Last time I knitted up a sample for the shop, I had a moment while talking to the Mr. about stuff I needed to do. I think he suggested something innocuous, like going to the cinema, and I was rattling off my commitments for the week. (We try to hit matinées so my inner accountant doesn’t cry quite as hard.) As I listed shifts and private lessons, I sort of trailed off with “I also kind of need to work on the Saroyan, and the sleeves for Gloriosa aren’t going to knit themselves…”

It was then that I realized that I seem to always have something to work on. Even my hobbies are packed to the brim with commitments. During my postgrad, I couldn’t really relax because there was always work to be done and I never stopped worrying about it if I wasn’t actively doing it. And now? It’s not science, but there’s definitely stuff I’m worrying about unless I’m doing it — sample knits, test knits, commissions, designs to write up. I think this is the real reason I stopped blogging; the only thing on my mind was work, and it’s dull to read about those kinds of concerns.

So, what has me not blogging this week? The Sackboys are within a long evening of completion, I think. I am working on a small alteration of a baby jumper for a customer, which I’ll finish today. Then there’s the jumper commission, for which I have yarn and plans.

The big news is that I got my knitting machines on Sunday (mad thanks to R who drove me all over the wilds of Dublin to get it, E who gave us tea afterwards, and of course, the H family who destashed their knitting machines to me). Monday was unsuitable for working on them; 10 hour days don’t really prime the mind for heavy-duty learning. So yesterday I woke up bright and early and spent the entire day setting things up, reading manuals, and knitting test swatches.

Today? I swatch for the Big Jumper. Once I have a workable swatch, I can draw up a pattern. Then comes the big job of figuring out how to execute that plan with the machine.

I am still dangling the two TLE sock club projects out in front of me as treats for when I finish the Sackboys, but I may cast on for a pair of plain socks to knit during the game tonight. Just to remind me why I like handknitting.