creative.mother.thinking

The good thing about being sick is that I don’t attempt to do all.the things. The bad thing is that I feel as bad as last week. Meh.

I did not spend the day in bed, though. I looked for some yoga for when you’re sick online and did that (and found that I’m surprisingly stiff), and I helped making lunch, and did the dishes, and talked to my husband who is agonizing about maybe buying a new bass guitar, and I knitted another gauge swatch for the Carbeth cardigan that looks more promising, and then I spent most of the afternoon spinning and watching Netflix. First a documentary about the Minimalists and then more „Grace and Frankie“ after dinner.

I taught one student and I played the piano for about ten minutes.

I even cooked dinner for the boy.

I also finished the Hedgerow socks in the morning. I was pretty surprised that it only took me a little more than thirteen hours to make them. I would have thought I needed more time than that.

That little experiment also showed me that most days I knit for about half an hour in the morning. Sometimes it’s a full hour but not much more.

Funny, when I list my day like that it sounds pretty busy. Didn’t feel like it, though.

Today there will be a trip to the health food store, and I will have to make my own lunch for once because my husband is going out with a friend again. There will be loads of spinning and maybe even some writing even if I don’t feel very well.

For the past few days I have been angry at myself for not getting enough done, especially with the writing.

So yesterday I set my alarm at 7 because of the start of daylight savings time; I decided to go to bed early and set it half an hour later than usual, and I managed to sleep for eight blissful hours.

I got up, had a somewhat late breakfast, and then started writing, so that was good. My husband got up around the usual time, the boy slept in (he will be so tired tomorrow morning!) and I called my mother on the phone to discuss the food for next weekend.

I helped my husband make bifteki, baked potatoes, tsatsiki, and fried eggplant and it was delicious. Didn’t look like much, though, so no picture.

And then the same thing happened as the last few days. I sat down after doing the dishes for a little break and somehow never got around to doing anything. Mind you, that happens a lot when I have a day off but not like this.

And then it hit me. My voice is still not quite there (I can talk but not for too long), and I still am having a sore throat and now the whole thing also has moved upwards into my sinuses.

So, of course I am not productive. I’m still sick. Not lying in bed with a fever sick but sick enough to not exercise (wah!) and to run out of energy after lunch. Duh.

I will now stop flogging myself for just hanging around reading instead of writing and go a bit slower.

Then I read through some blog posts in my feed reader and stumbled upon Kate Davies’ Carbeth for the umpteenth time. She even has made a cardigan version now, which I find much better than a pullover. I always thought that this would look hideous on me because of my shape. I do love, love boxy cropped tops but they usually make me look really fat. Also I thought that the lines in the front would look bad with a bigger bust. But. Then I looked through a ton of pictures on ravelry, pulled out some yarn that I still had in my stash.

I might make myself a Carbeth cardigan out of alpaca/merino yarn! It will be insanely warm for sure. I even started swatching right away.

The boy and I watched a little TV while I spun and I went to bed almost on time.

Today there will be one student and maybe a little yoga instead of the running and a lot of spinning. Some writing too.

I went for a walk, the first exercise all week. I’m still not a hundred percent. And I don’t like it.

There was Nusszopf for breakfast for my husband and the boy, I had some in the afternoon.

I did bake the bread I had prepared yesterday.

And that was basically it. I started writing right after breakfast but then my husband came when I was a mere 120 words in. I spent all afternoon trying to get myself to write and failed.

The boy and I watched some Star Trek and an episode of „How I Met Your Mother“.

I spent all morning knitting a huge gauge swatch for my next sweater. I didn’t get gauge with any needle but I think I might be close enough. I still am not sure which needle I want to use. I like the fabric that the 2.5 mm and the 2.25 mm needles make but the 2 mm needle is closest to the gauge the pattern calls for. The fabric seems a little stiff to me, though. By the way, the pattern tells me to use 3.5 mm needles.

The swatch has been washed and is drying as I type. Tomorrow I’ll measure it after washing, and then I will actually hang it up with a bit of weight hanging off the bottom to see how it behaves then.

I am spinning already, before finishing all that swatching because I want the yarn – or at least about half the yarn – ready by Saturday. That will be fun,

My mother is already driving me slightly crazy and I haven’t even talked to her in person yet. That will be interesting.

I have also started to think about packing. Okay, I did that weeks ago, but now it’s starting to get real. I tried googling, „Minimalist packing for knitters“ but got nothing. I wonder why. Though there is this one woman who hiked through Scotland gathering samples of different Scottish breeds. She had a small backpack (that held all her camping equipment, a spindle and knitting needles) and hiked all over the place while spinning.

She did something very similar in Wales as well, and that time she only took a tarp instead of a tent.

So my packing should be much easier.

I looked at general tips on minimalist packing, and as usual most sites had lists that for me would include packing everything I regularly wear. I think, that this time I’ll take my laptop so that I can write. Never mind that I’ve never managed to write while traveling before. And I will take the ereader and the iPad and as much wool as I can spin until then. I thought about it and I will have at least 20 hours of prime knitting time on this four day trip.

Since my mother won’t like what I’ll be wearing anyway I will probably just take one pair of jeans, one cardigan and one shawl, and then a change of underwear, socks and a t-shirt. I will take makeup which always is pretty heavy and takes up space, the knitting, a notebook, a pair of pajamas and all the electronics. And a few snacks. The food on the trains has become somewhat unreliable in the past few years. I can’t depend on getting a meal on the train anymore so I won’t.

I don’t think I’ll take the ukulele this time. So I might be able to squeeze everything into my daypack. Or I might have to take an extra purse. Which will be extra heavy because I’ll put the laptop and everything in there.

Aren’t you glad I’m telling you about my exciting life?

Today there will be writing (for real this time) and music and I don’t quite know what else. I’ll have to make a list.

This time I actually thought about the beginning of daylight savings time. I count that as a plus.

So that was a semi-productive day.

I did get everything ready and the house clean in time to go out for lunch with my dear husband, so that was nice. Came home in time to teach my sole student of the day, and then I basically sat around procrastinating about writing. I tend to do that a lot. No, I’m not proud of it.

I made bread dough to be baked today, and I baked Nusszopf. It was weird, when I was looking for the baking pan I couldn’t find it anywhere. Then I actually went upstairs and asked my husband who had two students there, one leaving and one getting ready for his lesson. I felt rather guilty about asking in such a bad moment but I was desperate. The dough was already sitting there and I didn’t know what to bake it in.

„Oh, that one,“ he laughed, „um, I didn’t know that you’d need it.“ That sounded ominous. „I used it to store the potatoes I had set aside for planting in the yard.

Right. My very new baking dish, the one that I had gotten explicitly for the Nusszopf that both my husband and my son love to eat for breakfast, the one that was somewhat pricey and had only been used thrice, that one was the one he used for the potatoes. Not any of the other baking pans and forms and such that are sitting in the basement slightly rusty and neglected.

Well, at least it was easy to get the potatoes out, and to wash the dish, and then I made the cake.

The boy came home, carrying a frozen pizza and I realized that I was just using the oven which meant that he would have to wait with dinner until the oven was free again. Oops.

He was a good sport, we talked about his day and then he got his dinner after the Zopf was done.

The boy didn’t want to watch anything so I sat down in front of the last episode of „Dollhouse“ with my spinning wheel and spun another 20 grams as a sample for the cardigan I want to make.

Had another beer, went to bed too late, and that was that.

Today there will be walking (I’m still not up to running, meh.) and music and writing (lots of writing, I’m behind again) and maybe some microphone tests, Who knows maybe I’ll even press the fabric for the dress I want to make.

Isn’t that exciting?

I was all motivated to write like crazy yesterday but then I just – didn’t. I did look at what I had written the day before and changed a ting or two and then I got stuck because I didn’t know what should happen next.

At least at some point in the afternoon I got sensible and started doing something else. I pulled out the two DSs that a friend gave me that I wanted to repair. I started taking the one apart that’s broken worse and found that I – need an additional part. And then I took the second one apart and fixed it. Of course something went a little wrong, it always does, but now it’s put together again and should be up and running. I haven’t tested it yet, though, there was no time.

Today there will be cleaning and going out for lunch with my husband to which I’m really looking forward to, and then I will teach my one student for the day (one is sick, one is in Spain, on is in England, and the boy is working) and then write like the wind. I hope.

And then it will be Easter break. I already decided to wait a little longer before recording the podcast because I still don’t have much of a voice.

I have plans for Easter break, lots of plans.

So stay tuned for the inevitable breakdown and not getting anything done for the first five days or so.

Phew. After the day before I thought I could just go on like that, and then – of course – I didn’t.

I woke up early but didn’t feel like writing. I also had to write my blog post first.

So no writing before breakfast. And then I just kept finding reasons why I couldn’t start writing just now. One after the other.

I did wind my sample yarn for the new sweater I’m planning into a ball and started swatching. I had thought the yarn were too skinny but it turns out, no, it’s not. Quite the contrary. My gauge was way off, and the swatch was stiff and unyielding. For the sweater I’m planning (Cria by Ysolda Teague) I need a drape-y and open fabric.

So I’m really happy that I only spun a bit of sample yarn. Next I’ll got back to the wheel and spin something a little thinner. And swatch again. Better to do that than to hate the sweater in the end.

I did manage to do the dishes on time, and I mailed three letters and went to the supermarket. And was back almost in time to help with lunch. A little too late, though.

We had a rather early lunch. The boy eating lunch elsewhere does make our lives easier. A little. And then instead of writing and working and getting things done I sat around eating chocolate bars. I had bought four, two for me and two for the boy. I did manage not to eat all four. I did eat three and left just one for the poor boy. Well, he hadn’t known that he might have had two, but still. Not my proudest moment.

I managed to take a shower barely in time for my first lesson of the day. And before, I finally started writing.

Then I taught non-stop all afternoon. And when I was done with teaching the boy had returned from work. Very hungry.

I reheated lunch for his dinner and ate a sandwich. Then I did the dishes right away because I was so exhausted that I was sure if I even waited a minute or two I wouldn’t do them.

My husband was meeting with an old friend for dinner so I barely saw him.

Then I procrastinated some more but ultimately I managed to get my writing done. Phew. And then it was time for bed.

I have to say that getting the writing done earlier in the day feels much better. Then I can still watch something or read without feeling guilty.

So my task for tomorrow is to stop procrastinating. Maybe I should have that tattooed on my hand. „Just do what needs to be done. Stop procrastinating, it only makes you unhappy.“ Knowing that only helps a little but it seems every little thing helps.

Today there will be very little teaching. I had planned to record the podcast but I still don’t really have a voice, so that’s out.

I’m pretty sure there will be more writing.