Finally an update!

Today I've finally found the time to update the blog! This week has been so busy!

I'll begin with the most fun part for me: I'm now officially a Ph Lic! I ha my seminar this Friday, and it went really well. I had two opponents from Stockholm and Örebro, and they were really good. They asked good and difficult questions, but in a nice way, and I think I managed to at least discuss the questions (which is sort of what you're supposed to do, no one is actually expected to be able to answer all the questions, you just have to show that you are able to discuss them in a scientific way). They passed me, at least, so I got my degree. And afterwards, when we were having a celebratory lunch at work, my boss came up to me and told me that they had decided to keep me on at work for at least 6 more months! YES!!! I don't have to be unemployed! So that was a really good day!

After the seminar I went on a shopping trip with my mother and sister. I bought two pairs of sneakers (but I'm going to return one pair, as I'm not sure how much I would actually wear a pair of purple sneakers...), some training clothes, and of course some yarn! My husband is so thrilled about his fingerless gloves that he requested a matching hat, so I bought two more skeins of the Marks & Kattens Superwash Safir wool:

This yarn is so funny, because when you feel the ball, it feels a little bit rough and scratchy. But when knitted, it is really soft! I'm glad Thomas likes it, as it is quite cheap.

I also bought two hanks of Vinking of Norway Eco-Alpaca, and this yarn is just adorably soft! I've allready started a scarf for me, pattern can be found here. I'm doing the scarf without ribbing at the ends, so we'll see how it turns out.

I also finally bought myself a ball-winder! It wasn't too expensive in the store, and I'm always happy to support my local yarn store if I can, rather than order stuff online. I really wouldn't want the shops to run out of business. I also asked the shop-owner how much they wanted for a swift, but it cost almost 60 dollars (of course the price was actually in swedish kronor...), and I really didn't have that kind of money this month, even with the exam gift money I got from my parents and my grandmother. The shop owner than told me that I should look in the second-hand shops instead, since the swifts can be cheaper there, if they have any. So yesterday I dragged my husband with me to Hjärta till Hjärta, a second-hand shop just outside the center of the city, and bougth my first swift. It cost me less than 6 dollars! This was definitely the bargain of the month for me!

So when I got home, I immediately balled up the four hanks I had in my stash. The pink and the green balls are Garnpalettens 100 % swedish wool, 100 g at 600 m, and the white ball is the new Viking Eco-Alpaca, 100 g at 125 m. I'm so happy with both my swift and my winder, I think I might have to re-wind all of the skeins I have in my stash!

I also got some chocolate from my sister, as well as a gift certificate at one of the sports stores in town, so next week I'll go and buy myself one or two more training brahs. I now own two, and since we're working out three to four days every week, it's just so boring to do so much laundry! I'm trying to lose my extra 10 kilos, and I think my sister wants to lose about as much. And before you say anything, I know I'm hardly fat, but I've been eating anti-depressants for almost a year, and they've made me gain 10 kilos. So to me, I actually weigh 10 kilos too much, and I can hardly fit into my clothes any more. But that's about to change! I'm goint to visit my physician next week, and start to decrease my intake of the pills (you're not supposed to stop cold turkey, as you might get withdrawal and the depression symptoms can return), so hopefully I'll not have to take them for very much longer. I feel fine now, they've really helped, so hopefully I won't feel bad again.

I got some exam presents from my mother in law and my grand-parents in law as well. I got a very nice book from my mother in law, about chocolate, filled with a lot of mouth-watering recipes, which I will probably use way too much (I'm a real chocoholic!). And Thomas' grandparent got me a very inspirational book about Kaffe Fassett. That was so nice of them, as they know I love knitting. The book is so colourful and inspiring! Unfortunately blogger won't co-operate with me today, and insists upon postin the picture on the wrong side. So I guess you just have to turn the screen arund, or something...

One of my best friends here in Linköping got her PhD this spring, and she has just gotten a new job as a post doc. She starts at the beginning of October. In LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND (home of the Beatles). I'm of course very happy for her, it's such a great opportunity, but I'm also sad that she's leaving Sweden. It's only for two years, but after two years her boyfriend will have finished his PhD, and God only knows where they will end up then. But at least it's not too far to England, and the flights can be really cheap, so we'll definitely go visit her. Hopefully some time this winter. Anyway, she had a combined birthday/going-away party yesterday, and it was so much fun! We had crayfish and chanterelle pie, and a really good red wine ( I know, you're supposed to drink white wine with seafoood, but we're not pickish...), and just talked and laughed and listened to music all night.

So today I might actually get some knitting done! I'm so glad that my seminar is over, because now I'll at least have time to knit after work! And this week I'll actually have time to go to the knitting cafés (there are two this week), and have time to work out.

This past christmas, Thomas and I got a gift certificate from his father for a Spa visit just outside Linköping. As this past year has been really busy, and quite hard on us both, we haven't had a chance to use it yet, but next weekend we're going! We're staying for one night, and we're going to get some treatments and just relax the whole time. It will be so much fun! And the weekend after that is the Sewing-festival in Borås. So September looks to be a really promising month for me!

Now I will do some actual knitting, possibly I will have some progress to show you next time I write (or rant)!

/ Jenny