Did anyone find April and May around here?

April and May seem to have gone missing from the blog. Oh, maybe that's because I didn't post at all during those months...how the time seems to have disappeared!

But it's now June, and school has ended for the year. Not that I dislike my job - far from it - but it was definitely time to let the kids go and for me to have some time away from the responsibilities of being a school librarian. This was a tough year in some ways, as I was asked to stretch myself in directions that I didn't think I wanted to go.

And for someone who is now on vacation, there is an awful lot on my calendar! During June, there is only one day (ONE DAY!) that doesn't have something scheduled on it. However, this IS considered vacation, because some of those events don't start until evening, so I can sleep until I'm ready to wake or the dog decides she's tired of being in her crate, whichever comes first.

So, last time I posted, I mentioned that I had a bad case of Startitis. Well, I'm now working my way through MustFinishStuffFirstBeforeIStartSomethingElse-itis. By the way, if you want pictures, look at these previous posts and imagine more of the same in the pictures!

Case in point:

Knitting:


Girl Friday -- back and fronts done, one sleeve almost finished. BUT, after taking a Fit to Flatter class with Amy Herzog, have discovered that I'm making it a size too big. I'm debating whether to pull it completely out and redo it in the smaller size, or if I should just pull it back to the underarm shaping and refigure the numbers to make it smaller just in the upper chest/shoulder area.

Chad -- back done, front cast on and ribbing done, except that I forgot to use a smaller needle for the ribbing. RIIIIIPPPPP! Only 2 inches of 2x2 ribbing, so luckily not too much!

A's mitts for Richard -- done!

Octavia shawl -- done (just not blocked yet)!

Yet another Eco Cloud cowl for a goodbye gift to a coworker who is moving to Buffalo, NY to work on a PhD in medieval literature.

San Francisco Giants mitts -- a commission (which I don't usually do) for a coworker as a gift to his friend who takes Pat to several Giants games each season. My payment -- he will donate to No-blog Rachel's fundraising effort/walk for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk in September.

The Lost in Transit scarf is languishing, the Susie coat is just sitting around, as are the plain vanilla socks being made from my hand-dyed yarn.

But I want to start a Daybreak shawl (I may have cast on for this already...don't tell anyone), need to knit socks from my purple handspun and from other yarn in stash, got ideas for altering a completed Spanish Dancer shawl, and.....we could be here forever with the list of "wanna-dos".

Spinning - need to finish projects:

Baby camel/silk blend - about 3/4 done; aiming for a 2-ply laceweight, spinning on my Lendrum.

Abstract Fiber merino/silk blend in Poppies colorway -- just over half done, spinning on the KCL drop spindle. Was originally going to ply the colors togther, but now, I may spin a matching single from a lovely alpaca/silk blend (also Abstract) in Black n'Blue and ply those.

Tri-color BFL (Frabjous Fibers) in Stained Glass colorway -- almost 1/3 done spinning on my Victoria.

The cranberry and gold wool spinning project is currently on hold until I clear up one of the projects already on the wheels.

The mind is bursting with desire to knit and spin and sew (need to sit down and bust out two quick baby quilts that were promised to parents - the babies are now 4 months and 2 months old, respectively).

But the time has gotten away from me and the calendar is filling up with appointments and rehearsals. I've just joined a local gospel choir, Joyful Noise, and we have rehearsals every Tuesday evening, in addition to my normal Thursday evenings at the public library. Then there is the storytelling that I do with my friend Sharon for the public library. We do one story a year for the summer reading program, but have been asked to tell our story in a couple weeks for a Friends of the Library function. We need to get the rehearsal schedule together. Oh, and there are the two presentations that I'm supposed to do at a Teacher Institute next week, one of which will also be presented in Philadelphia at the ISTE conference in two weeks, and the teachers with whom I'm helping find resources for a major curriculum rework in 10 days.

No wonder that Time has been disappearing fast!

Startitis

Well, since my last post, I finished a second Eco Cloud cowl, this time casting on 75 stitches, and a pair of fingerless mitts. Both are for me. Thank goodness this week has been Spring Break from School so I could do all these things!

These mitts are based on the Jacoby pattern, but I made the top part longer and added several rows to the thumb. This way, I can keep more of my fingers warm, but also can fold down the top if I need to use my fingers. Now, I need to finish a pair for R so we can wear them to Opening Night of the Oakland A's season tomorrow! (Baseball season has started -- Hooray!)

What you see below are my pair, and the one on the needles on the top left are for R. Mine were done on 60 stitches, and his are on 68 stitches. You can see how the striping pattern has changed, and how the addition of the thumb gusset changes it too. (Claudia Handpaints fingering weight in the A's colorway.)


But in addition to 2 pairs of fingerless gloves, I've got a major case of startitis! I've been a good girl and swatched to check gauge.

Girl Friday -- I've had this rosy peach Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool since Dec. 2009, and I've finally found a good pattern for it!



Cassidy -- working on this in Cascade Lana d'Oro, color 9923, an alpaca/wool blend that I've had for almost 3 years now (sorry no pics, yet).

Chad (Ravelry link) has been calling my name! You know how you've acquired quite a stash, but nothing matches the patterns you want to make, either in gauge or quantity or color or ... I've been wanting to make this for a while, but didn't have anything in stash with the quantity that I needed. I'd almost resigned myself to buying some Greenland, the called-for yarn in the pattern. But then, while I was hanging out at Purlescence, I noticed a skein of Dream in Color Classy in the Plum Paisley colorway. You may remember that almost 2 years ago, I bought 5 skeins and then found the perfect buttons for it. But subsequent dye lots of this yarn were very, very different. But this one was the same as my previous purchase. Buying one additional skein was the right decision and I'm loving the knitting of the waffle pattern for Chad!

And then, along came a pattern a couple nights ago from Debbi Stone, a Goddess Knitter from Blue Moon. Her Octavia lace shawl pattern just jumped at me and onto the needles. The lace pattern has violets in it and calls for about 350 yards of fingering weight yarn. In going through the stash of sock yarn, I pulled out a few that I thought might work. Asked the DH which one he thought would work best and he chose the semisolid Socks that Rock Lightweight in .... Vancouver Violet. Perfect match!


I'm still spinning the Abstract Fiber silk/merino on my KCL drop spindle, but Kelli and I decided that the colorway should really be called Brazilian Carnaval, not Poppies.

I've spun about half of the baby camel/silk from Stitches, and have also started some Ashland Bay merino top that will be plied together, half in Cranberry, and half in a yellower/deep gold blend.

And yesterday, I got a new wheel! She's a new-to-me Louet Victoria. Help, I need a name for her!


To make matters even more interesting, I've also started up on Twitter as @PurpleYarnQueen.

Like I said... Startitis!

Coming back down to Earth...

So the last month has been all about Stitches West 2011. Scheduling time off from work, knitting for it, planning, looking forward to it, etc. I love seeing people that I don't see very often, enabling people into some wonderful yarn or fiber and generally reveling in the creative atmosphere that is Stitches.

Because I was working in the Purlescence Yarns booth, I wanted to knit with yarns they were going to be selling. Since they were bringing over mostly Cascade Yarns, I took a look in my stash for something to work on.

Behold: Red Pogona by Stephen West
1 skein of Cascade Heritage 150 paints in red (col. 9958)
US 6 (4mm) needles





And: Cowl (imaginatively named, huh) based on Mulberry Merino Cowl
1 skein of Cascade Eco Cloud in medium gray (col. 1810)
US 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles

Love, love, love this new yarn! It's very squishy and soft and I'm going to make another one, but casting on fewer stitches to make a closer fit for me. The original one is going to a friend.

Also had time to cast on and knit about half of Lost In Transit scarf from 1 skein Cascade Heritage Silk (col. 5639)
US 6 needles


That knitting was using up stash. You'll be shocked to know that I did not acquire much yarn to replace what I just used. In fact, I only bought one hank of yarn at the show. Okay, so I bought more than a pound of fiber instead of yarn...

Clockwise from the upper left:
4 oz. of merino/silk in that nummy blackberry purple from Redfish Dyeworks
2 oz. of merino/yak/silk in Supernova from A Verb for Keeping Warm
2 oz. of baby camel/silk (natural color), also from Verb
2 oz. of yak (natural color) from Rabbitworks Fibre Studio
(another shot of the previous 3 fibers)
400 yards of Toe Jam sock yarn (alpaca/mohair/silk/merino) in Bloodlines also from Rabbitworks
2 - 4 oz. braids of merino from Judy's Novelty Wool (her website is very bare-bones). One braid is Teal, the other is "Henson Reunion '04"
and 4 oz. superwash merino in Patronus from Sunshine Yarns.

Another acquisition happened too, but I didn't pay for it. The Boy had promised to give me a fast flyer for my spinning wheel, but hadn't gotten it yet. So he came to Stitches, ostensibly to buy some yarn to make his girlfriend a scarf, but also took care of this outstanding debt too. So now I can spin some of this lovely luxury fiber into laceweight yarn.

Much as I've tried to get my body to pull out the wheel and spin some of this stuff, today has been all about letting my brain rest. Maybe I should head to bed soon...

Time flies when you're having fun... or Who Took My Year?

How did that happen? I blinked and it's almost the middle of January, and I haven't posted since September! Where does the time disappear to? Did someone else need it more than I did?

Okay, I need to recap what I've been doing (mostly for myself because I don't think anyone is left out there reading my rambling).

In my crafty life --

There has been knitting:

In October, I finished 3 hats for Shanti's Mom's Ships Project to put hats on the heads of sailors on her ship. Those are down the left side.

From next column clockwise: Fingerless gloves for The Dork, Bryony tank, Handspun Scrunchable Scarf for me, Striped scarf for Hubby, Purple socks for me, Hawthorne shawl (yes, it takes the entire width of our queen-size bed).

In progress now: a Pretty Thing cowl in cashmere!


Quilting:
Only one this year, but there are a couple more in the works that I can't show you yet. Remember I had bought some blue fabric back in 2008 for an ocean themed quilt? Well, I added to the fabric stash... and then this:

Blue batiks

became a quilt/playmat for Reuben Jeffrey James Miles
 

Spinning:

Ahhh, spinning! I've done more spinning in the last year than I've done in a looooong time, and that includes the Tour de Fleece. That's because I enrolled in SpinU, a 12-week intensive class at Purlescence taught by the incomparable Sandi. We did all kinds of spinning, from understanding the basics of worsted-style and getting our hands to do woolen-style spinning, to working with long- vs short-staple fibers, to various art-yarns. I've got a better understanding of my wheel and how to get it to do what I need.

My favorite spinning was the laceweight cashmere/silk and camel/silk blends in the upper left photo. (I loved working with the good stuff!) And, The Dork Boy says he's getting me a high-speed flyer whorl for my spinning wheel so I can more easily spin the finer stuff.

In other crafty things, my sister-in-law made this embroidery for her mother (my MIL):

Lovely!















School has been busy and we're heading into what I call "research season" starting with the 3rd graders this week. We're also involved with accreditation reports for the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), and I'm heading a committee. Add to that supervising a part-time librarian (who used to be my boss - she's semi-retired), and I'm sometimes silly busy.

In the home improvement area, we've had 2 fences go down in a windstorm before Christmas. The backyard was quickly repaired by our neighbors who propped it up. The side fence, which we knew was a problem, will be replaced probably in the spring when it's warmer. There also have been washing machine problems, a replacement water heater (tankless!), a new-to-us TV, and some reorganization and destashing of stuff. Another run to Goodwill needs to happen soon.

The holidays came and went too quickly. I blinked and the time between Halloween and the New Year whizzed by.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Stitches West, which will be in just a few weeks. Hmmm, what can I make before then...?

Whew! I guess I was pretty busy, wasn't I?

Finishing my vacation

Okay, I started this blog post last month. Now it's the official end of summer in the US, Labor Day, and I realized that the post still isn't done!

The summer was full of projects and, I think overall, that a lot got done. It just went by really, really quickly!

There has been cleaning and decluttering, and there is more yet to be done. But I'm feeling better about the lower amount of stuff in this house. Some people say there is a feeling of lightness that occurs, and I think I'd have to agree.

However, does that mean I've gotten rid of yarn stash? Not entirely! I am, though, using some stash.

Proof:

The Fall Twist Collective came out, and I immediately fell in love with the Hawthorne shawl. I have some alpaca yarn that I bought several years ago up in the Medford area, from Alpacas at Lone Ranch, and it's knitting up beautifully. It's done, and I just need to get a modelled shot of it.

I've started the Bryony tank by Amy Herzog and am knitting it in BabyBoo, a bamboo/nylon blend. We (Sandi and I) did some customizing of the pattern because the row gauge of the original yarn is very compressed compared to the row gauge I'm getting. And, I'm combining two sizes for the front to accomodate my hips, decreasing down to the appropriate bust size. Back is done and I'm halfway through the front. Love the cable detail on this!

I have about 3000 yards of this beautiful Artfibers Alfabeto (silk/mohair) that Sandi so kindly gifted to me. I started a mindless project to take on vacation up to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, so I came up with the Point Edge Wrap. Show knitting was supposed to be garter stitch with a beautiful edging. However, I failed entirely to manage an 8-stitch lace pattern in the dark.

Hence, a stop at Web*sters in Ashland for yarn for a simple mindless scarf - no yarn overs! I got some Colinette Cadenza in the colorway Marble, 2 skeins became another Scrunchable Scarf. Even better, I had a gift certificate to use!

While in Web*sters, I was in the sale room when I turned around to see this gorgeous braid on the table. They had just gotten this beautiful tri-color BFL in "stained glass" from Frabjous Fibers in Vermont. MUST.HAVE.NOW. So I did.

But I had also bought 8 oz. of gorgeous Mendenhall Merino black fleece from Purlescence. Much of the fiber I buy has to sit and marinate for a while until I decide what it wants to grow up to be. However, this stuff --- yummy! Must. Spin. Now! The locks are almost 3 inches long and the crimp is beautiful and tight. So I washed it, and now it's completely dry, and I want to just spin it right off the locks as is. But I should be good and flick card it first...

And now, I'm taking the SpinU class at Purlescence, so there is a lot more spinning in my future.

That led up to this past Saturday. Rachel and I decided we needed a day to dye. So she brought over some supplies and fiber and yarn and I ransacked my stash, and we spent over 4 hours playing with color in my backyard.

I dyed some light grey colonial top with a mixture of violet & lavender, and another braid with blues, experimented with some tussah silk, and overdyed some Malabrigo worsted. "What!?" I can hear you saying, "But Malabrigo comes in such gorgeous colors!"

"Yes" is my reply, but the ones I bought weren't quite my colors, so now they are! See the Mineral Red skeins in the top left corner? The big picture on the right is the "after" shot, with the addition of mahogany and royal blue.

One very different project occurred before school started when I took a break from my fiber obsession and took a little trip up to San Francisco. Last year when my parents came up this direction, they went to the National Archives in San Bruno and found / copied some documents about my mother's grandfather and his family. Supposedly, he was born in San Francisco in 1878 at 531 Jackson St., the brick building on the corner. Now it's a Chinese restaurant. Some of these documents were transcripts of interviews with him to prove his identity as a native-born citizen. There are addresses of the places where he lived as a child and adult, his work as a laundryman and merchant. So I went up to SF's Chinatown and walked around, trying not to completely look like a tourist, but pulling out my camera at each address I found. He was about 18 years old at the time of the 1906 earthquake, and of course, many of the addresses are newer buildings.

However, I've since found out that not one address in those documents was connected to my great-grandfather at all. Sigh! According to a written history that my grandmother created about the family (that I did not have a few weeks ago), her father-in-law came to this country through Mexico. Since a lot of documents were destroyed during the 1906 earthquake, many Chinese men created stories about their early lives that could not be verified. They had to have every detail in place to "prove" that they were "citizens" and eligible to stay in California. These "Paper Sons" made it difficult to discern what is factual and what is false about their lives. I guess I'm having a hard time reconciling these other documents because I don't want to believe that someone in my family lied, even if it ultimately led to all the other truths that I know about my family.

So, some of my summer projects have been more productive than others, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with how much got done.

Now, on to the new school year!

Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime...

It's taken nearly a month for me to finally feel like I'm on vacation. Usually the first few weeks is spent dealing with all the stuff you've put off "until I have a moment (or several hours) to deal with it". Oil change in the car, hair, dr appts, blood donations, etc. And then you need to get out and pick up that stuff that wasn't quite necessary, but would be nice to get fixed, stock up on, etc. Costco, hardware store, kitchen stuff, etc. Catch up on the emails you've been meaning to send and the websites on the list to explore, the music/books you've been meaning to pick up.

Then there's the retirement parties, graduations, college orientations, and some professional presentations to prep for.

No wonder I'm exhausted from my "vacation"!

There has been knitting during this time, believe it or not.

Proof:

Finally finished the (no-longer-secret) Retirement blanket - each strip was made by a different person. I gave 6 other crocheters/knitters a skein (or two) of yarn and said something along the lines of "choose any stitch pattern you like, and make it about 7 inches wide and as long as the yarn holds out". Turned out that everyone's ended up being about 50 inches long. Mattress stitched the strips together and single crocheted edging, and there is a lot of love stitched into this blanket.

Citron shawl:
1.25 skeins of Dream in Color Baby, 8 repeats
Color: Into the Mystic
Needle: size 6 (4.0 mm)
Started: June 10, 2010
Finished: June 28, 2010
(but not yet blocked or photographed)

Also working still on the Susie Hoodie and my Purple Vanilla Rib socks, but no new pics.

The Dork also finished his first knitting project: the Horizontal Rib scarf (Ravelry link, even though he's not on Ravelry - yet) in Dream in Color Classy in Deep Seaflower.



He is one of the loosest knitters that I know! This was worsted weight yarn that I had to have him work on size 5 needles, and probably should have gone down to 4's. But, it's a finished object and he's already given it away to a friend!

Next up for me: Tour de Fleece. My goal is just to spin each day and see how far I can get into the stash of fiber! I've got at least 3-4 pounds of fiber of all different types & colors that I want to get to. There's Polwarth, Targhee, superwash merino, BFL, merino/tencel, merino/bamboo, various batts of unremembered fiber, etc.

But I'm heading to Southern California this weekend for a little get-together of some high school friends, many of whom I haven't seen in more than 25 years. [Love the House of Mom & Dad, too.] Should I take my wheel, or just my knitting? Hmmm, do I have knitting at the right stage of mindlessness... Oh no, maybe I need to cast on something!

Happy 4th of July to all US readers and Happy belated Canada Day to the Canadians! Happy Friday to everyone and watch out for invading grapevines!

Oh dear -- another month gone!

So, this month has zoomed by, much quicker than anticipated. Of course, being sick for 2 weeks will make the time go quickly. Actually I was really only sick for a couple days. The aftermath asthma has kicked my butt for the rest of the time. Lack of oxygen will do that. Love my inhaler and cough meds! Luckily (or unluckily) this past week was vacation from school, and I didn't have anything planned!

But there has been lots of knitting over the last month! This is the back of my Minimalist Cardigan. The fronts and back are finished and I'm working on sleeve one. I'd like to get this done in time for Stitches West in a couple weeks.

There is also a Secret Blanket, which (shame on me) still isn't quite done, so no photos. These 2 are part of the 3 projects I designated for this month's #UFOSmackdown 2010. The 3rd project was finished right at the beginning of the month - Hubby Socks. They're in the laundry right now, so I'll photograph them later.

And then there are the other projects... Here is the first Fine Cabled Mitt that is destined for The Hubby. Only have about an inch to go on the hand and the thumb to finish.

Since the mitt isn't quite "knit in the dark" material, and I was going to see the new Cirque du Soleil show "Ovo" last week, I cast on a vanilla 3x1 rib sock to carry in my purse. Through a doctor appointment for me, a visit to urgent care with Mari and the show (fabulous and recommended), all on Thursday, I'm up to the gusset increases. This is Rabbitworks Fibre Studio Toe Jam sock yarn in Black Orchid. Love, love, love how the fabric is working up! (And she'll be at Stitches West, so I can get some more...)

And then I promised myself that there would be no Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics knitting this time around, due to the timing of the other projects that need doing. But then I was watching the opening ceremonies and before I knew it, Spanish Dancer had appeared on the needles. I loved how the yarn (Ellen's Half-pint farm's merino silk blend) patterned when it was wound. I'm about 2 inches into the garter portion right now. (No, Kathy -- must work on blanket....!)

In the "other creative stuff" category, I decorated this mailbox (found at Target) with some rub-ons that I had. Destined for my secret pal at school, I stuffed it with some other gifts, including chocolate, and I think it turned out adorably! Will have to keep this gift in mind for others...

Remember this scarf (Ravelry link)? I gave it to my hairdresser as a Valentine's Day gift and he was so excited by it that he immediately put it on and declared that he was going to wear it all day! Isn't he cute?!

 

Another creative thing happening is by The Dork! He liked the horizontal rib scarf (from One More Skein) so much that he wanted to cast one on, but in a chunky weight. He's using Rowan Colourscape in the Storm colorway and doing a great job with it. 

And one last picture for you -- last month I ripped out 4 different projects that were never going to be finished, a twin-bed sized blanket, a shrug, a vest and a shawl. The yarn for the 2 larger projects are gone, out of the stash, out of my life...good riddance!

I really should go and get something done today besides sit on the couch and knit. Oh, but I guess I have - I've written a blog post...

Hello?! Is anyone out there?

So, after my last post (has it been over a month already?), I hunkered down and tried to regroup my energy. I haven't felt like I was very productive, but in looking at the pictures I've just uploaded, I guess I've done okay.

See, there was knitting!

Two socks were done. But too bad that they are not mates to each other. However, one is for me (the top one in Regia Galaxy) and one is for The Hubby (bottom, Dream in Color Smooshy), so I guess they are mates after all. I'm working on the matching socks.




Remember this post about my epic Olympic project equipment failure last year? Well, the yarn has been resurrected as the Farmer's Market Cardigan from the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. The pattern actually calls for Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted, which is what I have, in the Dusk colorway. I realized that there was still a lot of excess dye on the yarn, so I would need to wash it again. This time, I used the hottest water I could and a lot of vinegar, hoping to wash and set the color. You can see how much dye there was! I'm still getting a little on my hands, but it's not bad now.

And it's working up beautifully! Since my skeins were from different dye-lots (I had to get one extra, just to make sure I had enough), I'm alternating a few rows from one skein and a few rows from another. So far, so good; I've reached the waist decreases.





The Sea and Shells Stole is finally done!

Pattern: Sea & Shells stole
Yarn: Malabrigo Merinocash in PearlTen
Needle: size 4 US (3.5 mm)
Started: May 12, 2009
Finished: September 29, 2009 (on my birthday!)


Crocheted a baby blanket for a co-worker's baby born last week.
Pattern: Rainbow Blocks (a Leisure Arts pattern)
Yarn: Lion Brand Woolease in Blue Sprinkles, Hunter Green Sprinkles and Ivory Sprinkles
Hook: size I US (5.5 mm)
Started: October 3, 2009
Finished: October 20, 2009


In garden news, we got a grand total of 5 butternut squash this year. The smallest of these is a little over 1 pound, the largest is almost 4 pounds!






Remember the pumpkin plant that tried a takeover? Well, we got a total of 6 off the vine. The largest is 19+ pounds, the smallest (a surprise that we just discovered last week under the basil) is about 2-1/2 pounds.






And a friend from school finds these gigantic Fuji apples every couple years and brings me one. The tape measure does not lie - it is almost 13" around (4" in diameter).


So then I see a post from Norma about butternut squash, plus apples and onions with a little cinnamon and brown sugar. This turned into our version, butternut squash, apples, onions with a little curry powder. Yummy! Sorry, no picture - it was eaten up too quickly.

Oh, and then there's The Dork and his new best friend, Ellie. Peek-a-boo!

Tired...

...of hearing bad news. I've just found out about a teacher who passed away from cancer this evening. He'd been ill since May. Another former coworker of mine passed away from a different form of cancer, less than 2 weeks ago - she was a few months younger than I am, and she leaves 2 young children. I'm trying not to be pessimistic, but it's been hard in 2009. In August, a friend's father (cancer) and one of Hubby's cousins (unknown how he died); in May & June, the last of my great-uncles (Alzheimer's complications), my father-in-law (heart and Parkinson's disease), and one of my dad's best friends (cancer).

Please consider supporting the American Cancer Society so we can find some answers to the many forms of this horrible disease.

Also, I'm tired of knitting on my Sea & Shells stole. I'm really close to the end of the skein; in fact, there's only about 10 grams left. If I'd stop playing Bejeweled, I could be done with it tomorrow! I'm not allowing myself to work on either of the sweaters I cast on recently until this is finished. Pictures will be forthcoming when it's finished and blocked.

However, I'm not tired of looking through the paperwork that my parents found when they went to the National Archives in San Bruno looking for information about my great-grandparents' immigration to the US from China. Mom apparently found about 90 pages worth of info, and I've been fascinated by it.

Turns out my great-grandfather was born in San Francisco in the basement of a building that housed his father's shoe store, and a white-owned saloon in the Chinatown area in 1877. We have the transcript of the interview that proved his identity as a native-born US resident, as well as the entrance papers and interview transcripts of his wife, and pictures of his twin daughters (I didn't know they were twins - I never met my great-aunts) and baby son, the great-uncle who died in May. My grandfather was the oldest of the children, and he decided to stay in China with his grandmother.

The transcripts provide a view into the world of Chinatown before the 1906 SF earthquake, and I'd like to map out the addresses given and correlate them with the historical records. I'd also like to try and look for more info on my great-great-grandparents, now that I have their names and when/why they came to the US.

Okay, Kathy - get off the computer. You're also tired and need to go to bed, especially since you are walking with No-blog-Rachel tomorrow morning. And then you need to take The Dork shopping for new pants before his senior portrait session tomorrow afternoon. Okay, now I feel old...

July?!

(Warning - picture-heavy post)

Okay, where did June disappear to?! It's been a busy, busy month, with very little down time, even though school ended during the first week.

Let's see, there have been 2 professional presentations, one each at school and the public library. 3 more are coming up - in about the next 10 days. (But 2 of them are reprises of the one on databases I've already done; one is storytelling.)

We also traveled to SoCal for my father-in-law's funeral. He was 82 and had a good life. Raised 2 great kids, enjoyed his grandkids... This picture was taken 4 years ago, and it's one of my favorites of him and the kids.


DH, his mom and sister, the grandkids and 2 of their cousins. I don't think I've ever had them all in the same place for more than a few minutes!


And yes, there has been knitting!

Finished and delivered the shawl to my friend who needed and loves it!

Pattern: Shawl that Jazz
Yarn: Woobu in Nyame
Needle: size 8 US
Started: May 10, 2009
Finished: June 7, 2009

Finished some socks for me!
Pattern: Fleegle toe-up socks on 56 stitches
Yarn: Socks that rock Lightweight in Peaseblossom
Needles: size 1 US
Started: ?? sometime in the last year
Finished: June 12, 2009

Originally I had knit toe-up Monkeys from this yarn last year, but ripped them out. I like the color striping much better this way.

The Sea & Shells stole is coming along. I think I'm about halfway done with it so far.






Other projects on the needles include 2 new pairs of socks, one is Primavera. The other is CookieA's Summer Sox pattern (no pic of that yet).



Was itching to get back to a crochet project, and oh, gee, darn, shucks, if Purlescence didn't just get some DMC Cebelia thread in! I'm almost done with it - should finish it today.


In other news, the garden is going like gangbusters!

This adorable little pumpkin from 2 weeks ago, is quickly becoming a huge pumpkin. As of this morning, it's about 14 inches across!

Tomatoes










Look, a strawberry!










Several quarts of blackberries were picked.










And an abundance of squash.

Clearly, summer is now upon us in the Bay Area.

The dove nest I posted about last time has unfortunately been abandoned. There are no eggs in it, so I don't know what happened. Maybe next year...


Oh yeah -- I also now officially have a College Student Dork boy. He's taking a summer class at one of the local community colleges before his senior year in high school. I think it will be a good experience for him, and give him some good prep before the real thing in the fall of 2010.

Okay, I guess I now know where June went...