Tuesday, January 17, 2006

In Training

I've joined the Harlot's Olympic Challenge: my hard-but-not-impossible-I-hope project is Kiri, which I'll knit out of Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb in bittersweet. The yarn was going to be a clapotis for someone in the ex-bf's family, but plans have changed because that would be a bit like stalking, given that he and I are no longer keeping company. [Good grief: it's just occurred to me that I may be a victim of the Boyfriend Curse...for xmas I knit him an Irish hiking scarf and a ski toque. And here I thought it was only sweaters. Loved that scarf, too -- it'd be wrong to demand it back, wouldn't it?]

Anyway, on the upside, I now have this lovely luxury yarn to make something for me me me. Very excited to get started on it and MUCH MORE excited at the thought of working to finish it before the closing ceremonies...plus I like the idea that 500+ other crazed knitters will be out in the world watching skeleton and bobsledding and ice dancing and knitting things that are a little hard for them. I'm all for hard projects, and the blog world seems to be the place to find them and see others working on them (cf. Wendy, just for starters). You can't swing a circ in your lys without hitting another Big Book of Garter Stitch Blobs for Newbies and I think it's boring. Sure, big market of novices out there and they need inspiration, but even if you're just starting out, don't you want to look at projects that make you nervous? It's like reading cookbooks. I'd rather read a recipe for profiteroles than leaf through the Jello Collection anyday. No disrespect to gelatin treats, either.

Speaking of things that are hard to do, here's my smart and beautiful friend M
arlis all ready for her interview at a Major Canadian University. She's up for a tenure-track position -- the gold medal for academics -- and the interview is Olympian, all right. She started this morning with a job talk [academic paper presented to the department], then gave a lecture to a class of 82 undergrads, met with the Head of the Department and the Dean of Arts, had lunch and assorted coffee/donut encounters over the course of the day, and I think she's probably in the interview proper right now. Then it's off for dinner with the interview committee. I expect her back tonight around 9PM and plan to pour either herbal tea or scotch into her (she gets to choose). Tomorrow she goes back to Philadelphia to her husband and their 6-month-old and her post-doc at Penn. She's astonishing!

Last night I was working on the cardigan for Amy and she said something along the lines of "I really have to get back to knitting...I just let it lapse...." Babe, one Olympic sport at a time.
I'm convinced she'll land this job: the committee is probably offering it to her right this minute.

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