Am I a joiner?

I have a colleague who is a joiner. If a sentence starts “Would you like to” she says yes before the sentence is complete. I admire her eagerness, but for myself tend to be more hesitant. These days, however, I seem to be turning into a joiner…

I really enjoyed doing the MD SwapCloth. I liked knitting and putting together a package for someone else and getting my package in the mail yesterday was tons of fun. Special thanks to Lacey for being a great swap pal. She even hand dyed the yarn for the ball bands! I have also joined the Sweet Life Knitters and have loved going each week and knitting with a great group of folks. I’m so bummed that I’m missing tonight’s meeting.

In a completely different realm of my life I have also tried something new. Two weeks ago I went to Meal Makers for the first time. As they say, “We help you provide nutritious home cooked meals for your family that you have pre-assembled in our kitchens.” I went to their facility and left 90 minutes later with dinners for the three of us for 14 nights in my cooler. Everything for the main dish is there ready and I just have to pull it from the freezer. This has caused a dramatic, and positive, change in our lifestyle. You see, until this Bunny had eaten in a restaurant nearly every dinner of his life. It’s not that I can’t cook, it’s just there never seemed to be enough time… Ironically now Bunny likes to be the waiter and insists that we have background music while we eat!

So, will this joining trend continue? I have bookmarks for both Secret Pal 9 and for Sock Wars. I’m thinking yes on the first and no on the second. As someone who has almost finished (yep they are about done) my very first pair of socks, I’m thinking I would be stressed then quickly killed. SP9 sounds like fun so I’m thinking I might be becoming a joiner on that one.

Some final notes. I am not going to join any of the following:

• the NSSA
• the NHRA
• PHFC
• HN

I’m sure these are all fine organizations… just wanted to point out that there are things I’m still not even thinking about joining!

Tribute

This summer I attended Karen’s funeral. I had worked with her through a professional organization after meeting her through my father. She was someone I admired because of the range of work she did within the field of mathematics education and her deep devotion to her students. The amazing thing about funerals is that you learn so much about a person. I got to know about the care she gave not only to her students, but also to everyone around her. She raised a family, and loved her grandchildren. She was a devoted and active member of her church. She was a talented teacher at many levels and conducted research and published at a level practically unheard of for a middle school teacher. She did it all with grace, wit, and compassion and she faced death as she did life. As I start another school year, I do so with my memories of Karen in my heart and the desire to work to be half the success she was.

Site news…

I am messing with my FO’s page so they may not be available today… Sorry!

Update! Done!! Check out my new, and now more complete FO ’06!

Contest continues…

Just wanted to let everyone know that the contest two posts down is still on! Enter till noon on Friday the 1st. Winner posted on Tuesday at the latest!!

Summer’s End

As far as I am concerned today was the last day of summer. Now we have a week-end and then the back-to-school meetings start on Monday. Overall, it was a nice summer. There are many things left undone, but that is the story of my life!

My KnitPicks Options arrived this week! I really like them so far and used them to bust out a Mason Dixon Warshrag for the MD Swap. This is all I can show you till the package makes it to its destination… I like the flexibility of the wire on the Options and was easily able to convert to magic loop when I got into the center of the warshrag. One disappointment about the project was the yarn color. I made B stop at a Wal-mart on the way home from the shore and while there one of the things I got was some Peaches’n Creme in the colorway Gumdrops. Trish has a photo of some beautiful knitting with it here. Aren’t the colors great? So I thought… the yarn on the outside of the ball had all those colors, but after the first layer it was almost all white, green, and orange. So much for the pink my swap pal wanted… Anyone else had this trouble with Peaches’n Creme? I guess I should have frogged it, but by the time i realized I was so far in I really didn’t want to start over. Anyway, I sent her some other goodies so hopefully that will ease the disappointment.

In other news, while I am no Ann I did manage to do some purging in my closet and drawers. That’s four large bags of clothing I took to Goodwill. I realized that even if I ever do manage to fit back into those things I will not be the age I was when I last wore them and thus am unlikely to wear them again anyway. I did find some things I had forgotten about so it’s kind of like I have new back to school clothes.

And speaking of back to school clothes there has been progress on my socks! (Do socks count as clothes?) They are actually covering a small part of my leg now so I am wondering how long I will make them, how I will cast off, and if I will wear them on the first day of school. Nina took a picture of them last night at Sweet Life, if it’s better than this one I’ll get it from her! Since I’m knitting them two at a time when I’m done, I’m done. No second sock syndrome for this girl!

Two big events tomorrow. First, we are meeting with an architect about the possibilities of an addition on our house. (Can you say master bath that fits more than one person standing sideways?) Then we are going to Julie’s for Biscut’s birthday bash. Sunday we rest for Monday it all begins again and I start sixth grade for the ninth time…

Name that decorating style

Bunny, B, and I escaped for a week at “the shore.” We have never done the NJ thing, but enjoyed Brigantine very much. We rented an apartment sight unseen off of Craig’s list and until we were actually in the place we kept thinking that the whole thing might be a giant rip-off. It wasn’t and we spent a great week fully installed in the apartment of a stranger.

Shortly after we arrived I phoned my mother and she asked about the apartment. As I began to describe it she said, “what would you call the decorating style?” I was rendered mute, not a common occurrence, and never did determine a name. So it’s up to you dear readers… Name that Decorating Style! Put your suggestions in the comments and there will be a prize for the best (as judged by those who saw it in person) hand selected from my MD Sheep and Wool Stash.

What follows is a collection of photos taken throughout the apartment. I tried to get a variety of areas… click for larger images.

A grouping over the dining table. Leather tooled clock and nautical knot art.

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This is the sofa. Brown and tweedy and very large with many throw pillows.

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One of many small lamps with beads hanging from the lamp shade.

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This was a high tech apartment. Plasma TV, wireless internet, and more pirated moves than you can shake a stick at. Also notice the elephant…

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This was but one of three similar pieces of art hanging in the apartment.

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This urn sat on one of two large wooden pieces. It did not seem to contain Aunt Thelma, at least not anymore…

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This was a cabinet beside the sofa.

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Leopard print fabric had been used to cover the seats at the dining table.

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There were numerous rugs covering the wall-to-wall carpet. So many, in fact, they had a tendency to overlap.

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The dresser in one of the bedrooms.

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Close-up of the book-end.

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Wall art 1.

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Wall art 2

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Bed skirt and part of the rug. The bed in the master bedroom had a jacquard-like spread and skirt.

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Finally, the bedroom lamp with a sea-shell base and a floral shade.

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So, what do you think? Can you capture the essence of all that was there into one statement of style? Give it your best shot!

Enough already…

I have seen far too many of these lately.
That is, the inside of medical examining rooms. A week ago it was me, for a minor infection, then Saturday night for B with a cut on his head, and finally yesterday for Bunny. Yep, we now have “baby’s first stitches.” He was playing and slipped, falling onto the cutting edge of a packing tape dispenser… there was a lot of blood and of course it was two minutes after the pediatrician’s office closed. Not interested in another trip to the ER this week, I found an urgent care center and off we went. Now Bunny is the proud owner of 3 stitches in his pinkie finger and we have to figure out how to make sure it stays dry!

Before that excitement I had a chance to do a final photo shoot with Birch. Here it is on a bush in the front yard

and also a close up for those who are interested in such things. It is now wrapped and winging it’s way to my mom. I took it to UPS because it was near Jo-Ann’s Fabrics (Sugar’n Cream) and they asked if I wanted to send it ground. I said sure and they said it would arrive tomorrow (overnight) I asked how long air would take and the guy, without blinking, said “overnight.” It wasn’t till I asked how much more that would cost that he realized it was the same amount of time…

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After all my excitement about winning I am working on a blog contest of my own, stay tuned!

I won!

Look what was waiting for me in the mailbox yesterday! Now before you start thinking, “plain brown wrapper, don’t want to know” wait till you see what was inside!
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Yep, that’s KnitPicks color your own, Kool-Aid, and dying instructions from Knitty! Why did this packet of goodness come to me in the mail? Because, you see, I WON! I left the right comment in the right place on Crankygrrrrrl’s web site and I won!
If I seem surprised, that’s because I am. You see, in the big things in life I have won. I have great parents, a great husband and son. We live comfortably with our needs and most of our wants met easily. I am part of a profession I love and care deeply about and have found a job in that profession that (almost always) reminds me why I do what I do. While there are, of course, minor changes I might make, by and large in life in general I have won.

On the other hand, in the arena of the little things I never win. I have always been surrounded by people who are a little better (or sometimes a lot better) than I am at whatever we are doing. I can’t count how many honorable mentions I got in school. And I don’t win drawings. The only drawing I can remember winning was for a basket of bath products that I ended up being allergic to!

So imagine my surprise when Crankygirrrrrrl let me know that I had won. I did it, and the prize was something I wanted! Now there are so many decisions to make. Do I use the pink and purple she sent or do I drink some and raid the stash of Kool-Aid we have a school? Do I just go for one color on all the yarn, attempt a hand-dyed look, or go for the gold and attempt to make my own self-striping? Ah, decisions, decisions… and the thrill of victory!

AL #6 Unlikely Model

In which we were asked to photograph our lace being worn by an unlikely model… this is the last entry and my last hope of being a finalist… And so I present, the Borgata Casino cigar seller wearing Birch.

I would like to add that he was a very good sport and even seemed to enjoy the chance to model. He was quite impressed that I had knit this and really was fun about the whole thing!

What to do?

What do you do when you have a three-and-a-half hour car ride followed by a four hour visit to the emergency room? Why knit of course… and what does all that knitting get you?

Yes ladies and gentlemen… that is a completed Birch! I can’t believe I knit the whole thing. Tomorrow will be blocking day I hope, and then it’s into the mail to mom. I should be able to get it there less than two months after her birthday. Not too bad for my first lace and really my first major project since rediscovering knitting after a many year hiatus.

Oh, the trip to the ER? That was for B. When we got home from our beah trip he was putting the ice tea and soda back in the fridge and stood up bashing his head into the cabinet door. There was a lot of blood so we decided to err on the side of caution and head to the emergency room. We dropped Bunny with his grandparents and checked in to the emergency room at 10:10pm. At 1:30am the doc declared it a deep scratch/minor laceration. Put some skin glue over it and sent us home shortly after 2 and about 15 minutes after the final stitch of Birch.

I hadn’t allowed myself to work on my socks till I finished Birch so today it was back to sock knitting! I can certainly see why people like sock knitting so much. I really need to invest in a toe-up book… any advice would be great!