How’s it going, my virtual knitting circle? I sure hope you’re doing better than I am. It’s been a rough week in the Knitting Daddy household. At the beginning on the week, my wife was sick. The past several days, I’ve been sick. Fortunately, we’ve managed to keep Blueberry from getting sick, but the sickness running through the house has taken its toll. I’ve done very little knitting, a lot of sleeping, and have been starting to catch back up on my podcasts.

Not much knitting this week, but my giraffe did manage to grow a pair of ears.

Let’s dive right into what I’ve been listening to this week, shall we?

This Week In Podcasts

I spent most of Thursday and Friday in bed. When I wasn’t asleep, I was listening to podcasts. Fortunately, there were some good episodes to listen to. I caught episodes of The Lost Geek Podcast, Knitcircus, Knitting Pipeline, Ewe University, and Fiber Hooligan. Most of those were hold-overs from the week before, so I still have quite a few podcasts to listen to in order to be completely caught up.

In Episode 25 – Rushing Rivulets of The Lost Geek Podcast, Arlin spent a lot of time talking about Chinese New Year. I learned about a lot of traditions surrounding Chinese New Year, and found it very interesting. In Knitcircus #39, they talked about Ravellenics. I must have listened to this episode while I was falling in and out of sleep, because I don’t remember much about it. 🙁 Sorry, Amy! Looking over their notes, I am reminded that they talked about Stitch Maps, which was recently featured when JC Briar was on Fiber Hooligan. Pretty cool to hear about that again. In Knitting Pipeline Episode 160: Beatrix Potter, Champion Of Sheep, Paula spends almost the entire episode talking about Beatrix Potter. This episode is a “must-listen” on many levels. I learned so much about Potter that I never knew — in addition to being a talented writer, she cared deeply about conservation and was instrumental in championing breeds of sheep that were not necessarily popular. The facts that Paula shared were woven in with her recollections of walking through the same land that Potter walked, and it really wove a wonderful story. In Ewe University Episode 18, Dr. Kelly reviews the Knitter’s Pride Dreamz interchangeable needle set. The Deluxe Set is the set of needles I use, and I agree with everything Dr. Kelly said about the set. Like her, they are my go-to needles. In the classroom, Dr. Kelly talks about mathematics and knitting. I always enjoy her classroom segments, but this one was especially enjoyable. I primarily see knitting as math, so that’s probably why this segment resonated with me so much. The Fiber Hooligan episode with Myra Wood was another great listen. Myra is FH’s first repeat guest and she came on to talk about how to learn to be creative. I do believe that creativity can be learned, that it’s not simply innate, and it’s really great to hear people out there working to help teach creativity.

This Week In Ravelry

This week in Ravelry, I did all I could to stay on top of the two main threads in the IBK group. That was about all I could manage, and I think I did pretty well to stay on top of what I did!

This Week On My Needles

It’s been a slow week on my needles. I’m still in the gusset of Dad’s second sock, which I managed to get a few more rows knit on. That’s the project I travel with — it’s portable and easy to do a row or two on pretty much anywhere. So it’s what’s been getting my love during my lunch break at work, for the days I wasn’t home sick.

I’ve also made a little progress on my Giraffe. As you can see in the picture at the top of this post, I finished the ears. I have also knit one of his four legs. I like the way the ears came together, and he’s starting to get a real personality now. Having lost so much knitting time due to being sick, it’s definitely going to be a challenge for me to get this finished by the end of the Olympics. We’ll see how it goes!

I am greatly encouraged because Wanda, my TEAM GIRAFFE teammate in the IBK forum, finished her giraffe and posted some adorable pictures of him. It’s definitely encouraging to see my teammate finish like that. Way to go, Wanda!

The Great Sickness

You know, I got a flu shot this year, and I’ve been trying to be good about washing my hands, using hand sanitizer, etc. But I still managed to catch this cold. It completely knocked me out Thursday — I slept almost the entire day. I’m still pretty weak, but I’m definitely on the mend. I have to give a big shout-out to my wife, who had the bad fortune to have to deal with solo child care and sick husband responsibilities for the last half of the week while I lived in the bedroom. This was especially rough since she was just coming off from being sick herself. She kept me supplied with NyQuil, ginger ale, crackers, soup, water, and popsicles, all of which have helped tremendously in my healing. Fortunately, Blueberry has managed to avoid all the sickness, and for that, we’re grateful. Everyone’s looking forward to everyone being well again.

So it’s a short blog this time. Stay well.

Until next week, keep on knitting for the ones you love!

-greg