in the mail.

i received some great news yesterday! it turns out that i can apply to teacher's college for next fall with the degree i already have [english ba]. i've been going on the assumption that in order to teach i would need to get a 2nd teachable along with my english degree, but apparently that isn't so. according to some research david did for me, a 3-year undergraduate degree is the only thing required to apply for the primary/junior levels. i'm so happy! it looks as though much of november will be spent drumming up material for my application. i've yet to pick the schools i'll be applying to, though i know ottawa is first on my list.

the mailman was very good to me yesterday and today. my 2 new knitting books arrived yesterday from chapters/indigo and already i've compiled a list of to-do projects. here they are:



[on a side note: i discovered that when you shop online at chapters/indigo, you automatically save 30% off the list price! combined that with my 10% reader's club card discount and i can see no reason to ever set foot in that store again for any purpose other than scoping out new craft books. crazy!]

my newest japanese craftbook arrived today. i was surprised to see it as it was sent via the slowest delivery time and wasn't expected to arrive until the 1st of november. it chock-full of ideas and i love the shabby chic look of it all. here are some images from it:


cover






i have a pile of new books on order as well from yesasia[dot]com. after considering what i paid for this last book through ebay and what i paid for 4 books on yesasia, i can see why so many others have suggested steering clear of ebay. it's expensive! hopefully that group of books will take less time to arrive as well; fingers crossed...

lastly, i've started a winter scarf for david [or myself; it has yet to be decided]. it's going to be a shorter [and thinner] version of the "super-long ribbed scarf" in my knitting pretty book. the colour is a slate grey and it's quite soft. i'm hoping to be finished in a few days, but the yarn i'm using is thinner than i'm used to and it knits up pretty small [and slowly]. i must learn to be patient and enjoy the process. here is where it was at yesterday evening. it's about a foot long now. my goal is about 4 feet.



i can't believe it's mid-october already. i have so many christmas gifts to start and so little time to complete them. already the holiday stress is upon me. i'm seriously pondering taking a week off in november to just do nothing at home; and by nothing i of course mean knit, sew, refinish my hope chest [which has been sitting unfinished for years now]. i don't necessarily want to go anywhere, but i feel i need a little vacation from work before it gets insane with christmas parties and the usual craziness of the season. i just need a week to regroup and get focussed.