Good morrow, fair readers. I dropped off about 95% of my application packet for the last minute teaching job (I'm only one letter of recommendation short, and I'll pick that up today). After the flurry of activity, I realized that much of my stress was emanating from the fact that I was scheduled to go grade standardized tests in the Bay Area this weekend, which really put me in a crunch for time to produce a syllabus, particularly since the textbook that was ordered for the class is new to me. So with much regret, I called this morning and made my excuses, and I won't be going away this weekend after all. I hate backing out on obligations at the last minute, but my stress levels really needed to come down, and that did the trick.
In the midst of all the running around, I found time to finish the gussets on my current pair of socks, and I also found this interesting post on Knitting and Public Politics. The post was linked from the Craft Research blog, which is an ongoing discussion about craft from various authors. If you are interested in cultural theories about craft (including knitting), this is a worthwhile read.
The drive band for my spinning wheel arrived, and I was somewhat astonished to find that it was nothing more than a piece of cotton string! Had I known, I would have simply used some cotton string that I already own, but I can revel in the knowledge that now I have the Official Ashford cotton string. I'm hoping to get a chance to try out the wheel sometime in the next few days, syllabus and stress management willing!
Less stress is better.
That's a really interesting article, especially since I was knitting at our monthly meeting last night. I knit through the board meeting and elicited no comment/questioning glances/etc. But during the continuing ed part at the actual meeting (50 minutes) one of the Board Members was giving me The Eye. It was odd. I actually put away the Log Cabin for a bit, but I was in the back and besides, if I don't have something mindless to do, my mind wanders and it's nice to actually be able to retain something I paid $45 for.
It's rude? I never thought of my knitting as rude. Hmmm.
Posted by: Carrie K | August 17, 2006 at 04:06 PM
Still smiling: your reaction to the Ashford drive band for the traditional wheel mirrored mine exactly. I've been wanting to think that the band is made of superior quality string (extra long wearing?), but it sure looks just like the string that Walker's Pie Shop uses to tie up their bakery boxes.
Good luck with the upcoming class!
Posted by: Lynne E. | August 18, 2006 at 12:03 AM
Less stress is definitely the way to go! I couldn't imagine pulling together a whole semester's worth of class in a couple of days. I hope you'll still get time to knit this weekend! And spin with your official drive band!!!!
Posted by: Scribbles & Bits | August 18, 2006 at 12:37 PM