Yo La Tejo

I see the light!

Woot woot! Check it out, y'all: progress! On the Orangina tank!



I know, I know...I can hardly believe it myself. I know that on the whole, I am a slow knitter, and to top it off, knitting lace doesn't exactly speed you up (even though this lace pattern is easily memorized). But I feel like I've been knitting on this for a gajillion years. I started this at the end of the summer semester. Then I took it to Chicago on vacation (I should have taken knitting-project-goes-sightseeing pix like Stephanie does with her socks, hee hee). By the way, I never got to share the yummy yarn I picked up at We'll Keep You in Stitches in Chicago:




Now we're well into the fall semester, and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the Orangina tunnel. Sheesh hamaneesh. I wanted to take a progress picture when I started the ribbing to post it, but, well, the grad school thing kinda gets in the way. Although I have to say, I'm being a bit of a crybaby about it, because the way I've been slacking off lately, you would think that I wanted to stay in school forever. (Well, I kinda do, but the money sucks.)

For those of you who know about Ph.D. programs, or care, this is the semester for crunching--I need to get my prelim exams done (here in this little corner of UT the English Dept. calls them 3-area exams). They need to be done firstly so I can go through the soul-crushing experience of writing my diss (and I will never turn "dissertation" into a verb. You have my word.), but secondly so that I can qualify for all the lovely writing fellowships that ship you off to a secluded school in the middle of the forest so that you can write to your little heart's content. And maybe do some knitting and some tea-drinking. Hell, I'll settle for any kind of drankin.' That's the fantasy, anyway.

I'm not the kind of person to toot my own birthday horn, but I have to share with y'all the lovely knitting-related treats that I got last week:



Yay! A copy of AlterKnits from my friend Laura, and a copy of At Knit's End, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee from Faedah. I also got lots of other beautiful things from my sweet friends, who spoiled me beyond reason. I know that birthdays are supposed to be about the people in your life and the love you get year round. The adult in me knows this.

But, have you met the kid in me? The one that tore off all the wrapping paper with glee? And festooned herself with the ribbon? And left the restaurant with caramel from the birthday flan clinging to her face and the birthday booty in tow? Yes, that girl lives here too. Hi. Nice to meetcha.

I did my annual 10 card woven spread the next night:



I'm a total amateur at this, but I think the reading came out pretty good. (Am I breaking some kind of tarot taboo by posting this online? God knows I don't treat my cards with the respect I am told they need, like making a shrine to them and wrapping them in silk. As you can see, they get laid out on my living room floor and currently reside on a bookcase shelf.) Things I do know for sure: no Death card in my reading, and no scary Tower card. Cards I can certainly live without. For now, anyway.

I'm leaving you with a gratuitous cute kid shot of my niece (everyone else has them. why not me?):



OK, I know, it's more of a cute shoe shot. But I couldn't resist! Who knew that the shoe gene ran in the family?

posted by Olga @ 11:40 AM