Lots of stuff...

The end of the school year is in sight - we're out on Thursday! (Okay, the kids are out on Thursday and my last day is Friday.) So I'm madly trying to get things wrapped up and stuff off my desk, and books to add/delete from the library off the bookcarts...

Okay, one item finished in the last couple weeks:
The Rainbow Blocks Blanket (once again)
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy
colors: Lipstick Lava, Strange Harvest, Happy Forest, Nightwatch, Visual Purple
Size I hook (5.5 mm)
Finished size 35"x35"

This one is for one of our Latin teachers, whose baby is due any minute!

In among all those projects, I'm trying to finish a Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl from some Dream In Color Baby yarn in Pansy GoLightly (purple, of course) (pictures later) for one of our counselors who is retiring this year, and I should get one more baby blanket done before Thursday for the other counselor who is due next month!

Which basically means that I should get off the computer and keep knitting.

And A Meme:

1. What was I doing ten years ago? About the same as I'm doing today: mom, school librarian, thinking about buying our first house

2. What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
A. Take The Dork to a fencing competition
B. Loads of laundry
C. Knit / maybe finish the retirement shawl
D. Put medicated drops in The Dog's ear
E. Knit some more

3. Snacks I enjoy: anything cheesy, chips, berries/cherries

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: pay off debts, ongoing donations to several charities that we support, renovate the kitchen/add on to the house (a fiber room, maybe?), put $$ away for The Dork's college education and our eventual retirement, take care of The Parents and The In-Laws

5. Places I have lived: Norwalk CA, El Toro CA (now called Lake Forest), Los Angeles, San Jose

6. Jobs I have had: babysitter, word processor, receptionist/secretary, office manager, librarian

7. Peeps I want to know more about: anyone who wants to join in!

And I will leave you with a berry picture - the blackberries in the backyard are almost ripe!

9-1/2 inches of meetings

The Hubby had that many phone meetings/conference calls today. He proudly came and showed me his progress on some practice knitting that he'd been working on. We'd decided that a smaller ball of lighter-colored yarn would be better for him to start on because he was getting frustrated with the thick/thin qualities of the beautiful purple handspun he wanted to use. But, by George, I think he's got it!

I didn't quite have that much knitting time this week, but through the fencing competition last weekend, one meeting and a few rounds here and there while keeping control of the chaos of 4th graders practicing their poetry presentations aloud, some progress was made. One sock done, one toe started. Luckily Mr. Size 11 Wide Shoes (aka The Dork) decided he wanted short socks! I realized that I need to get the 3rd pair of socks (mine - probably Monkeys in STR lightweight, Peaseblossom) done by the middle of June.

The Montego Bay scarf also got some attention. I'll really have to step this one up because I want to present it to my secret pal in 2 weeks. This is about 18" long.

Oh, and the baby blankets that need making, and a retirement scarf present... I really should get off the computer and get knitting!


P.S. The Dork didn't do so well at the Pasadena competition ("Yes, I was 111th out of 114! and 48th out of 48! and 57th out of 63!") but we knew that the level of the competitors was going to be very high. It was good experience for him and the other guys from the club who were there. If he trains hard this summer and into next season, he'll be in a much better position to earn a higher rating. Meanwhile, there are a few more smaller fencing tourneys over the next month before Summer Nationals (July 1-10 here in San Jose). He'll be coaching some of the younger kids from our club then.



P.P.S. And the other member of the family? She's providing lots of bird-nesting materials! That's just a few minutes of finger-combing her fur this evening.

Happy Mother's Day

to all you moms, and to all your moms too!

We were setting up for the Book Fair at school, and I was supervising several volunteer moms. I mentioned that as soon as The Dork showed up, I was going to put him to work, regardless of the amount of homework he had. However, when he walked in, he put his bags down and asked, unprompted, "what can I do to help?" When I recovered from my heart attack at his words, and everyone stopped laughing, he provided a lot of assistance.

So, my wish for your Mother's Day is that your children offer to help out unexpectedly, and then follow through!

I was lucky enough to spend a little time with my mom this weekend, as we're down in Pasadena at a fencing tournament (Pacific Coast section championships). My parents came to see The Dork fence for a while, as they had no idea what the sport really is about. Then they left to do some other errands in the area. The best part was that Mom had no idea that Dad had set up a surprise birthday dinner for her (her 70th is next week), with the immediate family this evening. She certainly didn't expect to see us again, as she thought we were going to be with the other fencers from our club this evening. A good time was had by all!

Now, if the Dork does better tomorrow then he did today, I'll be a Happy Mom!

Actual knitting content!

See? I really have been knitting!

These are Dork's socks, started just over a week ago out of STR Lightweight, Korppi colorway - size 11 wide feet! He loves the green and purple hints in this color.










AND
I've taught Dear Hubby how to knit, for real this time!
"Don't make me look at you over my knitting!"

He bought a beautiful purple wool/mohair handspun yarn from Artemisia Ink, a local blogger/yarn artist, and he wants to make himself a garter stitch scarf. So I cast on 30 stitches for him, and away he went! [The only size 8s I had available were double- pointed, so that's what he's using, with a point protector on one end of each needle.]

Unexpected...

A trip to Maker Faire!

I'm sorry to have missed Stephanie yesterday, but there was no way to get out of work at the public library. I didn't think that I would go today because I took The Dork to a fencing competition. However, he didn't do so well, and we were done and on our way out of San Francisco around 11 AM. Since I had one of The Dork's coaches with us, I thought maybe we should take him home first to Redwood City and then reverse back up to San Mateo. But J thought it would be fun to go with us.

We saw lots of cool stuff! A guy in a cool leather reptilian costume (he was giving directions to someone),









R2-D2 (fully automated, remote controlled),









and a walking giraffe.









Please excuse the bad camera shots; they were taken with my cell phone, as this was an Unexpected Detour and I didn't have the good camera.

Over at the blacksmith's area (an old fire engine, converted into a forge), I was watching a glassblower work on a beautiful glass ring, when all of a sudden she got up, squealed and hugged someone. That someone was also Unexpected for me - Yarn-a-go-go! And then realized that I was standing next to Lala! Alas, no pictures, however.

Another Unexpected thing - I'm turning the heel on the first of The Dork's socks. Somehow I did not expect to get this far this quickly, even though it's been about a week. I guess that actually knitting on them makes them grow! (Thanks to a faculty meeting, and wandering around the Maker Faire.)

And why, oh why, is Monday always Unexpected....?!