doing a little jig because....

WE SOLD THE HOUSE!!!!

YEAH! This is the first step to really feeling like I am moving here. We have the date planned for the closing, I'm booking my flight tonight, Mike's getting the truck... all that'll be left is - the packing and the driving back - OK those are the things I'm really not looking forward to. I HATE packing. The only small consolation I have is knowing most of the house was packed up when we left the first time. Although, as I say that, the mental list in my head of things that aren't packed keep getting longer and longer. I'll have to see when I get there what matches my imagination, and what matches reality. I'm going to go down for a full week, and Mike's going to join me mid-way to finish up, sign all the papers and drive back - lucky fellow has mid-terms, so he can't go for as long. Every now and again, I do a little dance and spontaneously yell " we sold our house!!" to Mike. Luckily he's used to my craziness. (I know those of you who know me can soo see me doing this - no laughing allowed!)

In other news, the job seems to be going well - or at least I think so. I feel like I'm getting better each week, but I'm not quite sure how to gage things. I guess a good gage is they haven't gotten rid of me yet. The company is moving office space, and I get my own office - so that's a step up in the world of business right? I only wish it had a window to the outside, but I'm not complaining.

Since today is Ash Wednesday I've been reflecting on what to give up for Lent, and I think I've got it. I'm going to keep it personal, but it's something I keep meaning to do and I think this is the thing to kick me into gear about it. I'm really satisfied with my choice.

Do you ever make a choice, and then just know it was the right one to make? I can get really wish-washy about making a decision, and spend a lot of time looking at both sides of a situation that isn't really that important. Don't even get me started with ones that are. I worry about making the wrong choice, and not being able to go back, or fix it. Then I have what someone on Ravelry called the FOMO disorder - that's Fear Of Missing Out disorder where I worry about making one decision will cause me to miss out on another opportunity. It's a wonder I ever get anything done! Or then I go to the other extreme where I say to myself, "it'll all work out, so just choose something!" and end up making a rash decision by just striking out and grabbing whatever. I definitely need to find some middle ground.

But this time isn't those. This time, there is no doubt or double guessing. I feel really...solid about my resolution/decision. This is what I'm going to do and I'm proud of it. It just feels right. I guess what I'm trying to say is that feeling doesn't come along very often, and it's really nice when it does.

On the knitting front, I'm working on getting some progress bars from ravelry on the side, but I need to do some more reading on how to first. Perhaps tonight I'll get that done - I've been meaning to do it since the beginning of Jan. but keep your eyes peeled!

Currently, I've got three things on the needles; one is a secret gift that I'm hoping to get done in the next week. The recipient doesn't read my blog - but other family members might... so I want to make sure I can finish it in time before I spill the beans.

It's a fairly easy project, I'm just having some gage issues - I've knit it 3 times, and I still think it's going to be too big. Better too big than too small right? I've heard the patter knits up a bit big, but I'm also thinking it might be my choice of yarn. I'm debating buying exactly what the pattern calls for, but I was really trying to work with what I had in my stash. Hmm. does this seem similar to anyone? Gift knitting, deadline, trying to work with what I have... Maybe I'm not learning from my mistakes.

The other project is Quant from knitty, which I'm working up in a beautiful skein of Noro. If this one goes well, I may try in again some Patons SWS. I'm not very far because the pattern is done in entrelac, which I've never done before and I need to concentrate on the pattern until I get a couple of rows under my belt, and then I think I'll be able to multi-task with it. I've already figured out how to knit backwards, which makes things go quicker, but the pattern isn't written that way, so I have to get familiar with it first, and then I think I'll be able to utilize the backwards knitting.

The last project I cast on because I wanted some non-thinking knitting that I could do while I watched the Superbowl, which went pretty well until I got off by one stitch on my 1x1 ribbing for a row or two. Not a big deal though, it's a cabled baby hat pattern from my pattern-a-day calendar that will probably turn out a bigger than the preemie/newborn size intended - but I'm ok with that. If for no one else - I need a hat! I'm enjoying the calendar - it's got some cute patterns in it, but I think the 3 I'm working on are quite enough. I've got a pretty long que in Ravelry as it is, and now I've got a stack of patterns - mostly hats and socks from the calendar too. I just need to learn to knit faster. I think that's the other reason I like instant gratification knitting, it allows me to start something else. I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow to go with the projects.