Knitting sickness

Yeah, yeah, you are right. I am a terrible SICK person. I don't usually get sick, so if I ever do, I WHINE a lot. Sorry. I have too much to do to continue being sick. I had resolved to kick this by today, but so far that idea has not worked out.

Here's what I've been doing with my sick self - I finished fighting with CLue 3 of the Mystery Shawl #7. Looks like I won this round. (this whole shawl thing is absolutely addicting... I think it's become part of my sickness - can't get well until I finish the shawl!)(oh, dear)

Here's what it looks like at this stage.

The yummy Butter Pecan Claudia Hand Paint Silk I ordered from Knitty-Noddy arrived - boy was that fast shipping all the way from Oregon! I can't wait to play with it, but WILL NOT start anything new until I get a better grip on my final graduate project....and I MEAN IT!

Anyway, here's what it looks like. I can't wait to knit something up with it - it's SO very lucious & soft!

Now I'm off to the grocery store to be a good mommy & buy Easter goodies for our boys whoare really TOO BIG for Easter goodies . I'll have to do it in stages: buy the candy, rest in the car; cruise through BenFranklin, rest in the car; buy Easter lunch groceries, rest in the car...it must be done & I hope the plan works & that the bathrooms in Ben Franklins are clean as usual!

On a sad note, my Aunt Joyce died unexpectedly on Thursday. She & my Mom were good buddies...must have been having daughters of similair ages that made them closer. I would play with my couins almost every weekend. She was one of the last living relatives a had of my mother's generation. I'm very sad that she's gone, but glad that she did not suffer. May she rest in God's eternal peace - Amen.

The Challenge of Sitting Upright

Well - it's happened. I finally managed to catch something from one of my dear little students. I've been in bed since yesterday. Today's challenge is to sit upright for more than 5 minutes without getting dizzy. I won't go into the rest of the gory details. Kim is bringing me won ton soup. It's the only thing that's appealed to me in the past 24 hours. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Knitting update:

I finished Lori's Prayer Shawl & gave it to her at school on Monday. Look how happy she is:

I'm still plugging away at the Mystery Shawl from Goddess Knits. I've ordered some more yummy lace-type yarn from Knitty-Noddy - Claudia Hand Paint Silks in Butter Pecan. I think that will be for another Goddess Knit Shawl. I also ordered some Madil Kid Seta from kaleidoscope yarns. I think it will be Renee Leverington's Spring Garden shawl.

Here it is:

Everthing else is on hold right now. We're heading out to the beach soon. I got the name of a yarn shop on the OBX from another knitter on Ravelry. It's called Knitting Addiction. I plan to stop in & check it out! Gotta love that Ravelry!

It feels like it's time to take a nap. Mayeb I'll dream about more yarn....zzzz.

Lazy Saturday

Whoa - where have I been? I've been a busy grad student, that's where. Debbie R & I have been working - working - working on a project that's due next week (!). I have to write it up later on today. There's been no time to post anything OR to knit, so I'm taking advantage of this rainy, windy Saturday to knit & post.

All the boys are off to the Nelson State Final A Boys' Basketball game & I've been trying to finish Clue #2 of the GoddessKnits Mystery Shawl. It's really cool so far - here's what it looks like:Tonight we're going to J & K's for dinner, so I'll get J to explain blocking to me. I hope the gauge looks alright - I've never made a lacey shawl before.
So this morning, I knitted & played on Ravelry. I created a group called Cindy Knitters. It's for knitters/crafters named Cindy. All this grad school stuff causes me to wonder about things - ahhh, reflection....and I started the group to find out 1. How many Cindys are really named Cynthia 2. How they spell Cindy 3. If they use Cindy or Cynthia as a professional name 4. Common Cindy-like traits...etc... Cindy L. & I are moderators. So far, since this morning, we have 9 members! Pretty cool, huh? Here's our badge:

So, this morningit was POURING down rain & now it's very windy...blowing all the rain clouds aways, I guess. There's actully a high wind warning out.

Here's what it looks like out my back window:

And my front window:

.....and here's what White Socks has decided to do on this rainy, windy day....and I'm going to join him, although I'll be knitting, not snoozing - at least not right away!

Concert Day & the Snots

This afternoon Zephyrus has a concert at St, Paul's Memorial in C'ville - more or less across from the Rotunda. It's a concert of early French & English sacred music...very beautiful, but much more intense than our Christmas concert. My sinuses have chosen this particular time to go into spasm....I have a chronic case of the snots - YUCK. I can sing sometimes, but not all the time. My voice will stop in mid phrase & I have no control over it. Dress rehearsal on Friday was a DISASTER for me...I was so upset that I was contemplating not singing anymore with the group - HOWEVER - I do love the music & the challenge, so I really don't want to happen!

Here's what I've been doing for the past 24 hours -

*Holding my head over a pot of steaming water -

*Squirting this nasty stuff up my nose to

dry up my sinuses

without drying out

my vocal chords...and drinking losts of water, as usual.

I think a visit to the doctor is in my future - this is happening more & more - and singing is too important to me to be this frustrated most of the time.

Here's what I'm wearing to the concert -I'll dazzle the audience, so they won't really care what I sound like...ha.

I'm also wearing my sparkly blue earrings and

the gorgeous bracelet hubby gave

me for Christmas.

I'll take hubby's socks with me to knit during intermission, while I'm sipping my steaming hot throat coat tea, of course! Break a leg!

Knitting & Coffee

This afternoon, the Central Virginia Girls, a group of knitters who met on Ravelry, met in Lovingston at Rapunzel's Coffee & Books to sip & knit. There were six of us from around the Nelson-Albemarle area. We did a lot of knitting & sipping & chatting. Here's a photo of five of us at the very end:

It was fun to sit & knit for awhile!

Sliding toward home

NO........I am NOT talking about baseball. I like the sport well enough, but for the past ten years or so, it has pretty much dominated our lives February until October. Either the three boys were playing, or John was playing, or they were watching a game - or two - three! - on TV. So, you can TAKE me out to a ballgame....I like going to a ballpark...good hot dogs & beer - but please, do not ask me to watch a succession of games on TV. One Nationals game - fine - but no more than on per day....please!

So - I'm slowly sliding toward the grad school finish line. I am taking four courses right now, so I'm a little loopy as all my project begin to come due. Here's what I'm working on:

*- A final project that could be used as staff development - topic is teacher motivation, so my partner, Debbie R, & I have to be very careful....We teachers are touchy when it comes to talk about motivation.

*- A brain research project - although this is not a biggie. I have to used one of the methods or activities discussed in our class with my classes at school & then give a report about it.

*- My ADMIN class - this is kind of big.....I have to develop a presentation about our school system & then choose three areas that need to be improved and make a plan to improve them...yikes.

*-Writing my study.....Debbie R & I are partners here, too....we spent our non-snow event day yesterday trading files & reading & editing each others' studies.

Here's what all my research looks like:

I only have thirteen pages so far & have just begun writing about the literature. I have not even begun writing up the findings of my study yet either. It's a monumental task. To make matters worse - everything must be VERY methodical and particular in the referencing.

I have to put it all in APA format. It's no big deal, really...I just have to get use to where the periods are placed, etc.....slow at first, but the process speeds up with use - like knitting - kind of...

Debbie R & I worked on our two projects all yesterday morning - we were off for non-snow....I had Zephyrus rehearsal last night - in preparation for our concert on Sunday. So, for fun this morning I browsed the new Coldwater Creek catalog & chose three outfits that I'd like to order.

I always do that....go through the catalog & pick out lots of new stuff, but I rarely order them. This time I was looking for more professional looking clothes - not teacher-semi-casual-can-get-on-the-floor clothes. These are stand-up-in-front-of-people-and-sound-intelligent clothes. Here's what I chose:

Of course, they're all pants & probably would not even fit over my big bottom....well, it's not as big as it use to be, but I still have a terrible time finding pants to fit.

Then, of course, there would be shoes involved....see how it all adds up to lots of $$$?

...and lastly - knitting. Last night at Zephyrus rehearsal, I knitted on John's socks while my section had some time off - Some time last week, I worked a lot on Lori's shawl....can't remember the occasion...oh yeah - it was the PTA meeting. So, I am knitting - just not enough to finish anything. I see that the Mystery Shawl group just posted the second clue - so I'll go get it & save it until I have a life again...or until my yarn comes in from Sarahsyarns. TTFN

Chart my courses, please!

I joined the GoddessKnits Mystery Shawl Knit-Along group on Yahoo & Raverly. I paid $5.00 to join the group & get the pattern/charts. It's a series of 5 clues released on 5 consecutive Saturdays. Ha - what was I thinking?

1. First of all, I can't even decide what color of yarn to use.....Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud heathery purple or heathery turquoise..?
2. Secondly - the yarn is itty-bitty. I have not touched skinny yarn in a long time. The swatch pattern & first part of the shawl pattern went up on the web today. I've tried knitting the swatch four times and can't get the feel of the skinny stuff & needles.

Everything feels very loosy-goose - not to mention that I have to pay attention to the chart. It's very different from what I've been used to - I think I'll have to just collect the clues & watch the other members post thier photos of completed shawls. sigh. Maybe once I finish writing all my stuff for my classes I'll be able to sit down & knit something beautiful. sigh again.

Today John went to C'ville to hear Alex play in our high school's jazz band festival. I stayed home & worked on my homework. Tonight we're going to a play at the Hamner Theater. They boys are working the light & sound boards.

Time to run & get the carry out for dinner....carry it out & right IN to my kitchen. TTFN.