Strategi

On Sunday I finished E's stripy sock sweater, and he has been wearing it ever since. I decided to go with ribbing at the bottom of the body and sleeves to match the neckline and to counteract the flipping action I was getting with the hem. It was pretty easy to remove the hem (just started unraveling down from the stripe above it) and knit down from the edge.

Rather than doing the logical thing and picking up the linen tunic to finish off (a sleeve and a half to go) or the short sleeved cardigan in Silke Tweed that I started earlier in the summer, I irrationally cast on for something new. I'm using the same Silke Tweed yarn, but in a different, more wearable pattern. It's a simple pullover knitted in purl two, knit one TBL ribbing. I like the look of the way it's knitting up, though I worry the silk content in the yarn may make it end up being overly baggy. I may add a little waist shaping, and will definitely make it longer than the pattern. It's another Drops pattern, by the way: Drops 54-10.

I can't take any knitting pictures yet because it's getting so dark here in Norway. There's not enough light before or after I go to work, so they'll have to wait until the weekend.

We had a great day on Sunday. I drove in to Oslo to buy a used chair that I found on the internet (picture to come). It's funny how much adding the chair to our sitting area tied the room together. It is upholstered in a kind of dove gray wool that is a little discolored (unfortunately), but blends perfectly with the rest of our stuff. It's a Vatne nr. 108 chair designed by a guy named Fredrik Kayser. Then on Monday KE massively cleaned the whole house! It was amazing what a difference it made. E was ecstatic when he came home--he loved how clean it was. Who knew that a four-year-old noticed such things. I was pretty darned ecstatic too!

My sister-in-law had us over for dinner on Sunday, which was really relaxing and fun. She's great. She got me inspired to start planning Thanksgiving dinner. Now I've committed (with some trepidation) to making it for her and some friends of ours on the last Saturday in November. Should be fun, actually--I'll use exactly the same menu I always use: roasted turkey, stuffing (bread based with chanterelle mushrooms, almonds, and pork sausage), gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce from scratch (with orange peel), whole wheat rolls (from scratch), and a pumpkin pie (from scratch). I'll bake the pie and rolls the day before, and prepare the stuffing. KE will do the cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and probably the gravy too. That leaves just the beans, sweet potatoes and turkey to mess with on the day itself. The problem is oven space--we have two stoves but only one oven that really works, and it only has one rack.

Yesterday I felt like a participant on Survivor at work, minus the voting people out. In my work group of 12 colleagues I am becoming more and more aware of the alliances that lie under the surface. I had one strong alliance coming in, and am now trying to build additional alliances with other people in the group. Yesterday I made two moves that I think will help strengthen my position with two other people. I've never been so aware of the strategy involved in the process of establishing oneself in a new work environment. Looking back at my previous job, I can see that I did absolutely nothing to build alliances there, which is probably why I felt so isolated. Here I've been much more proactive already. I don't mean to imply that all I care about is getting people to support me personally. Each of the "moves" I made yesterday involved taking action on things that I really believe in--one helping a colleague out with a small but important task, the other initiating a curriculum planning session. But I would be dishonest if I didn't say that I am constantly thinking of what I can do to improve my chances of getting a permanent position here.

Follow up on that disruptive student: I received an email last night in which the student thanked me for assigning the novel that they're reading for today's class. The student was really enjoying it. Not sure that quite makes up for all the poopy comments the student makes, but it does help a little.