Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Everyone's against me

What does it say about a knitter's approach to projects when she's reading aloud to her husband various excerpts from a certain recently-published book about knitting, and upon uttering the word 'Startitis', said husband immediately dissolves into helpless, teary laughter, even before the knitter gets a chance to read the actual definition of the word?

I think it means I must be something of a knitting dilettante. I was only a little bit mollified when my (still gasping) husband attempted to appease me by saying, "No no, honey! I'm laughing at me just as much as at you! Don't you know how many half-finished projects I have around the house?

But I am convinced in my heart of hearts that he is still laughing at me a little bit, on the inside.

Although perhaps it is not my husband, but the universe at large, which is laughing at me. Yesterday morning I twisted my ankle going down the stairs to my train. It hurt like a sonofa...well. Suffice it to say that it hurt. After the stars stopped swimming in front of my eyes, I managed to hobble (with my dignity marginally intact) the rest of the way down the staircase to catch my train.

Alright, I admit, the way I had been descending the stairs was probably best described as 'careening', but that's no reason for the universe to make walking awkward - if not impossible - for a while. (Although I must say that it could have been worse - I barely managed to catch the banister to stop myself from falling ass over teakettle all the way down the steps so spectacularly as to rival Scarlett O'Hara's famous miscarriage-inducing plunge. However, the triumph of having avoided numerous bone breaks is mitigated by the fact that my ability to make my train even after injury and slow painful hobbling meant that I didn't need to be careening at top speed down the stairs in the first place. Waaaah.)

Throughout the day, all my co-workers remarked on my pathetic limp, and by last night the ankle hurt a lot. So much so that I have borrowed a cane so I can hobble around. I am not at work today - DH forbade me, since my commute involves a bit of walking. The good news is that the ankle does feel a lot better.

PonChew
Still no photo. Alas, there now may never be a photo. I came into work yesterday morning (what was it with yesterday morning?) to discover Chewie gone from his place on top of my filing cabinet. I checked around the sides of the cabinet in case he had merely fallen down - no dice. I checked my desk - nope. I checked with my co-workers - they were as clueless as I. Unless one of my colleagues is lying, Chewie has simply vanished, the place where he was marked only by a solitary, lonely green pump. (How very Cinderella.) My co-workers suspect kidnapping and think it would be neat to post 'Have you seen this Wookie?' signs around the office. I am more suspicious - I suspect outright theft. Sadly, there is no way we could report this to Security and be taken seriously. "Well, it was a 5" tall Chewbacca action figurine, dressed in a kicky poncho, feather hat, lurid striped tie, green handbag, and one green shoe." Yeah, that'll get a manhunt started.

Stornaway sweater for BIL (blue)
In and among the various chores, socializing and napping done this past weekend, I did get a decent amount done on sleeve #2. The halfway point is now within my grasp. I am certainly half done the shaping portion of the sleeve. And, as always, working on a sleeve from the armscye on down means that once I really get going, it's like a stone rolling downhill - the increasingly shorter rows make it seem like I'm gathering momentum, and it's very heartening.

Secret Garden cardigan for niece
I brought this to work yesterday. I realise that The Schedule would have been more pleased if I'd brought something that more desperately needed to be worked on, but while packing for the day, I took a look at the ball I'm using for the Stornaway sweater. It was very small. I therefore concluded that there was a risk I could run out before I got home. Since I didn't have time before departure to wind more, I instead took a project for which I did have enough yarn for a day's work. Result: What with yesterday's commutes and today's bedrest, I have begun the yoke. It looks great.

No comments: