This is more of a general update post...I don't think I even have knitting photos to show off today, although I may pop in a few FOs from a week or two ago if you really want to see them. :-)
First up, last night was the second meet-up of the Knit London group on Ravelry (plus lots of other London knitters not on Ravelry, apparently!). The first meeting was during the big December snowstorm, so only a few people made it (I wasn't one of them). This month I would estimate there were about 20 of us, which was fabulous. I saw a few people I'd met before, and got acquainted with some new ones. We even had one brand new knitter getting her first lesson at the table with us! All in all, it was a really fun night--it's nice to hang out with other knitters and see their projects, yarns, patterns...as fun as Ravelry is, meeting people in person is definitely better. The only dark cloud was when I headed out to the parking lot....and my car wouldn't start. And of course, I couldn't even be so lucky as to have a dead battery (I have jumper cables, so that wouldn't be so bad). It was the starter, and I have an automatic, so no jump-starting was possible. It meant Stephen had to drive out to get me, and then we had to get the car towed today. The starter will be replaced tomorrow, though, and this is an OK week for us to carpool, so it's not the end of the world.
Socks...this is the bit I'm most excited about. One of my really fabulous Christmas presents was Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters book. I've been reading about the genius of this book for a few months now, and have especially been convinced by Ali's blog that I had to get my hands on it. And all the buzz is definitely true. This is a FABULOUS book! My favourite part is the master number section at the back that allows you to custom fit any sock based on your gauge (and yeah, the book has convinced me that I actually should swatch for socks. Really!) and foot size. So far I have made the Little Sky Socks from the book, as a learning exercise, and then I am using two of the master architectures to make other socks. I will post photos of them both soon with details about the structures I have used, but I really am having fun putting it all together!
And in non-knitting news, the career and relocation debates continue in our house. We are trying to narrow the cities we are considering down to no more than 3 places to visit a second time. I have somewhat geekily set up a spreadsheet, and we are gathering more information about a few things as we "score" the cities! Currently on the list: Barrie, Owen Sound, Kitchener-Waterloo, Stratford (and possibly Goderich), Brantford, and London. London was a late addition, in large part because I am enjoying this school year so much that I'm not certain I want to leave my job. However, I am HATING my commute (40-50 minutes each way--I know it could be worse, and I've had worse, but it's not fun.). In addition, I'm hating that we live 40-50 minutes away from everything interesting I want to do--all my friends from work, shopping, restaurants, after-hours school activities, etc. I either have to rush home and back to the city after work, or just stay really late at work if I'm going somewhere in the evening. Not fun.
If we DO end up leaving the London area, the odds of my finding another teaching job are not good, although the recruiters have all promised introductions with the public schools or private schools where they exist. Some cities on the list don't really have any private schools to speak of, so that limits things further. I think the recruiters would be very helpful in connecting me with local businesses and finding other opportunities--corporate training came up as a possibility in Kitchener-Waterloo. And there's the discussion about starting a yarn shop...many of these communities don't have much in the LYS field. But I know that would be a big investment, and a LOT of work and stress. It might be a while down the road before I feel ready to pursue that!
So that's my life update for now. Knitting pictures coming later in the week--and one day, I'll remember to bring my camera to school and photograph the kids' knits. A local charity is coming to pick up our scarves and hats next week--there are several dozen! Woo-hoo kids!
First up, last night was the second meet-up of the Knit London group on Ravelry (plus lots of other London knitters not on Ravelry, apparently!). The first meeting was during the big December snowstorm, so only a few people made it (I wasn't one of them). This month I would estimate there were about 20 of us, which was fabulous. I saw a few people I'd met before, and got acquainted with some new ones. We even had one brand new knitter getting her first lesson at the table with us! All in all, it was a really fun night--it's nice to hang out with other knitters and see their projects, yarns, patterns...as fun as Ravelry is, meeting people in person is definitely better. The only dark cloud was when I headed out to the parking lot....and my car wouldn't start. And of course, I couldn't even be so lucky as to have a dead battery (I have jumper cables, so that wouldn't be so bad). It was the starter, and I have an automatic, so no jump-starting was possible. It meant Stephen had to drive out to get me, and then we had to get the car towed today. The starter will be replaced tomorrow, though, and this is an OK week for us to carpool, so it's not the end of the world.
Socks...this is the bit I'm most excited about. One of my really fabulous Christmas presents was Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters book. I've been reading about the genius of this book for a few months now, and have especially been convinced by Ali's blog that I had to get my hands on it. And all the buzz is definitely true. This is a FABULOUS book! My favourite part is the master number section at the back that allows you to custom fit any sock based on your gauge (and yeah, the book has convinced me that I actually should swatch for socks. Really!) and foot size. So far I have made the Little Sky Socks from the book, as a learning exercise, and then I am using two of the master architectures to make other socks. I will post photos of them both soon with details about the structures I have used, but I really am having fun putting it all together!
And in non-knitting news, the career and relocation debates continue in our house. We are trying to narrow the cities we are considering down to no more than 3 places to visit a second time. I have somewhat geekily set up a spreadsheet, and we are gathering more information about a few things as we "score" the cities! Currently on the list: Barrie, Owen Sound, Kitchener-Waterloo, Stratford (and possibly Goderich), Brantford, and London. London was a late addition, in large part because I am enjoying this school year so much that I'm not certain I want to leave my job. However, I am HATING my commute (40-50 minutes each way--I know it could be worse, and I've had worse, but it's not fun.). In addition, I'm hating that we live 40-50 minutes away from everything interesting I want to do--all my friends from work, shopping, restaurants, after-hours school activities, etc. I either have to rush home and back to the city after work, or just stay really late at work if I'm going somewhere in the evening. Not fun.
If we DO end up leaving the London area, the odds of my finding another teaching job are not good, although the recruiters have all promised introductions with the public schools or private schools where they exist. Some cities on the list don't really have any private schools to speak of, so that limits things further. I think the recruiters would be very helpful in connecting me with local businesses and finding other opportunities--corporate training came up as a possibility in Kitchener-Waterloo. And there's the discussion about starting a yarn shop...many of these communities don't have much in the LYS field. But I know that would be a big investment, and a LOT of work and stress. It might be a while down the road before I feel ready to pursue that!
So that's my life update for now. Knitting pictures coming later in the week--and one day, I'll remember to bring my camera to school and photograph the kids' knits. A local charity is coming to pick up our scarves and hats next week--there are several dozen! Woo-hoo kids!
Comments
Get all your FOs up on the blog! Just because a couple of weeks has passed doesn't mean we don't want to see them!
Oh, and if you're up for a meme, check my blog from a couple of days ago.
Also! New Pathways! Love it, love it, love it, love it to PIECES. It's fabulous.
Glad you made it out - I hope you stay in the area!! (BTW, OwenSound is VERY boring!)