Friday, August 26, 2011

I'm still alive!

Promise. This month has been a whirlwind of spending time with friends before I left, finally leaving for Korea, going through the orientation that the public schools have us go through, and finally getting to see my school and apartment for the next year. I'm still very much getting settled in, and looking forward to when I have a routine instead of a messy apartment. I had a rough couple days when it finally hit me that I won't be seeing DB until December and that I may not see anyone for whom English is their first language more than once a week for awhile, but I'm getting better. My little sister, who will be teaching at a private school (like tutoring) out here will arrive late Monday night, so I'll see her Tuesday. I may also start teaching Tuesday. So things are getting where they're supposed to be fairly quickly, moving towards "normal."

My plan for today is to bum around until 10:00 AM local time, when I will talk to my family. Then I'm going to take my thesis research, some knitting and a "for fun" book to Hoegi (two stops away from mine by subway) and find a coffee shop I can occupy for several hours. I'll try to do pictures of apartment and etc. soon, but I'm still working on unpacking cords.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

It's not what you think....

I purchased my first Barbara Walker book recently, and it arrived in the mail today. Having been an avid knit-blog reader for years, I'm well-aware of who Barbara Walker is in the knitting world, and have made at least one thing derived from one of her patterns. So imagine my confusion/amusement when I accidentally bought one of her books without noticing it. It took Amazon's handy suggestion feature, as well as a trip to Wikipedia to confirm, before I accepted it.

The book? Feminist Fairy Tales. Nothing (externally anyways) that has the least to do with knitting. This isn't so much a thesis-intended book, as one I came across in my readings that seemed worth checking out as a "for fun" book. 'Cause, you know, nothing to do with my thesis whatsoever, fairy tales and feminism...

I finished a pair of mitts for my grandmother. While she was out here for my little sister's graduation, she noticed I was wearing a pair of garter stitch mitts and suggested something similar would be good for her arthritis. I've been starting and restarting a pair for her for a couple months, and finally just went (impending departure is a good motivator, apparently.) I settled on the Nalu mitts, done with Rowan Tweed DK. I'd like it if they were softer, but haven't washed them yet, so that may help. I wanted to finish them before tomorrow, since I'm going down to my parents' house for the last time before I go. This way, I don't have to be responsible for getting the mitts to my grandmother.



Because I go soon (12 days), I realized that there are various things I wanted to make before I go. The mitts were one, but I also make a pair for DB each year because he's SO hard on them. I know I'll never EVER knit him a sweater or socks, so mitts let me express my knitterly affections without hating him and whatever it is I'd make for him. The first Christmas we were together, I made him a pair of convertible mittens that he never wears because they're "too hot," so no more fingers for him. But his hands are so big that I could fit both of mine into ONE of the mittens I made for him, but he still stretches them out when he wears them.

So my current project is making the second and third of Queen City mitts for him. I doubt I'll have any problem getting them done before I go, at the rate I've been doing mitts.Link