Finally

I did it. I got accepted to the Master's program at EWU for Music. Not only that, I got a Graduate Fellowship. YAY!! I'm really excited. I'll start in the Fall term, which begins September 24. I got the letter in the mail yesterday, and I was so excited I was literally jumping up and down. Being so excited makes me do dorky things. This morning I signed the letter accepting my fellowship, then made a color copy of it to keep and possibly frame. I mailed the original off this morning.

On an unrelated note, it's still snowing here and it needs to stop. It's March 27th! I need spring! I'm ready for it to be sunny and in the 60s!

The First Day of Spring

According to the calendar, today is the first day of Spring. And it's snowing outside. It has been all day long. When it got sunny and rather warm a couple weeks ago I thought we were done with the cold white stuff. Apparently I was wrong. I know it's not uncommon to snow in March in North Idaho, but it's officially not winter anymore. It's not supposed to be snowing anymore. Apparently Mother Nature has other ideas. Well, perhaps I'll get to wear my sweater that I'm working on this season after all. Last week I mentioned that I hoped I'd made the first part of my sweater correctly when I realized I hadn't done so on the second half, and, fortunately I did. I will not have to rip and re-knit my entire sweater, which is good. The second half, though ripped back to about and inch and a half, is now about half done. I'm into the increases, after having done all of the waist decreases correctly this time. I have three more increases to do, then I get in to the lace part for the top. It'll be pretty. Now that I'm down to one project it's going quickly. I'm itching to start something else though. I started swatching for another project. I think it's a disease. But, I finished the swatch and haven't actually started the next project. I really want to finish this sweater. Especially now that I think I might be able to wear it still before spring really arrives.

Lunchtime Frogging

So, normally I knit during my half hour lunch break at work. The demands on my time have gradually increased, due to my growing studio, as well as my desire to practice more and thus acheive goals I have had for several years now. This is all to the good, but it means that my time for knitting has gradually shrunk. Gone are the days where I worked on three and four projects at a time and got them done quickly. Now, I'm working on two projects, and one of them is for someone else. So, once I finish that one I'm going to have to limit myself to one at a time. The sweater I'm knitting for myself (which I've been working on since Christmas or so) I've been working on at lunch time. Now, it's with thin yarn on small needles, so it's taking quite a while. Plus, I only get about 2 rows done in a lunch break, which is only 8 rows a week, normally. I have worked on it a bit outside of work, but mostly not. At least not on the section I'm on now. I've finished the back and I'm working on the front. All this is so you fully grasp the sadness that I am about to explain. I've been happily knitting away, getting closer and closer to the 7 inch mark which means I need to increase for the bust. I'm already well past the waist decreases. Today I got out the pattern to double check the measurement to start increasing...make sure it is in fact 7 inches, not 7 1/4 inches or 7 1/2 inches. As I looked at the pattern I noticed a phrase. A tiny phrase. Only a few words, in fact. It was right after describing the first decrease row for the waist shaping. It said "work 5 rows even." Work 5 rows even. Do not decrease for those five rows. Then "repeat last 6 rows 7 times." Well, I had either forgotten that phrase or missed it entirely, because my decreases were every other row, not every 5 rows. Brilliant. And I was almost to the increases. I'd worked about 4 or 5 inches. And I had to rip it all out. Instead of tapering gently to the waist, it sharply decreased for the waist. This obviously won't work. So, I spent the bulk of my lunch break ripping out most of my work over the last month and a half or so. Always a lovely feeling. I managed to put all the stitches back on my needles very carefully. Of course a good half of them are twisted, so the next row will take longer than normal as well. I got started on that row (which is row 3 of the "work 5 even" section), but only got about a third of the way done with it before it was time to go back to work. So, that's my tale of woe. I'm just hoping I read the directions correctly when I did the back...

Umm...It's March Already

So, I just realized I never posted the results of all my Christmas knitting. And it's now March 6. And I'm not going to today either. I'm on my lunch break at work and my photos are at home on my computer there. Things have been quite hectic for the last few months. They still are, actually. Here's a brief overview of the craziness. I'm still playing for the Coeur d'Alene Symphony, which effectively eats up all of my Thursday evenings. I also volunteered to play with a select group for a fund raiser for the symphony which took place this last Friday. It went well, but there's something a bit unsatisfying about playing cheesy arrangements of moderate rock tunes (The Doors, for example). I also played a concert for the Helena Symphony in Montana, which sounded really cool at the beginnning and turned out somewhat less so. The conductor left a bit to be desired, as did the main members of the orchestra. Oh well. Live and learn, I suppose. And realize an entire weekend (including a 9 hour return trip due to freeway closures and bad weather) is not worth $240. I've also applied to the Master's program at Eastern Washington University and had my audition this past Friday. It went well, and I should hear back from them in the next couple of weeks. I'm fairly confident I'll be accepted, I'm mostly just waiting to hear about the assitantship I also applied for. That will make going to school immensely easier. I've also entered myself in Musicfest Northwest, which is an amateur concerto competition. The winner gets $600 and the opportunity to be a soloist with the Spokane Symphony, which sounds pretty good to me. So, I'm practicing for that. Also, I'm preparing to audition for the substitute list for the Spokane Symphony, so I have all that music to work up as well. Lots of practicing going on. We joined a gym this year, and I've been running. It's fun. I used to run when I was in elementary and middle school, but stopped. Now I enjoy it because I don't feel like I have to be faster than anyone else. Also, the only time I have available to read much is on the treadmill, so it works. Knitting has slowed down a bit, as I'm busier, but I still have a few things I'm working on. I'm finishing up a sweater for a friend at work (I just have to sew it up), and I'm working on a sweater for myself. Thin yarn and small needles make for slow going. Anyway, I've got to get back to work now. Lunch is over.