The Adventure Continues

I've decided to stop trying to make Elko home. Without trees or water this landscape could never comfort me. However, I am going to continue to live here happily, for now. I'm going to think of this time period as a time for continuous adventure and simply enjoy myself.

I got a knitting-themed tattoo. A few people have asked if it's rope. That makes me sad. I think I'm going to have to do a little touch up on it, because I realized that the fold in the top isn't quite right. Otherwise, I love it.


I am going to Korea on Friday to visit Aimee, who is there on a Fulbright. I've been knitting furiously on a gift, until I reached this point:


I have to make eight panels and I'm not even finished with four. No way is this getting done. So it's going to rest while I'm overseas and I'll finish it as a thank you present when I return.

The most depressing thing to happen lately was discovering that I didn't knit the two fronts of Patti to the same length. It will be a relatively easy fix, but it's so heartbreaking that I'm going to leave it for a while, maybe until fall, and then fix it. Jen won't be able to wear it until then anyway.


Now that I'm not furiously knitting for Aimee, I have two projects with no deadlines to keep me occupied on my trip. I'm improvising a chalk bag for a friend, and I've started Pucker. I haven't done much, but I like the slinky nature of the Seduce. This should be fun.

Momentum

I've been thinking about knitting a lot. I've been thinking about blogging a lot. Though it doesn't seem like I'm doing much of either lately, I'm trying to catch up. Unfortunately, I broke my camera, so I don't have any new knitting to show.

In fact, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. My life in Elko is extremely different than it was in Chicago or anywhere else for that matter. My life in Elko most closely resembles my life in college. Here's a list of what I do with my free time in Elko:

• Rock climb
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Dance class (modern and Zumba)
• Hang out with friends at their homes or mine

Yes, I'm cheating a little. It was a really hard climb.

What I did in Chicago:

• Walked around town
• Knit
• Shopped
• Watched TV
• Ate out with friends or alone

I'm not in the picture, but I did do this while visiting Chicago last week. Those poofs are really fun to plop down on!

So you see, there isn't as much time to knit, and there's nowhere to shop (nowhere like the Threadless Kids! as shown in the above picture, that's for sure). I was sick for two days, so I got some knitting done. Patti is almost finished. I need to seam and knit the button band. I majorly screwed up the placement of the held stitches so I'll have to do some extra-special magic to hide the mistake (there's no way I'm ripping both fronts). I also made progress on some gift knitting.

Which brings me to another change. Lately, the only knitting I've been attracted to is knitting for myself. I can't seem to finish the projects I'm working on, or get to the ones that I have planned, but all I want to make is Pucker or the Side Impact Sweater. My gift-knitting queue isn't that long--just the two projects on the needles, a chalk bag, and a pair of shorts (on request from Sandman, who needs knitted shorts to live in North Dakota--I'm thinking alpaca or cashmere for warmth and next-to-the-skin softness). I should just go ahead and start Pucker. I've already swatched. I bought the yarn while I was in Chicago just last week.

Ah, Chicago. I spent all the money in my checking account on shoes. I bought three pairs and had seven pairs repaired (including two I bought). It was totally worth it. I also bought an amazing jacket and a lot of yarn. I missed Nina herself, but did get time with Sam and Mary Rose, which was nice. Okay, once again I'm straying from the point, which is this: I've lived in Elko for 18 months but I don't feel at home here. I love everything I do here, and my friends are incredible people. I like my apartment and the mountains. I like my job and the people I work with. When I was in Chicago I felt like I was home, even though I was sleeping on a couch and awakened by shark noises (from a four-year-old) and stroller wheels (the two-year-old). I felt like me. Here in Elko I feel like I'm on adventure, with a bit of work thrown in. Maybe it's more like a working holiday. So how do I settle? Do I settle?

Do I continue to knit for others or knit for myself?