Hello blog, and happy Monday!
I hope you missed me last week; I’ll tell you all about my awesome spring break at home in a couple of paragraphs, but I’m going to start of this blog post with my current predicament, so we can start low and end on a higher note.
Yesterday, my dad drove me from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to Chicago, Illinois, where because of legal name and ticket difficulties I was very worried I would not be allowed to board a flight– loooooooonnng story– but because I had several different forms of legal documentation and change of name, the very nice airport employees got me through security in less than twenty minutes. It was a beautiful show of solidarity and kindness from some very awesome employees of American Airlines that totally made my morning. After my three hour flight, I just barely made it onto the bus, which then had technical difficulties and had us switch buses in the middle of the street, which then almost made me miss my train back to campus. Thankfully, after sprinting through South Station with my suitcase in hand, I made it to my train four minutes before departure. Unfortunately, the train also experienced technical difficulties, so we were stalled for about twenty minutes and I got back to campus about half an hour later than predicted. I dropped my stuff off in my room, went down to the testing center, and came back to my room for what I thought was going to be a single night of In-Room Restriction.
In yet another unfortunate circumstance, I am still in In-Room Restriction, as the tests from Wellesley College didn’t make it to the Broad Institute to be processed until late this evening. While I do wish I knew earlier in the day that I wouldn’t be able to go to work or class, I had a pretty okay time staying in my room and knitting all day. They’re sending out an update about tests tomorrow morning, and hopefully that update is a processed result and I’ll be able to make my 9:55 in Founders.
Now that I’ve gotten the bad news out of the way, it’s time to move on to the good. I had the best spring break. Between lunches with my grandmas, a track meet and a baseball game on TV with my Papa Larry, pirate movies with my little brother, romantic comedies with my little sister, visiting work with my mom, car rides with my dad, and many, many afternoons of playing with my nephew, I actually did manage to catch up on some rest. I also saw two of my aunts and all but two of my cousins on my mom’s side, went to two of my little sister’s track meets, and watched maybe six movies. My break was everything I needed right now and more, and I’m feeling ready to head back to class and finish off the last month of this semester strong!
Speaking of the last month of the semester, that’s something I really need to start planning for. As of right now, I have a paper due next Monday that I need to start researching, a French essay due the same day, and a floor program to throw sometime in the next three days. It’s not going to be easy to fit it all in, but I feel like if I really try to stay on top of things, I can get everything done.
In terms of knitting– the update I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for– I have finished both of my siblings’ birthday sweaters, and they’re both at home waiting to be washed and blocked (a fancy knitting term for pinned down to dry) when I get back home in May. I also made another little quilt square– seen in the header image– in the shape of the state of Iowa! I’m not sure what I’m going to do for next month’s. I like to do one every month with a new knitting skill or stitch pattern I haven’t tried out before. This month’s was intarsia, or color blocked knitting. It’s been a little bit since I’ve knitted something with a lace pattern, something I love doing, so maybe that’s what I’ll try out for April. I found a pretty pattern that combines lace with a bauble that’s apparently called a nupp that I might try out, but I’m not going to make any final decisions yet. I’m also working on a sort of prototype of a cardigan pattern I’ll be using for a Christmas knit; the pattern is pretty complicated in terms of construction, so I’m trying it out with leftover yarn from a previous project before I attempt it with the nice project yarn. Finally, I’ve been working on taking apart a sweater. Actually, it’s the first sweater I ever made. It’s just not something I really wear a lot, and I don’t really like the way it looks or fits, and I don’t see any point in keeping it like that if I’m not happy with it. I haven’t decided exactly what I’m going to turn it into when I’ve gotten all the yarn unraveled and rerolled into balls; maybe a blanket, or another sweater. I have a feeling it’ll probably stay in my stash for a little bit while I decide what I want it to become.
Despite the inconvenience of the past two days, I’m feeling really optimistic about the time ahead of me and the things I can accomplish in it. Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully one where I’ll be allowed to go outside.
Sending you joy,
Andrew