The Complete Jane Austen on Masterpiece Theatre

I don't know how many of you saw but Masterpiece Theatre on PBS is showing the Complete Jane Austen. It started last Sunday with Persuasion and runs through March. Movies included are Emma, Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Miss Austen Regrets. For more info, you can go here http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/

Books

I started a list of all the books I read in 2008. So far it contains:

The Wednesday Letters: Sweet and sad but an enjoyable read.

The Book of Names: Wonderful. I have already recommended it to my mom.

The Kite Runner: This was a good book but it was painful to read because the Afghan peoples story can break your heart. However, A Thousand Splendid Suns is on my to-read list because Khaled Hosseini has a wonderful way with words.

Eat, Pray, Love: I liked this book because it takes place in several places. It gave me great meditation ideas but there were parts that were difficult to read. However, I wish when I got divorced that I could have taken this type of journey. I am definitely putting her next book on my list.

Knitter's Block....

So I seem to be suffering from knitter's block. I can't think of any new projects to work on. I have been plugging away on my UFOs and am making good progress. I finished Princess Ivi's striped blanket which I think took me about 5 years to finish.

I am also working on my sister's prayer shawl which I started after she had her first miscarriage but it is K3, P3 ribbing so I find it very tedious.

Regarding the Campfire Socks, well, I finished one. Then Princess Ivi put it on and it didn't fit right. I don't know if it was the short-row heel or what but it didn't work length-wise and the women's size wasn't wide enough and of course, the men's was too wide. So I put it in my UGH bag and I will find a different pattern.

All in all, though, I am pretty uninspired regarding knitting lately. Hopefully, it is a phase which will pass quickly.

Short Rows

Today is the strangest day. It is 71 degrees here in New England in early January. And my mom told me the other day that it was snowing in Daytona. Crazy Mother Nature.

So I kept seeing patterns that called for short rows, well, no matter how much I liked the item, I was petrified of doing short rows, (although I must confess I never knew what a short row was, they just sounded hard).

Well, I started my Campfire Socks and I am now ready to turn the heel. I was reading the directions and they describe what a short row was and I realized I have already done short rows. They were in the stocking pattern and they were in these really cute animal finger puppets I have been working on. Now I feel like a dope for stressing so much about something I have been doing.

My socks are going well. I had a spaz attack and read the directions wrong so instead of knitting the last 2 rounds 8 times, I knit all three rounds but noticed my error after the 2nd time. Duh, that would explain why it said repeat 2 for 8 rows plus the first three to have 19 rows.

Princess Ivi and I saw National Treasure 2. I love Nicolas Cage. What a hottie! Anyway, the movie was good and I have a request for the DVD and the original DVD for our collection.

Happy Birthday Marci

Today is my big sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Marci. Thanks for being such an amazing sister. You are an inspiration to me.

Socks

So in keeping with my resolutions, I cast on for my first sock. I am using Cider Moon's Campfire Sock. They will go to my daughter, if they look okay.

I am liking it so far and hopefully, I can handle all the multiple needles.

I have irritating coworkers....

So I hate my coworkers. Well, not hate but extreme dislike. I have this one coworker who has absolutely no manners at all. We will call her S.

When the weather got cold she asked me in a very snotty tone, “so are you going to make me a hat and scarf?” Not can you or God forbid she actually say please.

But I made her and my other coworker each a scarf for Christmas and told S she would have to wait on the hat.

I had a scarf that I had been working on at soccer practices. I was going to keep it but it lost its appeal so I gave it to S.

I made up the hat over the New Year’s holiday and brought it in. She was not here on Wednesday so I put it on her desk. On Thursday she came into my office and said, “it’s nice but it doesn’t fit my head.” No thank you. No can you please fix it.

I said okay well I will take it back and work on redoing it.

Then when she was leaving (an hour and a half early), she said “boy, I wish I had a hat so my head wouldn’t be cold.” Again, in her snotty tone.

So I have decided that I am not going to reknit the hat. I am sure I will at some point but not right now. Instead I am going to take that important time and use it for people who actually appreciate me and have manners enough to say please and thank you.

New Year's Resolutions

So I normally don’t make resolutions because I never accomplish them but my sister talked me into making some for 2008 so here we go….

2008 Resolutions

1. Keep in touch with my family and friends better.
2. Knit one mile per month.
3. Use at least half my yarn stash before buying more (unless emergency situation arises).
4. Knit a pair of socks.
5. Knit all Christmas gifts.
6. Exercise more.
7. Take more pictures.
8. Post pictures on my blog and Ravelry.
9. Knit something for myself.
10. Knit more for Princess Ivi.