Blocking Day

Today friend Janice & I finally blocked my MS7 shawl - Imbolc by Renee Leverington at Goddess Knits. It was a beautiful day for blocking - just a bit windy and low humidity - so we laid everything out on Janice's porch and started pinning & stretching - pinning & stretching.

A couple of breezy hours later it was all done! Here's me in my first lace shawl! After the unpinning, we celebrated with the season's first gin & tonic - yum!

First son Nick is home from college , G.M.U., and we're in the process of making him a bedroom in the basement. He spent a little - just a little - time today scraping the walls so we can put "Drylock" on it - it's a moisture barrier. Not that we've ever had water seeping through the basement walls, but better safe than sorry, I guess. I hope we can do this quickly because he's sleeping in the living room and that's getting old for all of us - poor Nick...I hope he knows that we love him lots because we're making him a NEW ROOM even though we gave his old room away to one of his brothers - too many b-i-g boys, not enough bedrooms - sigh.

Here's a closing shawl shot - thanks to Janice's husband, Ken! I look like I have butterfly wings - maybe it's time to fly away!

Post -Mother's Day Post

Yesterday, P, A & DH & I drove to W'burg to visit DH's parents - specifically my m-i-l because 1. it was Mother's Day and 2. she's going to have open heart surgery in a week. One of DH's brothers and his wife were there, too. The two of us daughters-in-law made spaghetti & a salad & heated up yummy garlic bread for dinner. It was a nice visit, even though dear m-i-l is nervous about her upcoming surgery - so are we! After dinner, we sat around and tried to talk about normal stuff, but also talked about surgery concerns. I wish all seven of m-i-l's children could have been there to celebrate the day with her...and to show their concern and their love. I'm glad we went to visit & today I got a nice email from m-i-l, thanking us for preparing dinner and for the stuff we gave her.

My m-i-l is a knitter. Her Ravelry page says that she's been knitting for 66 years! She started knitting before she married my f-i-l and kept on knitting while he was stationed overseas during WWII. She has told me stories about knitting socks for him. She continued knitting while mothering seven children. About 13 years ago, one day she developed a bad pain in her hand. Turns out it was sudden onset rheumatoid arthritis. After that, she couldn't knit anymore, so she gave me all her stuff. About a year or two ago, she started knitting again. It was the combination of several things: 1. her arthritis pain was manageable 2. she got a new dog & 3. we visited Knitting Sisters and she decided to make dog sweaters! Well, of course she had to buy all new stuff! (hooray for her!) This week, she is trying to finish her Kaffe Fassat Regia socks so she can wear them in the hospital. She's on the second sock, so I'm sure she'll be done in time. I hope and pray that her surgery goes well and that she'll recover in comfort - I'm looking forward to sharing more knitting time with her and making lots of doggie sweater for the Heritage Humane Society. Hugs to the best m-i-l ever!

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Here's a brief knitting update for me - the new Cindy Knitter KAL yarn arrived. I'm going to do a swatch in just a minute to check my gauge. Here's the pattern & yarn - Knitpicks Shine in

Bachelor Button.

Central Virginia Girls meet & knit

...well, only three of us plus Judy's mom were there - so four - but it was still a very nice get-together! We met at the old Batesville Store

& had yummy coffee & treats. (the link is not a store link, but will give you a little history about the store & area). Here's a group photo - I'm wearing the not-really-a-ten-year-sweater:

We had "show & tell". Janice showed us the yummy Wollmeise yarn she just bought from a nice person on Ravelry -

I'm on a hunt for some, too, but can't find any except on E-bay. If any of you blog readers have access to Wollmeise Superwash Sockyarn, I'm interested in purchasing some. I can't seem to catch up with any using internet resources - it sells too quickly!

Here is Judy's project and her mom's wonderful beaded shawl - the first half has 2000+ beads. Yikes, that's a lot of stringing!!

Finally, here's the second panel of my project - the Shawl with cables by Linda Cyr.

It's an easy pattern, so I could knit, drink coffee, & eat my yummy muffin without messing up the pattern.
Despite our few numbers, we had a good time - I hope more CVG's can come to the next one!

Friday night knitting & weirdness

Last night while DH was watching the Washington Nationals lose on T.V. and the 16 yr. old twins were listening to music at the semi-local coffee shop/book store, I was knitting....and watching "chick flicks". I watched Murphy's Romance with Sally Field and Jim Garner, and then I watched the last half of the latest version of Jane Eyre - the one with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens. I love the Guardian's review on the DVD jacket....."style, substance, and just the right amount of heaving bodices..." I like the "heaving body" part. It's very tastefully done.

I knitted through the movies and finished the last row of the first section of the Shawl with Cables, put it on a holder, and started another section.

Here's what they look like together.
I still like how the Tonalita is knitting up, but the pretty light pink has not made another appearance. I guess I feel asleep while DH was out picking up the boys & shuttling home some of their friends. It's hard to stay up late on Friday nights, especially after dancing pretty much all day with my music classes. Music is a very physically demanding job. My predecessor told me that, but I had to live it to understand - as with everything in life. So, last night I was pooped!

At 12:50 a.m., the doorbell rang....now this is unusual. We live in a pretty rural area - up on a hill - and are bordered by cows, pasture, & woods. If we squint, we can sometimes catch a glimpse of our nearest neighbor...so a doorbell ring at 12:50 causes a bit a of stir. DH went to the door, followed by me, carrying an unused golf club (actually they are all unused right now, but that's another story). DH clicked on the porch light & guess what? There was no one there. We turned on the outside floodlights and headed back to bed, first checking to make sure that our teens were tucked in and accounted for. They were. So after a little discussion and checking off possible suspects, we drifted off to sleep....and the doorbell rang again. This time we heard the little poop running off the porch. This time, all the floodlights were turned on, and this time, I called the Sheriff's Office. They sent a deputy out right away and he searched the area.
The whole thing is most likely kids pulling pranks, but I really hope they don't come back tonight or in the future. I'm planning a little surprise for them if they do!

Here's Halloween this morning. He & White Socks were outside all night. Lousy attack cats. We're going to have to work on their guarding skills!
Because we were up throughout the night, we are treating ourselves to a big breakfast. I can hear DH mixing up the eggs right now. That's my cue to put the turkey bacon in the microwave & get the toast ready...so, I'm out of here - yum - comfort food.

Life's rollercoaster

...I don't want to get off - I just want it to slow down a little.
This time of year is crazy anyway with school stuff winding down & all - but throw in a sickness or two, a concert or two, financial arguments with institutions of higher learning, an unexpected job decision, and starting two new classes and you'll have something that feels like an out of control roller coaster. That's what I've been dealing with for the past week and a half.
Here's how some of it has resolved:

• Sickness - I'm better, but still have an inner ear thing going on. As soon as I get a chance, I'll go back to the ENT & ask him to make it better - please
• My m-i-l is scheduled to have open heart surgery next week. We'll drive down to visit her for Mother's Day this weekend. The surgery is a real worry!
• Zephyrus is done for the year. I'm loving Sunday evenings at home!
• Shenandoah straightened out the financial mess, although they say they never received the registration I mailed AND faxed to them....give me a break!
• I have decided to return to regular education - leaving music. I'll teach 5th grade Language Art & Virginia Studies again....maybe a section of math.
• New classes have begun- - here's what they are
• I'm also collecting practicum hours. I have to have 170 by July. I'm organizing summer school sessions for the high school and my elementary school, rewriting a section of our student handbook, and sitting in on discipline issues.
  

I'm also doing a little knitting. The Cindy KAL will start next week. I ordered new yarn from Knitpicks b/c I did not like the first color - too dark.
Here's the Shawl with Cables...I'm done with the first panel!I wish the Tonalita had a little more of the light pink color. I thought it would reappear, but it has not yet. Anyway, it's knitting up nicely!Time to head off to school. It's rainy Friday, so the kids are sure to be nuts! Wish us all luck!

For all you Ringsurfers

I've recently joined three blog groups by Ringsurf: ChoralKnitters - because I am a singer and a knitter; Knitting Bloggers - because I am a knitter and have a blog (duh) and; Epsicopal Bloggers - because I am Episcopalian - and a blogger. Thus far my blog posts have mostly been about knitting and wanting to knit and a little about my singing and a little about my grad school stuff. I really have not written anything about church. So here goes....I am member of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Greenwood, Va. I sing in the choir there and occasionally, knit prayer shawls - see below - (had to get knitting in there somehow!)

I also help out with our church's monthly food distribution - I do the paperwork. We distribute food boxes to about 130 families each month. Emmanuel is a loving, vibrant parish. Our family is blessed to be part of the Emmanuel family.

So - I knit in church. There are lots of us choir-knitters at Emmanuel - well, at least four or five. We usually work on prayer shawls, but if it's close to Christmas, some of us can be seen trying to finish up a project before the Holidays hit or working on other stuff if we're between shawls.

I'm between shawls right now, so here's what I'll be taking to church next:

This is the Shawl with Cables from Vogue Knitting On The Go: Shawls. The pattern suggests Noro, but mine is from Trendsetter Tonolita. I love the colors and it's very soft. In fact, it's calling to me right now, so here I go to sit & knit a bit. TTFN - !

Not-really-a-ten-year-sweater done!

OK - so I counted back & I think it's only a five year sweater...maybe six - BUT it's done! I couldn't sleep until I sewed on the last button & took some photos. It will be cool enough tomorrow morning to wear it to school!

On to the next ZZZ project....I think it will be the De Colores jacket made of Noro Silk Garden. I only have a few more strips to do & then lots of seaming...yuck, I hate seaming.

Apparently I also hate writing up graduate projects because I haven't done anything lately towards finishing mine. Someone better come over here & hide my knitting needles & block Ravelry on my computer! I'm hopeless!