A Deal's a Deal

I made a deal with Lisbeth. She agreed to keep writing her blog in English or, at least, make it bilingual, if I would blog more often. Even though I'm not opposed to learning Norwegian, it would be much easier to keep reading it in English.

So, I'm making good on my end of the bargain. Given my track record with posting, I may end up learning Norwegian after all.

It's a cold, clear, spring day here at Klein Waldeck in northern Virginia.

The weather is typical for this part of the country at this time of year. It goes from extreme to extreme without a moment's notice. Temperatures rose into the 80's earlier this week, then fell into the 20's overnight last night.
All in all, I'm glad the days are getting longer. I'm switching back from the alternative work schedule (AWS) to a regular schedule starting next week. This means I will work a shorter day five days a week every week instead of a longer day with every other Friday off. Maybe I won't be as tired all the time. I'm hoping I'll be able to stay awake more on my daily fours hours on the bus to knit more. That way, maybe it won't take me three weeks to finish one sock!

Just like the birthday socks I'm making for my niece, Kes, who just turned 12. Now, four days after her birthday, I only have one finished. I did hope vainly that I would finish in time or a little bit closer to her actual birthday.

One down

One to go

To add insult to injury, I lost not one, but two needles in the size I need to finish the second sock. This pattern calls for five needles. I had a set of six. I lost the first one not long after I had started the first sock. No problem, that's what the spare one is for. I lost the second one just as I was finishing the first sock. Fortunately, I was at a point where I could finish it using my four remaining needles.

I'm wondering if this is going to become part of my birthday socks tradition. With the birth of Cait last year, I now have five nieces. This is the third pair of socks and the the third time I've been one needle short through forgetfulness, breakage or loss. When I made Cait's socks, I got on the plane to visit her and left one behind.
When I made Gillian's last fall, I was using a circular needle, which inexplicably broke.

Speaking of Gillian, she's the reason I decided to start the birthday socks tradition. My sister said that Gillian  took them around to everyone at Thanksgiving to show them off. She apparently waved them in everyone's face, saying, "See my socks! See my socks!" When I heard this, I thought, "Hmm, not unlike what her aunt did to her co-workers when she finished making them."

On the other hand, this fully justifies having more than one project on the needles. Vova and I made a deal last year that I would not have more than two projects on the needles at any given time. He had originally insisted that I limit it to one, but I argued that larger projects become too cumbersome for the bus. While I'm waiting for the required sock needles to arrive, I can go back to working on Vova's Totem Pole Jacket.

After all, a deal's a deal.