What I have been doing with my time lately

since it is obviously not keeping up with this blog. There has been knitting, oh yes, there has been much knitting, but mostly I log on to ravelry and call it a day. Sorry for the neglect, peeps. I went to Stitches East in Baltimore earlier this month, which was GREAT! I took a class on steeks. which I knew nothing about before I walked into the classroom. Like, I didn't even know that you actually knit a steek into the thing you are working on. Nada. It is my goal in knitting (and with most other things) to learn something new each time I choose a project or take a class. So when I was looking at the class selections, I thought, "Steeks! Now there's something I know squat about! I'm there!" I signed up for this class way back in May. The class started at 8:30 on an October Saturday morning, and as the date grew nearer, I seriously questioned if I had actually intended to attend this class. Steeks? What the hell are those, and why do you want to leave the house at 7am to learn about them? WTF were you thinking? Luckily I had signed up with a friend, who told me if I wasn't outside my house for a 7:10 pick up, she was going to break into my house and start blowing an airhorn. In order to protect my family, I went. And I was so glad I did. I learned so much, and the instructor was great. There were, of course, a whole lotta freaks in the class, owing to the nature of Stitches East. I really didn't understand that it's really a big educational event, and that people actually flew in from far-flung cities, stayed in nearby hotels and took classes for four days straight. I was even issued a name plate that I had to wear around my neck. Official! Now, I like knitting as much as the rest of you peeps, but I am telling you the only way I am flying somewhere to attend classes is if the class is in a Tuscan villa with a kitchen staffed by Mario Batali. So as you might imagine, the Baltimore Convention Center was a big giant freakdome. And it hit me at that moment that I, myself, was a big giant dork. Who really enjoyed her class on steeks, and really liked hitting the marketplace afterwards. The marketplace was great--it was like sheep n wool, but without the crowds and elbowing. You had to pay to gain admittance, so I am assuming that limited the riff-raff. Pez, next year Stitches is in November in Baltimore (same knit time, same knit channel) so mark your calender and join me so we can get our freaks on. Or our steeks.

I am working on a few things right now: a lap blanket for my wheelchair-bound grandmother, a green vest for me, and I am finally finishing up that stupid wobbly circles tote that I haven't picked up in half a year. It's all seamed; it just needs to be felted. These are all projects that are big and take awhile, and I was itching to get something done just to feel a sense of accomplishment. So I took that one skein of Malabrigo I bought at sheep n wool back in May and churned out a neck gaiter for myself. There was enough for two, so one is headed to a friend out in Colorado.


With all that said, I am not knitting as much as I would like. I am taking Spanish, so that is taking up a good deal of free time, and just hanging out with the kiddos a bit more. I don't expect to be knitting as much as I would like for a decade or two, at which time I will probably be crying into my knitting basket that the kids are grown and don't need me any more. Alex is already getting too big for my lap, and it is making me feel pangs of sadness that the days of sniffing his freshly shampooed little head as we read before bedtime are numbered. Boy, these days are passing in a whirlwind of madness, aren't they?

PS I promise next time I will trim the nosehair before taking any upshots of my nostrils.