I had a whole post written and ready to go to show you the fingerless gloves that I knit last weekend with some of my handspun yarn but my camera batteries died, then Bryan started to feel sick and the dishes started to really pile up because I had to work and then today he went to the doctor and I felt like I didn’t have a chance to breathe between getting him home from the doctor and my sock knitting class tonight and…and…and you know how it goes sometimes.

Fortunately with Bryan being home sick yesterday, he was here to get the mail, I was out getting soup and bread for the poor sick boy. When I arrived home, he said, “Sit down, close your eyes and hold out your hands.” So I sat, closed my eyes and held out my hands. He gave me an envelope from the University of Illinois, which was slightly thick. It had wonderful news inside. “Congratulations! We are pleased to inform you that we have recommended your admission to the on-campus option of the M.S. degree in library and information science.” !!!!!!!!!!! Wow! I was so ecstatic and all at the same time feeling like it was a bit anti-climatic, I had to get in on my third try or there would be riots at my library. In celebration, I whipped up some Mocha Chip muffins, minus the coffee, to take to my knitting group and on my way to the group dropped off some for my co-workers who were working last night.

Today, when I got home from work, I had a call on the voicemail from a florist. About 4pm, a beautiful bouquet arrived, it was from a co-worker and dear friend L. It was so sweet of her that it made me cry, just when you think things are wonderful and they can’t get any better, your friends prove you wrong and they do.

Bryan is feeling better. He went to the doctor today and we’re waiting on the results from his chest x-ray to find out if he has the real flu or pneumonia. He’s been out of it for two days with a fever off and on and just feeling like he’s never felt before. Fortunately, the medicine they gave him has him on the mend and I’m trying to take good care of him. Now if the dishes would just wash themselves, we’d be great.
Update on Bryan (Feb 23) - We heard from the doctor. He has influenza and just has to wait out the illness.

About the fingerless gloves, they’ll be posted soon.

After 13.5 total inches of snow, two days off and the bitter cold, we’ve finally dug ourselves out and went back to work today. The library was swamped and I worked a longer shift to make up some of the hours that I missed on the two days the library was closed.

Yesterday was a nice Valentine’s Day that was spent relaxing and digging our car out of the parking spot. That snow that was up to the bumper wasn’t just up to the bumper it was all under the car too, which made for some fun digging out. Being snowed in has it advantages but I just wish that the car would dig itself out next time, it would be a whole lot easier. Thank goodness I have Bryan, he did most of the heavy work, so I actually got off pretty easy. Yesterday he was out helping several people try to dig themselves out. It’s amazing what people were using instead of shovels because they didn’t have one - dustpans and buckets seemed to be the most popular. Today was a crazy day at the library, we were swamped with check-in and just getting caught up from being closed for two days. It was kind of fun though because we were never slow although it seemed that some of the bins never emptied.

The best part of the snow days was in my opinion the amount of knitting time that I had. I thought I’d get more reading done but I just couldn’t make myself sit and read when I could be knitting, especially when Bryan was working on collages. Two secret projects were finished yesterday, one was a scarf for Bryan for Valentine’s Day, which he loves. (Photo soon.) He was very surprised, there were a few times I had to scramble to keep him from seeing it while I was working on it when he’d walk in the room. The other secret project can’t be revealed until it’s rightful recipient receives it. I even made some significant progress on the Martha sweater, I’m about 5 rows from finishing the first front piece.

Last night, I had one of those nights were I felt like a kid and hoped for lots of
snow because I didn’t want to drive home from work in it tonight at 9pm. Fortunately, the snow goddess delivered and then some! The phone rang about 7am for Bryan
letting him know that class was cancelled today. Bryan told me that he
wasn’t going to let me go in to work today and I said, “Well, the library might
call, let’s give them some time.” I turned over and thought, “They have to
close the library.” Fortuately about 10 minutes later the phone rang again
and it was my manager telling me that the library was closed. I was so relieved
because it was hard to get into our parking lot last week with four inches of snow and with over five inches on the ground at 7am, I knew it was going to be impossible to get in and out. It definitely feels like a sick day but in a good way. We’ve been reading, I’ve been knititng and Bryan’s been working on collages. At noon today we had over 7.5 inches of snow on the ground, at 1pm it was up to 8.3 inches and it’s blowing and drifting a lot. Our parking lot was plowed this morning and you wouldn’t know it in some parts with all of the drifting. The city crews have stopped plowing the streets because of the blowing, they aren’t making any progress. They’ve already closed the schools tomorrow and the library isn’t going to open until at least noon tomorrow, depending on whether or not the parking lot gets plowed. By the time it’s all over we’re supposed to have over a foot of snow. A foot of snow doesn’t sound like a lot to some of you, I’m sure, but around here since there is nothing to block the wind and it creates blizzard conditions. I went out just to snap two photos and it’s pretty nasty out. The drifts on the cars look pretty bizzare, though.

Update at 11pm - The library is closed again tomorrow the entire day. As of 6pm, the snowfall total was 11.7 inches with drifting around the public tv station around 40 inches deep. The drifts outside our front step are at least 18 inches deep.

It’s been so cold lately. Tuesday, we finally got some snow. It seemed like about three inches of snow but according to the weather almanac we only received 0.17 inches (.43 cm) of precipitation. Of course around here they don’t start plowing the roads when it starts snowing, like they do in Chicago, nope they wait until the snow stops falling and the roads are quite treacherous to drive on.

Last week, my friend SK (sock-knitter because she has the sock-knitting machine) showed me a really cute pair of socks that she’d made herself on the machine. They were a bit big and I suggested they could be felted a bit to fit her better. Lo and behold on Wednesday, she comes to the knitting group with a pair of felted socks too small for her but the perfect size for my feet. (Oh, the advantages of having small feet.) I’ve been wearing them around the house since on these cold days our radiator heat just isn’t enough to make the floors warm.

Today, I’m spending several hours at the store knitting lace to promote my lace class coming up in March. I’m sure after a few hours there and several hours at home I’ll have that lace sampler scarf nearly completed.

I’m still working on socks for this month. So far, my accomplishments have been somewhat fruitful. I had planned to learn several different heels and have figured out the short-row heel with yarn-overs and the afterthought heel on practice pieces. Unfortuately, when I tried to do the afterthought heel on an actual sock I had huge gaps around the edges where I picked up the stitches, but nothing that can’t be fixed. Any advice on not getting these holes on after-thought heels? I seem to have the same problem when I’ve done short-row heels and I always just stitch up the hole and reinforce it as much as I can. The socks that I’m working on are secret socks and just can’t be revealed yet. It’s hard to be working on a project for my almanac and not be able to talk about it with photos. When lace month rolls around in March, I’ll definitely be able to talk about it. I plan on trying out several different lace patterns just to practice them.

Have a good weekend.

I read a lot and rarely does one book make me want to tell the entire world about it. Yes, there was Prep but this book is different. This is one of those books that everyone should read. I started it on Wednesday night and have been so drawn in by the character that I’m already half-way through. The book is Sold by Patricia McCormick. It’s an important story about a girl from Nepal, who thinks she is going to work as a maid in the city, only to find out the hard way that she’s been sold to a brothel. After arriving at the brothel, she dreams about her pet goat which almost had me in tears because I can’t imagine the horror of being sold to a brothel and being torn away from everything I love, my family and my kitties. The character is drawn from many women that the author interviewed in India and Nepal, who have been sold into brothels in India. It’s a horrifying reality for millions of girls in poor countries and has been getting a lot of attention in recent years. Last night as I was lying in bed reading it, I was thinking, “I am so lucky to be born in this country.”

If you’re looking for your next book to read, I highly recommend Sold. It’s a book that’s a must-read for everyone and one that is one of those books that is heart-breaking but very important to read.

I’m upgrading Wordpress today, my blogging software so if things look a bit weird that’s why. Bear with me and I’ll get it all fixed soon.

3:40pm - After lots of fiddling with the new template, I’ve finally finished it. Let me know what you think.

It’s been so cold that last week that I’m ready to just wrap myself up in a blanket and stay home until it gets warm. Getting ready to leave the house seems to take nearly as long as getting ready in the morning with all of the layers. When I’m all bundled up in my coat, scarf, hat and mittens, I feel like the little brother in A Christmas Story who can’t put his arms down. I feel like I can hardly move.

February knitting has been somewhat productive, even if my needles are freezing cold when I set them down. I’ve managed to get half-way through the cuff on the Go With the Flow socks. I’ve also done quite a bit of spinning in the last few days. Saturday, I realized what day it was and some secret knitting that must be done soon, so I’m working on that. Of course today secret knitting didn’t stop me from figuring out a short-row heel finally without holes or from playing with some yarn to try out the Domino Knitting book that I checked out from the library. I can definitely see how those little mitered squares can be addictive to play with. I’m not looking to make any garments using the techniques but I can see how it might be incorporated into a blanket someday.

Sorry no photos today, nothing really to show. My short row heel looks like a weird cup and the domino knitting is just silly.

Stay warm, it’s too cold to be outside.