Hi! Still there?

Look! I'm alive! Knitting has happened, I promise. I even have proof for you.

See? I knit. I do. It just most of the knitting I'm working on is Christmas Knitting and that cannot be blogged about until it is gifted.

I knit this sweater for a co-worker couple who welcomed their first child at the end of September. Mateo went to his first high school football game last week and was rockin' the knit couture.

Sweater: Child's Placket Neck Pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, modified, of course.

The body was knit in the round to the armpits, as were the sleeves. Sleeves and upper front and back were done back and forth, then I only had to sew the sleeves to the body along the raglan shaping. I left the front left seam unattached, then picked up stitches up one side of that seam, around the collar and down the other half of the seam to make a button band since babies have HUGE heads. Some simple yo button holes and a stockinette rolled collar finished it. The embroidery on the back was done with duplicate stitch.

Yarn: Berroco Touche in Ganges (dark blue) and Jeanne from Plymouth Yarns (white).

Hat: Basic Baby Hat- my own fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants pattern. I made a hat, just small for baby. And if you ask me for the pattern, I will SuperPoke you.

Yarn: Leftover Touche and Jeanne in gray.


And look! Another baby sweater!

Another Placket Neck Pullover, this time in Rowan's Felted Tweed in Herb. This one was for another co-worker who is having a little girl in January.

I love this yarn so much that I am knitting a sweater for myself form the same yarn. This one to be exact.

But Christmas knitting must be completed first.....

Just call me "Coach"

That's right! I have been asked to be an Assistant Field Hockey Coach at the high school I work at. I'm thrilled to be back on the field with my stick and a group of wonderful girls who seem genuinely interested in learning the sport or improving their skills. I went to a few games last years and the pain I experienced from just watching and not participating was excruciating. But not this year. This year I'm out there teaching, running around and getting burnt to a crisp. I love fall!

Go KNIGHTS!!!!

Just poking my head in...

The last eight weeks have been hell, what with work and school and ending up with a righteous head cold. I've earned a 2 weeks reprieve from school and work should at least be interesting--seeing as my new job is not yet defined. I get to make it up as I go along-teehee!

I received my packages from my wonderful No Sheep Swap Pal who turned out to be none other than Chrissy from Gardiner Yarn Works!! Lucky me! Thank you so much for everything, Chrissy. I do have photographic proof of my goodies, but no way to get the photos from my camera to the lappy. Maybe next week--when I have time to breathe--I'll look for the photo transferring thingy.

Knitting has happened. The Hug-Me-Tight Shrug has been pulled apart, frogged partway, and remade into something that is beautiful and fits me. Now I have lots of leftover alpaca that is in timeout until I want to look at it again.

There are babies aplenty growing in my life and I have one sweater finished and two to go with pretty quick deadlines, plus Christmas knitting to finish. And all I want to do is knit myself a shlumpy weekend sweater in natural gray/brown colors. Don't have yarn or pattern yet, I just want one for fall.

I'll try to be more timely with my posting, but life keeps getting in the way. You know how it is...

trying to resurface

i'm desperately treading water, trying to resurface and get my life back together. i have spent the last three weeks drowning in new responsibilities at work and wondering if i'll make it out alive. i seem to be doing more than just surviving, i had three people compliment me on the job i'm doing and how it is so much better than last year. that means a lot to me.

knitting has happened, but not much. i'm 1/5 done with christmas knitting and i have 2 things i need to yank back and fix. RSC 3.0 should be arriving soon. and i'm still waiting for my no sheep for you swap pal to send me a present.

in the plus side, they want me to change departments at work. i'm still thinking about it. it really depends on what happens with the other part time person i work with...

too many things are up i n the air right now and i have too many things to do to think/make decisions...

throw me a buoy, would ya?

Jury Duty

I had Jury Duty today and it was quite silly. We we're welcomed by a sitting Judge who thanked us for our service and told us how rewarding serving on a Jury could be. There was some "jury" joke about meeting your future spouse at Jury Duty, but we were warned not to tell our current spouses so as not to upset them. And then we were allowed to watch an uplifting video about the personal and self-esteem rewards of jury duty. Lame. All in all it was a wasted four hours, but I'm free from it for at least a year. Yay me.

On a fiber related note, my shrug is 100% knit and 75% sewn up. I just have to add the large lace border. (It's the 'Hug-Me-Tight' from Knit2Together, knit in Filatura di Crosa Adina Mix.)

I'll post pictures as soon as the camera is located again. It wandered off.

Slogging thorugh

Nine days until the end of the semester from hell. NINE DAYS, people!!!! I'm not sure I'll survive. I don't know what possessed me to take five classes this semester (yes, I do--I just don't want to admit to my faulty logic in a public forum) so instead I will say, knitting has been done, yarn has been procured, RSC 2.0 has arrived and the No Sheep Yarn Swap has been entered. And that's all you get until finals and papers are out of my hair.

found!

the camera has been located! pictures and knitting news to follow!

lost:

one digital camera.

this would not be a strange occurence aside from the fact it was the first digital to join our family and the other two are currently touring the national parks of utah.

i think zeke borrowed it and has left it in a sink somewhere.

School...

Is going well. I got A's on three midterms and a B on the one I didn't study for, so I'm happy. And my week of death is nearly over. I have work and class still today, but only work and one late class tomorrow. My week sucks from Monday through Wednesday, and then it's easy as pie.

And I have an action packed weekend. Ice-skating, Irish Pubbing and Family Time. Should be a good weekend.

Now, if I can only get my camera to work...

Babies...

Time to show the babies!

This is Number One Son: Tobasco, "Toast" to his friends. He'll be 5 years in October and is the true definition of a mama's boy. He loves his snuggles and will run away anytime Zeke approaches him, crying like a little girl. His daddy calls him Lead Cat. He lands like a ton on bricks, usually on Daddy's stomach.

This is my little girl. Her name is Teriyaki. She is the most cat-like of the three. She'll accept attention when SHE wants it, not when you want to give it. She loves to tease us by lying on the floor, exposing her snow white, furry belly and when you approach to stroke it... run away!!

And then we have Tzatziki a.k.a Zeke or Poo because he can be a little shit. He's the most playful. Sometimes we suspect he may be a dog in disguise. He loves to "help." The best place in the world to take a nap is his mama's lap--when she's knitting.


Notice anything interesting about their names?

It Came!

My RSC 1.0 has arrived and it is beautiful. The colorway is "Monsoon" and an amazing blend of lime green, grey, and medium brown. Almost toffee brown, but not as warm. I also got a nifty binder, pattern, a keychain of "Emergency Sock Yarn" in the same colorway and a coupon for 10% off! I'm so ordering more of the STR yarn. It's superwash merino. It's surprisingly soft.

I can't wait to start my socks, but I need to go to the yarn store and get new needles. I don't have Size 0 DPN's.

On an unrelated note, the babies have a new toy:

That's Zeke on the top of the pagoda.


Homework time...

Sigh

My sock yarn has not arrived yet, so I tried to take pictures of my Christmas yarn only to find out the batteries die after 6 pictures. Brand new batteries. I hate my hand-me-down digital. So you get the only decent picture.

Alpaca Cloud in Iris from Knit Picks:



Sigh...

Update @ 6:00PM: Still no STR. :-(

It's coming!!!!

Rockin' Sock Club 2007 1.0 should be arriving any day! I'm giddy with anticipation!

Water...

Water is falling from the sky. I desperately want to go back to bed, snuggle up with my kitties and knitting and be a lazy bum, but that whole school/work thing gets in the way. I don't mind working when its nice out. I enjoy the sun from my air conditioned office, but trying to gather the wherewithal to dress warm is very trying on my Southern California wardrobe.

I'm off to search my closet for a water proof jacket...

School Sucks.

I don't like school. It is, however, a necessary evil if you want to get anywhere in this world.
At present I am trying to write a short paper about an aspect of Anglo-Saxon culture before 1066. With academic sources. I hate that term, but again a necessary evil.

What I really want to be doing is working on the lace for my alpaca shrug. It's beautiful and holey and challenging enough to require concentration. That would be ideal. But alas, its off to research purgatory for me...

Apollo

This is Apollo. He was a runaway. He was returned to his family and then he ran away again. Now he lives with my sister and harasses a crazy dog named Max.