Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Firsts

Today is my first day back at university since April.  It's odd to be on the student side of things again and I miss teaching like it's as important to as breathing.  And it is.  Of course, I'm an advocate of lifelong learning, and wearing jeans on weekdays again, but the adjustment is tricky.  Ready to go there but not ready to be here.  Ah, the hoops.

Tomorrow is my nephew's first birthday.  I remember it well for being so very long a day.  The call came at 12:45 am and after a few hours, they sent her home until the afternoon.  I had four classes (one a three-hour night class) that day on two hours of sleep.  I went back and forth between hospital and class all day.  He arrived at 11:30pm.  On his due date.  And has filled my life with so much love, I can't believe it.  I'm lucky that I get to see him almost every day.


I made him a sweater.  With an elephant.

From Vintage Knits for Modern Babies. Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Elephant instead of bird.

And towards many other firsts, a second.  I was spoiled by Santa this Christmas and found a new sewing machine under the tree. It's a Janome 4120QDC and it's so zoomy!!!  I love it and can finally learn to free-motion.  It's incredibly quiet (my old Kenmore shook and squeaked the house down) and if I can't manage a scant 1/4" seam allowance, I have nothing left to blame but the operator. I have only just started to play around with all the features and what-not but I'm completely in love.


 I named it Oscar.  Yep, I name things.  Usually British men's names.  My phone is Giles. My iPad is Nigel.  There's also a Hamish, a Kenneth, and a Darwin in my life.  There was a Kevin, but it's still too hard to talk about... :-)  I don't name cars; I find it portends their doom.

6 comments:

  1. That sweater is gorgeous!! It's actually similar to the one I'm making! Nice work!

    Okay, seriously? You name things too!? I always name my apartments. I've lived in Emma, Darth, Peggy Anne...this one is Jackie. My old iPod's name is Oliver. I haven't named my iPad yet or my new iPod.....

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  2. Yay to the arrival of Oscar! I hope you have lots of fun with him ;) I don't tend to name things as I'm highly unimaginative. My fish are Neon 1, Neon 2, Neon 3... We also have one called Icey, but my husband named him otherwise he would have ended up called Mr Fish!

    Your jumper is fab. And it has an elephant on it. A _knitted_ elephant. I am in awe...!

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  3. That sweater is so wonderful. I love it! Santa missed my house...I guess he stopped by yours haha! Love that machine. I have no name for my things. My machine's name is "my machine'.

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  4. Sadly, I have enough trouble remembering names without applying them to all my inanimate objects as well. But I'm sure you and Oscar have a bright and happy future together, spreading joy of the fabric persuasion.

    Happy New Year! I'm sure you'll be back teaching again very soon :)

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  5. Oh, there are so many bad places I can go with the naming thing. :D Congrats on the new machine. So cool!

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  6. Hi, Carly. Where have I BEEN???? I'm going through all your archives so you will probably get lots of email notifications from me.

    I love that you name things. Esp that you use British names. Admit to feeling very curious about Kevin.

    That sweater is adorable. I'm just doing simple blocks. Socks look incredibly complicated, and so does this sweater. If you made it in a larger size, I would TOTALLY wear one exactly like this!

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Who doesn't love comments? I appreciate every single one and try to reply to each. Unless you're a no-reply commenter. Then I can't. And I have a little sad moment. Like a dropped ice cream cone. So if you're a no-reply commenter and have a question, check the comment thread and I'll try to reply there. :-)