In lieu of knitting content (Chris' Lochinver is still a large brown tube, mom's scarf is still a hazy blue blob), let me salute my friend Amy, who has just successfully defended her Harvard dissertation in Art History of the Ancient Near East. How to praise someone who has worked for ten years on something done solely for the love of it, the ideal of it, something that may take years to lead to a steady job with health insurance? Sometimes I feel that I surrendered by leaving that world for a job with a better salary than that of an assistant professor, with Blue Cross insurance, with paid vacation and the ability to leave my job when I walk out the door. However, Amy is strong. Stubborn. Smart. She just kept going until it was done.
So, what do you do for someone like that? Well, how about a gift of a mitered dishcloth and a bakelite pin from Brimfield Antiques Show?
Which, by the way, was awesome. I'll post photos to Flikr. And my miter is done, Hannah! Next project with iknityouknot? The War and Peace along. We both like the classics but don't like feeling like sophomoric drones who read them out of a sense of duty. I'll obtain a copy as soon as I finish The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, which is fantastic, by the way.
I'll end with a self-portrait from Brimfield. Lately it's been too many adventures and not enough time to chronicle them. Memorial Day weekend (did I mention paid vacation earlier?) should give me a chance to catch up and haul out some knittin to show you all.
6 comments:
going to read war and peace? you won't be sorry. It's a bit of a project but very worth it.
I love that picture!
Thanks for the encouragement :) I can't imagine doing anything but teaching, but it's hard to listen to so many people talking about how terrible our education system is. Which is why it's nice to know someone who really knows how it is!
I love Kavalier and Clay! I think my copy is pretty well worn by now. And I just ordered my copy of War and Peace. Hannah challenged me....
I liked Kavalier and Clay too, Wonder Boys was a great one as well. Maybe I should add another one of Chabon's books to my summer reading list. Does War and Peace along just mean reading the book, or will you be doing a knitting tie-in to it somehow?
I admire academics, my sister just got her phD too, but there's nothing wrong with paying the bills. I, on the other hand, have no lofty ideals to show for my lack of a good pay check. What kind of lies am I going to have to spin at my college reunion this weekend?
a war and peacealong knitting project might just be in order. i'm picturing some intense russian princess-type jackety something or other - fur collars anyone? (wishing that there was a russian version of norsk strikkedesign)
maybe we ought to just try the novel first, though - we might get some great inspiration, or realize that the reading is intense enough.
there are a bunch of russian-esque designs in the last holiday vogue knitting...I'm not sure about fur collars though. i'll check.
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