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SOAR: Looks like I’m going!
April 19th, 2008
I’m not pregnant this cycle, so it looks like I should be able to fly in October after all. Boy am I glad I signed up yesterday! I had a hard time choosing my first and second priority classes… it was a tie, so I picked the one that I think will fill first as my first choice, leaving it up to fate to decide for me.
Try #2 begins today, with me taking nasty Clomid Monday through Friday. At least this time I know the week ON Clomid won’t be so bad… it’s the one AFTER I have to worry about!
And I can open up a great bottle of wine tomorrow for dinner.
Too Busy To Breathe
April 15th, 2008
It’s been a crazy time chez indigirl lately. We’ve been slammed busy working to put together the best ever third annual Fall Fiber Arts Retreat through the store. (Check it out – the Yarn Harlot! Amy Singer! Nancy Bush! Cookie A! Big Mountains!) And dealing with some issues with the first Year of Lace kit.
To be honest, I’ve been stressed beyond belief.
And to top it all off, I’m in the middle of my first two week wait to figure out if we’re having a baby in 2008 or not. While I thought I could test for the first time tomorrow (and expect a slight chance of a positive), it may indeed be a few days longer than I’d first thought. Ah well. At least I’m busy.
I don’t know what it is about this time of year for me. Looking back, it seems like early Spring is the time when I’m most likely to feel untethered. Maybe it’s got something to do with the change of seasons, the sudden availability of nice weather (or not, if you live in Calgary). Or maybe it’s just that everyone around me also goes through a phase of spring fever.
Have you been noticing that tensions seem to be running a little high on certain online knitting forums? Could this be related to the time of year? Personally, I wish that there was a better way to balance the wonderful freedom of communication online with the responsibility of the golden rule. And I’m not talking about Year of Lace stuff at all… just about some other threads involving other businesses/issues that I’ve been reading.
I’ve been part of many online communities dating back to the days of usenet and it seems like every single one has gone through a self-destructive phase, full of arguing, and infighting, and low blows. I’d hoped the knitting community would have been exempt from this, but I suppose it’s like anything else; full of a large variety of people who will sometimes disagree… loudly. I guess what makes me uncomfortable about the whole thing is that an online forum makes it easy for a story to be one-sided. Get enough unhappy folks on there, and the tone of the thread makes it hard for anyone to disagree publically, especially with tensions running high.
While it’s wonderful that we can say what we want without fear of censorship, it also can create a bias towards one perspective over another (and possibly the big picture), when the first few responders all agree and build on each other’s negativity. The more negative a thread gets, the less you see anyone disagreeing or jumping in to defend what was criticized. And that makes sense to me. If you were a lone Flames fan at an away game in Chicago, how loudly would you bad-mouth the home team? It takes courage to feel like you’re in the minority in any case, much less in an online forum where other responders may not listen as politely as if the conversation were in person.
I think there’s a bigger responsibility to being responsible with what you write online, but also to be responsible with what you read online. I’m certainly not saying anything here about the validity of any posters’ complaints or actions. I’m merely speaking to the feelings that keep any heated forum thread from being truly unbiased. And just spouting off a bit in my own forum. 
Now that I’m off my soapbox…
It’s Tuesday evening and just about time for Knit group at the store. I’m still working on my Panel Jacket; one sleeve down and the other half done. After the sleeves and the rest of the seaming, I can move on to knitting the incredibly long collar/neckband and then three-needle-bind it off in place. And then it needs a really good and intense blocking. I swear I’m knitting to gauge, but the garter stitch is a strange beast. It’s short. 3 inches short, to be precise. So, I’m thinking that in the original pattern, the body had to have been measured after blocking. So I’m-a-gonna-block-the-crap-out-of-it and see what happens.
And I also might cast on for Wicked.
Things you do while waiting
April 12th, 2008
Last Sunday, back on Day 1 of the infamous two week wait before we find out if I’m pregnant, I decided to being a 2ww knitting project. I chose the Panel Jacket from Unicorn Books and some new Classic Silk from Classic Elite. It’s knit in garter stitch panels that are then attached together with a three needle bind off. It’s fun, and relatively portable, and it’s been going really quickly, unlike this f$*#&@*ing two week wait.
I’m finished with the body and it’s all assembled, and I’m knitting on the first sleeve with about 6 inches left to go. After knitting the second sleeve, I’ll have to knit a large panel to stretch around both fronts and become the collar/front facing. So, it will likely take the whole of the two weeks rather than just a part.
Having something obsessive – and deadline-driven – to knit keeps my hands busy and off the laptop at night. I don’t need to be looking up any pregnancy symptoms. I don’t need to be reading about IUI success rates. And I certainly don’t need to be staring at my temperature chart as if it will open up and tell me “yes” or “no”.
Even though I’ve been hopelessly devoted to this project for the past week, I’m ready to cast on for something new. I picked up a copy of More Big Girl Knits yesterday and oh man am I impressed! I’ve got 3 MUST KNITS and another 4 or 5 projects to ponder. I haven’t decided which one to start with, but will probably be mulling over some yarn choices all day today.
Lately I have been really enjoying knitting from other people’s patterns. It’s a nice change from those times when everything on my needles has the riskiness of a new design. Will it work out? Will it be too small? Will I run out of yarn? I guess I still might have the same problems when working from a pattern, but it somehow feels safer, somehow feels that any problems won’t be my fault as long as I get gauge.
That said, I do have some sizing on old patterns to work through, and at least one new design percolating in the back of my mind. Now, I just need more time!
In other news, check out my new bag! I was having kind of a bum day on tuesday so I decided to treat myself with this cute new Lady B from Lexie Barnes. I also got two new needle cases in matching fabric. (Incidentally, we are well stocked in the Pacifica Pattern – here.)