Long la-long long long

Well, this has been the absolute longest week! The rainy, gloomy days coupled with the fall chill has made the days blend together. Excitement surged through me at the gym this afternoon when for a split second I thought today was Friday. It sure does feel like Friday.

I can't even remember what I did on Monday besides work and visit the gym. Tuesday I worked, went to dinner with a friend, and sat through a fantastic lecture by Michael Pollan. That was a LONG day, mostly because I left home at daybreak and didn't return until almost ten o'clock. Then yesterday I tutored after work, raced home and scarfed dinner only to bolt out the door to my knitting class and get stung by a bee on the way, forcing me to drive home and doctor it. (By the way, who gets stung at seven o'clock in the evening in October in New York? And on the back of my heel, no less!) Luckily, being a few minutes late to my class wasn't a big deal. I know how to knit, having learned as a child and then relearning as an adult five years ago. I have a gazillion hats and scarves, so I thought it might be neat to venture onto something more exciting - a sweater! I picked a short-sleeved cardigan so it wouldn't be as involved as a long-sleeved sweater. I absolutely love the picture.

I chose a multi-colored thin cotton yarn (in different colors than the picture - rusty red, pale yellow, sage green, khaki, and white twisted together) so that the cardigan can be worn alone in warm weather as well as over a long-sleeved shirt in cooler weather (I'm always thinking!). Well, I went with my pattern to this class (and for those non-knitters out there) and had already started a tension square to figure out my gauge for the pattern. I had been hoping the instructor could help me figure out how to problem-solve that my square was about 1/2-inch over gauge. She had me rip it out and start again on smaller needles. I knit another square, we measured it, and decided it was pretty close to gauge so I tore it out and cast on 97 stitches. I did two rows after that before the instructor came over and said she made a measuring mistake. I had to rip out the two rows of 97 stitched and knit another freaking tension square. Two hours of class and all I came home with were two cramped hands and a stupid tension square that wouldn't even pass as a coaster. I'm hoping next week's class goes better! My goal is to finish the cardigan by Christmas, so encourage me whenever you can!