Slow going.

Everything's been a bit slow lately.

I'm still advancing slowly on the baby blanket - I'm up to the 540st rounds, which according to my calculations is 57% of the minimum size I want the blanket to be. I've joined on a new ball of yarn, using a russian join (the first time I've tried it and I love it - will use it for cotton yarn from now on!). I haven't taken photos but it looks just like it did in the previous photo, only bigger. I've got it on 120cm cables now. It feels like it's going really slowly but I don't think I will have any trouble getting it finished.

I completed my self-review part of the performance review cycle yesterday so there's just the review from my manager and the meeting to discuss it all to go. That's on Thursday morning. I've also got to write manager reviews for two of my three staff (the third is on leave so we will need to do his next week), and hold review meetings with them on Thursday as well. I hate performance reviews. I always feel like I'm failing in my job - we're overloaded and understaffed so as I see it, there's "doing well", and there's "doing well under the circumstances". I know I'm not "doing well" but I'm not certain if I'm "doing well under the circumstances". I guess I'll know on Thursday!

I seem to be tired all the time now, and I don't know why. I'm not getting the awful cramps and "other revolting digestive symptoms" that I normally get in a Crohn's flare so I don't expect that I'm anaemic. I have an appointment with the Gastroenterologist on Thursday morning so I guess I'll find that out on Thursday too. I was meant to go to Stitch n Bitch tonight but I've spent most of the afternoon crashed out on the couch and I feel washed out and bleaugh so I'm going to stay home. I feel awful as it's been weeks and weeks since I've been to SnB. Hopefully I will feel better next week.

If you've been thinking of buying any patterns on Ravelry, there are a lot of designers who are donating a percentage of their profit to the Haiti relief effort until the end of January. Casey has set up a special link so you can search all the patterns with some profit going to help Haiti. You can even see which patterns in your queue or your favourites will help. I've bought Owls and Leisl and Rainbow Dress(the big sis and little sis versions). There are only a few days left in January so it's a good opportunity to get some patterns you love and help out in Haiti.

If you don't need any patterns, you can always donate to a charity of your choice. There are lots out there who are helping in Haiti or continuing to help elsewhere in the world, because people elsewhere in the world don't stop needing help just because of a disaster in one place. My personal choice is MSF, for ...well, a lot of reasons that make sense to me, but I think you've got to choose where your money goes based on what makes sense to you. If you do choose to donate to MSF, let Stephanie Pearl-McPhee know so she can count your donation towards the Knitters Without Borders total. We're up over $1M so far and there are more donations that haven't been counted yet. Knitters continue to amaze me every day!