Sweet alpaca deal

Still in the world of limited typing but I wanted to share my sweet deal. My priest's daughter is in Bolivia right now and she shipped back some yarn she picked up from a mill (I guess, I can't find the place listed online although I know there was an email address on the color cards). Holly paid something like $30.00/kilo of 100% alpaca fingering weight yarn, several different colors, and so I bought a couple of, hmmm, chunks of yarn for $20.00/ 17 oz. The yarn is kind if folded, it was probably in hanks, but since my hand is all splinted, I can't really do muchmore than pet it. I picked up a nice tweedy-looking purple and a red-ish tweed. The red is really not a good color for me, so it will have to be something for my DH, but I LOVE the purple. I'm thinking I should have gotten the teal color instead of the red, but if she still has it next week I might try to trade.

On the other hand, I have no idea what the heck I'm going to do with this much fingering weight yarn. It's really tiny, you know? Whatever it is has to be good AND fun since it will take a while. It was one of those circumstances where the price was too good NOT to buy any, but I really don't have any need for that much fingering weight yarn. Aslo, I did want to help support Holly, these things help provide her with money while she is living down there, but since I'm one of two people that her mom knows who knit, it will be hard for her mom to unload the yarn I think. I'm saved a bit by the fact that most of the yarn is in colors that I cannot wear without looking very ill, so I won't be adding more to my stash. How I wish it had been a heavier weight yarn though. Maybe if I did machine knitting...

Still kicking

...but not typing so good.

Just a brief update today. I seem to have recovered from the round of pneumonia, except for some lingering asthma (which hasn't bothered me for years). Oh well, at least i"m still breathing. My wrist surgery was initially scheduled for last week, but was moved to yesterday due to a high number of trauma cases at the hospital requiring all of the surgeons to postpone their elective surgeries. The surgery went well, to the best of my knowledge, and i can wiggle my fingers, but i have a short cast (they called it a small splint, but it seems closer to a cast) so I don't bend my wrist, etc. I have to type using a pencil in my right hand, sorry for the typos.

OTOH, I have 3 days of morphine for the pain (+ codeine in case that isn't enough), so I'll be just fine. LOL I've started a pair of fingerless gloves for my DH, and have 4 fingers done on those. I'm not sure how long it will be before I am back to knitting. I'm supposed to use my fingers as much as possible, but I must balance it with the pain thing. I'll try to post pictures of the cast/splint and the knitting asap.

Here's a shot of my blue fingers. They're very pretty. LOL

Sick knitting & sock knitting

Well, turns out I don't have a virus/flu after all. Lucky me, I've got pneumonia! Isn't that just, erm, peachy? I've (thankfully) never had it before, and I hope I never have it again, but there it is. I have virtually no appetite, the fever finally left me sometime yesterday so I 'm feeling falsely healthy, and the least activity (going up and down the stairs, for instance) wipes me out. Then there's the lung-launching coughs. Wow.

I am finally feeling well enough for about 10 minutes computer time and then a day propped up in bed knitting/reading/watching bad TV. Of course, today I have last night's episode of House, but it won't last all day. Yesterday I found myself thinking, "What is this garbage and why am I glued to it?" . It was some celebrity fashion thing (100 worst or something like that). OTOH, it made for good background to the knitting.

The knitting. I'm back on my sock and I've turned the heel! Woo-Hoo! It really was surprisingly easy, once I jumped in and just did it. I'm very pleased. That was the last bit I finished before going to sleep last night, so I'm pretty anxious to pick it up again. Although, I have a new book I really want to read. I'll probably start with the knitting and see how it goes. I hate to say this out loud, but I will, I should probably read instead. This quite sick time at home alone is the only reading time I'll get. I can knit when the kids get home. You know? Still, the sock is sooooo exciting now that I'm in the final stretch!

I'm waiting to find out if I need to cancel my wrist surgery next week because of the pneumonia. My GP said yes, but the surgeon's office said to wait until next week to make a decision. If I have to reschedule, I won't be able to get in before the first of February, so it would be nice to get it done. But, I'd rather not increase my risk of death or something. I'm funny that way.

Well, I've taken a picture of the sock after I turned the heel, but it will have to wait to be loaded. I'm too wiped out just eating my banana and drinking my hot tea. Time to wander off to bed again.

Finishing fever

Well, here they are. Finished at last! And so am I. I'm seeing a bazillion flaws, why do we do that?, but when I compare them to the drawings of his hands, these should comfortably fit the student. The finger joins are about 60% nice & 40% dodgy, but when they are on, you can't tell that the joins are less than perfect. So, done.

I finished these on Thursday last week. These were a very fast knit, you know, in knitting hours and in spite of the length of time it took me to finish. I got distracted (Halloween costumes) and work, etc., so that took a bit longer. Still I liked them. What would I do differently next time? Well, for one, I'd use the pattern as originally intended, for fingerless gloves. The problem with the finger join was that the pattern called to join live stitches, which I just did not have on the fingers. It is possible that problem could still have been avoided if I had put the cast-on stitches on waste yarn to keep everything in the right place, instead of trying to pick them up again later. Jeez! I won't try that again! Lastly, I would have switched to smaller needles for the wrist ribbing to give them a better fit, although I think they fit fine, it would be nice if they were a little tighter.

The fever part. Oy! I left work on Friday feeling fine, by the time I got home, I had a fever. It is now Monday and the fever is still here. I hurt all over on Saturday, so I just stayed in bed while my DH took care of the kids. I hurt so bad I couldn't read or even knit! Talk about feeling lousy! I felt a little better on Sunday, not very achy, so I sat in the living room with the family and buried myself under blankets. I was still cold, and when I got around to taking my temperature, I found my fever was actually higher than it was on Saturday. So, I crawled into work today. We're down a person since our director has moved up the food chain, so to speak, so I need to come in and get things rolling in the morning and make sure all the student help is going to show up. Once they are all checked in, I'll be on my way to the clinic. This fever and a bit of a cough seem to be stirring up my asthma. Also, I have surgery on my hand next week. If this lingers, I would have to cancel my surgery and reschedule which would stink. I probably not be able to get in before the end of January.

Oh well, at least the gloves are done and I don't have any projects hanging over my head. Here's one more shot of a single glove, a little closer detail. I'll be back when I recover a bit.

Soggy, soggy day

But I like it! We were to have 5+ inches of rain yesterday, but we didn't make it. We only got about 3-1/2 inches instead, it has warmed up, though, so no snow. Still, there's been enough rain to raise most of the rivers to flood levels, send folks in low-lying areas to shelters, and still it keeps raining. I feel bad for the displaced folks, but I do love the rain. I just wish I was at home curled up with my knitting and a book. But then, I also wish I could knit and read at the same time - LOL! Still, I can take turns with each of them. We should be getting some breaks in the rain by tomorrow, but then it will come back and the temps will drop again & there will be snow in the mountains. Well, that's what the weather-folk say. Goodness knows what will actually happen. :)

The gloves are done, except for the sewn bind off, which should be done by the end of lunch today. Oh yeah, and then I need to sew up the holes around the fingers. So, two things that need to be done and I'm finished. Still, barring incident, these puppies are done in the next day or so. I'm really glad to be done with them before the surgery, it is a big relief. Of course, now my husband wants me to get started on his, but I won't have a deadline on these and the second pair should go faster, right? At least I get to go shopping for yarn. Woo-hoo! While I won't go so far as to say that I've been on a yarn diet, I have been avoiding any new purchases until I finished these gloves. Technically, I've been avoiding any new yarn purchases until I get more projects done, but I don't really want to make a formal commitment to that lifestyle. LOL Anyway, I still get to go shopping. I hope I can resist anything else calling my name, but I'm just not sure I'll be strong enough.

Cuff 'em

Yep. I can't believe how pathetically slow this project is going, though make no mistake, I'm still enjoying the knitting. I feel like a snail could get more knitting done in an hour than I can. But maybe not since they don't have hands. I should probably find another slow thing to compare my speed to, hmmm.

Anyway, life has just gotten so busy that I'm having a hard time getting things done. I think it was all the festivities last week when my boss left. Lots of lunches out, extra meetings with people I don't normally meet with, etc. Not as much lunch time to knit, and very little time at home. I'm working on it. The important thing is that I'm nearly finished, just the cuff in a simple k1p1 pattern. I'm thinking this will probably be the part I can't get done right. LOL Wouldn't that be a kick?

The bag pictured above is a lovely gift from a friend. Her sister just returned from a trip to Cambodia and picked up this nice silk bag for my knitting. It seems she saw me working out of a rather trashed plastic bag at my daughters' swim lessons. But, hey, I'm just recycling the plastic bags the yarn stores give me. I use them until my needles poke too many holes in them, then I use a new one (hopefully before I lose anything out of the holes). This apparently looks rather sad, so she thought I could use a new bag. Very sweet & I love the bag! It has been the perfect size for this project & likely all my socks as well. You know, when I get back to the socks.

Now for November

We survived the seriously cold weather last night. I was right about "Princess Jasmine", she nearly froze her bare little tummy off. The cape helped, and I brought along some blankets to help warm them up. DH had the brilliant foresight to get some hand warmers (like skiers use, etc.) and they carried them around in their hands and rubbed them on their faces (& tummies) to stay warm. It was enough to get them around the block. For some reason, we had about half the houses "open" that we had last year. I don't know if folks just didn't expect many kids due to the cold or if there were just more folks not around. It worked out though, if we'd had many more houses to go to, the girls wouldn't have made it.

Still, we had a surprisingly early night and minimal candies consumed - without even trying to limit them! I have no idea how that happened, but I'm sure they'll make up for it just as soon as they realize how much candy is still around the house. LOL Here's a little better picture of the bat wings, since I spent so much time trying to figure out how to make them work. I'm thinking about starting my costume for next year soon so that it will be ready for next year. If it is going to be this cold, I need something I can wear without freezing to death. Also, I'm still loving my new sewing machine, and I don't want to forget about it. LOL



On the knitting side of life, I've got three rows left and then I'm at the cuff. I underestimated how many were left yesterday, so I had more than I thought. I got most of them in after putting up the outside decorations (we were really behind this year) and before getting the girls. Mom took almost a whole hour for herself! I finally got to watch last week's ep of Supernatural and knit for a while. Nice. Good episode too, lots of laughs last week.

Hope everyone else had a nice Halloween. Now we will all be bombarded with the over-merchandising of Thanksgiving (for those of us here in the States) and Christmas.
Whee! (NOT)

A-ha! & Boo!

Noooo. Not the band, although I do like them (are they even still recording?), I mean I finally found something about the folks doing the urban knitting, at least I think it is the same group. There are no photos of the column that I have in my previous post, but surely there aren't two rival gangs of urban knitters tagging the city?! Ye gods! What is the world coming to? I wonder what the initiation rite is like...

On other fronts, I'm about two repeats (6 rows) of finishing the the thumb gusset decreases and then it is just the cuff, baby. I'm ready to get these gloves off my needles. Not because I no longer love them, mind you, just because I really need to get them finished before 11/22 (surgery day) and I really don't want to be up all night on 11/21. LOL There's no reason they can't be finished very quickly, unless I start procrastinating. Hey, it can happen. Things are really crazy right now and it would be very easy to get lazy. You know that slippery slope, it goes like this: Oh, I have plenty of time to finish this project. No need to rush. I know! I'll work on this other project for a while, spend some time with this nice yarn over here. Ooooo, squeeze in some spinning time, that'd be nice. What?! What do you mean I'm out of time?! What the...!?

Yep. I dare say we've all done it. I'm determined to NOT do it this time.

Today is my boss lady's last day. We're having a nice big party catered by Macrina Bakery & Cafe. If you watch the Food Network, Road Tasted (Paula Deen's boys) included it in their show on Seattle. Yummy, yummy food. Two of my student employees and one librarian also had a birthday this month, so we are celebrating everything all at once. Then I'm going home (early) to get my house and kids ready for the big Trick or Treating event. In typical Seattle style, it will be FREEZING tonight. (It either rains or it is the coldest night for weeks.) It is supposed to be in the low 30s (F) tonight, so my youngest, Princess Jasmine, will be freezing her tummy off even with the cape I made for her. But boy! Am I glad I made the cape! I'll be sure to get pictures and get them posted as well.

I love Halloween. It is so much more fun as a grown-up, I think. I can buy my own candy, so no more depending upon the neighbors to pick out "good" stuff. I can dress up any way I want, and even wear it to work (which I did this year, you know, the party and all). I can decorate my house as much as I want, and I can watch all the scary movies I want (after the kids go to bed). Ahhh. October is my favorite month, my anniversary month, and although it is cold today, it is gorgeous outside! The leaves are so nice, and since the rain has been pretty light this month, they are still on the trees. Puget Sound is very blue, the mountains are crisp and clear, the bald eagle is sitting outside my window at work on the giant E of the Edgewater Inn (a Sesame Street moment, if you will - Eagle on the E, get it?) and, just, Wow! I love Fall. Can you tell?

Happy Halloween!

Knits are everywhere!

I know I've read something about this somewhere, but do you see the colorful blob on the post by the tree? That is a nice cozy scarf for the column. Someone, or many someones, are knitting stips and grafting them together. I assume they mean to cover the entire column. This is a column that supports the monorail at Seattle Center & I drive past this every day.

When I first noticed it, it was a much smaller band of color. It took me a while to think to use my camera on my cell phone instead of trying to remember to bring my camera in the car. I would probably have gotten a nicer close-up shot of the thing with my digital camera, but then again, the entire column would probably be covered byt the time I remembered to bring it. I'm curious as to whether the knitter(s) will stop where it is. The current height would require some sort of ladder to reach the scarf. If they bring it lower I think they will risk someone "finding" a nice warm scarf, or an entire wardrobe of scarves. It is fun to look at though, so many colors. A nice way to get rid of those odds and ends left from other projects and such. I always get an itch to go knit for a while after I've looked at it. (I ALWAYS get stuck at the traffic light at this intersection, so lots of time for contemplating knitting.) I just wish I could remember where I read about it, I know it was a blog. Hmmm. I'll have to try to track it down later.

On knitting news, I'm decreasing in the thumb gusset and that is going well, but still a good bit to go before finishing the gloves. I know I'll have them done before my surgery though, so I'm not worried. Of course, I've probably just jinxed myself now... Still no pics for that yet, I have to figure out where the software is now. My DH has been working hard getting things set up, he just hasn't communicated it well to me. Gee, that never happens. LOL

The costumes are all but done, just some hand sewing to put on the clasps for the cape. The sewing machine died in the attempt, however. I got a new one (mine was a 1968 Singer, so it was probably time). My new baby is a Brother PC210 & that puppy is AWESOME! It threads itself! Did you get that? OMG! This thing is so awesome and sewing is an absolute dream! I think my DH was feeling guilty about his recent purchases and talked me into replacing my machine rather than repair it, again. I didn't struggle too hard, though maybe I should have. Now all I want to do is sew stuff. I've been thinking about making myself a new knitting bag. The one I've been using was a gift from someone, a shopping bag from New Zealand, and it has not held up well to knitting needles that lost their point protectors. I'm starting to lose things out of the holes. LOL. So maybe after the costumes I'll make myself a bag. Or two. And maybe a needle holder...

Plugging away

Well, the thumbs are on and I'm into the thumb gussets. As far as I can tell, I'm in the home stretch. I finally have enough length to try them on and when I did, I found that the "errors" at the join don't really show that much when you have them on your hands. So, I've decided, no ripping. If he doesn't like them, he doesn't have to wear them. He was warned, after all, that they would be my first pair of gloves and might be a bit wonky. LOL

Other news is that Himself got a new computer for the house. Originally it was to replace the PC I usually work on, but once it arrived, he changed his mind about getting rid of one. I won't say how many we now have, but let's say that I think it is excessive. (However, polling of other with a family member working in the computer world would indicate that we are about average for those folks.) Our house is a total wreck as we move things around to accomodate the new machine, just when I was trying to accomplish a major clean/purge. You'd think these things would mesh, but, no. I really isn't working out that way. Anyway, all my pictures are transitioning between machines and I'm going to be delayed posting any updated photos for a few days. Sorry.

I'm losing a bit of knitting time this week to Halloween costumes as well. My oldest has decided to be a bat for Halloween. I cannot find a bat costume anywhere, so we are improvising. Improvising = mom is sewing bat wings for a costume party this Saturday. Have I mentioned lately that I have no spare time in my life? Well, now I have less. I'm a total costume wh*re, however, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE making them (and yes, wearing them), so I'm enjoying the opportunity to do something, I just wish I had more time to enjoy the process.

Work continues to spiral into chaos. I'm waiting for my psycho boss to screw me over one last time on her way out, I know it is going to happen, but when? In the meantime, we (the librarians and about half the students) just wish she'd go now instead of waiting until the end of the month. She is no longer doing anything work related to this place & she's really in the way, piling on work she needs done to help her do her new job while we're struggling to get the work done for our job. >sigh< She really thinks she's helping us out here. Have I mentioned she's crazy? Tick, tock, tick, tock... at least there is an end in sight. That's better news than I've had for a while, so I'll try to be grateful for that instead of dwelling on the struggle that can't be changed.

Ready to add the thumb

Woo-Hoo! I'm making progress now, ready to graft on the thumb. I'm still not sure I like the way the other fingers look at the grafting point. Although I'm pretty sure I did them all the same, I apparently didn't because some of them look a little off (and others look fine). I sort of want to rip back and start over, but I'm afraid I wouldn't actually improve on my current job & that I wouldn't finish the project if I rip it back (before the surgery). I think I need to make a final decision before I graft the thumbs. Don't you? LOL

To seek perfection or not? That is the foolish question. Hmmm. How compulsive do I feel right now? Maybe I should try sewing up the fingers and see if that improves the look, or count how many look normal/weird and make a choice based on percentages or something. Argh! I have enough chaos in my life right now, I really don't need to create more. Anyway, I tried to get a picture of the problem area, but it just won't show clearly in the photos. I've included a close-up, but I don't know if you can see anything. The problem is at the join for the finger second from the right. It looks a bit like a purl. I'm wondering if maybe I can just put some sort of arty stitching there later. Hmmm....

Knitting again!

Yes! I got all the fingers joined and have successfully made two rounds on the main "body" of the gloves. I think I'll have to wait for a few rounds to see if the join looks okay. I'm not sure what I'll do if it doesn't because I REALLY don't want to rip it and try to put it all together again.

I forgot the camera today, so I'll have to get a picture tonight and post it later. The important thing for me is, I'm back to the knitting part & I worked out the two-gloves-on-two-needles thing. The optimism (or is it just determination to make it work?) seems to have paid off there. Just suck it up and do it, right? I'm insanely relieved when that works out. I have a theory that if I don't know what I'm doing and just bully through it, it will usually work out okay. If I think about it too much, I'll screw it up for sure. Funny, I don't mind fixing my mistakes when I bully through something, but if I overthink it and screw it up I'm cussing my way through the fixes. That's probably why I'm approaching knitting the way I am & I should probably apply that approach to more areas of my life.

I found out yesterday that my boss is moving to a new position. Its a secret, so don't tell anyone! LOL We've worked here together for just over 8 years (she started a month before I did) She's been pretty psycho for the past, oh, two years, so it is a really good thing. (No really, I mean PSYCHO.) I've looked many times over the past year for a new job, but librarian positions in Seattle can be hard to come by. Still, now that I know she's leaving I will start to worry about who will replace her. More bothersome, should I go for her job? >sigh< I'm not impossible to please, I guess I am just used to worrying about job stuff. And I've been thinking about the phrase "better the devil you know than the devil you don't". Perhaps I just lack confidence in the folks who will decide on her replacement. Hmmm, and now perhaps I've just said too much...

This may take a while

Well, it's a good thing I was so optimistic before, 'cuz I'm not feeling it now. Zowie! I've picked up stitches for 8 fingers more times than I can remember. No matter how carefully I check, it seems that I get several fingers in and find that I picked up the wrong thing on a finger back towards the beginning and have to take everything off again and start again. I'm using waste yarn, well actually I'm using floss, but I still have mangled things several times. I'm sure I'm learning lots of neat things that I can use again the next time I make this pattern. That's what I get for modifying a pattern instead of just finding the right one to start with.

I'm okay with it. Really. I haven't given up, or decided to hate the project or anything, I'm just spending a lot of time getting things back on the needles. (Something like 2 hours, but with very little cursing.) Well, I think I've got them all on, but now I'm a bit confused at how to make it all work on the magic loop. I think I've just gotten myself confused because of the trouble I've had picking up the right stitches. I'm sure now that everything is properly on the needles I'll be able to figure it out and get going again. I hope. (ooooo, look, I might have a little optimism left after all.) Anyway, we'll see how it goes at lunch today. I feel like I will be fine once I get all the fingers joined up and all the fussy bit is done. Maybe a little brief trauma when the thumbs are joined, but by then I will be able to apply lessons learned from all the fingers. >sigh<

It is also the first week of the term for my school. I've got tons of new students and classes coming through for info literacy tours and it is taking up too much of my time that I need to be spending on other tasks. Also, I'm training two new student employees this week and they take up quite a bit of time as well. There's a new class being offered for incoming freshmen and the faculty have put off their planning till the last minute. That means they are all showing up here at 7:15 am (or calling) and asking to bring a class into the library later that morning for a tour. Um, NO. Plan ahead & make reservations please. Jinkies! It seems to be making me a bit cranky, so I'm really hoping to get back to knitting soon to help soothe my soul. Also, there was no House on last night (baseball was on instead) and I'll be missing that for a few more weeks. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike baseball, I just want to watch my shows when I'm knitting at lunch. Oh well, at least my other shows will be on the rest of the week.

If I get the knitting going again, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

10 little fingers done

Woo-Hoo! Well, I've finished up the fingers & now it is on to the rest of the glove. I'm anxious to get going for fear that I'll get stalled worrying about whether or not everything will fit, work, etc. Why on earth do we do things like this to ourselves? Isn't it enough that I've already learned so much and gotten so far so quickly on this project? >sigh< I really must work on that Devil May Care attitude. I won't skip gauge, but I must simply learn to let the rest go. Most of the time... LOL

On another front, I finally got in to see a orthopedic specialist about my wrist lump. My GP was right, it is a gangliar cyst. So I'm sending a BIG raspberry out to the crazy rheumatologist who wanted to treat me for arthritis and put me on a life-long course of crazy strong meds. I'm also going to write a letter or two, but somehow the sound of a raspberry is so much more satisfying right now. Ha!

The other side of that is that I am scheduled to have surgery to remove the cyst the day before Thanksgiving. I was taking the week off anyway, so I won't have to take extra vacation time, which is nice. OTOH, I won't be able to cook either. I'm one of Those People who enjoy cooking the meal (maybe just because it is never a large crowd of people), so I am actually a little sad about that part. Then again, I will be so glad to resolve this thing (since JANUARY!) that it will be a fair trade. I will have a wrist brace for 10-16 days. I don't know if there will be physical therapy with that as well, I forgot to ask. The doctor thinks knitting is great therapy for the hands (isn't he a nice doctor?) but isn't sure how long I will have to wait before I can start knitting again after the surgery. So. I'd better get cracking on the gloves. I'd really hate to have some amount of them to go when I have surgery. I'm pretty sure I can't knit with my toes...

6 fingers done &

Only four to go! I should get at least one more done today, so then there will be three. I'm hoping to have some nice, quiet time this weekend at home in which to finish the fingers. We've been running full-out for what feels like months, but I think the few quiet times have just gotten lost in the chaos. I'm really ready for the busy time to stop, but with two small kids, does it ever? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Anyway, I'm hoping to start the body of the gloves next week. Hmm. Is that the right term for it? I'm guessing you know what I mean though, right? I'm hoping that since I have to load all the fingers back onto the needles, I will be comfortably enough with magic loop to do both bodies at the same time. Two new knitting things on one project, am I pushing my luck?

I'm still very in love with this whole glove thing, I really hope it continues long enough to make a second pair for my DH. Poor guy deserves something for all the mess & havoc my projects for other people have created. He has suffered a similar fate to mine. I haven't knit a single thing for him, just students & my family (mom, g-mother, sister). I have a lovely cardigan pattern picked out for him, and the yarn in my stash, I've just been waiting to feel more confident before starting it up. (I've been sitting on the pattern for over a year.) I'm actually ready to get knittin on it now, but maybe I should do some gloves first. You know, in case it takes me two years to knit the cardi. LOL

Fingers! At last... erm, for the gloves

Here's the beginning of the gloves. I have the thumbs and both pinkies done now. I've almost got the first ring finger as well. I'm very excited about the project still, so I'm very, very pleased. The magic loop thing works a treat. I'm sure if I was trying to do these fingers with only dpns I'd be a raving loon by now having completed my first thumb.

Now all I have to do is wait and see how my adapting skills work out. This pattern was for fingerless gloves & I've made complete fingers instead. The pattern instructions read to leave the top stitches of the knuckles live so that they could be grafted onto the glove. I turned them into proper fingers instead & will have to pick up the stitches on the cast-on end instead. Hmmm. It seems like it should work out fine, just maybe a little more work getting stitches back on needles. Right? I'm having so much fun knitting the digits up, I'm just not the least bit worried about what will happen when I get to the next bit.

Let's hope I don't have cause to rue those words. LOL The color quality really stinks in my photo. I took the picture at work with a camera we have there (I just haven't been able to find the time at home lately) & the photo came out VERY yellow. I adjusted it with photoshop, but still lost some of the other tones (like the fact that those are bamboo needles!). I needed one of my graphic design students here to help me out. Still, it is closer to the truth than the other was. (Yes. My desk is a horrid, bland grey that blends right in with the keyboard and monitor.)

The yarn is Rowan Felted Tweed in a medium grey. I love the color, it has tiny black/white/light blue flecks in it. This is the first time I've used this particular yarn & I'm really loving it. I'm currenty knitting just under two fingers a day. I'm really hoping to get the fingers done this week so that I can get them all joined up and move on to some the rest of the glove soon. This project is due by mid-December. I should have it completed in plenty of time. If I dont' get too cocky, that is.

That wasn't supposed to happen

I didn't mean to disappear, but life sometimes just gets out of hand. I mentioned that I was starting classes, but after a week and a half I decided that it just wasn't going to work. The program was supposed to be designed for working professionals, but apparently not working professionals with young children. The amount of work due each week would have been stretching my limit without the girls, but with them it was just impossible. So several days last week were spent trying to figure out if I was over-reacting, then when I was sure I wasn't, getting the paperwork & signatures so that I could drop the program. I will try again when the girls are older, if I still want to. I expected to feel a bit more upset about it, but it was very plain that it just wouldn't work. I've had a few snarky comments about me not being able to "cut the graduate level work", but since I already have one MA (in lib. sci.) it is actually pretty easy to blow these weirdos off. I'm really surprised I'm not wallowing in self-doubt or something. Gee, I must have made the right decision. LOL

I have had little time for knitting, though that is beginning to change. I have the one last student gift, the (first) pair of gloves. I decided I wanted to do them using the magic loop method, so that I could maybe get them done faster (once past the learning hump) and practice the method before I try it on socks. Anyway, I spent way too much time doing research on how it is done. Well, come on, I AM a librarian. lol Finally, I realized that I was just stalling & making the whole thing out to be harder than it probably was. So, I cast on and started the first thumb. It was a bit awkward, but after 3 or 4 rounds, it went beautifully. I finished that one yesterday and started thumb #2 this morning. I'll get pics up asap, I've just been running around too crazy to post, much less do pictures too. Sorry. Anyway, I'm not sure about getting two things on the loop at the same time, but I'm hoping that once I get done with all of the fingers I'll be ready to try it for the main part of the gloves.

I'm loving this method of knitting! It is strangely fun and MUCH faster than using all the dpns. Easier on my fingers, too. If the whole project goes this well, I may just develop a glove addiction.

It is the start of the Fall TV lineup & I've been trying to get my schedule all organized. I don't watch "grown-up" TV at home unless I'm home sick. Due to my early work hours I tend to go to bed early with the kids, so I can't really stay up to watch anything at night. The only thing that counts as TV for me is football in the Fall. My kids are not impressed with football & my DH will watch it, but it isn't a big deal to him. I blame it on my Texas roots, but I love football & I'm so happy the season has started! I usually pick one game a week to try to fit in my schedule, or maybe bits of more than one. That is all the tolerance I can get from the girls. My other shows I record and then watch them at lunch at work. This actually works pretty well for me, I have a video monitor next to my desk (for reviewing new library materials) and I just pop on some headphones, turn on the show, have a quick lunch and start knitting. It makes for a nice lunch break.

I've decided to trim a few shows out of my lineup this year. I had too many things to juggle last year, and I got really annoyed by several of the plots, so I'm cutting them loose. We'll see if I can stick to it. This year will include: Lost (on probation, if the plot doesn't get better, it is gone); Desperate Housewives (ditto for this one, Susan drives me nuts!); House (my FAVORITE!); Bones; and Supernatural (I LOVE this show!). I've cut loose Gray's Anatomy. I really dislike Meridith (the character, not the actress) & I hate the love issues with her. My favorite plot was Izzy and Denny & they let him go. Fortunately for me, the actor who played Denny is also on Supernatural, at least he was still alive in the finale, and so I'm dumping Gray's and giving my time to Supernatural. I just hope it can stand up in the time slot, it has some serious competition (for one, Gray's Anatomy). There are some X-File loyalties for this show as well with Kim Manners being involved. >sigh< Yes. I'm an X-Phile, don't get me started. I'm actually much worse(?) when it comes to Joss Whedon. That man can do no wrong...

Start of something new

Whew! I made it through the weekend! I may not have mentioned that I am starting back to school. I'm working on a Masters in Education and my classes started this weekend.

I'm not sure I've started though.

I had an all day class on Saturday (8am - 5pm) and I had homework due for that class by Monday morning at 3am. (Online classes are weird) My second class was added late, and the paperwork took several days longer than I expected. By the time I got access to the class, it was Friday afternoon at 3. This was my first opportunity to get my assignment that was due on Sunday night. I think you see my problem here, no time to get all the reading and assignments done and sleep. Then, because things weren't challenging enough, I got a stye in my right eye. Sunday morning I woke up and my eye was swollen almost shut and it is very light sensitive right now, so working in front of a computer or sitting under a light to read are not really helping it out.

Talk about getting off to a crappy start! Anyway, I emailed the instructor for the late add class and told her my first assignment would be late, but I would be sure to have everything on track for week two (this week). I actually managed to get the work done for the other class, so I'm okay there. Mostly, I'm stressed out at the end of week 1. (This whole week thing is bogus as well, I got started on both classes at the end of week 1, & now we're in week 2 after 2-3 days. Feels really weird.)

My DH took the kids all day Saturday while I was in class. Then he had to wrangle them again yesterday while I was at the clinic for my eye and then struggling to get my work done around my eye issues. I made them a promise that I would try to get all of my reading and writing done during the day (work breaks, etc.) and try not to take up any time on the weekends, except maybe posting assignments. This will be hard, but if I've got two years for this degree, it is the only way it will work out for us. I know there will be exceptions, but those are easily dealt with. This counts as professional development, so I can legitimately do some of my reading when I'm working at the circulation desk as well. That will help. These classes are designed for people who work full-time, so they are mostly writing and reading assignments, not tests (at least this semester!). That will help.

Needless to say, there was no knitting this weekend! I also didn't have time for pictures, but I will add them asap. I did buy some Rowan Wool Tweed for the gloves. It is a nice grey (student's favorite color to wear) with light blue and white flecks in it. I don't know how I'll work it in, but I'll give it my best shot. Just not this week. I want to try the magic loop method and see if I can't learn to do that for these gloves. I think it might slow me down to start, but I'm hoping things will go faster once I get it. I really need these to go fast.

Well, I'm off to go read for class! And to take some time to remember those we lost on this day 5 years ago. Do you remember what you were doing when you heard about the attacks?

Hat & Scarf Done!

I finished the hat & scarf set for my first student gift! Sadly, I forgot my camera so I had to use the one on my phone. The quality may not be as good &, more importantly, that means I'll have to add the photo to this post at a later time. Hopefully over the weekend. I've had virtually no knitting time this week and so I was up two hours past my bedtime finishing the hat, knitting in really bad light so I wouldn't wake up the kids. I really don't want to do that again (the staying up late or the bad light). My reason was simply that we are having a going away party for her at work today & it is her last day at work. If I didn't finish the hat, I was going to have to mail it to England. I knew I only needed a couple of hours to get it done, so I stayed up. It seemed the only responsible thing to do. Now she can take it with her & I can move on to student gift #2.

The hat (in the Baby Grande Alpaca) turned out very nice, although I did struggle quite a bit in the beginning stages. I was trying to be good and plan the thing out, getting my gauge, avg. head size, the pattern I wanted to use, etc., all to figure out how many stitches to cast on. Well, I still managed to get it all wrong & I really don't know why. Anyway, I cast on with a size 10 circ and after three garter rows moved to a size 11 to start the pattern. This shift allowed me to try on the beginning of the hat for size and see that I just didn't know anyone with a head that big. At least not in the literal sense. Ha! So, I took it all off the needles and then put it on my head and tried sizing it that way. After one more false start, I finally got it right. While I wasn't great at geometry, I did do well at a more practical math, statistics. I have no trouble balancing a checkbook, at least not in principle, and "real life" math is usually very easy and straight-forward fo r me. I still can't figure out why my hat math didn't work. Oh well, the important thing is that the hat is done & I think it looks great. We'll see what the student thinks.

I'll be giving it to her in about an hour, and so now the nerves kick in. Will she like it? Is her idea of fluffy my idea of fluffy? I really just need to learn to relax. I'm proud of myself for the attempts at planning and the fact that I wrote it all down. Impressive really. Now I need to start planning for the gloves. I think I've found the pattern I want, I don't have it handy to post the title, but I found it on Knitty.com. It is a fingerless glove, well, with partial fingers, but I will probably put whole fingers on them. Maybe. I like it because it isn't tiny yarn. I really don't want to do gloves with sock yarn. If I find another pattern I like better within the next week I might be willing to change, but once I buy the yarn, I'm done. I've promised myself no significant stash increase as a result of these gifts. I think I'll get another hat out of the leftover Baby Grande Alpaca, so, no stash increase. Woo-Hoo! Look at me being responsible. heh, heh, heh.

Restful weekend

Since the entire month of August was too busy for me with very little time to rest, we went out of our way to have a very laid-back Labor Day weekend. We started our Saturday with a trip to Half Price Books (a used books store) for their 20% off sale. I didn't find any good knitting books, but we did find some fun stuff for the kids and Himself, so it was a good trip. The girls found some computer games (Candy Land, I Spy, etc.) that kept them rather occupied for the rest of the weekend. I was happy that we kept the TV off, though I suppose if we spent time on the computer playing games it might count as the same sort of thing. Hmmm. Well, the games were interactive and we all participated, so it was family time, right?

We did have one sad note this weekend. The goldfish my daughter won at the fair last week died yesterday, so we had a fish funeral. We buried him in the back yard, not a water burial. I'm very glad I bought him a friend. She seemed okay with it, overall, but is quite concerned about "what" killed him specifically. I keep explaining that these fish don't live very long, but that isn't good enough for her. Well, it is an opportunity for continuing dialog I guess, and a trip to the library for fish books.



Sunday night I got to go hear the Yarn Harlot and that was awesome. She is just as funny in person as she is in print. She was wearing Icarus and it looked lovely! She did not have the ends woven in yet, but it really was nice. Sadly, I was unable to get my book signed. For some reason, this was a family trip & by the time we had dinner & then the family waited through her talk, the kids were DONE. There was no way I was going to be able to sqeeze the extra time out of them so that I could wait in a huge line to get my books signed. I was very disappointed, but I really should have considered that before allowing the whole family to tag along. My bad. The venue is this nice book shop with a food court and a small stage. It is a great place to see authors, although a pub might be nicer (ha!). I saw Terry Pratchett here last year & that was a great talk as well, but I digress. There were tons of people here knitting away, I did not get pics of the crowd, although others did, but it was a great time. I never get the chance to hang out with other knitters, so it was fun just knitting with a huge crowd of folks. I've made great progress on my sock and I'm just about ready to turn the heel! I'm actually pretty excited about it, is that too geeky?



I was devastated to get in the car for work today and hear the terrible news about Steve Irwin. I'm hoping my oldest daughter isn't too upset by it, although to be honest, I am. I spent many hours with my girls watching him wrestle gators and find beauty in things that all too often elicit "ick" or "ewww" from the rest of us. He was a special person who had a great gift & I'm so glad he was able to share it with the world and my children. He will be missed by so many people around the world, he was an inspiration to children and adults and that is a great legacy to leave behind. May his memory be eternal.