The Metro Crud

I've seen many of my DC/MD/NOVA blogger buddies suffer through the Metro Crud. It creeps up on you at your weakest moment and gives you a quick one-two punch. I woke up feeling slightly cruddy Sunday morning but just thought that it was a direct result of sleeping in the smoke infested hotel room (I'll save that rant for another entry but lets just say, I'm not done with Sheraton). But by the time we made it to King Street in Old Town, I was beginning to run a fever. The Crud had struck! But did that stop me from visiting Knit Happens? Could the whining of DSS #1 and #2? Could the grumbling of DH? NO!!! I still made it. I was NOT happy with the fact that they all felt the need to stay the ENTIRE time. Sure they all behaved. The boys played with their Gameboys and the lovely KH staff even presented DH with the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated (the jury's still out on whether that was a good idea or not). But I DON'T like the pressure of having people wait for me while I'm shopping. Alas, I couldn't get them to leave so I rushed and picked up a few balls of the Debbie Bliss Silk Alpaca (sooooo yummy, must have more, must roll in it, mmmmmmm) in Burgundy and Winter White for little old moi and some of the cutest Celtic buttons and hightailed it out of there with the testosterone trio in tow to the Air and Space Smithsonian. The only down side of my yarn visit is that I left Donna's number at home and couldn't connect with her AND I didn't get Heather's email until this morning with her phone numbers :( WAAAAHHHHHH! There will be another time knit buddies! Maybe I can finagle a trip up in the near future without the trio :)

Yes, don't remind me, I WAS on a yarn diet and this means that I broke my diet after being so good for 3 1/2 weeks. However, I had to chose between the food diet (I've lost 4 pounds in two weeks) and the yarn diet and the yarn diet WON! I avoided Tivoli (at the Rosslyn Metro stop) and its yummy desserts, ate only one bite of DSS #2's Key Lime ice cream from Pops and only had one slice of Mediterranean pizza with my Caesar salad from Bugsy's. AND I racked up serious activity points by walking for hours on end. I was a good girl and deserve the yarn - dammit!

On to the Top Ten Reasons to Leave Salem, VA for the weekend:

10. 7 hours of knitting Rogue's sleeves and reading the new FCEK in the car!

9. Experiencing other cultures, languages and dialects other than caucasian and african american.

8. Riding (and knitting on) the Metro instead of driving in DC/NOVA traffic.

7. Meeting the lovely Knittish at Knit Happens (she is too cute and too sweet). "HI" and I hope to get back again soon

6. Shopping at real stores and buying lots of great sweaters and fall clothes for next to nothing

5. Great restaurants and eating yummy, healthy food

4. Walking around Old Town Alexandria and shopping at 10 pm at night (I love the nightlife on King Street)

3. Spending 7 hours on the road in the Volvo (her name is Mulva from the Seinfeld episode, the Taurus is named Delores from the same episode, the Town and Country is Winston and the Vanagon is Klaus - but I digress) with two angelic little boys who behaved themselves the entire time! NOT!!! Who am I kidding? Who's idea was it NOT to drive the minivan?(I'll give you a hint, it wasnt me). At least when they're in the minivan, we can separate them. The only way that you can do so in the Volvo is by putting someone in the trunk - and ohhhhhhh, was there a time I wanted to do that.

***(Edited to include the missing #2) 2. Not even thinking about work for two days even though I was three blocks away from my national office, United Way of America!

1. Visiting and knoshing with my brother, mom and dad and nephew all day Saturday

I'm calling in sick and going back to bed now. I thought I could work from the couch but I'm getting dizzy again. I leave you all with this wondrous thought that Lauren brought to my attention this am - Yarn of the Month Club. I may hold out though and see if Marthame starts one with her yummy yarns. Have a great week!

Seam Me, Seam Meeee, graft me, finish me

(to the tune of the Who's "See Me, Feel Me..."). Yes, Rogue is singing The Who from the corner of the family room. It's a tiny, lilting, Celtic voice, pleading for my attention. Alas, KRSP II is keeping me from her until tomorrow. Things hit a snag when the Yahoo settings on the group went awry and started sending private emails to the entire group. Now 20 people think that they have one participant :( I have such a headache right now as a result of the snafu. I know that the kinks will work themselves out but I still feel like I let the participants down. You know what they say about the road to hell being paved with good intentions...

No knitting yet again yesterday :( I had parent night at the school and didn't get home until late. The good news is that I found that the music teacher knits! She was knitting away during the entire program. I almost brought my knitting but didn't want to appear to be an inattentive parent. She's interested in forming a school knitting group. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to bond with other knitters around here. I still have hope.

Heading to DC for the weekend. If any of you are at Knit Happens on Sunday and you think its me, say "hi". I'd love to meet you! Happy knitting everyone.

Yes, this is my pathetic effort toward completing the Rogue sleeves 

Random Corgi pictures of Mavis - Out in the yard (she ran yet again after I got this shot) 

Attemping to run from the camera (Mavi hates all things that make sounds or flash) 

Mavis lounging in the sun  

Cookie Monster - I could see that coming...

Cookie Monster's Bulimia Nervosa



Yes, cookies *are* good. But too much of anything
is never a good thing. Instead of bingeing and
purging, try to regulate your eating habits.
Maybe instead of having two dozen cookies, you
could have two. Also, you should slow down
your eating. Chew each bite several times
before swallowing. Eating more slowly makes it
easier to tell when you are full. And don't
worry about body image--people love you just
the way you are, googly eyes and all.


Which Sesame Street Muppet's Dark Secret Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Thanks to Kerstin, I found my muppet dark secret (part of my muppet dark secret is that I LOVE the muppets - especially Kermit. Note the Kermit the Frog shoelace holders on my new tennis shoes...) is Cookie Monster. I, too, am glad that I wasn't Elmo the crack whore. I'm working on my food obsession - SO BACK OFF! I'm a little hostile from a week of sugar and chocolate depravation. However, I'm down another pound so I'm hoping to stay on target since this Core program is working.

I got RAOK'ed already today by Megan. She was kind enough to welcome me to the group with a gift certificate for some yummy tea. Thanks Megan for the warm welcome. I haven't had time to peruse the list for potential RAOK victims. Setting up KRSP II is sucking up a ton of my time (much like the first one but I somehow chose to mentally block it out). In addition, there's been no knittie since Sunday - grrr. Stir gently with a cup of PMS and three tablespoons of chocolate and sugar deprivation and KABOOM - Super Knit Bitch appears! I've gotta get my knit on soon or someone will pay - and dearly I might add...

Some good knitting news is on the home front. I not only get to visit my little bro in DC this weekend (and knit ALL the way there and ALL the way back - about 8 hours total) but I also get to visit Knit Happens for the first time! Everytime I visit the website, I have to wipe the drool off my keyboard. Plus, they're located in Old Town, one of my favorite places to visit. Hmmm, we're going to be staying in Old Town this weekend. Now I wonder how that happened? Bwa..ha..ha..ha..ha. Will any of my blog buddies be visiting the store on Sunday? If so, I'll be the pudgy brown girl restrained by the police in the corner of the store for trying to roll around in huge piles of yarn that I ripped from the shelves. Come say "hi" to me before they cart me off to jail :)

TTFN, I need to get some work done...

IM

Betcha thought I was joking about the Kermit lace holders... 

Happy Autumn

Fall is here. Brrrr is all I can say about it right now since the day started at around 48 degrees. WTF is that all about? We had to turn the heat on last night. *Heavy sigh* Soon all of the trees will be neck-ed (that's how we say naked in the South) and we'll have a ton of leaves to rake and mulch into little bits. It was great to stand at the kitchen window while cooking DH breakfast and watch the sun slowly peek its head above the mountains. The warmth on my face and a gentle reminder that I was allowed to see another day. Don't take your time here for granted. I have to keep reminding myself :)

Today is Reveal Day for KR Secret Pals I and the kick off of KRSP II. I found out that my secret pal is none other than Jessica from California. And no Jessica, I love surprises SO much that I wasn't tempted at all to know who you were. She sent me a sweet note and let me know that some swag is on its way next week. And guess what? She's expecting! I'm so excited. I think I see some baby RAOK in her future :) Thanks for the great prezzies and I look forward to getting to know you better in the near future.

And finally, after three months, I can tell you that my secret pal was...Heather! It was so much fun being her pal especially when she has been one of my best online buds since I first started blogging :) Love ya H! I still have lots of stuff that I've been stockpiling for the last few months that I need to send her. I got SO behind with my prezzies for her :( The post office isn't as close to my house as it used to be before I moved. It will be fun getting these to her over the next few weeks. Thanks for being patient with me!

I got notice today that I've been accepted into ROAK! I'm so excited :) I thought for sure that there was no chance in hell that I'd get into this group since I was late registering. Now to go visit all of the ROAK blogs and see who I can surprise first.

What a great day! Maybe Autumn won't be so bad afterall...

Pain in the arse

Yes, my butt is killing me today after the spinning class last night. Not from the exercise but from the damned seat on the bike. Now my ass is more than "generous" and I figured that I'd be okay. But even with a gel seat affixed to that scrawny excuse for a seat, it still cut into my butt bone. All of the regulars said that after a few classes "you develop a higher threshold for the pain" and you stop thinking about it. Now why on earth would I want to do that? Its a shame too because I actually did very well and toughed out the entire 45 minutes of hell. My legs feel great today. But (no pun intended) I winced when I sat down for breakfast this morning. I may need to sit on a heating pad for the rest of the day - I'm not joking either :)

However, after the class we were STARVING and headed over to one of the club member's houses for a yummy grilled salad and roasted veges (all WW friendly). We had so much fun. Let's just say that I didn't get home until 10:30 pm last night :)

Needless to say, there was very little knitting last night. After I sauntered into the house (imagine a John Wayne style swagger which was all I could muster up the steps), the last thing that I wanted to do was sit down and wrestle with the grafting on Rogue's hood. I did try a tiny bit before spin class and got frustrated. Why? Because the garter stitches didn't look good with straight grafting. I knew that I needed a technique that would properly graft the stockinette stitches AND garter stitches but wasn't sure what that was. After reading back through the RAL posts, I found that the stitch that will work best is Kitchener. After a quick practice run, I found this to be true. With Kitchener, you can easily alternate purl and knit stitches when grafting. So I will happily seam my dear Rogue tonight when I have more time :) I may cast on the sleeves tonight at the League meeting, though I don't know if I'll get funny looks or not since it seems that no one in the League knits but me (I still find this strangely odd).

On a blogging note, I signed up for bloglines yesterday thanks to Wendy. Man does this service save you time. It lets you know when your favorite blogs have been updated and I was even able to install a tiny notifier that sits in the corner of my taskbar. I love it! I've subscribed to all of my favs and can now pop in during the work day to take a break and see what's up in your world :) I'll bet that this has been around for a while and I'm "Tawny come lately" again. Just stamp a big "L" on my forehead...

Secret Pal reveal day is tomorrow! I can't wait to unveil myself to my pal and find out who my pal is :) Make today a good one...

Fall officially starts on Wednesday

I can't believe that summer is almost gone. Waaaaaaah! The leaves are already starting to change, the squirrels are storing nuts like crazy and man is it cold (its 48 degrees as I speak). BUT with fall starting soon, I have renewed energy to finish Rogue. I really could have snuggled up in her today. The weekend ended up being picture perfect. Great temperatures, lots of sun, lots of knitting, very little domestic work - what more could one ask?

Speaking of Rogue, I finished the hood this weekend. All I have to do is seam it. I've pulled out several different books looking for the perfect seam for it. If I have any luck tonight, I'll post pictures. The cables on the hood are stunning. The Cascade tweed was a great choice. The slubs give the cables great texture and it breaks the monotony of the color. I'm looking forward to casting on the sleeves maybe tomorrow.

I have a busy social week ahead of me. First, I have to match up all of the new KRSP II participants in time to start Round II on Wednesday. We'll have a smaller group this time (around 40 people) which is fine with me. I saw that the Secret Pals III group has over 175 people registered. What a nightmare! It was hard enough with the near 60 in KRSP I. In spite of my efforts, there were a couple of duds in the group :( There's nothing one can do to eliminate them but I still feel bad for those who didn't have very attentive pals. I'm going to try to RAOK some of the ones who were jipped in the coming weeks. Just so they don't feel left out.

Tonight I have Suppa Club with my girls. We're going to a spin class at a local gym and then knosh on healthy food afterward. I've never been to a spin class and am generally against exercising in public but its a great jump start to my new healthy living plan so I'll do it. I'm also starting the CORE program through Weight Watchers. My friend Cheryl is a WW junkie and has been bugging me for months to join. I'll give it a whirl through the first of the year and see where it takes me. These next three months are the hardest for me considering all of the candy, sweets, desserts and holiday goodies that are constantly thrown at me. That coupled with my natural desire to want to pack on the pounds to bulk up for the winter and we have a dangerous combo. I lost a pound this weekend just by watching what I ate and walking every day so maybe there's hope for me yet.

I also have my first Junior League meeting of the new League year on Tuesday. I love getting to see everyone after the summer. There will be lots of new babies and also those who are just beginning their pregnancy. It's kinda like the first day of school. I'm a membership advisor this year so I hope to really get to know some new faces. I'm also hoping to talk some people into forming a knitting group with me. I haven't given up yet ;)

Wow, two nights out in a row. That's a new record for me :) Now if I could find a knitting buddy, I could add yet another night out on my social calendar. O knitting buddy, I know you're out there somewhere, but why can't I find you? :(

On a sad buddy note, one of my best buddies sent one of our mutual friends (a priest by the way) a suicide email Friday night. The two of us scrambled to get in touch with her within half of an hour of getting the note. He's over eight hours away from her and I'm almost three hours away so neither of us could get there quickly and she wouldn't answer the phone. We called neighbors, etc. and couldn't get in contact with anyone. He finally called the state police who found her at home incredibly intoxicated. The details after that are a blur since they took her to a state hospital and we called her sister to come stay with her. I pray that she can get the help that she needs. Her husband left her and their two kids in March and she's struggling to deal with the entire ordeal. But she has so much to live for. I just hope that we can all convince her of that. Keep my friend in your prayers please :)

Have a super week and make today a good one!

Rain, Rain Go Away

I'm staring at the family room wall above the fireplace, wondering when and if the wet spots will develop. The rain seems to be blowing from the opposite direction so maybe we'll be spared this time around. Thanks to Ivan, my cousin in law and his lovely knitting wife won't be coming into town :( They're forecasting 8 - 10" of rain over the weekend which is not fun to drive 8 hours round trip in. Oh well, we can't plan the weather.

Got a tad bit of knitting done on Rogue last night. DH and I spent an hour or so watching a few episodes from Volume Two of the Family Guy. I bought DH Volume One for his birthday and I had to get this one since the first was so funny. If you love Family Guy, you would love VII. Why am I telling you this? Because it was so funny that I couldn't focus on knitting Rogue, that's why. Stewie and Brian have some of the best one liners in VII. I love Stewie even more every day. AND I just found out that the show is going back into production. Can't wait :)

Well, its gonna be a weekend inside where its nice and dry. I hope to get Rogue all finished (just in time for the chilly weather we'll have next week) and maybe, just maybe, work on my knitting room. I need to go through my stash too and make plans for Christmas presents. We'll see if I actually get out of bed to do any of these things. I haven't slept in past 7 am in about a month. Have a safe, flood free weekend my knitterly pals :)

And another thing...

I completely forgot to mention that KR Secret Pals II will start next week. Deadline to join the group is tomorrow though if we're not at capacity by then, I'll accept requests through the weekend until we reach 50. In the meantime, KRSP I will also end next week with reveal day. I'm working on some goodies to send my secret pal in time for the big day. I've really enjoyed seeing how much fun everyone had with the program. While I'm sad to do so, I've decided not to take on a pal in the next round :( I've got a busy two months ahead of me and don't think that I'd be able to keep up with sending gifts. I'm going to continue to send my current KRSP little random acts of kindness, though :) I'm on the waiting list for RAOK and would enjoy RAOKing some people for a while. We'll see if it works.

I'm also pondering Kyoto (from Knitty) and Klaralund and possibly a hybrid of the two. So much knitting, so little time...

Waiting for more flooding

Well, we don't have to worry about our home flooding (though we did get some water around our family room fireplace where the rain blew in due to the high winds during Hurricane Frances) because we live up on a hill. However, our neighborhood is surrounded by rivers and creeks and when the water gets too high, we can't get in or out of it. Needless to say, after I pick up the kids from school, we're heading to grab some extra grub just in case there are problems. And after Ivan passes by, we may have to contend with Jeanne. When will it end? At least I have plenty of knitting I can do if we lose power or are stranded :)

I'm counting my blessings today since I got word from my Mom that they're dear employee, J, passed away in his sleep last night. J was only in his mid-40's and was a really hard worker. My parents have run their own air conditioning/heating business since Dad retired from the Navy over 20 years ago so its just them and the one or two employees that they have on staff. What's even sadder is that J's dad was the one who found him :( AND J's dad lost his wife less than two years ago. I've said it before and I say it again, tell your family and friends that you love them. You never know when its your last day.

On the knitting front, I finally got to do some knitting last night after a three day break. Rogue's hood is it final stages. I started the decreases to the hood last night (see the pictures below). Several people in the Rogue-A-Long had problems with the way that the hood shaped near the top so I'm anxious to see how my Rogue looks. Worse case, I can block any weirdness out of the hood. I found a cute organizer at Tuesday Morning for my knitting (see the pic) that is perfect for keeping up with all of my random gadgets and knitting goodies. Its not very pretty though so I'm still looking for a chest that matches the leather/wicker furniture of the family room. Easier said than done.

I began planning for holiday gifts. Now I need to go through and start to use up the stash. I'm working on designing a couple of patterns for felted bags that I'm conceptualizing. Have any of you ever tested their pattern with other knitters prior to publishing it? If I like the patterns, I may do just that. Stay tuned for more info.

On the health front, I'm trying to get motivated to behave myself. I bought a scale. Now to the average person this is no big deal but for me, its a HUGE deal. We haven't owned a scale in almost 7 years. After I struggled to lose the baby fat from DSS#2, I ditched the scale (yes, I was in denial). I've refused to own one ever since. The scale that I bought calculates Body Mass Index (BMI) and compares your current weight to your goal weight. Hopefully, I'll use it more since it has these added features. Or, I may chuck it out of the bathroom window. We'll see what it says when I get on it for the first time.

A small confession - I bought some yarn for my secret pal while out of town. I don't count that against my yarn diet because I don't get to keep it. You don't have to count calories if you don't eat the dessert, right? Anyhoo, with that being said, I'm on day 12 of my yarn diet. Hard to do for three reasons: I received the new Patternworks catalog yesterday (pages and pages of beautiful yarns) AND a KR member just introduced some loverly new yarns this week AND Jo Ann's has a 50% coupon and I could get a ball winder for around $25. I want, I want, I want! :( Be safe all who are in Ivan's path...

This is what DSS#2 thought of the game... 

New knitting organizer 

Side view of Rogue hood 

Front view of Rogue's hood 

DH and DSS#1 - they were pretty intense during the game :) 

Hokie Football - Look at all of that Maroon and Orange! 

In the mood for a quickie?

Quickie post that is :) Naughty, naughty bloggers... I've got to go out of town for a couple of days so I don't know if I'm going to get much time to post for the next day or so.

Went to the Hokie football game on Saturday (H, feel free to skip over this part - tee hee)and had a blast. There were a bazillion crazy fans and the weather was perfect. We had awesome seats (in the shade the ENTIRE game) and the boys had a great time. I snapped a couple of photos and will post later in the week. Other than that, the weekend was low key, quiet and very knitterly. Which leads me to the next installment of "The Yarn and the Restless". When we left IM, she was pondering how to cope with a possible moment of weakness - break her yarn diet and visit the quaint yarn shop in Blacksburg or run away with Andres? Alas, she would do neither. The little angel on her right shoulder talked her out of visiting the yarn shop and well, DH might take issue with Andres (and Diego too for that matter). So I can now say that I've been on my yarn diet for nine days. Today, yarn, tomorrow, the diet for my health.

Knit bits:

I mainly worked on Rogue this weekend. I'm trying to focus though I'm so easily distracted. I'm nearing completion of the hood. I have about 30 rows left to go and then on to the sleeves. I'm going to knit those both at the same time to make sure that they match. She looks awesome. I hope to finish it by the weekend or at least work on her most of the weekend. We were supposed to have DH's cousin and wife down for the weekend but it looks like Ivan is heading straight for us. I think that the weekend may literally be a wash :( Well, I hope to get pictures up on Wed. Happy knitting everyone!

Tons O' Photos Ahead

Sorry that I've gotten so far behind on the photos. I've been pretty busy this week. Getting the boys back into a routine, dealing with the flooding from the remnants of hurricane Frances (yowza was that scary), trying to get some packages together PLUS it was a short week work week after a long weekend. I also have a grant report due today so this blog entry will be very concise :)

Before I get into knitting news, I just need to make a couple of public declarations:
1.) I've been on my yarn diet for five days and passed the ultimate test yesterday - I went to the LYS and didn't buy ANYTHING!
2.) I'm horribly addicted to knitting. When did this happen? How long will it last? I can't walk into a book store without checking out the knitting books and mags. Its so bad that my youngest son remarked yesterday (as I was checking out the mag section at Kroger ISO new knitting magazines), "Mom should have married a sheep. If she had, then we'd be little balls of yarn instead of little boys." They both laughed for about five minutes. Hmmm, I thought. What could I knit them into?
3.) I'm not good at resisting food especially sweets and DIDN'T pass the Krispy Kreme "Hot Now" test last night. In fact, the boys, DH and I ate almost a dozen donuts just like that.
4.) I'm fat! Yes, I said it out loud and put it in writing - I'M FAT! Not just chunky or big boned but fat. I can't even begin thinking of knitting something like Audrey because its too form fitting and would show every bulge (and trust me, there are plenty of them) on my body. And yes that makes me sad :( Which is why I ate three KK donuts last night, because I LOVE sweets, which is why I'm fat (do you see the vicious cycle?).

Now, I know that I shouldn't be so down on myself but I also had an epiphany this week that I must do something for ME and I must be a healthy example for my boyz. Brother Billy's heart problems certainly helped wake me up and the death of my friend's granddaddy on Tuesday did as well. Life is short. And we need to make the best of what we've been given. I need to get my fat ass out and exercise and stop eating on impulse. Nuff said. Hopefully I can make some headway on the diet front this weekend.

Okay, knitting news. As you can see from the pictures, I've made considerable progress on Rogue. The neck cables are finished and I've knit almost two dozen rows of the hood. Since its getting cooler outside, I'm zipping through this so I can wear her soon (yippie).

Thanks to Amanda for inspiring me to get started on my Christmas knits. That's one of the reasons why I bought the Vogue Bags and Backpacks book. There are so many cute bag patterns (some felted, some not) that I can knit and give for the holidays. The guys are going to be harder to chose gifts for. Anyhoo, I need to break out my calendar and plot out how much time I need to make all of these goodies. I should have enough time but I've got a good sized list.

Going to the 'Burg with my boys to watch the Hokies play tomorrow. I'm a stadium football virgin (except for the exhibition game I saw once with the Carolina Panthers) so I'm a little anxious about how this excursion will go. Can't bring my knitting since I don't want it to end up smelling like beer and nachos :) However, there is a nifty little yarn shop in B'Burg that has the color of K1C2 Douceur et Soie that I need. Must resist urge to buy yarn. Must use up existing stash. Must stay on diet. (cue cheesy soap opera organ music) How long will she last? Can she resist driving past a LYS? Will Diego find out about her affair with Andres? Tune in next week as the saga continues on "The Yarn and the Restless"... Have a super weekend!

First day of school for DSS #2 with the Power Rangers backpack that's bigger than he is  

That glint of blue is the closest to sun that we had for almost four days :( 

Pictures of the rough surf thanks to hurricane Frances 

Another shot of the prayer shawl (see the vacuum in the background taunting me?) 

Shot of the prayer shawl for Grandmommy 

Close up of Kujaku. The wraps on the wool are just like the colorful hairwraps that you can get at the beach now-a-days. I'm very curious about how this will knit up. 

Results of my final SEX hurrah before the yarn diet started (the yarn is the Noro Kujaku that I told you about earlier this week) 

Close up of the side cables 

Detail of the side cables (man does she need to be blocked) 

Detail of the neck cables (sorry that there are so many shadows) 

Rogue basking in the morning light... 

First Day of School

I'm so happy that school started today. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my boys. They are the greatest joy of my life. But we have seen way too much of each other this summer. It was great to see them both so self confident that they ran into their respective school buildings, hugging friends, teachers and administrators along the way - all without looking back once for Mom. Okay, that part made me teary but I'm glad that they love their school. I also got (and gave) lots of hugs and kisses from the teachers, administrators and other parents. It's so nice to be a part of a small school (only 120 students total) where you're like a big family. Even the rain held off this morning. It was a great start to the week (and hopefully the school year)!

For the fourth year in a row, Labor Day weekend was blah. It either rained, threatened to rain or was so damned windy that you felt like the sand was goind to blast your skin off. And when the sun came out and you thought that you could get some beach time in, the waves were so rough that they knocked you flat on your face. All thanks to the residual effects of Frances. Hopefully we can get back in the next few weeks and enjoy a little bit of sun and fun before the fall creeps up on us.

And yes, I did get to knit. I knit and knit and knit for four days and loved every second of it. I finished the prayer shawl on the trip down the beach and am just waiting for an address so that I can send it on its way. I spent a good amount of time knitting Rogue. I must admit that gabbing with my Mom and knitting don't always mix. I frogged the back (armholes) section three times because I wasn't paying attention and missed a simple decrease. I did the same thing to the left neck cables and shaping but for a different reason. I forgot that when you're knitting Rogue on straights, that you have to reverse the pattern directions for the left side. That's okay. I'm learning and enjoying at the same time :) The body is finished (I tried it on and its so toasty and comfy) and the neck cables aren't as hard as I convinced myself they would be. The hood is technically next in the pattern though I may make the sleeves next. Am I chickening out on the hood or what?

I also did a little yarn shopping too. It will be my last for a while since I'm going on a yarn diet starting today. I bought a cute little Vogue book on knitting bags. I may go back to this since I've been knitting garments for the last three months. I visited the ladies at Ewe Knit kits and picked up some extra Cascade 220 tweed just in case I don't have enough to finish Rogue. And my wonderful cousin in law, whisked me away on Saturday for my first visit to the Knitting Sisters (in Williamsburg). I exercised considerable restraint and only bought two skeins of the coolest new Noro yarn - Kujaku. I can't wait to figure out what to do with this yarn. So glad to know where this shop is. I plan to go back soon.

I promise pictures tomorrow. I have to catch up on work and reestablish my morning routine. Hope that everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Last blast of the summer

Me and da boyz are headed to the beach for one of the last times this summer. We'll probably go a couple of times in September but this may be the last good weather that have :( And even that isn't guaranteed since Hurricane Frances is bearing down on the coast. I guess we can't control the weather and should be happy to have the opportunity to go to begin with. Of course, I have to think about what projects to take with me. Rogue is already packed up, I'm also taking Taffy, the commissioned tote bag and the yarn for the prayer shawl. The prayer shawl will probably be top priority as I got word that my friend's granddaddy has taken a turn for the worse. The other projects seem frivolous in light of this news. If you feel so inclined, extra prayers for this family can't hurt :)

Worked on Rogue (I'm almost finished with the back, neck cables here I come) and the tote last night since DH went out with some co-workers (so nice to knit without guilt). Hopefully I'll get some serious knitting done over the long weekend. I'm looking forward to the R&R. Catch ya back here on Tuesday (which is also the first day of school)! Happy knitting!

The end is near...

No, I'm not talking about Rogue. While I did finish the main body and am working on the arm decreases, its nowhere near to being finished. I'm referring to summer. Sigh. August never really got that warm and its already September. Before you know it, we'll be bundling up again and the days will get shorter. I DO love fall and I think that living in a neighborhood with so many gorgeous old trees is going to be very colorful this year. I'll be sure to take pictures.

On the knitting front, Rogue is coming along very nicely (I'll post pictures later). I'll get to work on her quite a bit during the long weekend. Speaking of weekend, I'm so worried that we're going to get stuck at the beach if Frances hits. Not a bad problem but then again, we do need to work for a living. We'll keep our eyes on the sky and pray for the best.

Last night, I cast on and finished the bottom of the tote that I've been commissioned to make - all during a local baseball game. The boys had a blast and I got to knit. Everyone had a good time :)

That's it for now. I've got to head out to take Mavis to the vet. She's still very punny and I'm worried that she's dehydrated :( Make it a great day!