How did it get to be February?

Things I was planning to have done by February:

1. Write a draft of my graduating essay
   
2. Finish short-row rib scarf
3. Finish reading The Longings of Women by Marge Piercy

Progress? Well, the graduating essay is nowhere near ready to be brainstormed, let alone drafted. Okay, that's not fair. One major bit of research that I had to do for that project turned out to be a much bigger task than I had anticipated, and I decided that it was worth spending the time on to get it done right. So that one I will allow. But I will have a draft by the end of reading week (20-24 Feb). If I don't, I'll be hopelessly behind and setting myself up for needless stress. It's really just the getting started that's bogging me down. Once I start to write, I'm a maniac (evidence: here I am blogging instead of reading Friedan's Feminine Mystique, which I am presenting on Monday).

The scarf? Well, I discovered the cabled shrug from IK as mentioned in a previous post, and sort of ditched the scarf. I feel horrible about it, just sitting there in my "current project" basket. And I do still love the scarf, I'm just smitten with the shrug. This yarn-lust is mostly due to the fact that I've finally found a use for this beautiful yarn that has been sitting in a plastic bag for two years. What happened is this: I started to knit a "swing jacket" from a Vogue Knitting a few years ago, and realized that I had misread the pattern (it was my first non-scarf/dishtowel project) and that it would cost me about $100 more than I'd anticipated to finish it. So the "jacket"... really more of an afghan with hopelessly mismatched armholes... sat unfinished until I came across the shrug... a justified use of this fabulous yarn. The yarn in question is Van Dyck (pictured left) in this lovely autumny reddish colour. So I do still plan to finish the scarf, but I might not be able to actually wear it until next winter. But then, I live in Victoria BC, so scarves aren't really do-or-die.

The Longings of Women? Okay, so February wasn't really the read-by date. I just like to have more than 2 items in a list. The graduating essay is really the only thing I'm freaking out about at this point. The book needs to be read by the end of the semester... we don't discuss it until the penultimate class (penultimate... I love that word and take every opportunity to use it... people invariably ask me what it means after scoffing and rolling their eyes ... it means second-to-last. I envision a world in which everyone knows and uses the word 'penultimate' so that I can use it without sounding pretentious.)

This is far too long already. I'm off to bed to skim The Feminine Mystique.

P.S. Job's second nephew, Austin, was born at 3 a.m. on the 28th of January (2 days after Job's birthday)! He's adorable. He looks very calm and wise, and I'm sure he'll be the mild one in the family. Both Job and I are heartbroken that we can't be in Edmonton to meet him, but they only sleep and excrete at this point anyway, right?