Sunday Sunday

Knit a bit, napped a bit...lazy Sunday.

Class finished

I finished my GATE class today. After being inside all day I came out to drizzle. What a nice surprise. Hopefully it helped finish off the fires and cleaned the air. It was still smoky this morning on my way to class. Now I'm ready for a nap.
I am debating tinking the heel-less spiral socks. I think they are going to be too big. Still can't decide so I am still knitting. My feet and ankles are bigger than they used to be. The yarn is aran weight anyway. It's not likely that I'd wear them for anything but slipper socks.

I feel so stupid

I finally got so overwhelmed by school and the class I am taking, that I called for a sub for the day to spend some time finding and going to get the required text(that Amazon said they could deliver by Tuesday and then told me Wednesday, then next Wednesday) and read it, design the activity I have to do with my class by tomorrow, and write a short reflection on changes I can make in my teaching to support my special population of GATE students. That is only the academic part of it. I also have to round up Halloween decorations for the Fat Friday spread our team is putting on tomorrow. Not to mention the quickly approaching end of term exams that I have yet to teach all the concepts for. Did I say I am overwhelmed?
The only book that was available was in Montclair, about 40 minutes away. I took the kids to school, met with the sub, got everything set up for the day, came home, had coffee with my husband, then headed for Montclair. When I got there I found that I had forgotten my wallet(with my cell phone) by the phone at home. I called good ole hubby(thanks to B&N letting me use their phone) to see if I could put the book on my credit card instead of going all the way home. It would have worked, but they can't key in Debit cards. So I had to call again. He didn't answer. Then he called there (Luckily I left the number next to the phone when I called to have them hold he book.) Then hubby couldn't read the code on the back of the credit card(he had been carrying the card in his wallet and the code had rubbed off). So I had to drive the 40 minutes back home, pick up my wallet and drive back, pick up the book and then drive home again. I have managed to read 1 1/2 chapters so far. I have about 20 minutes before I have to go pick up the kids. They have a dance today after school. The smoke around here is so thick that the sun looks red and I have a headache. I wish I had time for a nap. Here are views of the hills above us and on the way to school.




















Good News
I got replacements for my broken KA needles today. I can definitely recommend SpinBlessing for great customer service.I was able to get started on a new pair of socks while stuck with my needle problem.

Feeling Stalled

The only knitting I did yesterday was when I broke both of my needles for the socks. I e-mailed the company I bought them from to ask about them, but haven't heard back yet. I don't know what else to knit. I am sure I could be knitting something but can't get into it.
Tonight is knitting night at the Yarn Deli. I may go, but am feeling lazy.

KA 9" circulars

I am so bummed. I was working on my granny square socks. I finished one heel and was starting on the other sock when one of the tips of the needles fell out of its socket. Then I took the other one out of the finished sock so I could finish the second one and the same thing happened again. These socks have been sitting so long waiting for these needles and they are defective. I am discouraged.
Wow, I complained to SpinBlessing on
Tuesday and today-Thursday replacements were just dropped off on my porch! Talk about great service!!!

In other news, we can see the fire in the San Bernardino mountains from our porch. It is very spectacular.

You should see the dust

It has been horrible the last two days. The winds are ripping. Luckily the fires are not nearby. The skies are full of brown swirling dust. The street signs are swinging rapidly back and forth. There are branches and debris blowing by.
No knitting today. Tomorrow is knitting club. Hopefully I'll get a little knitting in after I spend the club time helping kid after kid how to knit. I thought it would be a fun club with everyone sitting around sharing patterns and such. Maybe by the end of the year we'll be able to knit along with the kids

Bowling party and the rest of the weekend

After taking a class for GATE education all Friday night and Saturday we had the kid party for my son's birthday last night. It was at a bowling alley. We had pizza and sodas and brought a big chocolate cake with us. I think the kids had fun. I have a couple of videos I could use for blackmail if I so chose. We had a house full of kids overnight. My son had a few extra visitors after he fell asleep.
I haven't bowled since before I broke my back- a long, long time ago. It went okay. I started drinking this health drink my daughter shared with me for my back pain. It's called Mona-Vie. It tastes good, so there is no problem taking it. I don't want to say it is absolutely helping, but it certainly may be. I usually have sharp pains in the night when I roll over. I have barely felt them this past week. I was able to bowl last night and this morning I am just a little bit stiff. I think it is helping with my digestion and energy too.
I finished the newsboy cap I was knitting. I like it. I would like it better just a little bit looser. I wish I hadn't sewn it up so tight. I used a couple of my antique buttons to sew on the band.
I worked on my granny square socks in spare moments at my class. I have one with a finished heel flap and turned heel. I have to attach the heel reinforcement yarn to the other one so I can catch it up.

Birthday boy

My son turned 14 Wednesday. We had a quiet family dinner at Macaroni Grill and a yummy chocolate raspberry cake at home. The kid party is this weekend. I think they'll have a good time bowling with pizza and cake. It's amazing how fast they grow up. He's always been a unique individual. I am proud to have such an intelligent, creative child. He is a joy to be around and to watch grow.
Here's the newsboy cap I've been working on. I am going to choose some buttons from my antique button collection to accent the knit band that goes across the front.

KnitWit Club is doing well

I've been volunteering after school to hold a knitting club at my school. This is our fourth week and for the second week in a row we had about 16 kids there. Unfortunately (or fortunately) almost every one of them is a brand new, never tried it before, knitter. I won't be sitting down and doing any of my own knitting there for a loooong time. I run from student to student showing them how to knit. A couple of them have done more than cast on and knit one row before having to start over. Hopefully we will be able to keep it going and get a good core group.

I did start a newsboy cap with Rowan Ribbon twist today. Then I forgot to bring the pattern home with me. I know to knit 12 rows of the cable pattern. Unfortunately, I didn't read the cable pattern.

Tomorrow is my son's birthday and we haven't planned anything for it yet. Any ideas? He hasn't given us a lot to work with this year.

Working on my Granny Square socks

I carried my notebook of sock patterns, yarn for at least 3 possible projects, and the cuffs of my Granny Square socks to work today in the hope of starting a new project. The Granny Squares won. I am almost done with one heel flap. These are my first socks knitted with size 2 needles and sock yarn. I stopped at Enchanted Unicorn to find heel reinforcement yarn. They had just one bobbin left of the perfect color! Talk about lucky. I guess it is the project I was supposed to work on. It's certainly been a long time since I last picked them up.
I have been using the 9" size 2 KA circular needles I just got. I am not sure if I am sold on them. I guess I'll reserve my judgment til I am knitting in the round again.

Sunday happenings

Ahhhh, none. Sat and knitted all day. Finished my green socks and finished Merlin's "tiger" sweater.
Hmmmm, now what to work on. I am frustrated with the Intricate Stag bag since I decided to try to use more than two yarns. Every row gets so tangled I have to stop and untangle again. I will continue, but slowly. It's just not moving quickly enough to want to spend much time on it. I am going to work on more socks. I guess I should start on the granny square socks again now that I received my short KA circular needles in sock sizes. I've had them on order for some time and never got them so I ordered online and got them in a week.

Lazy Saturday

I did cook breakfast and a great dinner. Went back to Art for Heaven's Sake arts fair with my friend and daughter. Went to help my daughter find a hair straightener, Other than that I knit. My green socks are more than half done.

How long does Jet Lag last?

I have been an absolute zombie this week. I thought jet lag started immediately when you return, but mine got worse all week. I barely got home tonight for a nap. I was looking forward to going to the Art for Heaven's Sake opening, but was so tired I didn't really enjoy it. I did find a bracelet from my favorite jewelry maker. It just wasn't as fun looking around as usual.
Finally finished my bag from the Knit Wit water bottle sling pattern. I think it turned out pretty well. I've been working on the Intricate Stag Bag and a pair of socks. Looking forward to just lounging around this weekend.

The Glow continues

Went back to work today, but am still remembering the beautiful Fall colors. Really tired, but happy. I did catch my husband's cold while we were gone. Hope I kick it quickly. Almost finished my purse version of a water bottle carrier bag while I was gone, but ran out of yarn for the strap. Hoping to finish in the next day or two.

Images of the Woods in Fall

I've been told this isn't typical for Fall. It was very warm this weekend.
I am home. Happy we made the trip. Born and raised in California, I have never seen the leaves change before. It is spectacular. I can't get over the depth of color. Every leaf is different.

Isn't Innisfree beautiful with the stairs and door stained. My son and daughter did it after the rest of us drove home in August. This is the first time I've seen it.

I went around today taking close ups of leaves. Every time I looked again I wanted to take more photographs.
DH was great shutting down camp for the year. Talking on the way back down the mountain to the airport I described what it felt like to go for the weekend. It was like visiting an old friend, or like touching the roots of my existence. It is primordial and familial all at the same time. I love it there.

Oh, and DH had fun playing with his friend in the leaves.

We're Here in the Adirondacks!

Got here yesterday and hung out at the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and Van Auken's Inn in Thendara for drinks and dinner. It was fun. Got to Innisfree after dark. Then Paul had to get the water and water heater working. I was too tired to take a shower last night, but did have hot water to wash with.
The weather is unbelievable here. It was in the 80s with blue skies Friday and probably in the 70s today. Had a great pancake breakfast at Keyes Pancake House in Old Forge. Then we drove around taking pictures of the gorgeous leaves.
I've been told we are about a week past peak color, but OHMYGOD it's beautiful. Went in to Old forge Hardware and saw my friend Danielle who runs the yarn department. Then shopped a bit. We were invited to take the train to Utica today with our friends who run the place. The scenery is fantastic, particularly along the Moose River. I wish I could have leaned out of the train to get pictures. The whole area is packed with people, just like holiday weekends in the summer. I was always told that Inlet closes down after Labor Day, but it was hopping there too.

I did it...I'm going to see the changing leaves

I made my reservations. I am going this weekend!
I feel like I have to justify myself. I will try to get some appointments in with the fireplace people and the people who did the excavation plans for the septic system that won't work with what we need to do. We're going with very little notice. Still, the fireplace people were supposed to do the work while we were there this summer.
I'm going to the Adirondacks to see the changing leaves!!! I've never seen them like this before. Of course I will appear to complete my late night duties for parent conference night first. I have to pack tonight so I can come home and get quickly to the airport. Then it's on the plane by midnight and in the woods by lunch the next day! I can't wait!
Oh, and I started a pair of socks in Revue DKish green. Still can't find my crochet granny square socks I need to finish. Maybe I'll find them while I am packing and deciding which projects to take. That's a lot of time on planes and driving to the woods and back.

Tuesday Scenery

Here are a couple of orchids blooming at my house right now.

I have been searching for the granny square socks I started a while ago. I thought they would be the first socks to make for Socktoberfest. I swear I was carrying them with me to knitting night, but I can't find them anywhere. I took yarn and needles to cast on another pair of socks to make sure I was sock knitting every day this month. After all we had our second knitting club meeting today. I just spent the entire time showing 8 brand new knitters how to cast on and do the knit stitch. I think about 4 of them may be able to do it again next week and I'll be starting over with the others if they aren't too discouraged to come back. I guess I won't be getting any of my own knitting done there for a while though.
I came home, did the grocery shopping, made dinner, and baked cookies. Now it's about 9 pm and I may get up off my tush and get the yarn and start. I have collected so much sock yarn I really need to get off the ground knitting socks.

Merlin's Tiger sweater sans sleeves

Okay, my son says it looks more like a bug or caterpillar than a tiger. Oh well, I'm not going back to the drawing board. This one has doubled and tripled yarn so it definitely is a little too big even using the original number of cast on stitches. If I wasn't in such a hurry to try to get sock knitting for Socktoberfest I might have ripped back a little to narrow the belly a bit. This one will be easier for him to get out of and is heavier than his first sweater. You can tell by Merlin's face this is not his favorite activity to try on sweaters. He was still purring though. I think he just likes all the attention.