gifts and al gore

When I heard that Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize, Laurie is the first person I thought of! I smiled all the way through her post and then felt a little sad, because I wish I had a family like hers. Full of brothers and cousins and people in cowboy hats having a good time and enjoying being with each other.

My family is small. No brothers or sisters. No standing around posing for pictures. No sharing a bottle of wine. I really wish I had a strong connection to a family.

Luckily Husband has a big family, and we got right busy about making a big family of our own. No matter what, my kids will have each other. It is the best gift they will ever receive.

time marches on

Here is some non-knitting content.

We are a homeschooling family. The older kids have been homeschooling since elementary school. The youngest was not yet born when we decided our kids would no longer go to school. While I understand that this is not an option for everyone, it has been great for our family.

Oldest Daughter homeschooled through 10th grade. In what would have been her Junior year of high school she began college. Oldest Son homeschooled through 9th grade and then discovered an online high school that fits him like a glove. They offer a rigorous course load that works well with his baseball schedule. Both of the kids test off the charts, and are way smarter than I can ever hope to be.

Now it is Youngest Daughter's turn. She is looking forward to high school in the fall of 2008. As much as she is looking forward to going to school, she does not want to attend the local high school, which has thousands of kids. All of the high schools in our district have thousands of kids. So I began a search. We live in a major metropolitan area, I am willing to provide transportation and would consider a private school. Youngest Daughter is looking for a small school with a naturalist/environmental program and prefers not to do parochial. This is a broad list when coupled with a city/area of our size. I have been searching for months. Can I find anything that works? No. So we changed our requirements. Small is the biggest thing for her. Using that we came up with a small school that operates out of THE central city location. It has an arts focus. Arts she can do. She is a dancer, painter and photographer. I will give them a call in the morning and arrange a visit. I do all of this with a heavy heart. I know it is the best thing for her. This is what I keep at the top of my mind. But my life will change. I will be on the road driving her to and from school everyday. I will be volunteering and committing to a school. There will be school lunches, and functions, and school spirit days, and all sorts of things I was so happy to close the door on all those years ago when we became homeschoolers. I am happy for her. She is smart and gorgeous and people flock to her. I am sad for me and my freedom. Yeah, I will get over it.

ravelry radar

I just found a cool thing on Ravelry. From the front page click on Forums, then click on Radar. It shows every post to the site as it happens. Completely random stuff. Surprisingly hypnotic.

clutter is bad

I guess the first thing you need to know, is that I do not do clutter. All horizontal surfaces in my house are clear, the counter tops are empty,(yes, empty), the bed is always made. I own 1 knick-knack


I did not plan it, it happened. There are 3 plants in the house. I did not buy them, they were gifts with history attached, so they get to live. Art is totally different from knick-knacks. Art has a home here.

If I walk into a room and the kids shoes are scattered about, and the newspapers are spread all over, and there are dishes on the table...that is bad. That must be picked up before I can even think about flopping on the couch to knit. Although I seem to be OK with Lego's, go figure. It is inconceivable to me to relax now and pick up later. How can people relax when there are piles of stuff everywhere? I just do not understand. If I sit on the couch to knit and I look across a dining room table with a finished plate and a tossed aside book, how can I be expected to turn away and begin knitting? There is no way that would ever happen. I need a clear surface before my calm returns. Do I need a spotless kitchen floor and sparkling windows? No, it is the clutter I can not deal with.

There is a psychiatrist out there that knows exactly why I do these things. It is all a mystery to me.

OK, so now that you know this you will understand why I had to take the cutting shears to my Ravelry notebook. Groups, I belonged to a gajillion. I realized that there were only a few I checked regularly and I unjoined the rest. Friends too. I actually felt more than a little guilt about clicking the x under a friends pic, but really, if I am not reading their blogs or checking on on them at least once a week, then they need to go. Yes it is harsh, but I am what I am and I can not stand the clutter.

If you ever need someone to clean out your garage, rent a dumpster and I am on it!

level 2

I brought a cold back from camp. :-( So far it is not too bad, just annoying as hell.

While I was away an order from Messie arrived. I ordered 3 of her ultra fabulous socks bags. 2 are for gifts, one is all mine. I love it!


The skeletons have a touch of glitter and the toggle glows in the dark. Messie has another one on her site, but it does not have this cool inside.


I can not say enough good things about these bags. I now have 3 in action. Each project gets its own bag. It is so easy to grab a bag on my way out the door. This time of year much of my knitting is stealth knitting and having everything tucked away is nice.

Much progress was made on the Dragon Scarf this weekend. No picture, my "little" guy is up and about. The first Log Cabin Sock for Husband was finished during yesterday afternoon's dance class.

Yeah its big, its not for me.

The Log Cabin Socks for me? Frogged. The pattern was lost in the yarn and the yarn was a bit to small for the pattern. The yarn is so lovely on its own that it has become a pair of plain ribbed socks. I am at the gusset of the first sock.

Right before I left for camp we learned that a Level 2 Sex Offender is now living a stone's throw from the house. The website does not list his whole address, just 6XX and the street. Well that street is the major street through town and most houses have been turned into business or torn town for $500,000+ condos. On the block listed there are 5 rental houses. 3 on the far side of the street and 2 on this side. The two on this side back up to the houses across the street from us. I am hoping the mailman will tell me what house he is in. I also hope it is a house on the far side of the street. I am not planning to make a stink, people need places to live, but the more information we have the better. The kids have all seen his picture. I am trying to find out all that I can about his conviction. I will send an email out to my lawyer buddy this morning and see what she can dig up. OY!

whistle the "snoopy theme"

I am going to camp. Not in charge of anything. I feel like Snoopy doing the happy dance.

This weekend is Fall Encampment. This is where MANY girls from our service unit attend camp for 3 days. They camp, hike, canoe, sing songs, that sort of thing. I have, in the past taken troops to encampment. It is such a wonderful experience for the girls. For me, not so much. It is probably raining and more than a little cold. I have done it all for the girls.

This year I am attending as an adult, without girls. Sleeping inside and staying up way too late (or early, depending on your point of view) playing cards and goofing off.

Youngest Daughter and Best Friend have planned and will run the encampment workshop. They put together an entire day of Egypt Unearthed. The hours spent planning are too many to count. They will be running approximately 150 Brownies and Juniors through their programs. This project is happening for their Silver Award. I really wanted to pop in and watch, but did not want to camp outside, in the probable rain. I was thinking I would take the ferry over for the day. It makes for a long day, but I really wanted to see them in action. The adult unit is so much better. Food, cards, laughter and knitting. Possibly a stroll around camp to get the blood flowing.
The only downside to this weekend is that I will miss the Fleece Artist trunk show and the LYS. Local wine, cheese AND Fleece Artist. Now that is a dream evening. I contacted the LYS and they let me know they would be setting up all day Friday and that I was invited to come take a peak. I need to go. I hope I can pick up some rovings.

This is what I am bringing to knit...the pictures are not great, but you get the idea...

Log Cabin socks for Husband






Dragon scarf for Youngest Son

This is the project I really need to finish. Because Youngest Son is always in house with me it is hard to find stealth knitting time. It would feel great to come home with only stealth blocking left to complete.

Log Cabin socks for me

I can not imagine finishing the other 2 projects, this is "just in case".

I also packed some spinning. But spinning is not a social activity for me, so it will probably only come out of the bag if I get some time in the woods.

fave beans and chianti

Oldest Daughter's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and she received balloons from Orthodontist. The regular balloons lasted a day, but the mylar version was going strong and still tied to the dining room chair. Last night I needed the chair to wind yarn so I cut it loose. This morning I am laying in bed trying to figure out what that freaky noise is. It sounds like the sucking sound the bad guy in Silence Of The Lambs makes. You, know the one that follows the fava beans and Chianti line. Anyway, I am trying not to panic, We turned the heater on yesterday, maybe the heater is making noises? Then I see the silhouette of the balloon as it is scraping along the ceiling. It was pretty funny. The balloon is out a here.

What a productive weekend, knitting wise. I did indeed get Husband's Retro Bib socks done. No picture available, he wore them to work this morning. On Friday I said out loud that I really wanted to finish his socks this weekend. I was tired of working on them and ready for something new. Because I had just begun the heel flap I did not really believe they wold get done, just that I really wanted to move along with them. Last night I grafted the toe! Thank you rain.

I immediately wound the Fleece Artist from my swap buddy and managed to knit up a few rows before heading to bed.

I am not sure of the color. Forest or Cosmic Dawn, maybe. The Log Cabin Sock pattern is written for a worsted weight yarn. I am making these for myself using the pattern as written for a mans size and adding 4 stitches. I added a k1,p1 at the beginning of the pattern repeat. That gives me 60 stitches on #2's. Should be perfect. LOVE the yarn.

This week my knitting and I will spend much time in waiting rooms. 3 dance lessons, an Orthodontist appt and probably 2 Oral Surgeon visits. Woo Hoo! (Why does spell check let Woo slide, but highlight Hoo?)