Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

There has been so much going on lately, that this week's vacation from school has often consisted of me staring off into space and not able to wrap my head around knitting. My Valentine's Day was also non-existent, due to a) Hubby is in Minnesota right now, and b) I tried to pack too much into the day today. Actually, The Hubby did get a Valentine's gift for me last week - only he didn't know about it before I arrived home last Thursday, wearing these!

Stacie wrote about the faculty retreat that we had last Saturday. She gives me a lot of credit for teaching others to knit, but quite frankly, she's also a very good cheerleader for knitting. She was the one, a couple of years ago, who was anonymously "scarfing" staff members with wonderful scarves that she knit. She claims that she was using the scarves for learning new stitches, but I know for a fact that she created a lot of smiles around our campuses.

My baby's birthday was 10 days ago (that long already...?!). Sweet sixteen and never been kissed - at least by a girlfriend! For his birthday, we took him and a friend to see Kooza. My boneheaded move - I forgot that we had gotten 4 tickets with the intent to take one of The Dork's friends. Forgot until 11 PM the night before, that is! Thanks Sandi, again, for sharing your daughter at the last minute! It was a fabulous show, and if you haven't seen it, it is highly recommended by the aforementioned teenager and his parents!

Honest, there has been knitting happening! I finally finished the scarf that The Hubby took to Winter Camp yesterday. He's currently in Minnesota, and this handspun and handknit scarf will be auctioned off as part of a fundraiser.

Details:
Fiber - Crown Mountain superwash merino, Tobacco Road colorway
Yarn - 433 yards of 3-ply worsted weight.
Pattern - Yarn Harlot's One Row Handspun pattern
Size - 7" x 96"

Finished the fronts and blocked my Twist. No pictures, though, because the camera got packed into the car this afternoon, (Dork was going to do some photography) and I was running late. With any luck, I'll get the sleeves done this weekend, in time for Stitches West next week.

After the Tobacco Road scarf knitting was finished (during the faculty retreat), I needed another mindless project, so I started another scarf with the same pattern stitch, but this time in Malabrigo worsted weight. I love the color, Velvet Grapes! The color in the photo is lighter than the true color, which is a deep, rich velvety purple with hints of lavender.

But then, Purlescence got in some new Malabrigo, Silky Merino. It's a DK weight, 50% silk, 50% merino wool. LUSCIOUS! I had to get some - honest, it leaped into my arms and asked to be taken home, no - demanded to be taken home! Then, it demanded to be knit, RIGHT NOW! I found the perfect match for it, one of AlisonH's patterns, the Blue Jay shawl, from her book Wrapped in Comfort. Mine is the Plum Blossom colorway, and I can't stop knitting on it! Okay, there are too many exclamation points in this paragraph, but that's what this yarn is demanding.

I even knit on the shawl while waiting for Rockapella to take the stage at Cupertino High School. Amazing show - lots of laughter and fantastic music. We've been going to their shows for at least 10 years. Remember "Where is the world is Carmen SanDiego?" Love you guys! (post-show autograph session, bad cell phone pic).

The Dork and I are driving down to Southern California for a fencing tournament this weekend. With any luck, I'll get some good knitting time in the hotel tomorrow night and at my parents' house Saturday evening. Cross your fingers both for him and for me!

And if you've managed to read all the way down to the bottom of this loooonnnnggg post, Happy Valentine's Day to you! I hope your day was filled with love from your sweetheart and your family and friends -- and lots of chocolate too!

4 things...

Jasmin tagged me with this:

4 Jobs I've Held:

1. Babysitter
2. Office manager
3. Law library clerk
4. Librarian

4 Movies I've Watched Over and Over Again:

1. Sound of Music
2. The Sting
3. Star Wars (the best are Episodes 4, 5 & 6)
4. Lord of the Dance (remember Michael Flatley?)

4 Places I've Been:

1. China
2. London
3. Paris
4. Vancouver, BC

4 Places I've Lived:

1. Norwalk, CA
2. Lake Forest, CA (then called El Toro)
3. Los Angeles, CA
4. San Jose, CA

Part A: 4 TV Shows I Watch:

1. Project Runway
2. Mythbusters
3. Animal Precinct/Animal Cops: Houston (any of this genre)/Emergency Vets
4. anything Food Network


Part B: 4 Radio Shows I Listen To:

1. News
2. Car Talk
3. Wait, wait... Don't tell me!
4. KFOG's "10 at 10"

4 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Stitches West
2. School vacations
3. Hanging out at Purlescence
4. Being with my family

4 Favorite Foods:

1. Anything with cheese
2. Salads
3. Chocolate - the darker, the better
4. anything my Hubby cooks

4 Places I'd Rather Be:

1. Purlescence
2. Getting a massage
3. Somewhere with regular temperatures in the 60+F range (I'm tired of leaving the house wearing gloves and it's sub-40F and yes, I'm a California weather wimp)
4. snuggled in bed with a good book

4 People I email regularly:

1. The Hubby
2. my parents/sister/brother/cousins
3. My assistant at school
4. My boss at school

4 People to Tag:

1. Anabel
2. CJ
3. Stacie
4. Nathania

Spinning!

This:


became this:
Fiber Content: Superwash merino
Source: Crown Mountain
Yardage: 433
Weight: 8 oz
Color: Tobacco Road
WPI: about 13 (mostly a worsted weight)
Ply: 3

Unintentional overdying muted and softened the colors.







And this was the result. I'm working on the "One Row Handspun scarf" from here and I have 12 days to finish it before The Hubby needs to take it to Minnesota.

Swapping stuff...

I'm bringing approximately 2.5 miles of yarn to Purlescence for a yarn swap tomorrow. I am positive that I will not come home with that much to replace it! Much of it is yarn that I acquired at least 8-10 years ago. Since I no longer have a desire to use it - out it goes!


I'm having a mixed-luck-with-shoes day. Dog got to my slippers this evening and I didn't give her the "Chew" command (see yesterday's post)! The thing that bugs me about it is that I've worn these slippers for the last 2 winters, and she's shown no interest in them during that time. Why tonight? Argh!


On the other foot, I did score a great set of super-comfy clogs today. They're pure Joy to wear! I haven't taken them off since I got them.

Okay, I really need to get off the computer and get spinning, otherwise I won't meet my weekend goals.

Another rainy Friday!

This is how mine started out -- only I didn't discover it until I was already at school. [Okay, quit laughing!] Luckily, it was Pajama Day, to celebrate the donation of pjs and books to The Pajama Project, and I got to wear my slippers most of the day. Actually, no one noticed until I pointed it out - then they all fell over laughing...

Once again, it rained all day, but luckily, not as much water and without the vicious winds of a few weeks ago. But when I left school this afternoon, water was backing up in the parking lot again. I'm glad if I had to be at school, I could at least be comfy in my pjs!

Three goals for this weekend:

1) Finish spinning & ply up the Tobacco Road roving

2) Tear out the neckline shaping on the right front of Twist and redo it. I had decided to make a larger size for the front than for the back, and need to make the appropriate adjustments to eventually match the back at the shoulders. It's only a couple inches, and shouldn't take very long.

3) Finish grading 3 sets of papers that I need to hand back to my students. Hmmm, I think I'll go spin first...

This is a friend's dog, a chihuahua mix, who loves to carry shoes around. The command is "Chew!" and she runs for the indicated object and hauls it around. She made me laugh, so I had to share!

Anyway, I hope your weekend is full of laughter and snuggly stuff!

I'm still here...

Well, where have I been since I last wrote --

* Still coughing, but at least I don't feel like my lungs will explode. It's getting better slowly. Love the codeine cough syrup for nighttime and the regular stuff for day, and my inhalers every 4 hours...

* Knitting

Really, Twist is coming along - this is the right front; you just can't tell it's
growing because I'm not getting much time on it. Other things keep getting in the way.







Such as:

* Spinning

This is the Tobacco Road superwash fiber for a handknit scarf for The Hubby to take to Winter Camp in Minnesota - in mid-February! I'm over 2/3 done with the spinning.




* Crocheting

A ripple baby afghan for an upcoming baby shower. I thought I had another week. Last Friday, I got word that the shower will be this coming Thursday. This is Bernat Denimstyle that was in the stash. This yarn is not quite discontinued; however, no one in the area carries it any longer, so I have to use what I have available.

I wasn't sure whether or not I'd make it in time, but went ahead and started Saturday evening (tried one other pattern on Saturday AM and ripped it back). Some time put in on Sunday and lots of time spent at Purlescence today, and I'm about 2 rounds short of being done. It's about 45" across from point to point.

* Home stuff

Removed and capped off the sprayer hose on our sink, which didn't play well with the new portable dishwasher. The dishwasher gets hooked up to the sink faucet, and the back pressure split the seam on the sprayer attachment, with the result being at least 5 gallons of water on our kitchen floor and more on the counters and windows. At least the kitchen floors are clean! I guess I need to get a shop vac. The job would have been much quicker and a lot easier on my back than using the mop! The toaster was also a casualty as it no longer pops up! We've had a couple of charred pieces of toast until we realized what happened.

Imagine me contorted under the sink, trying not to smash my nose against the pipes, working with a pipe wrench in a space that is not conducive to raising my arm very high. Better yet, don't imagine it - it's not a pretty sight! The little brass cap between the two copper pipes is what I was trying to put in and torque down enough so that we had no further water issues.


Removed and replaced both the deadbolt and door lock on the front door. When your key won't easily go into the lock, nor does it want to come out when you do get it in, that's a sign that a new one is necesary. It was all easy to replace, considering that I didn't have to start from scratch, drilling holes into a new door! (Yes, I know the door jamb needs painting...)





And in my many trips to the hardware store, I've acquired another great blocking tool! These foam flooring squares were under $10 for 12 square feet! You can see them in use in my Twist picture above. (Orchard Supply Hardware, if anyone is interested) I may have to go back for a 2nd package!

I'm all about items that can be inexpensively repurposed into knitters' tools.

For example, piano wire from the hobby store has become my blocking wires (0.048 to 0.040 [1.2-1.0 mm] 4 or 5 pieces, 36" long for $2-3.00). I cleaned them with a little WD-40 to take off the slightly greasy finish, and they're fabulous for lace blocking! Contrast that with the Lace blocking wires at Knitpicks.com (nothing against them, mind you), that are 12 straight wires, 2 flexible wires, plus T-pins and a yardstick for $30, or the 51"x33" Space Board for blocking at $90. I don't have that kind of money - actually, I'd rather spend it on yarn, rather than expensive versions of something I can find at a much lower price.

The crocheting and the house stuff got done over the 3-day weekend. I'm feeling a sense of accomplishment!

Busy, busy, busy!

Well, there WAS forward Twist progress...until I realized that I had mucked up the left front by one stitch when I had done the set-up row after the ribbing. You'll have to imagine that you can see it, because the left front is frogged back to the ribbing. No wonder the shoulder looked a bit wonky in the decreases! The awful realization hit when I started the cable pattern on the right front and realized that the cables lined up very nicely with the ribbing, unlike on the previous try.

That's okay though, I realized it before I bound off! I wasn't happy with those decreases, and wanted a 2nd opinion on it, so I left the remaining stitches on a holder until I could show someone, then started the other front.

At least the knitting and reknitting has kept me sane this week. Besides a wild work week trying to shepherd 3rd graders through their first big research project (note-taking, paraphrasing, bibliography), all 3 of us are doing the asthmatic cough thing. [Yep, it's bad when a storyteller can't tell stories...]

I took The Hubby over to the health clinic Monday night after he complained of light-headedness and tingly fingers after a hard coughing fit. We now own a nebulizer for breathing treatments, but he's also dealing with another sinus infection. I've not paid attention to my breathing because I was trying to deal with his, and it spiraled out of control. Yes, I went to the doctor today! Love the codeine cough syrup for night, and my Robitussin for daytime! Then The Dork decided to skip fencing this weekend because he's got a headache and cough...

Not sure whether I'll end up knitting at Purlescence this weekend. I don't want you all to hear the cough, and I can't talk very long without coughing, so typing may have to do. Sleep would be nice too...