dogs for a walk, and I've had my cup of coffee, and I'm about to start on the first assignment. I figure if I reward myself with a couple of rows of lace for every assignment graded, that should keep me motivated, right? Not to mention the joy of knowing that the grading will no longer be waiting for me on my desk, a little smirk on its crumpled up pages, taunting me with its undoneness. I am the boss of my grading. (Why do I hear little bitty titters coming from my bookbag?)

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

(As I am the boss of my charting) Too bad finishing doesn't actually mean finishing. Like the laundry. Or the dishes.

Knitting, even at 9 and some stitches per inch, is possible. We can finish a project, or we can not finish a project, and it really doesn't matter!

The joys and travails of adult-hood.

Marianne said...

There's *always* a way to turn a pullover into a cardi.... evil cackling....
I'm beyond happy you're getting a day at home... alone. I live for those days, being the solitude loving hermit that I am... I let loose a cheer for you!

Anne said...

It is a demonstrable truth that ungraded papers get heavier each day they sit on your desk, and that rate doubles if you carry them back & forth from office to home...

NTK said...

Congrats on your impromptu day at home. Those are my favorite days.

I switched to paperless grading this year, which has its pros and cons, let me tell you. One con is not seeing that stack visibly shrink. One pro (or con?) is that it's easier to ignore if it doesn't have a physical presence. :)

And I'm with you on the freedom-of-the-neck movement. I'm actually wondering if I could leave off the first few rows of an Icelandic turtleneck pattern I just got for that very reason. I can't promise to knit a 9st/in sweater with you, but I might (after finals) be willing to do a neckless turtleneck while you cardiganize your sweater.

Anonymous said...

Anyone that can grade a stack of 8 inches of assignments can knit a 9 st/inch sweater.

And even though the full circular yoke on a Bohus is so gorgeous (not to mention the knitting-it-in-the-round part), I am seriously thinking about following the cardigan instructions for mine, just to get more wear out of it. With colorwork (especially in angora), a pullover could be pretty warm for most occasions.

Anonymous said...

Wow...I'm even thinking of taking a break from 9 st/in socks. I'm so ADD in my knitting that I think a 9 st/in sweater could take 3 or 4 years to knit. (Or maybe it's OCD? -- I always must have multiple projects on needles at any given moment)

Bea said...

Sounds wonderful. Even if you had 8 inches of paperwork.

Ally Jay said...

Buy earmuffs and then you won't hear those bookish titterings.

Anonymous said...

Good luck on the grading . . . My stack is about 3" and I'm getting nervous. I must buckle down tonight despite the fact that it going to be 70F this afternoon here for the first time since October! The grading may not win, but I'm going to try.

Good luck on the sweater :-) If you want it badly enough, it is possible to knit anything.

Scienceprincess

Stell said...

good luck with the grading - I'm thinking it and a lot of knitting (nice deal with self there) will be history by now. I am actually knitting tangled yoke cardigan on 2.5mm needles, not quite 9spi but close, 8 - so I can keep you company. You can colour work while I mire in stst between rib and tangled cables. Modify the neck to suit you - having said that I've got a bohus kit on hold because the last bohus I knit had a high neck and i'd need to work out what to change there without mucking up the colour work.

Willow said...

We have AC but don't use it more than once or twice a year and we live 11 miles from the Pacific. We don't get as much marine layer as you, I think.

9.5 sts/in? You'd be done with a row in nothing flat!

EGunn said...

I had a grading party today...I wish I'd had knitting! And, incidentally, my next "me" sweater is planned in very lightweight yarn...I bet it is about 9 st/in. The biggest issue right now is deciding whether I'm going to do fairisle or a stich pattern. Hmmm...
=)

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