Wool & Words

I've got papers to finish grading this weekend and I knew that if I stayed in my apartment, I'd end up spending all of my time on the couch trying to grade while watching some Jane Austen adaptation (I'm in a "Welcome Spring with Austen" spiral). So I got up, showered and dressed, and came down to the local coffee shop to grade papers. I've got my coffee, had a lovely sausage biscuit for breakfast and 2 hours later I've graded exactly 2 papers.

In the morning prayer today there was a petition about doing for others in our daily work (I don't have it with me, or I'd give you the real petition, which was much more eloquent that that statement). I kept thinking of it in terms of my students: how the attention I would pay to their papers today would be a gift to them. LOL--I think God's got something else in mind today!

I'm going to soldier on and keep grading, but hopefully I'm done with interruptions for a little while. I love small town life, but sometimes the city's cloak of anonymity is appealing.

Posted by KnitNut at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First some knitting:

I'm working on a sweater that should be done by early next week--joy! Khaki pants and springtime here I come!

On to the Feast--

I've been reading this blog for a while now...guess I should participate:

Appetizer
Where on your body do you have a scar, and what caused it?

On my right forearm there's a dark mark. The mark is actually a piece of pencil lead from a 3rd grade injury; someone ran into me with a pencil, the lead broke off, and here we are today. My 30-something mind doesn't want to ponder beyond that.

My right hand, between my index and middle finger, sports a lovely shiny scar from my accidental pickup of a broken soda bottle (back in the day where you turned in your empties). More that I don't want to contemplate. I still love a Coke in a glass bottle, though.

Soup
What is something that has happened to you that you would consider a miracle?

When I was young (what is it with my youth?), my father had an auto accident in his van. I was in the backseat of the van, and the middle seat had been removed to make room for various bits of equipment. This was long before carseats (which I would have been too old for, anyway) and I don't recall functioning seatbelts. A truck ran him off the road and straight into a lightpost. The van's front (a VW bus) wrapped around the post.

My father was unharmed. And I swear to this day that the blanket we were sitting on somehow ended up covering the equipment and cushioning our fall.

Salad
Name a television personality who really gets on your nerves.

Tyra. Fucking. Banks. I hate her.

Main Course
What was a funny word you said as a child (such as "pasketti" for "spaghetti")?

Not a clue about this one. I think I was likely more funny when I tried to use words that I didn't know the meaning of. Maybe.

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I have always thought the bayou was beautiful.

That was fun!

Posted by KnitNut at 02:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today is Edna St. Vincent Millay's birthday. Gosh, I love this gal.

"Recuerdo"

WE WERE very tired, we were very merry--
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable--
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on a hilltop underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry--
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry,
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry,
We hailed "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

Listen to Millay reading the poem here.

Posted by KnitNut at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For today, T. S. Eliot's "Ash Wednesday"

Posted by KnitNut at 10:09 AM | Permalink

Forces have gathered in New Orleans to celebrate. Do a little "Mardi Gras Mambo" of your own at home:

Posted by KnitNut at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Writing and teaching, teaching and writing. Not much in my brain to share, but know that I miss you, sweet blog and blog friends! I've turned my attention toward some lingering summer knits from last year; maybe I'll actually have a lightweight item or two to wear when spring arrives!

Haunted by the music from that Geico ad where the caveman is on the people mover at the airport? See the video by the band, Roykksop.

Posted by KnitNut at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've got a new friend:

No gender. No name. I'm pondering.

The new Dreamy Monkey was a gift from my friend, Teggin. She spotted it in a shop and had to get Maurice a new friend. I'm a bit concerned about the pairing. Maurice, after all, is a very clever monkey. I'm afraid that this dreamy one might get talked into all sorts of hijinks.

Posted by KnitNut at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Unsaid"

-Dana Gioia

So much of what we live goes on inside–
The diaries of grief, the tongue-tied aches
Of unacknowledged love are no less real
For having passed unsaid. What we conceal
Is always more than what we dare confide.
Think of the letters that we write our dead.

From Interrogations at Noon

Read more Gioia here.

Why?

Posted by KnitNut at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Here's my Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf:

Yarn: Patons SWS in Natural Earth (3 skeins)

Needles: Size 9 Crystal Palace

Thoughts: I enjoyed knitting this scarf. The pattern is (as I'm sure you all know) easy to memorize. The yarn? Eh. It's soft and the colors are lovely, but I'm not in love--you know? I'm hoping that a good bath will make me change my mind; the yarn feels a bit scratchy.

This photo is really washed out. I'll try to get one with a sunnier disposition tomorrow.

Posted by KnitNut at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Snow/Ice day today, which was really kinda silly since there wasn't much of anything resembling either on the ground. But no matter--I got a day "off" today, which I enjoyed in the laziest of ways. Cordelia (my Hanne Falkenberg sweater) grew by about 2', which is impressive when you're working on size 2 needles. There's a bit of double knitting in the pattern (to make the belt casing), so I'm learning new things at the same time that I'm enjoying thought-free garter stitch. Life is good.

I'm also working on a sock in Tofutsies. I like the yarn, but I feel a bit out of season sync; this yarn feels more like a spring/summer thing, and I'm in a wool mood.

It is a dreary rainy cold day after all.

Posted by KnitNut at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)