Friday, December 5, 2008

Done with a capital D

As of yesterday at 2:15, I was done with classes. Done, done, done. No matter how much one loves teaching (and I do), there is a sense of relief that comes with making it through another semester.

That isn't to say that I'm really finished yet. I still have six piles of grading to get through, five of which are coming in over the course of the next week. That's OK, though. I can hunker down and get that done, file my grades, and then I'll be D.O.N.E. with a cherry on top.

Meanwhile, knitting continues. I decided to knit Anne's Lacunae mitts for my BIL, making them into mittens as I go along; I'll also knit him the matching hat. I have finished the first mitten twice now, and am into my third iteration. I'm using Rick's hand as a model for fit, as his hands and Geoff's are about the same overall, although proportionately different (I couldn't use his hand to model gloves, for instance), and I am here to tell you that Rick's hands randomly change size from one day to the next. I tried the first unfinished version on him to see when it was time to start decreasing for the top. When I was about an inch from the top of his fingers, I started to decrease, finished it all up, started the thumb, and had him try it on. It was a good inch and a half too short. ?? So I checked how much further to knit the thumb and finished that off, ripped back the top, knitted an extra inch and a half, started decreasing, and then thought I'd better try it on him again before it was too late. And lo and behold, not only was the hand still too short, but the thumb was too long, in a sort of obscene kind of way. Grrr...

Back to the frog pond. I am now almost done with another pattern repeat, which had darned well better do the trick, or I'm giving up and giving these to someone else. I can't stand it any more.

I have a two and a half hour meeting this afternoon, during which I hope to finish up the hand of the mitten, and start the hat. The hat has to go faster than this, right?

And there should be some quality knitting time this weekend. Unless I take it into my head to paint the girls' bedrooms, which has been on my to-do list for a while, and which would add just the right amount of extra chaos to my life. There are good and solid reasons to do it now, but then again, we're how many days to Christmas? (I don't actually want an answer to that question, by the way, I'm in denial and so far, it's working for me.)

11 comments:

FUZZARELLY said...

Yay, you! Enjoy your break.

Anne said...

congrats on being done! still a ways to go here --

Anonymous said...

I think painting should wait until summer.

How aggravating of Rick! To have hands that morph like that. :)

the boogeyman's wife said...

oh, i do hate when things change between measuring sessions. messes things up good and proper. sounds like you fixed it though! (until you try it on Geoff and find out his hands have mysteriously morphed as well.....)

Anonymous said...

Oh, wait, that's this month, isn't it? Gaack...!

Bea said...

Congrats on finishing classes! You should wait at least until after the holidays to paint. Think of it as giving the girls something to look forward to after the excitement of the season is gone.

I don't think I've heard of anyone's hands morphing like that. Are you sure he isn't an alien?

Anonymous said...

Everyone is blaming Rick's hands, but maybe it is the mittens? After all, Anne's patterns are magical. :-)

EGunn said...

Woohoo! Congratulations on being done!

What is it with size-shifting lately? I hope Rick's arms are a little more cooperative. =)

Alwen said...

How did it get to be the sixth already? Aargh!

Nana Sadie said...

Whoohoo! Done! I remember how good that felt...(except I think you're jumping the gun a bit, as I never felt DONE until the grades were in!!!)
Good luck with those mittens - what's up with all that anyway?
(((((hugs)))))

Mary Lou said...

He's probably doing it on purpose just to make you crazy -- it's always hard to figure thumb length, I think. I hat it when they are too short, though.