Look! A Sweater!

So... I've been knitting! Hooray! The most exciting part is that I finally finished a sweater that fits!



(Please don't look too closely at my hair. Or my butt because those pants, while comfortable, make my butt look goofy)

This is the Hey Teach! cardigan from Knitty, knit out of Knitpicks Comfy. Buttons from JoAnn's, because where else am I going to get buttons here? Seriously, if anyone knows, please share the knowledge. Buying buttons online to match a sweater seems like an exercise in futility to me.

I also knit some preemie hats out of leftover sock yarn:



Very cute and tiny- I should have included something for scale. Trust me- they're little.

I've been writing. And re-writing. Perhaps when I'm done with this round of writes/rewrites I'll be up to recording the process. For now, it's still a little too fresh.

That is my life these days: work, write, some knitting (although not much), snuggles with SirShedsALot. I've been prepping my applications, and perhaps one of these days that will be bloggable but alas now it is not. Hence the distracting knitting photos.

Tomorrow: finish the re-write on chapter 1, re-write chapter 2 and edit chapter 5 in light of the re-writes. Starting chapter 3 would be good too, seeing as how all the other chapters have at least a first draft done and submitted.

Mostly Pictures

Some pictures Ranger Man took while my mom was here (we specifically went somewhere we knew there would be ample photo-ops so he could occupy himself that way).





I determined that while I like butterflies when it's just me and them in the wild open spaces of the wild outdoors- me and hundreds of them in a small enclosed hot and humid place? do. not. like. Not.one.bit.

There are flower pictures too, but I'll save them for later as it is past my bedtime.

I will, however, close with this thought: Wool weather is the best thing ever. It's been chilly enough to FINALLY wear all the socks I've been knitting this year and that has been simply a delight. Wool Weather- I like it.

Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone. There may be knitting content soon. It's not like I haven't been knitting- I just haven't been posting!

Bug Zilla

Ranger Man left today for another TDY, after being home for (I think) almost two months. He was home for a really long time and it was really nice once I finally got used to it, which was about three days ago. It was great having him around for cooking (mmm, pie!) and helping to clean in preparation for my mom coming out, and all that other little stuff that it's just nice to have someon else around for.

So he left today- and as I'm sitting in bed reading to Webster, I notice that Webster is really interested in something. Now, Webster being Really Interested in something usually means it's a bug- Webster is a Mighty Hunter After all. Because we have regular pest control in our apartment, normally the bugs aren't that bad. However, this time he found, I kid you not, a flying cockroach (waterbug? I dont know the proper Georgia bug terms. I just just know "big bug") was hopping around the wall, right behind my headboard.

Proud of me Moment: I did not scream. I calmly, albeit quickly, exited my bed and the room. I went straight for the vacuum, because I wasn't sure I possessed the strength necessary to crush the force-field type of shield that this thing had for its shell.

I got the attachments all set up and tried to do it quietly as my bug tracker is definitely afraid of vacuums and runs quickly to get away from them. I cornered the horrendous bug in my closet (on my end of the closet, mind you- not Ranger Man's side)- so I blasted my weapon of necessity at the bug, with one eye open because I was sure that it was going to fly at and attack my head in retaliation, or that all of my clothes were going to get sucked into the vacuum.

Instead, in some amazing feat of clumsy that only I can accomplish, I managed to run over a bag of batting with the upright end of the vacuum. Did you know that the upright end still sucks even when you're brandishing the long bugsucker attachment of death? Also, did you know that sucking up a bag of batting makes vacuum cleaners unhappy? So at that point, my bedroom smelled like unhappy vacuum cleaner and bag of batting.

And I missed the bastard.

Webster found him again (he's a great tracker) and was chasing him through the bedroom. For a while they were under the bed, and then all of a sudden Webster came out, sniffed around and laid down.

I have no idea what this means. Did he lose the bug? Did he eat the bug? Is he simply bored with the whole scenario? You really never can quite tell with cats. He's currently in the bathroom, but he looks pretty alert. I don't know if that means he's still got some sort of kitty-adrenaline high going on, or if he really thinks the bug-zilla is in there, but doesn't know where.

I'm sleeping on the couch tonight. I just hope BugZilla isn't after wool...

Whirlwind and some knitting

Hm... Briefly, what's been going on that's kept me from blogging:

1. Writing. I have three chapters finished, two more to write. Neither of the two that are left are straightforward. I've received ZERO feedback from my advisers, so I feel like I"m flying blind as to whether I'm even going in the right direction.

2. I'm applying to PhD programs for next fall. It's a huge step, it means moving again and I'm trying to figure out when the best time to move is (get the heck out of Georgia now and enjoy an actual winter and attempt to establish residency, or keep my job and save some money and wait to move?). This also stresses me out because of that lingering self-confidence problem... "what if I don't get in?" I should be covered, I have a back up program that I'm applying to that I should be overqualified for, but in this economy, who knows who will be going back to school next fall!

4. Last but most stressful: My mom is going to be here today. Yes, in all her infinite wisdom, my crazy mother is going to be in Georgia to visit her daughter who moved across the country for LESS THAN 24 HOURS. and then she'll go back to her "real" reason for the trip- visiting her late father's last wife in Florida. (who, bitter, me? no...). I've been ill the past two days and I know that there's nothing wrong with me- it's just my nervous system completely overloaded and wanting to explode. Plus, she just called to say that her flight is delayed. So who knows when she's going to get here? Her return flight is early tomorrow morning, so if she doesn't get here until this evening... ugh.

Oh, and I've been knitting: I took advantage of laundry day and a completely white unmade bed to take some pictures:



Angee Socks by Cookie A. Knit out of Koigu KPPPM (I think it's the one with 3 Ps? It's fantastic yarn)



Plain Vanilla Socks out of Hazel Knits Artisan Sock Chuckanut Drive Colorway. I get a kick out of the way these striped!

Oh yes- one more thing- Ranger Man's "Don't shave" orders came through, so we're officially preparing for his deployment, which means even crazier than usual training schedules. He copes by baking though, so we have a chocolate cream pie and a pecan pie to eat this weekend, which is not too bad! I like pie!