And life goes on?

I have not written a blog post in ages because I simply couldn't. It seemed so banal, so silly, to write about knitting when so many are suffering in the aftermath of Katrina. (I realize that this is somewhat ridiculous; people are suffering every day, all over the world, and that does not usually keep me from trivial pursuits.) I have not been watching the TV news much, so as not to freak out my sensitive four year old, but I have been compulsively reading news reports and watching video footage online in the evenings. And it all breaks my heart. I know that others have already said it better than I can, so I won't go on about it here.

In the meantime--and despite my distress--my own life continues, virtually unscathed, with a touch of the surreal on many levels. I have officially become a Soccer Mom, complete with a minivan, a fall schedule full of Saturday 8 a.m. games (ugh), and an eager four year old with brand new pink cleats (AKA "fleets"). This is not something I actually aspired to, but here I am, nonetheless. The icing on the cake is that my daughter is participating in the local Catholic School soccer league. This is not a problem in and of itself; although we are practically pagans, many of the folks in my extended family are Catholic, as are many of my good friends (one of whom is the coach). But I had to mention it because it is just too funny. It is the final sign that I have disappeared into the suburban middle class lifestyle, never to emerge. (If any of my college friends are reading this, they are now laughing hysterically; who knew that the girl with the hairy legs, the leftist rhetoric, and the pro-choice T-shirts would someday find herself here?)

And so we enter a new phase of parenthood. My toddler starts part-time daycare on Tuesday and my four-year-old starts part-time pre-K on Thursday, which means that I am rushing around like a madwoman, Sharpie marker in hand, writing names on any item that plans to accompany either child out of the house in the next few months. The pre-K "faq" is about three pages long--in a tiny font!--and it seems that I have to come up with all kinds of plastic shoeboxes and drawstring bags, filled with requisite items, all duly labeled. Soon I will be attending Parent Ice Cream Socials and staying up late to make decorated cupcakes. Huh.

And yes, there is knitting. I finished the collar on Eris, and I am happy with how it turned out. Over the weekend I picked up the stitches for the body. This took longer than I expected, as I was being very careful in order to avoid a trip to the frog pond down the road. The first few (short) rows of the body have also gone slowly, as I am figuring out the cable increases and I have to pay close attention to what I am doing. Much to my chagrin, I don't think this project will work well on my beloved Denise needles, as I am using a US 6 needle, and the stitches are small enough that they do not slide well along the cable. So last night I looked up prices for Addi and Inox needles online, then checked my circular needle stash just to confirm that I did not have what I needed. Lo and behold, a forty-inch Inox circular in a size 6! Now I can take the money that I would have spent on the new needles and add it to one of my Katrina donations.