Ah, the start of a new year. Okay, I'm not Jewish, but having spent my whole life either in school, or working for schools and churches (which tend to follow an academic calendar), I've always felt the Jewish New Year is much more in sync with my life.
After a summer of no blogging, it's hard to know where to pick up. Here are some random updates and highlights from my summer & early fall:
- After having my hours cut at my main job (of 3 part-time jobs), I'm looking for a full-time job in youth development. It's going slowly. I hate the process of writing applications and going to interviews. I get so nervous! I'm trying to stay positive, and keep my head above water financially during my job search now that I'm making less money. Fortunately I got a raise at one of my other jobs! So I guess you could say that an advantage to having multiple jobs is that when things are going badly at one, I've got two others to balance it out. That's me, always looking on the bright side...
- Over the summer, the old yarn shop I was working for, Three Bags Full in Newburyport, closed. A Loom with a View, a new yarn shop featuring both knitting and weaving (and eventually spinning, though not yet), opened in its place. The owner, Betsy Martin, is wonderfully friendly and organized, and I really love the yarns she has chosen to stock. She's trying to carry a lot of yarns that you don't see everywhere else, and I think she's doing an excellent job, while also selling the old standbys like Debbie Bliss and Noro. I'm teaching some classes there (including Math for Knitters on Sept. 29) and working a few hours a week. Come and say hello if you're in the area!
On the needles: a pair of kilt hose for some friends' wedding in October. All the men in the wedding are wearing kilts; I wisely opted to knit hose for only the best man (the groom already has his), rather that all five groomsmen. His leg size is similar to mine, so I keep trying them on, and like them so much that I want to knit myself a pair after I'm done with these. Then I guess I'll have to get a kilt (or at least a knee-length skirt) to wear them with.
Specs: yarn - Austermann Revue, a worsted weight merino superwash; needles - size 2 and 3 (3mm & 3.25mm) Knit Picks & Addis (used magic loop); pattern based on John Anderson's Kilt Hose by Robert Jenkins, but I pretty much just copied the cable pattern and style, but knit them from from top down, instead of the toe up as in the pattern, and recalculated everything for my gauge & size.- By the way, the blue house in the photo? That's our new house color. It used to be a very boring gray, and we painted it over the summer. Okay, it's not totally done yet. And okay, it was mostly my husband and father (feminist? what feminist?). But I did help. Ain't it purdy?
- The highlight of my summer (maybe my whole year... or my life) occurred on Star Island (of course - it is my favorite place in the whole world, after all). I got to sing the blues in a talent show with some awesome musicians (including my husband on drums), and it was so fun and empowering, I'm now obsessed with blues music. I'm increasing my collection of blues recordings, thinking of signing up for singing lessons as soon as I can afford it, and seeking out opportunities to hear live music. I may even start looking for open mikes and such when I get a little more confident.
That's all for now! Thanks for coming back after my long blogging absence....
