befuddled on four points

1. One of our cars is in the shop. It is very likely that it will cost so much to fix it that it will then be attractive to sell the car in order to pay the repair bill. We are seriously considering this, and if we did, we would not replace it. We may soon have only one car, people. This would mean ditching at least some of our weekly commitments/lessons, and also not going to the grocery store whenever we run out of apples. While it may be the most sensible thing to do, I am completely freaked out about it. Of course, it is not my car that's in the shop and in danger of being sold. No, of course not. Rather, it is Joe's old Subaru that may be laid off, and my beloved Civic would then be promoted to Joe's commuting car.

2. I interviewed for a job. I seemed to have gotten the job, but I expected to hear last week about my first assignment, and I haven't. Did I get the job? Do I want a job? Do I want this job? Do I call and remind them that I exist? Do I sit back and let them get in touch with me? Again, freaked out.

3. Cat Bordhi's book is, as I said, mind-blowing. In just a few days, it has jolted me out of my circular sock stupor, in which I produced many pairs of socks but learned virtually no new knitting techniques for well over a year.

I have learned two new methods of casting on, two new methods of constructing a sock, a new way to manage circular needles, three new methods of increasing, a better way to join the end of a standard bind off, a way to make a column of ssks flow more smoothly, like k2togs, and a better way to deal with wraps on short rows. (See? I told you this book was almost overwhelmingly technical. Cat does all of this in a really friendly way, though. It's almost like having a class with a really experienced knitter who shows you all her tricks.) Consider me de-stupefied.


These first tiny socks I've finished have required me to find a quiet place to knit in order to figure things out. That's how not on auto-pilot I am with these socks.


4. I have run out of excuses for this:

because I now have this:

as well as two fine friends who have decided that we are having a work party at my house on Friday. I now have a deadline, because I don't want to be fixing this hole on Friday. Oh, no! On Friday, I want to be painting this wall:

And these stringers and risers:

And these walls:










Did I mention that I'm freaking out?