SAT's, Stress & The Swatch

So, it's time for true confessions. Yes, you were right, I do have the attention span of a gnat when it comes to yarn. Yes, I admit, I struggle to stay within the realms of normality when a newly blocked swatch is staring at me. Ok, I know, I shouldn't have, but it really was sooooo exciting to see how the swatch looked once it was washed and the feel of the finished piece of fabric was so intoxicating that I just had to......................cast on!

After all, I did have the pattern right there in front of me and even if I couldn't get the scanner to work so that I had a working copy to carry around with me, it wasn't too much of a hardship to cart the entire magazine around instead. Yes, I succumbed. I took a few days off from the bathroom curtain and cast on for the Lacy Ribbed Top that I swatched for last week. I know, I'm weak.

Actually, in my defense I'm citing stress.

Saturday DD1 sat the infamous SAT's - yes, those college entrance exams that we have been hearing about ever since we arrived in the US when she was halfway through 7th grade. Having had the test date hanging over our heads since last September, the dreaded day finally arrived.

For the past year I have been inundated with cold calls from companies trying to blackmail me into buying their SAT Prep products. For a mere $300 I could ensure that my love for my daughter would be adequately exhibited by making sure that she had all the 'essential' prep tools she needed.

I bought her two books from Amazon that are the size of our front steps!

My role on the day was to make sure that she arrived at the test centre on time. Thank heaven for Google Maps. I ran a search the night before and using the satellite version, planned and drove my route virtually as if I was preparing for a military operation. It paid off. We cruised into the car park of a High School that we'd never been to before early enough to allow peace and calm to prevail. It was a miracle.

I'd made a conscious effort all the way to remain calm and zen-like in order to counteract the increasingly distressed vibe eminating from my offspring. By the time I got home though, I needed coffee! It's hard work meditating for two not to mention trying to keep your eyes open at 7am on a Saturday morning.

I thought about her all the time. Nothing I did could distract me from it, so I gave up and started knitting. When it was time to head back to the test centre I put my sleeve stitches on holders, drove there, then picked up my top again and set to work. I listened to one of my favourite podcasts, "This American Life" and waited.............and waited. Suddenly teenagers streamed out of the High School along with a huge air of relief (and tiredness.) It was over.

I replaced my point protectors, marked my round and we drove home.

I looked at my daughter that day and saw that a great weight had lifted from her. It seems such a short while ago that we'd never even heard of the SAT's (in fact it's taken us several years to work out exactly what they are.) When she was 12, she was using Norwegian as her first language every day; speaking, reading and writing it at school. Now, just over four years later, she has taken critical reading and writing in English on the SAT's.

I'm immensely proud of her.

I've also forgiven myself for casting on yet another project. I think this will turn out to be a special one because it marks a major milestone in my daughter's life. I hope I'll think of her whenever I wear it. There's just one possible problem.

I may run out of yarn.