What's that light I see?

I do believe it's the onrushing train of a new semester!

Classes start a week from today.  This week is report-back week, so I'm wading through my usual pre-semester List O' Things To Do As Of Yesterday.  Last semester, the list was organized into Soon, Sooner, and Soonest; we'll see how long I can go before I'm at that stage again.  I appear to have syllabi for my classes, though, and as I've taught them both before, I have lectures and assignments prepared, so I oughtn't to make a complete fool of myself during the first week.  In fact, I'd be sitting pretty, really, except that one of these classes I've only taught twice before, and once was during the furloughs, so I keep wondering whether I should change it around.

Part of the reason why I'm feeling a bit like I don't have my feet under me yet is because the last week or so has been nutty.  Last week I had two all-day meetings, Rick had two all-day meetings (overlapping on one of those days), we had out of town guests who came an unexpected day early (which was wonderful in a lot of ways, as it gave us far more time to visit than I'd thought we'd get!), and then as soon as we both finished our all-day meetings on Friday, we packed up the car and headed for Mammoth.  Traffic wasn't too pretty, and we didn't get in until about midnight, but then we got two absolutely perfect ski days - warm and sunny and almost no wind, great snow, and the lines weren't long!  The fact that Mammoth is such an absolutely huge mountain (one might even say - wait for it - mammoth) means that there's always some run, somewhere, that doesn't have a lot of people on it.  And the best bit?  I was skiing on my brand-new skis - a Christmas present courtesy of my beloved husband, who remembered how much I'd enjoyed them when I demo'd them last year, and hunted them out, as Nordica isn't making these anymore.  The new skis with the deep side cuts are so much fun to ski on the steeps that it almost feels like I'm not working at all (barring that high-altitude panting - 11,000 feet makes for thin air)!

We got home yesterday and here I am today, having some trouble committing to the whole work thing.  It's this time of the semester that it really hits me how much work eats into my knitting time. Of course, I'm bound to be singing a different tune after my first day of back-to-back meetings.  In anticipation of that day (February 2, to be precise), I have already begun to line up projects, winding yarn and finding needles and patterns and packaging them all up together in knitting bags.  I wouldn't want to be caught short, right?

I did finish one big project just before we left.  I don't have pictures of the whole thing yet, but I do have a few of the pretty part:

This is the Wintersweet Scarf from IK Holiday Knits.  I used Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Wool and I completely rejiggered the edging.  It was supposed to be a pretty little colorwork scarf knitted widthwise, but that meant purling the WS rows in colorwork for 60 inches or some such (further complicated by the fact that I wanted three colors, intead of the pattern's two, which would have meant long floats across the WS rows), so I had another idea (imagine some kind of drum beat indicating incipient doom here): I decided that I would cast on somewhere around 80 billion stitches, then knit the scarf part from its long edge (casting the middle bit off and then on again to create the spot where the hood is inserted) in (get this) linen stitch.  With a seed stitch border.

Doh.

The colors are gorgeous, and I was right about the linen stitch - it's given the whole thing a lovely subtle woven look.  I also didn't have to carry any floats at all, and (I realized halfway through) I was essentially doing intarsia when I knitted the end seed stitch border, so there's a new skill learned.  But honestly, each and every row took about a half an hour.  I was like to die.  It took forEVer.

And now that it's done, I'm not sure that it's as charming as I'd hoped it would be.  Rick used a phrase that might have been "old Russian woman" when I first put it on.  I need to get some opinions, so you can bet there'll be photos at some point.

Meanwhile, I'm working on the second of my third pair of Noro socks.

These are addictive in their simplicity.  I've been knitting them toe-up (not my usual style, but for some reason, that's how I tend to start short-row heel socks - short-row heels are also not my usual style, but with the self-striping yarn, it just seems like the way to go), so I cast on and off I go, mindlessly watching the colors appear and disappear.  I'm almost ready to turn the heel on the second sock, so that'll go quickly.

I have also started (more) mitts for the girls.

That's the first of them.  It's more Classic Elite Waterlily.  I love this yarn perhaps more than I ought.  I want a pair of these mitts for myself.  I love this yarn so much that I also knitted a hat out of it, for Rick.

It's a much nicer mossy green color than it looks there.  This is Anne's latest hat, David's Toque (I don't think that the pattern's out yet), and Rick wore it all weekend in the mountains, nice and cozy and warm.

I also have a pair of socks on the needles for my aunt (she requested a pair of the Lenore socks that I knitted for myself while I was in New Orleans - just like mine, she said, so I ordered the yarn and waited - it didn't come in time for the holidays, but they'll go to her as soon as they're done, a belated Christmas present).  So, that seems like a reasonable set of knitting to get me set up for the start of a new semester, doesn't it?  Just in case it's not, I also wound up the yarn to start a new project:

Tucked away in there are the makings of another Babushka.  You may note the needles that are sitting right there on top?  Those are a gift from my lovely SIL (along with the bag, actually) and her family - Signature needles, size five, with the medium tips - they have become my new favorite needles in the whole world.  The join between the needles and the cable is amazing - truly, it's smooth as can be, and the join actually turns so that the needle rotates relative to the cable.  No kinking, no twisting, no getting sort of rucked up the way cables sometimes do.  Just smooth smooth smooth, with the signature (ha!) Signature needles, grippy in the right ways; even the medium tips are plenty pointy.  I think I'm going to suggest to some of those who love me that a set of the size sixes might be a nice birthday present.

And speaking of the Babushka, I will leave you with a knitter story.  On Sunday night, after our second day of skiing, we bundled up and headed out to Angel's for dinner - our favorite spot for our last night in Mammoth Lakes.  I was wearing my Babushka, because it really is the scarf I wear the most.  Suddenly the woman at the table behind me leaned over and said, "Excuse me.  Are you a knitter?"  I said yes, how did she know? But of course I knew, and I had to laugh when she asked for the pattern name, complimented the seed stitch (I love knitters!), and immediately recognized the cashmere content of the yarn when I handed it over.  Am I the only one who always feels just a bit warmer when recognized out there in the world by a fellow knitter?

We made it

And it is such a relief to be home! I baked muffins this morning (anyone noting a trend here? baking after home disruption is so soothing), and the girls are quietly playing dress-up while I play catch-up. I've been updating my stash and WIPs at Ravelry, as well as wading through my email. The drive yesterday was completely uneventful, which is a miracle after the week we've had.

Someone asked in the comments last week what kind of linguist I am, and I haven't had a chance to answer. I supposed I'd have to answer that my theoretical leanings are towards anthropological and cognitive linguistics, and that my practical leanings are towards language revitalization. I have spent the past five years working closely with the last speaker of a Native Californian language spoken in the northern part of the state, doing documentation and revitalization work. We're in the middle of planning a series of language camps that we're hoping to do this fall, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all comes together. I've been involved one way or another with language revitalization work in California since early in grad school, and it is definitely where my linguistic heart lies. It's hard that the group I work with is so far away (about 600 miles), which means a lot of either driving or flying on my part. I had to have back surgery last summer, which really slowed me down for a while, but that's finally healed, so I'm getting back into the swing of fieldwork. It's hard to describe how simultaneously exhilarating and stressful this kind of work is; on the one hand, when the speaker remembers a word that she hasn't used in years, it's such a thrill for all of us, but there's always the background knowledge that this is it -- what we get is what there is, and that this really matters for future generations of her Tribe.

On the knitting front, I did manage to get through the patterned part of the socks I'm working on, and am well on my way to the heel. A few relaxing days, and that pair should be done. Here's where I confess that I haven't been entirely honest about the number of projects on the needles at this moment. Not only am I working on Hanami and the socks, but there's another pair of socks:
These are modified Jaywalkers that I'm doing for my younger daughter out of some Sockota yarn I had left after making another pair of socks. The way I've changed them (so that there's only one stitch between the kfb and dd, instead of a bunch) makes the stripes less visible; I'm thinking I'd probably make them smaller another way the next time. I've got the heel turned on these, and am on my way down the foot, but, of course, this is only the first one, so there's still another to go. These would be the traffic school socks, except that I have to look when doing the double decrease, and that might be too obvious.

I'm also knitting a sweater for my younger one, which I am making up as I go along (actually, to be honest, I've planned it out fairly well, I think). The body up to the armpits is done:
And I'm on to the sleeves, which is actually where I stalled out.
They're going to be too big with this many stitches, so I need to recalculate so the stitches all fit when I put it together for the yoke. I've knit the body in one piece (it's a cardigan), and once the sleeves are knit, I'll put them all together on a circular, and knit the yoke. I'll be doing a feather and fan lace pattern, and hide the decreases in that. This means that the only seaming I'll have to do will be some kitchener stitch in the armpits (I hate seaming, but have a very odd love for kitchener stitching; there's something just miraculous about finishing it and having no evidence that there was ever a hole there). Actually, thinking about it, the sleeves for this would be perfect traffic school knitting. Assuming that traffic school happens soon -- I feel like I've been waiting long enough on this one. The yarn is a recycled cotton which I really like the feel of; I think it'll get softer as it's washed, which makes it a perfect kids' yarn.

I think I also mentioned I fell down the other day at a yarn store? Well, I did. It was a very nice small store in Novato, with no web site, alas (it's called 2 Petite Knitterie). The owner was very friendly, and kindly admired Hanami (talk about knowing the way to a knitter's heart). I got a Lantern Moon bag I'd seen on their website and liked (it was on sale --1/3 off! -- so I argue that it shouldn't count; also I've been lusting after it for a while).
That doesn't really show the color very well; it's a nice dark blacky-brown. What I particularly like about it is that it stands up on its own, which makes it easier to find things inside. I also got a GoKnit pouch, which I've had in mind to get for a while, but really wanted to see in person. My LYS down here doesn't carry them, so I was really excited to actually get to play with one before pulling the trigger. The colors are gorgeous on these things, really bright and happy (which I needed some of, after last week). I settled on the blue, with some daughterly input (it was either that, or purple -- hard choice).
(It's already been inhabited by a sock.) It has a lovely little snapped loop inside that you can run your yarn through so it doesn't get tangled, and a snapped loop outside that can hook to a bag, or chair, or belt. I should have gotten more pictures of the inside, but I forgot.

Then, she had Sox Stix, and I picked up a set of #3s, in the dark wood.

I've been wanting to try sox stix for a while; they're shorter than I usually use (5 inches, as opposed to my usual 7 for wood dpns, and 6 for my Celtic Swan #1s). I can't tell whether I'll like that or not, but it seemed worth a try, since I can use #3s for DH's socks. If I like them enough, I'll get 2s. So, all of that, while quite a whack of goods to get at one go, includes things that I've been keeping my eye on for a while, but have only found online. I suppose I could argue that I saved myself shipping? (Maybe?)

This yarn, however, while in the sale bin, was pure retail therapy, which I don't indulge in often, but I guess this yarn store visit was my binge for the summer.
Look at those colors! How could I not get them, all squeezed together in a little bag with a sale tag on them? They'll be a scarf for the fall. Anyone have any ideas on scarves with two yarns held together?

Now, I'm off to buy milk.