Grad School

I can officially say that grad school is a major time suck. That's all I've done for the last 2 weeks: grad work. Grad work and getting ready for SAFF. And going to SAFF set me back on really accomplishing anything. Not that I didn't enjoy going of course. Thus, I have declared this weekend to be a Do Nothing Weekend of Freedom. The only thing I have scheduled is a massage with my massage therapist on Saturday (at my house so I don't even have to leave) and church on Sunday. The rest of this weekend will be for accomplishing long neglected tasks such as laundry, washing dishes, logistical/business stuff for the Eastern European and Russian Orphanages Project, watching Interview With the Vampire, handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, designing a vest for a mystery KAL that starts Monday, making s'mores, reading blogs, knitting, making placinte, sorting yarn, and organizing my online finances. That all sounds like a terrible lot of stuff but it's all stuff I actually want to do, crazy as that seems. Well, maybe not the laundry or washing dishes so much but I do need some clean clothes and dishes (oh when am I going to find a man to help me with all these menial tasks....). I'm so glad this weekend is finally here. I may not be able to sleep tonight from all the excitement....

Including 2 of the whooping 5 pictures I took at SAFF.

 The full booth, which was TINY! 6ft by 8ft. But Steph and I made it work.

 Me in the booth. Get the full effect if it's tininess?

Where to Start

Ok, so I have a very limited time to do a post. I've got to hit the books tonight and do some work on papers and discussion postings. So, where to start...

Got a huge package in the mail the other day from a member of the EEROP group. It was stuffed to the brim with the following goodies:

9(!) hats,

fingerless mitts,

socks for Socktober Madness,

and 2 great sweaters! I love the little toggles and believe me when I say these will keep a child warm in the winter.

I finished another hat for Teanne and her mission trip in December.

And this was my view yesterday as I was working on grad school stuff:

Love this weather!

SAFF Confessional

So, I have to confess something...until yesterday I wasn't really looking forward to SAFF.

I know, I know...sacrilege! Before you string me up by my toes let me explain.

1. I'm going this year as a vendor. This means I won't have as much time for perusing wares. And everyone knows I love a good fiber festival. But me in a room full of yarn and I'm like an alcoholic in a brewery, I just have to have some.
2. I'm not a salesperson. This sorta hurts the whole vendor thing. It's not like I won't tell you everything you want to know about my yarn but you have to ask first. I'm not about to hard sell you as soon as you come within shouting distance of my booth.
3. I'm not competitive. At least not in the sense that I'm looking to be the next Sanguine Griffin or Holiday Yarns or Miss Babs or any of a dozen other indie dyers. I work an 8-4 job everyday. I'm starting a non-profit. I'm involved in my church. I go to knit nights. I'm a full time grad student. Oh, and one day I'd like to have a social life.
4. I'm a Knitter. With a capital K. Not a Dyer. Dyeing is my hobby. I just happen to dye a lot so I have extra to sell. Not as much as someone who spends hours a week dyeing, week in and week out. But more than a healthy hobby should accumulate. And I'm ok with that. But see #3 above.

So basically I was feeling all uninspired about going to sell my yarn and feeling like everything I dye is sub-par and just being super critical of myself. This, of course, did nothing to help my enthusiasm for heading to a major fiber festival.

And then I booked my room.

And I starting thinking about the North Carolina mountains in the fall.

See more breathtaking photos here.
And I remembered the alpacas.

And the llamas.

I love this picture so much.
And the bunnies.

And the market.

And then I remembered the best part of all...

the fair food.

Suddenly I'm ready to go.

Weekend

I've had a very busy weekend and it's not even Sunday yet! My grandmother moved from Arkansas to Georgia early, early, early this morning (I think they got in around midnight) so I went to her new house yesterday to help my mom put the finishing touches on things. Of course, I was late getting there because I was waiting on a parent to pick up a student until 4:20 at the school (lesson here: do not try and drive anywhere in or around Atlanta at 3:00 on a Friday). I stayed until a little after 11:00 at my grandmother's place sweeping, attempting to put magnetic closers on cabinet doors, putting together a bed, blowing up an air mattress, and cleaning. This morning I woke up earlier than I would have normally for a Saturday and drove to north Georgia. I have a friend who works at a boarding school/farm on the weekends and I went to help and meet some of the kids. I'm thinking about volunteering up there some so I wanted to get a feel for the place. I had the random chance to ride a plow horse backwards while I was up there! Bareback too nonetheless. Which is just as weird as it sounds. After getting home this evening I took a shower and put on my pajamas. All before 6:00 p.m. I sat down for a few minutes and finished sewing the edging on the prairie hat.

I think it turned out more Little House than I had originally thought. I think the original color of grey that they used in the book was what actually made it more sophisticated. Oh well, it's still cute. Just need to add the pompoms.

I'm still cranking away on the wave scarf.

I get a some time in every morning to do a few rows. I'm thinking 6 repeats of the 80+ row pattern should make it long enough.


Tonight I'm going to cast on for another hat so I can help Teanne when she goes on her trip to Romania in December. I'm thinking this one:

This hat is also from 60 Quick Knits. Speaking of charity knitting... I received some cute little socks from knitwitchery for Socktober! Can't wait to see what else starts coming in.