It's all about Halloween costumes

Very brief post. Still working on making a prince into a frog and a boy into a ghost. Pictures later. Send good vibes my way.

Knitting instructor

Whoa. I got the call. I will be teaching beginning knitting and intermediate knitting at one of our libraries. December is the magic month and the timing for that little extra money could not be better. I have to go now to plan the classes. This is exciting stuff man!

How old am I?

I forgot about my own birthday. Well, I didn't forget that I turned another year older, but I did forget to blog about it!

The three "boys" in my life took me to my favorite restaurant: Red Lobster the evening of my birthday (October 18). Otherwise, it was just another ordinary day (and that is a good thing).

DH got us a fine pair of these. And I have had fun playing around with it to learn all it can do. Which includes online capabilities.

P.S. I won't say what year it was that this photo was taken, but I could get Bazooka bubble gum for a penny.

Oh for the love of Fall!

It has finally arrived here in South Central Michigan. If Fall does not get a knitter in the mood to knit, nothing will. I have a new sock on the needles using that blueberry hill colorway of Cherry Tree Hill and am still plugging away on Boy A's blanket.

My family (mom, sister and brother), DH, the Boys, and I went to dinner last night at Romano's Macaroni Grill to celebrate DH and my birthdays. (Mine is coming up next week.) My brother took photos and maybe he will share some that I will upload later.

Mom got me a book I have been wanting: Knit Together: Discover God's Pattern for Your Life. I cracked it open last night and think I will enjoy it immensely. The combination of spirituality and knitting just works for me.

In the meantime, it is Saturday; the sun has just come up and DH has already been at work for an hour. I have the usual housework and laundry to do, the entertainment of two five-year-old boys and then the homecoming of the Michigan State University football game tonight to look forward to. Go Spartans.

What is with the heat?

I live in Michigan and October is supposed to be a glorious time of year. Beautiful fall colors both on the trees and begining to fall onto the ground. It is supposed to be breezy with chilly sweatshirt-wearing kind of nights. It should be great football weather. It should be the best time of year for riding horses. It should be the absolute perfect weather for bringing out fun scarves and fingerless mitts to wear with jean jackets.

It's 85 freaking degrees. Need I say more?

Meltdown Sunday

The natives are restless and even though it is the season of fall, the weather is middle of summer. Excruciatingly hot. Humid. Wrong, just wrong. The boys do not want to go outside, yet are killing each other from being couped up.

If I had taken a photo of Boy B and his face immediately following the tear down of his pillow fort by Boy A. Tears, screaming, red-faced faced frustration. Screaming shortly followed with, "it's ruined! it can't be fixed. EVER."

Soon followed by chasing up and down stairs, and around the house. It included someone throwing a toy that of course, didn't hit target Boy, but Daisy instead. Oh, the injustice of being a family pet. Your work is never done.

Happy birthday Dear Husband

Tomorrow my Dear Husband is another year older. He is a husband, father, supervisor, brother, uncle, son, friend, grad student and a full time church employee who is beyond ready to be finished with school that it cannot come quickly enough.

He sacrifices for his family daily. He cares about everyone he comes in contact with. He forgoes sleep nearly every night to study. He never misses an opportunity to do things for others and he takes a lot of grief from me.

He likes to take naps. He enjoys getting massages. He loves our boys enough to be the kind of dad who listens, but who also disciplines and sets limits. He is funny, clever, trustworthy and very good at reaching things in the top cupboards. He is Too Tall, Schemp and P.C.; he is Dear Husband.

Socks, stash and a blanket

Do not adjust your computers. Blurry picture not the fault of your set.

My sock in progress is coming along. This is my first stepping out of my comfort zone sock. The pattern is free at Knitty and can be found here.

Like many knitters, I have quite a stash. Not just of yarn but also of patterns. I love them nearly as much as the yarn. For many years I have liked magazines and books. Years ago, before I took up knitting to my current (obsessive) level, I bought Family Circle Easy Knitting magazines whenever I found them in stores. Eventually, a subscription was necessary.

I could not get enough of looking at the pictures and reading the articles. Something about how those garments looked and how they were hand made just amazed me. Certainly, I would not be able to make any of them, or if any, very few. Mittens, hats, scarves, yes, but lace, socks, and sweaters? No way.

Times, they are a changin’.

This past Labor Day weekend I finally decided to try one of the many patterns I often look at and started this sock. I zipped along the top with little trouble and truly, the pattern is not difficult. I zoomed along past the heel and gusset and now working on the foot. I am not sure why I was ever thinking I could not do this.

Here is another pattern that intrigues me and I know lots of the online world is making Monkeys. I also love the Embossed Leaves from Interweave Knits that this blogger made this summer. Both patterns seem to intimidate me a bit, but if ya’all can do it, I guess I can. If nothing else, I can appreciate the thought, the math, the work, the fiber, the time and the...everything that goes into these sorts of patterns. I will remind myself of that comment when I am ripping out, throwing my needles and a tangled start of a sock across the room and starting over.

This is Boy A’s blanket. The multi-directional scarf pattern is the base of this first square. The plan is to finish the short row square and then “frame” the edges with solid burgundy. Frankly, this square is going fairly quickly, even including that I had to rip out I would say, four gazillion yards. Even given that, it seems to be going along faster than did Boy B’s blanket. That might be because I have only had to work garter stitch the whole time. I also have no other looming projects on my plate.

Socks in progress do not count, Repeat After Me: there should always be a sock on the needles. Always. Very good...now go get one started.