The deadline for finishing my thesis is fast approaching and I am working hard to make it.
In the evening though, I mostly spend time with the kids. Tonight they were chasing around the room.
You know you’re a mom when…
you scold random strangers in front of the coffee shop for littering.
Film – Nowhere Boy
I am hurling towards the end of my mat leave at breakneck speed, which is a bit funny because I find my days to pass slowly and calmly. I have been working away at my thesis and it is now mostly written though I am sure I will have a lot more to do once my adviser gives me his feedback. I now technically only have Introduction, Conclusion and Related Literature to write up along with some formatting. Can I do it in three weeks? I think I can.
To help me unwind, I have been knitting a lot. Actually, I think fall is my knitting season. I have been knitting a lot last year around this time as well.
This sock was made from some fancy shmancy yarn I got at the Fibrefest in Almonte a few weeks ago. I am on the pleased side with them though I have not worn them yet. I need to block them first and I just haven’t gotten around to it. They are on a bit of a larger size and I was going to give them to Chris, but I made one of the bands too tight so he was not able to take the sock off without help. It is too bad because the other band was just fine. I have to work on my binding off technique. They fit fine on me and I am sure that they will shrink in the wash anyway.
I made this bag on a whim as part of the Free Pattern Testers group. It took me two days and I got to use up some of my acrylic stash which has been sitting in the mud room looking at me longingly for last three years. I am quite pleased with the bag, especially since it is my first knit AND sew project. Yay for quick knits!
Nothing new for the followers of Trev’s blog, but I am mightily pleased how Trev’s Halloween costume turned out. I have not told him that I am going to take the wire laundry basket cage back yet. Do you think he will mind?
Last month I made a hat for my sister, but I already blogged about that a few weeks ago. Needless (no pun intended) to say, I am completely sold on the circular needles.
What is the next project? I don’t know! Maybe a knitted book folder to store my thesis…
Film – The Kids Are All Right
In last couple of months I noticed that I am making more food than usual and my pots are continuously spilling over and making my stove a mess. Realising that with four people to feed the little pots from the DINK-y days are just not cutting it, I started using the larger size pots for my regular meals. Then I realised that the larger size pots are great for the stuff I usually made in regular pots but are spilling over with stuff that used to fit in them. I thought about getting a stock pot, but I was not convinced until I started pickling beets and had to boil them in three shifts because they would not fit. Not only that, but I had to use my turkey pan and oven to sterilize the bottles. Yes, it was time to get a stock pot.
So now I have a 12 L stock pot. It is huuuge! I haven’t made anything in it yet but the boys have destroyed the box it came in so it is a keeper. What do you think, will I use it often?
Opera – Turnadot
I have been knitting a lot. I made a hat for Chris. It looks good. The pattern I used is called Tychus. It is from Knitty and it truly is the easiest hat ever. Next time someone tells me they want to learn to knit, I will offer them this pattern. It is in 3D and it has colours and yet it is so easy to knit it is ridiculous.
I tried to knit matching mitts, but it did not turn out. Since then, I started an experiment to see whether I should switch to circular needles. I had a relatively positive experience with the circs this summer and a very negative experience with the current standard, double pointed needles. With dpns I kept dropping the needles or having them wiggle out while in the bag. I was knitting lace, so fixing things was a hassle. Then the ends got splayed, needles got bent and finally one of the five got lost somewhere (fell out of the bag through a hole it made a few days before) leaving me to knit short needled.
Anyhow, I got a fancy-schmancy pair of circs and all is well with the craft. I can even knit more than one project at the time. Now two boring projects turn into one exciting one.
I also pickled some beets. Isn’t this picture eery? I am expecting Q and Captain Pickard to jump out form behind the jars…
Film – Get Low
If it seems like I’ve fallen off the edge of the Earth with respect to the blogs, I have. Since we got back from vacation, things have been super busy. I am now going to the lab full time and working on my thesis. So far I am still on schedule, but there is a lot of work and I do have a tight deadline as I have to be done before I go back to work OR ELSE.
I have stupid amount of housework to do as well. You see, I have been sweeping anything that did not require immediate attention under the rug since 2002 when I started with graduate studies. My motto was “If I have the time to do this stupid housework, I should take it and do homework instead”. Well, it is eight years later… So now I have a new motto, “Homework gets done in school, housework gets done at home”. I moved my laptop to the lab where it stays until the thesis is completed. I am not bringing it home, not even for the weekend. I am in school eight hours a day four days a week and I work. On the fifth day, I stay home and do housework. Let’s see how this goes.
Speaking of eight years later, our anniversary is next week. I think we just might go on a date. How sweet that will be!