Autumn Mysteries

Today is an in-service day, meaning that the girls and I have an extra day off from school/work. Unfortunately, all hopes of sleeping in were dashed to bits when at 5:30 am my eyeballs popped open. I closed them again and tried desperately to resume sleeping, but by that time my bladder had awoken too.  Once up going back to bed seemed futile so I began the daily laundry and started the coffee. When my DH was safely off for work I ventured out to check on the status of my little apples.  Last year we planted a dwarf Braeburn tree. We plucked all of the apples from it that first year, but this time we left some on to sample.

They look fabulous so far and they’ve even managed to stay worm free in spite of the lack of insecticide. There should be one for each member of our family in a few weeks. 

Because we’ve neglected the garden lately,  some spiders have taken up residence. It’s impossible to take more than two steps in any direction without walking through the sticky, insect-laden strands. Morning light combined with residual raindrops left their webs sparkling like jewels. At times like these that I wish I had a better camera. It’s a mystery to me where all of these spiders lurked throughout the summer.  Lord knows that had they been this abundant then that my time spent there would have been non-existent. They aren’t small either (some of them are scary-big) so unless this breed grows at crazy fast rate they aren’t newly hatched.

On Wednesday a mystery magazine arrived in the mail. I’ve no idea why it arrived, but I’m relatively certain that I didn’t subscribe to Verena Knitting. There are some very cute patterns inside and I’ve dog-eared several pages. Maybe this is some kind of promotional.  Contacting them is on today’s “To Do” list.  The thought of more issues showing up with a surprise bill down the road isn’t appealing. Did anybody else receive one?

Last night after work I pulled out Ol’ Blue, some mystery roving and began spinning.

I’ve no idea what kind of wool this is, the name of the colorway or the vendor’s name. I purchased a huge bag of it last spring at Black Sheep Gathering and it’s been aging in my wardrobe ever since. There is no end project in mind for this, it was done solely for relaxation purposes. Here is a picture of the singles so far.

I’ll probably end up making a two or three ply sock weight out of this when finished.  Regardless of the number of singles used, it will NOT be chain plied.  

Plans for the rest of our weekend remain just as unorganized mysterious as these other recent happenings. Tentative plans to clean house today then have a Halloween house decorating party tomorrow are still in the works.  Usually the task of hanging up lights, etc. falls on me alone. Hopefully some scary cupcakes, hot cider and spooky music will entice everyone to pitch in.

I’m Permanent!

After working as a substitute teacher since last January I finally had a permanent job offer today! Because I lack the required Master’s degree/certification to be a real teacher I will be a para-educator. That means only smaller groups (my biggest one is seven) rather than an entire class, and without the nifty benefits as well. Is this the end-all beat-all job? Heck no. That would require employment that paid me lots of money  for drinking coffee, knitting, spinning and eating chocolate. Am I happy? Yes. My family really needs the stability and the hours and days off match my daughters’ school schedules. Whoo hoo to having no daycare and to having ”inside connections” in the district network to keep tabs on my girls. 

Elsewhere, Henley Perfected  emerged from WIP hibernation this morning.

She’s none the worse for wear following months of neglect, but I need some quiet alone time to remember a few minor details… such as which size was I making and did I complete all of the sleeve hole decreases.  The only detail written down was a line number for the pattern repeat.

The girls have been busy in spite of having no chess club this week. A2 and A3 occupy their time indoors by reading, drawing and sculpting.

(Following this building session some of the PlayDoh was hopelessly and permanently mixed up.  This is something that really bothers both A3 and me. We made an agreement to shake it off and let it go. )

A1’s last volleyball game for the season is Thursday night. We’re all looking forward to catching up on our rest. She played hard, improved tremendously, won the coaches’ award for “determination” and most importantly, had a great time. She’s decided against playing basketball, but she does intend on joining the track team in the spring.  A3 wants to play baseball too so we may be right back into scrambling from one place to another.  

And now for something completely different… this is what my morning breakfast looks like. Mmm, mmm! This beats the heck out of waffles or eggs Benedict, don’t ya think?

Yes, that was sarcasm.

p.s. Tasha’s (the cat) bald spot has turned black. It hasn’t spread so I’m wondering if it might be bruising from where she ripped out her fur. None of the other websites’ descriptions have fit her symptoms enough for me to suspect any of the listed causes.  Thank you all very much for the suggestions, connections, etc. Each one is greatly appreciated.

Blue Kitty

Finally, an almost finished project! Lately knitting time has been scarce, limited to a few rows in the lunch room at work and several more before falling asleep each night.

Last week I posted about our elderly kitty pulling out random bits of fur. Reasons for a cat doing this range from allergies or parasites to stress and mental anguish.  We’ve thoroughly and repeatedly inspected Tasha for critters, flaky skin, redness, bite marks, swelling or other signs of irritation. Nothing in her environment has changed and her food remains the same (Iam’s for adult kitties with digestive issues). The lack of physical causes lead us to watch for signs of duress. Again, nothing. She purrs loudly when people are near, she makes biscuits on our laps while we pet her. The kitties are not left alone any more than they have been in the past.  The final conclusion was that she’s old and has kitty dementia. Then she began turning blue.

Sometime during the last week the bald spot on her back took on a decidedly blueberry hue.  Tasha is still acting exactly the same, with no signs of illness and the area, although blue, is not flaky, bumpy or otherwise irritated.  I questioned whether or not she’d always been that shade and that perhaps I’d been imagining the color change until I compared the pictures from earlier. This picture makes it look black or gray, but in person it really is blue.

Yup, Tasha’s turning blue. Her skin in the second picture isn’t dry, but the residual white hairs make it appear so in the photograph.  Maybe she’s metamorphizing into some new hybrid super kitty.  As long as she doesn’t go Kafka on us and turn into a cockroach then we’re fine with that. In the meantime we’ll continue to watch and should her condition worsen or spread then we’ll take her into the vet.

A1’s assembly adventure turned out to be quite benign, and nothing more  than her and a partner kneeling on a tarp then eating a donut off of a string while holding their hands behind their backs. Some of the other students were covered with shaving cream and suffered true indignities.

Meatloaf is off of the menu in our house now. In the future I may make it again, but I’ve taken the hint that it’s not a favorite dish.  See there, I can be taught. Have a terrific Tuesday!

Things That Make Me Wonder

I’d rather cut off a digit than speak in a public forum. Okay, so maybe just a pinky or perhaps a toe because neither of those are used much for knitting… although some of you may question whether I knit with my toes. Sorry, I digress, but my point is that standing in front of a crowd with more than two peoples’ attention focused upon me is not my idea of a good time. That being said the following behavior is completely baffling to me. 

Two nights ago A1 came home and shouted, “Guess what?” and then like any pre-teen girl who talks a mile-a-minute, proceeded to tell me herself rather than wait for an answer.

“I’m only one of several kids who was picked to be in an assembly!” This proclamation was followed by an ear-piercing squeal.

“That’s really neat, Axxxx, what’s the assembly for? I asked.

“I don’t know, but you need to sign a permission form that says I can be in it.” At this point she handed me a form, complete with a fine print liability waiver at the bottom.

This is where the mommy alarms perked up.  What could possibly happen at an assembly that is controversial or potentially dangerous enough to require a parent or guardian to sign a waver?  Being a natural cynic and worrier the worst possible scenarios immediately came to mind. Were wild animals going to spar with my child in a gladiator-type exhibition? Had certain students been chosen to participate in a traveling knife juggling demonstration?  Of course I asked what was going on.

A1 was positively giddy as she replied, “We’re probably going to have food thrown at us. Last year peoples’ faces were covered in peanut butter and the audience threw popcorn at them!”

(cue cricket sounds as seconds pass in silence while my pea brain digests this information)

The only response I could think of was, “Why?”

“Because it’s fun!” she answered.

I signed the waiver and told her to bring a change of clothes.  I wonder why anyone would find this fun and how did a child of mine get to be so out going.

Last night I joined millions of other Americans in watching the VP debate.  This one seemed more lively than the presidential version. My opinions have not wavered after listening to them. I still hate politics, and find all politicians to be offensive. While viewing it I couldn’t help but think that Joe Biden looked like a caricature of a televangelist. His teeth scare me. And for heaven’s sake, will somebody please teach members of the Republican party how to correctly pronounce “nuclear”! I sometimes wonder if I’m the only person who vomits in their mouth when listening to these people speak.

Finally, as a tool to help students remember the definitions of spelling words some of the teachers have them create drawings representing the words. One of this week’s words is “muster”.  This is my daughter’s drawing.

I had her add an apostrophe to “mom’s”. My only other comments are, 1. the cats do too like my meatloaf, and 2. did she have to make the realistic saddle bags? Sheesh. I wonder if the teacher would ever accept a dinner invitation after viewing this.

When one has perpetual bad hair

it’s not a bad thing to wear many different hats… huh?  Sorry, the caffeine hasn’t stimulated my synapses sufficiently.  It makes no sense to me either.

Lately it seems I’ve been switching from one task to another so rapidly that keeping track of who I am becomes a blur, mostly at work.  Sometimes I substitute for an entire room full of little people… where I alternate between drill sergeant and Mother Goose hats. While supervising recesses hat choices include nurse’s hat and referee cap. During small group teaching sessions with special needs students the hats include all of the above, but also added are the fuzzy wig of an entertaining clown and a magician’s top hat.  Don’t get me wrong, I love being with the kids and the changes keep each day exciting and new.  But sometimes keeping track of what’s supposed to be happening gets quite muddled. Yesterday on several occasions we ran over times because the hat switches weren’t prompt enough.  Then, as all parents know, once at home the hat changes become even more hectic and varied. Perhaps a cue from Bartholomew Cubbins is in order.

Rather than try and keep up with a written schedule I could have an alarm go off. With each audio cue I’d just take off the top hat to reveal what’s next, then proceed with that profession. 

My only question to you, dear readers, is what kind of a hat does a knitter wear?  Knitters’ hats would definitely need to be added randomly to the stack because lately knitting time has been sorely lacking.

I pondered the braid on my version of the Rocketry Sweater and finally decided to remove that particular design element. It looks adorable on other versions I’ve seen, but it just wasn’t working on mine.  Another option I tried was to pick up the edging with a slip stitch every two rows to mirror the slipped stitches between the color changes of the body.  That didn’t work either. So now the sweater is back to looking like this.

 

I’m thinking of keeping the picked up edges plain. Maybe a contrasting stitch color around the button holes or a contrasting stripe along the edges will compensate. Or maybe I’m over thinking this and the ribbed edge should be just left one solid color. It’s times like these that I wish I had the design sense of someone like Dave. Something had better come to mind soon though or the dear baby will have outgrown it.

Time to throw on the accountant’s visor and balance the checkbook while periodically donning a chef’s hat for pancakes.  The shopping hat blew away in the wind last night so I failed to stop by the store and pick up milk for something fast, like cereal.  Perhaps a dunce’s cap?

Roasted with a nice orange glaze.

Yes, that is my preferred method for eating crow.  It’s a dish I’ve perfected over the years. 

Let me explain.  Many “seasoned” knitters know that years ago Red Heart sold a very nice 100% wool worsted weight, but that some time during the 1970’s the company began using acrylic in place of the wool.  Back in those dark days before the internet this cheap inexpensive and easy to care for synthetic yarn was the only game in town for many of us. Yarn stores were few and far between. The majority had to settle for what the local department or drugstores stocked, while only the most fortunate of knitters and crocheters accessed shops dedicated to the craft.  Living in a small town and having an extremely limited budget meant that I used the acrylic yarn, and cheap aluminum needles too. As a result, much of my early knitting, while mostly enjoyable to create, often yielded absolutely horrid results.  I vividly remember the first time I walked into a real, live yarn store and saw the stacks and stacks of yarn. Before this the thought of yarn coming in more than 7 retina-searing shades had never been anything more than a dream.  From that moment on I was ruined. Being in college, I was perpetually broke so I made fewer  projects but with better quality yarn… that didn’t squeak.  In later years, courtesy of the internet and a resurgence in knitting’s popularity, nearly everyone has access to high quality yarns in a wide range of textures, fibers, colors and weights. During these latter years I’ve made many rude comments regarding the afore-mentioned RH acrylic, with some of them even finding their way into the public forum known as the blogosphere.  On many occasion I pompously proclaimed that I’d “Never buy Red Heart yarn!” 

This is where the eating crow comes in to play.  Yesterday, while on a weekly grocery trip I ventured to a different, much larger store. Because I was kid-free and in a new place I decided to check out the craft section just to see what they carried. There, amid the novelty yarns and crochet thread was just the yarn I wanted for making my grandniece’s cardigan… and it is Red Heart.  It is not the squeaky acrylic, but rather a cotton acrylic blend. It’s completely machine washable, and it should not irritate the baby’s skin like wool can do.

There weren’t a lot of colors to choose from (a butter yellow would have been a nice addition).  I won’t be selling off my prized stash anytime soon, nor will I cease buying more expensive, high quality yarn when I’m able, but for certain knitting projects I’ll definately keep a more open mind. Did I mention that this is washable? That scores it huge bonus points in my book.

This morning I cast on and knitted the body of the sweater.

I still need to make the sleeves, weave in a ton of loose ends and find the buttons that I’m sure I bought and brought home. There is enough yarn left over to make a hat and booties too. I’m not too sure about the braided cord that separates the ribbing from the body of the sweater.  Maybe it will look different when it’s completed. If I make another I may leave this particular design element out.

Saturday the girls and I went to the park.  Here is my little tomboy, A2, with her new friend, “Tickles” the caterpiller.

A3 enjoyed lots of climbing and jumping.

And A1 met up with her friend while there.

Tomorrow it’s back to the grindstone. Cheers!

In Between and Elsewhere

While waiting to pick up the girls from volleyball and/or Chess Club

I’ve managed to sneak in a few rows of knitting.  This is the beginning of a pair of Slouch Socks from the book, “Socks, Socks, Socks!” in Stitchjones’ colorway, “Summer of Love”. I’ve completely failed at capturing the unique beauty of this yarn in the photograph. Believe me when I say that it’s lovely and it seems to have been dyed for this pattern.

In addition to the very portable sock I’ve worked here and there on a Skull Hat which is not quite as easy to take places. The pattern is courtesy of  Gina at Knit Two Together and the yarn is some Cascade 220 from my stash.

I spoke with Christy yesterday and she gave me an update on her latest hobby… knitting!  She was taught years before and decided to pick it up again by taking lessons at yarn store near her home. Hooray for another knitter!

Not much else to report on other than I have a new nickname. One of my students refuses to call me Mrs. Xxxxxxx so she calls me Rose. The kids in her group have decided to join her.   Silly little kidlets.

And Just Like That

everyone in our family was bumped up a generation.  My brother called today to tell me that his oldest daughter, Heather, had a baby last night.  This is beyond mind-boggling to me because now I’m a great aunt, my parents are great grandparents and my Grandpa Porgy has been made a great, great grandfather. What’s even more incredulous is to think of my brother as somebody’s grandfather! After all, I remember when he used to take my mother’s pantyhose, put rocks in the feet of them, put the top portion over his head and walk up and down the street with the legs stretched out and bouncing along behind him. He’s the little brother who went fishing then tossed his tackle box in his side attic. We lived in an older house with a slanted roof and side storage areas accessed through sliding doors off of the upstairs bedrooms. Anyway, he had forgotten that he’d left a trout inside the box until protests about his room smelling worse than usual prompted an investigation.  It wasn’t pleasant. I could go on. I know that David is now a responsible and productive member of society. He has been for many years, but there will always be a small part of me which remains convinced that he has cooties. 

According to Grandpa Cootie, (heh, heh, heh) both baby and mom are doing fabulously well. I’m not sure of the spelling, but he said that the baby’s name is Melia. I’ve decided to make her The Rocketry Cardigan.

Please note that this photo is from the Dream in Color site, where I purchased the pattern.  It is NOT mine, it is theirs. I make no claims to this photo or the sweater shown therein.  I’ve not chosen colors yet for the one I’ll knit. Any suggestions for cute, but not too girly, color combinations are very welcome. In addition to the sweater I’d like to make a pair of matching Saartje’s Booties.

Congratulations to Heather. A warm welcome to baby Melia. And of course a big congratulations to Grandpa Cootie too!

p.s. For those concerned about my callous remarks and name calling, they are made in jest, as my brother well knows. 

Laid Back in Pajamas Kind of Weekend

Slow and relaxing best describe our activities these past two days.  Usually we have at least one extra child to care for or some major social event that leaves us all exhausted by Sunday evening. Not only did we not have extra children, but on Saturday night my two eldest spent the night at various friends’ houses, leaving us with only one lonely waif. Actually, she wasn’t lonely. A3 thoroughly enjoyed, “Not being annoyed” by her sisters. The two of us knitted while watching a kid friendly movie. She worked some more on her “Bubble Gum Candy Pop” scarf made with her handspun from this summer.

I dug out and finished up the last little bit on these hiking socks.

After she went to bed I watched a strange movie called, Donny Darko.  It was definitely not child appropriate, but then again, there were no children present.

Miss Tasha managed to get poop all down her side so she had a bath yesterday. For an old kitty, she sure is strong. Over the past month or so she’s taken to pulling out large clumps of fur. The bath and blow drying revealed bald spots in various places.  Luckily she’s a very forgiving creature who didn’t hold a grudge for more than a few minutes.

One of my co-workers is a newly recruited knitter. While questioning her about her knitting preferences she told me that she loves metal, straight needles. What providence since I’m unable to use them, yet am in possession of quite a few pairs. Not being one to miss out on an opportunity I cleaned some needles out of my wardrobe for her.  More will be headed her way once I locate them.

A2 returned home about mid-day on Sunday and was excited to discover a Nintendo DS Lite waiting for her. I absolutely refuse to buy any gaming systems (although the Wii does have its appeal) for my girls. Part of this reluctance stems from me wanting them to be physically, socially and mentally active. Another reason I’ve black balled games is because of the countless hours my DH spends playing on his computer. Anyway, A2 really, really wanted one of these hand-held game systems so early in the year we made an agreement that she could have one IF she saved up her money and bought it herself. A birthday check from Grandma and Grandpa on Friday helped her surpass the necessary savings. While she was away at her friend’s house I picked it up, charged it and had it ready to go.  This is all we’ve seen of her since. It’s even blue, her favorite color.

This morning A3 progressed some more on her scarf.

Finally, I dusted off Ol’ Blue and spun a few yards of alpaca/wool blend. Yes, I’m still in my pajamas, I’m wearing ugly reading glasses and have bad hair in the picture. But it’s not like we expected the queen to drop in for tea and biscuits. 

I just had a phone call from Michelle who is in town with her husband for the Journey concert tonight.  Journey is one of my all time favorite groups, but I confess that I’ve not heard them with their new lead singer. The venue is only about a mile from our house so getting to see her should be relatively easy (barring the messed up road blocks and detours). Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend.

Update: A1 and I met up with Michelle and her husband at a local Starbucks. Happy birthday Russ! Torrential downpours at our meeting place just about a mile away left us soaked through and through. The weather changes very rapidly and very drastically here. We had a good visit in spite of the dampness.  My eldest was fascinated with Michelle’s lovely green eyes. Everyone in our family just has plain old blue, so A1 considered Michelle to be quite exotic.

Hopefully the rain will let up throughout the duration of the concert as it’s outdoors.  I hope that they have/had fun.

Ten Years Ago

I miserably wandered the hallways of a Portland hospital in tears. Try as I might there was no way on Earth of convincing the admittance staff in the maternity ward I was in labor.  Both my husband and I tried reasoning with the stalwart wardens, only to be repeatedly told to “Just go home and call your ob in the morning.” I shan’t bore you with gory labor details or lamentations regarding our frustrations. Suffice it to say that we were right and they were wrong. Several hours later, while in the midst of admission paperwork and donning the stupid gown the anesthesiologist showed up. Finally the much anticipated epidural was at hand! He wheeled in his cart then uncovered a tray of scary and strange gadgets.  However, several minutes later he was covering up his instruments and rolling his cart towards the door.  Our epidural period had elapsed. It seems that some time after convincing Nurse Nasty that I was really going to push a whole person out onto her hallway floor and putting on that humiliating strip of cotton I’d magically passed the point of no return. Within a nano-second I realized that he was leaving and with him, all hopes of pain relief.  As he walked by the foot of my bed he reached out his hand, patted my leg and said, “You’re a strong and powerful woman!”  I answered, “No I’m not, come back!”.  He didn’t.  

That day we welcomed A2 into the family. 

1 month, having a bath

almost three

December 2007

A2 is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. Her current quest is to find a way to make artificial honey. She knows that humans have the enzyme amylase in their saliva. She wants to find out which enzyme, etc. that bees have in their saliva so it can be replicated.  I’ve no idea how people will collect nectar, but I’m sure she’ll make up something.

She wants to study biology and work with animals. Some of her favorite activities include bird watching and bug collecting.   

A2 has been early for just about everything in her life. She started walking at 7 months. She began wearing glasses at the age of three and had braces at the age of nine.  She’s always been small for her age, but she’s very wiry and strong. Heaven help any boy who tries messing with her. Hopefully she’ll slow down though. I don’t want her growing up any faster than she already is. Happy birthday!