The only prescription is MOAR CAST ONS.

I really did love being in school and the whole academic environment. These days, when I find myself falling into the unavoidable winter slump and feeling like I'm not doing enough and that I need to be living (?) more, I find myself missing learning. I realize this sounds pretty lame, because life as a whole should be a learning process, but it's just not the same (for me) anymore.

This is part of the reason I love working at a knitting store. I'm pretty much expected to be a knitting "guru" and should be able to answer most questions about most different kinds of knitting, whether I have done it before or not. I still haven't gotten past the cuff of a sock, but I've turned a heel. I have never done set-in sleeves...but I have. I was borderline scared of mattress stitch, but when a customer asked me to seam for her, I just did it. And it was great practice.

I am blessed in the fact that I am so passionate about a hobby that always teaches me. In the past two weeks I have "taught myself" how to seam, duplicate stitch, work set-in sleeves, etc. All for work. All for this part-time job that some of my careered friends look down upon. Forget about the haters; do what you love and what fulfills you.

Anyway, there's my rant. Now I just need to overcome the crippling fear of steaks (oh god, why?) and all will be good. I've been in a weird place lately and since casting on for new projects makes me happy, I have cast on for too many new things and stripes seem to be the theme of the week my life

My dormant Cladonia. Which I have touched maybe three times since I moved here.

I started a Delancey cardigan after lusting after one for a long, long time. Doing this as a KAL with The Sweatshop of Love group on Ravelry. I LOVE THIS COLOR COMBINATION. Even better? I scored the last of the Cascade 220 at Rosies...making my sweater super cheap. I will probably spend more money on the buttons because ohmygod I love buttons.

Fletcher Mittens by Amy Swenson, who just happens to be from my hometown. Which I need to just suck up and finish. The thumb that is finished looks like it has a toe attached to it, so I have one thumb to knit, one thumb to fix and two cuffs to pick up and knit. Why don't I just do it? Same reason I don't knit the lace section of my Cladonia: it's not neeeeew.

Another recent cast on...as in yesterday. This is my first time using O-Wool Balance and I love the colors. Aiming for some gradually changing stripes. I guess I had Valentines day on the brain when I selected these. Did I mention how that corally color is driving me CRAZY these days? This is going to be another cowl because I'm trying to figure out just how many neck things one person needs. 

Another shawl. This one is in Fibre Company's Terra in "Belladonna," which I love love love. It reminds me of the "Stephen Loves Tosh" coloway from the Stephen West shawl club...except I like this one better. And it's less ~exclusive~.

And that's that. I still have a few more that didn't get to be photographed (like my mohair/silk concoction from last week), but that's probably enough for now. Started planning crazy KALs with Andrea from work, but we are going to be strong and finish things before we even dare. Did I mention we are going to turn Rosie's into a hobbit hole/fairy wonderland? Shh...you didn't hear it from me. 

Happy knitting!

-Ashley

P.S. I miss my kitty babies. Buy me a kitten...

P.P.S. I still haven't started Matt's Valentine. Oh god why?

Now for something completely different

I don't feel like blogging about knits today.

I don't think I've ever really blogged about *me* before. As fun as it is to read and write about knitting, I know I love reading blog posts where the blogger actually lets me know a little bit more about themselves.

Recently, I moved to Philadelphia with my boyfriend. It was a huge surprise, for both myself and everyone I know, but it was a good one. Matt took his job about a year and a half ago and I remember feeling devastated when he did, because of the 100% travel job description and I thought he would be gone all the frickin' time. But he wasn't and we dodged that bullet for almost a year. I even threw him a surprise going-away party when he first got the job (fail on my part), but when his departure actually did come, it leveled me a bit. During that limbo period between his job acceptance and start date, Matt had asked if I would go with him when he was sent away. I told him I might, but only if it was somewhere I wanted to go and only if I knew I could leave if things didn't work for me.

Last year before he was sent away we went through a lot of rocky patches. I think in that year we had more major blowouts than any other year we had been together (we've been together five years and a bit), so I felt a little silly even considering packing up and leaving with him. And it may seem like I left out of nowhere, but it really had been planned for a year in advance. And had he been sent anywhere other than Philadelphia, a city I had already been to and loved, I'm not sure if I would have gone. Because I've always felt like an East Coast girl at heart...I've just been stuck in the midwest for the first 23 years of my life.

And the past few months have been wonderful. The adjustment to city living with virtually none of my belongings (P.S. I'm a bit of a packrat) has been crazy and a bit stressful at times, but it had been pretty darn awesome so far. Which is a good thing, because Matt's 3-4 month jaunt has turned into a 2+ year project or two.

I miss my friends most of all. I miss having that circle I can connect with because even though I have been here for almost 5 months, I still haven't made any friends outside of work. True, I haven't really put myself out there much, but it's just been a little difficult. I miss having my knitting circle and my crazy days off where I would have back-to-back hangout sessions with 3-5 different friend groups in a given day, but at the same time this experience has taught me to be more independent as a person. And to truly value the time I have to myself.

This has been (probably) the best adventure of my life thus far. Since I've come here, I've moved out of my house and have found a job that I really love. Let's face it: I was pretty much miserable at home. And even though I am sad some days, I would still say that I am a much happier person overall. And I feel much more hopeful about my life than I had before.

Woo. That took a bit longer than I thought it would.

Not to say that things have been perfect since I came to Philadelphia, because I have actually kind of neglected a lot of the goals I set out with when I landed. I haven't published a design in months, which is one of the things I was going to focus on when I got here. I have several in the works and knitting season is almost over. I guess I need to get my shit together. I also vowed to workout and care more about myself, which has been extremely difficult since I've been working more than I was when I was back home. I've been fitting in cardio two-three days a week, but it hasn't been a priority for me. And I've been eating healthier, but Philadelphia has the reputation for being a beer swiller's city and I've kind of tried more beers than I care to admit.

My personal goals for the year include taking better care of myself (and not letting Matt talk me into eating Pizza Rolls for dinner), progressing in my running pace/time, reading at least one-two novels per month and really making the most of how close I am to so many great cities on the East coast. Ideally I would love to travel internationally this year, but I don't know how realistic that may be. Instead I will focus on long weekend trips to NYC (more Broadway shows!), DC and finally seeing Boston, the city I've always reckoned I would love.

And, on the knitting front, I have spent much of this weekend staying at home and nesting. Philly finally saw some snow and it was nice to trek across the park, carefully, through the snow and ice. I started knitting some Fletcher mittens (finally) because my hands are hating me this year. I can't believe I don't have any mittens. I also resumed work on my socks and even though I'm about two weeks behind, the peek I snuck of the last bit of toe will carry me through to the end...I'm fairly certain at least.

Oh, and I love me some Drag Queens.