I'm Still Here

Yes, I'm still here, in spite of a long silence due to my mom being in the hospital with complications from surgery and a couple of crazy weeks at work.

But the spinning and knitting go on (keeping me sane).


The first thing I've knitted from yarn I spun -- a small scarf from kid mohair. I love the colors blended with the brown.

More of the alpaca, although the bag of fiber left to spin still looks full. I've got about 330 yards of yarn now, so I'm hoping by the time I'm finished to have enough for a sweater. We'll see . . .

A sort of head scarf / wrap thingie a friend of mine found in a Spin-Off magazine and wasn't sure she could knit herself.

I think I look vaguely like a Russian grandmother in it, but Meghan is so elegantly stylish in a Victorian sort of way that I'm sure she can pull it off.

I've also snuck in some reading and audio books. I finished listening to The Island at the Center of the World by Russell Shorto, a rather lengthy but fascinating account of New York City's days as the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Recently read in print were Murder in Chinatown by Victoria Thompson (turn of the century NYC mystery), The Squire's Tale by Margaret Frazer (medieval mystery), and Three Bags Full by Leoni Swann, which defies categorization but is sort of mystery solved by sheep.

Labor Day weekend and labor is calling -- house to clean, errands to run, spinning to do! :-)

Quick Stuff

Not much time today, but a few things I wanted to post.

Shortly after returning from my trip, I completed my socks. Technically this is not my first pair of socks, as I had previously completed a set of toddler's socks in worsted weight. However, this is my first pair made to fit a specific set of feet (mine) and made with sock yarn. They're finished, fit, and look like socks, so wahoo!













I have been somewhat buried in piles of stuff to put away, laundry to do, house to clean, and starting school, but I have managed to get in some spinning and knitting. I have worked on the alpaca and have finished two skeins plus one bobbin of a single. The bag seems never ending, but since it was free and I hope to make a sweater, I am not complaining.

Spent time at the hospital today as my mother was having surgery, and made some progress on the shawl I have been working on for over a year. I'm down to about 30 rows left (it's one of those triangles where each repeat has two more stitches than the last), so I hope to post a FO picture soon.

Must return to the laundry. I should finish seating charts as well, but doing ten today was enough.

First Day of School

Whew, I made it through the first day.

We only lost two kids getting them home, although I had to walk one down the street to the babysitter.

A second grader showed me his new shoes with fancy air input so his feet don't get stinky.

Another second grader told me he was acting grown up now because he takes pills.

I face the first graders tomorrow.