Stay-cation

It has been a lovely week so far. We've had a range of weather from snow to 70 degrees and sun (currently 65 and sunny). I've been fairly productive in the basement, even though I probably won't get through the whole place as thoroughly as I need to. It is much cleaner and we've definitely cleared out a lot of stuff. And, rediscovered some treasures I'd forgotten about.

Today I've been rather unorganized and not very productive. But, Don is having a very productive day (maybe we're taking turns -- ala our boys who, as twins, always seemed to take turns with bad days, developmental changes, etc. and still seem to do that at times). He's done a dandelion patrol, mowed the lawn, and is now cleaning out our grill! I'm just puttering and making only small forays into piles of stuff.

Ah, vacation! Maybe I'll read a book.

ON MY NEEDLES
I'm caught up on the Evenstar Shawl, now just waiting for Clue 6 to be released tomorrow afternoon. I even found beads for it at Beads on the Kennebec in Augusta. Can't wait to see how it all comes together!

The top-down cardigan is down to the last few rows on the body and then I have to do the sleeves. After that there are a couple of rows to knit around the collar and front edges and then it will be done. It won't be a lovely thing, but it will be warm and comfy for weekends.

I've pulled out an old project that will be an easy one to tote along when I need something that I don't have to think too hard about. It is a scarf of boucle and mohair I picked up as a souvenir last spring when attending a conference in Philadelphia. The colors are lovely, based on a periwinkle and pale, pale pink with a little white and darker blue in the boucle. I'll photo it when there is more to show.

Socks -- just haven't had the time or energy to think about them. But, I did just find in a box in the basement the very first three pairs of socks I ever made, while living in Scotland, many years ago! Two pair are felted and too small to get on my feet anymore, while one has never been worn. Sock yarn is definitely more interesting nowadays -- and nice to have washable wool so they don't shrink so easily.

Spring Snow

Here's a snowy day picture for you. This is Lydia who stretches out on a radiator every time she hears the furnace start up! And, a photo of both of the girls when the furnace is off :)


Yes, spring has sprung -- we have daffodils, and our tulips are about to pop. The hostas and day lilies are way up and the apple tree looks like it will bloom soon. All early, all welcome. However, it has been snowing all day! But, not sticking, so I think we'll recover easily.

I haven't posted in a while, partly due to spending far to much of my "spare time" working on my Evenstar shawl. This is a "mystery" knit along (known as a KAL in the knitting community) and members of the KAL receive one "clue" or section of the pattern every so often. I got a bit of a late start, but worked hard to catch up. We're on clue 5 of 7 and it will be beautiful. I'm actually enjoying knitting blythely along without really knowing the end result. The pattern is quite challenging but fun. There are around 600 stitches per row at the moment (going in circles for a circular shawl). I see from the Ravelry discussion threads that I'm going to need around 2900 seed beads for the finish. The next clue comes out in 6 days, but I'm not quite halfway through clue 5, so will have to move along to keep up!

Luckily, I am on vacation this week. Of course, it turns out to be not the best week to be away from the office, but I'm sure I'm more dispensable than I'd like to think. It is school vacation and, being married to a teacher, we decided in the first empty nest year to take this vacation together from now on. Last year we took an actual vacation and spent several days in the Lancaster, PA area on our way to pay a visit to our son at Allegheny College. It was lovely. But, this year we're doing a staycation. Don helps coach the junior high track team and the head coach is having surgery this week, so we're staying home so he can be here for the team. SO, the plan is to work on cleaning out our basement and maybe the garage.

Today is the first day of vacation, but I haven't even been in the basement yet. I met a friend for coffee this morning and then have spent most of the rest of the day so far knitting (big surprise). Then I decided to get on Ravelry and see if there are any notes on the KAL that I should know about before I get to the really tricky part of the pattern. And then I decided to look and see how long it has been since I posted a blog entry. Hmm, what can I procrastinate on next? Maybe selecting garden seeds? I think we're going to go back to having a small raised bed for veggies and place it next to our patio so we'll keep up with it. We'll see.

So, maybe I'll allow myself to putter, knit, and procrastinate today, but I need to get to work tomorrow!

ON MY NEEDLES
My Evenstar shawl in pale pink Misti Alpaca Lace. Row 36, Clue 5.

Skew socks from Knitty in Berroco Sox with sparkles. One foot is done to where the heel should start. I'm going to start the second foot and catch it up so that I can work the two opposite directions at the same time using the Magic Loop method.

Top down cardigan from Cascade EcoWool. Using the Knitting Pure and Simple bolero pattern, but ala Ellen at Purl Diva, am continuing on to make a full cardigan sweater. It will be a great knock-around sweater and knitting top-down allows me to make the lengths of the body and sleeves exactly the way they fit me the best. And, it is great mindless knitting to work on while watching the HBO John Adams series that we're currently hooked on.

Oh, and there is one more thumb to knit to complete a pair of mittens I was knitting before Evenstar came along.

OFF MY NEEDLES - FINALLY
The Slouchy Cardi is done. I'm not as in love with it as I thought I would be, but it is done. The hood is smaller than the pattern called for, both because photos I saw on Ravelry made it look huge and because I knit it with nearly every inch of yarn I had and am not going to get more just to add a couple of inches to the hood. I'm not terribly happy with the sleeve cap that I fudged, but it will do. It was meant to be a knock-around sweater, so that will be fine.

BTW, Zeben LOVES his sweater and wore it home when he visited over his spring break in March. He's talking about knitting another one this summer.

Itching for Spring

The weather has been on the not-so-nice side lately. Lots of gray days and weather that can't make up its mind whether to snow or rain or whatever. But, we inch along the calendar to my favorite sign of spring -- the North Street Dairy Cone will open for the summer sometime around St. Patrick's Day. And that won't be long in coming!

I spent Saturday at Spa, Knit, and Spin in Freeport with 3 knitting friends. We call our trips to these events "knitting boondoggles." I did very well sticking to my budget at the vendor market, and then ended up going over a bit when we stopped at Purl Diva in Brunswick on the way home. To cap off a lovely day (despite the cold, gray weather), we had gelatto with another Spa attendee we befriended at Purl Diva. It was a nice get-away.

So, what did I spend my budget money on? A skein of Woolen Rabbit Whisper merino lace in Scottish Heather (in some light it looks more purple and in other light grey). I plan to knit another Maplewing as the color I made it in last year just isn't my favorite. At Purl Diva I got 2 coordinating Zauberballs to knit the Daybreak Shawl. And, I bought a pattern to make a quick sweater with some EcoWool I've got hanging around. Two skeins should make this top-down cardigan a quick knit in off-white.

I've also gotten hooked into the Evenstar KAL (knit-along for my non-knitting readers) based on the Lord of the Rings. I'm getting a late start, but since it is a Pi Shawl, I should be able to catch up pretty quickly.

Most importantly, I'm beginning to get my yarn stuff more organized. I had a shoe-pocket thingy to hang up and put it on the closet door. I decided to use it to organize my round and flexible bamboo needles -- I'm so excited! They've been such a pain to keep track of and now they are neatly corralled by size. And the bookcase is painted and filled with all of my fiber books and magazines. I bought one pair of curtains, but the other size I needed wasn't in stock, so I need to order the second pair. I'm still in search of a filing cabinet I won't hate looking at or using, though. But, it is feeling like one small part of my life is getting organized.

We're thinking of using April vacation to clean out our basement. What fun. But, it will be good once we're done. And even better when Nate moves into his apartment for the fall and we can donate a bunch of furniture it is time to get rid of :)

ON MY NEEDLES
STILL working on the hood for the slouchy cardi. Got quite a bit done last night while watching two episodes of Eureka.

Mittens are almost done -- just have one thumb to do and ends to tie in.

And I cast on for Skew socks this weekend and am almost up to the heel on the first one.

Mission Accomplished

Ahhh. I just hit the "submit" button on the boys' FAFSAs! Taxes and financial aid applications done for yet one more year. As far as financial aid goes, 3 down, 1 to go! One more benefit (and likely the last time it will make a whit of difference) of having twins -- they'll both be (God willing!) done with college in 2012 and I'll be done doing their taxes and FAFSAs a year from now.

I don't actually mind doing our taxes each year. It is a reasonable mental exercise. But, doing it for multiple people in multiple states nearly drove me over the edge this year. Then, I spent a week putting off doing the FAFSAs, though when I finally, grumpily settled down to do them this afternoon, it took less than an hour to do them for both boys. Not bad.

Now, all that is left is to get all the right forms to all the right people for signatures and make sure they get them sent off in the envelopes provided. Nate's will be easy because we visited him at college yesterday and I got him to sign his forms. Last year Zeben didn't quite follow my instructions, so I'll have to be more stern this year about getting copies of all the signed forms to his financial aid office.

So nice to have this done! I think I'll go for a walk!

ON MY NEEDLES
I've actually been finishing up a couple of projects and really haven't had anything much in progress. I think as a reward for all the paper I've been pushing, I'm going to cast on for two new projects: Nora's sweater in Ultra Alpaca and these funky socks from the latest Knitty. I've got some space-dyed sparkly yarn that would be fun for these socks and they look like an interesting challenge.

People I Admire

I spent much of the past weekend on campus attending a Posse Plus Retreat. I was part of the "Plus" part as the retreat is mainly for students who attend my college through the Posse Program. They have this retreat every year and invite students, faculty, and staff to participate. I attended the retreat last year and learned a lot about these students and about myself and was pleased to be able to participate again this year. What I come away feeling is that these students are very brave people. They step way out of their comfort zone to attend a predominately white college in Maine and then work hard not to be invisible or sidelined while here. I'm proud to know them. I certainly wasn't that brave when I came to Colby!

While I joined the retreat on Friday evening and all day/evening Saturday, I had to miss Sunday morning so that I could finish the family tax returns. I completed returns for the US, Maine, and Pennsylvania. Yes, I should make the boys do their own taxes, but since I have to complete the financial aid forms for them by March 1, it is just easier to do them myself and get them done. One more year, guys, and then you'll be doing them for yourselves!!

ON MY NEEDLES
Nothing new -- didn't get a moment to knit all weekend. But, I'll make up for it this weekend (see previous post)!

Time Off

Ahh. It is Friday at last! Actually, it is Wednesday (and Ash Wednesday at that) but since I have the next two days off, it feels like Friday. I've had a very busy, productive, and successful 6 weeks or so at work and am reveling in having a long weekend. My sister is coming tomorrow to go view an art exhibit at a local college and I'm going to make soup and rolls for lunch tomorrow morning. On Friday Don and I have dentist appointments -- which will be interesting for me as a piece of a tooth just fell off on Monday and Tuesday. (Luckily it isn't hurting but it certainly feels like a harbinger of old age.) After the dentist we'll take a leisurely route to my sister's house (we'll be looking for Asian markets in Portland and running a couple of errands) where we'll spend the night. On Saturday we'll all be going down to UNH to take our son to lunch, possibly along with his roommate and his parents. One highlight of that trip will be driving by the house where Nate is making arrangements to live next year off campus. Then we'll likely head home as, by then, Lydia will have eaten all of the food we will have left out for both her AND Pandora and they'll both be hungry!

And, I just realized that the true beginning of summer is just one month off -- when our neighborhood ice cream shop will open for the season, usually on or around St. Patrick's Day! Can life be any better? Full of lovely things to anticipate and experience!

ON MY NEEDLES
After getting pretty far along on the hood, I realized that I was going about it all wrong -- it can't be knitted on because the knitting was going in the wrong direction if I did that. The cast on edge is the front edge of the hood, not the bottom (connected to the sweater) edge. I'm going to be very close on yarn, so I'll just have to make the hood a bit smaller. No problem. This is a "doing errands on Saturday morning" kind of sweater anyway. Done soon -- maybe this weekend!

Pulling in for Lent

I recently read an interesting article about going on a financial fast and after sharing the information with Don, we've decided to give it a go for the beginning of Lent. Looking ahead, there are a couple of spending opportunities that will conflict with our goals, so we are going to handle those by setting a spending budget. For example, the annual fiber festival is two weeks away -- I usually go overboard, so am going to set a strict spending limit (including going out to lunch). We're also not beginning this with Ash Wednesday, but waiting until Sunday. This week is school vacation and Don and I plan to take a much-needed couple of fun days at the end of the week, including, possibly, taking our son and a friend out to lunch and buying curtains for Zeben's room which we just painted. Then, we'll buckle down and spend as little as possible.

Because we are really quite frugal to begin with, we're also making a commitment to use up as much of what is overflowing in our cupboards as possible. We'll certainly continue to buy fresh veggies and fruit, but are going to try to use up some of the sauces and canned goods we have way to many of, and to use things in our freezer. I have a habit of trying to take advantage of good sales, but often stick things in the freezer and never get back to them. For example, there's a turkey in there -- the thought occurs to me that it would be a good idea to get that out and thaw it over the week to cook next Sunday. I'm going to do it!!

Of course, the other way to be frugal is to work on unfinished projects instead of purchasing new. I've certainly got plenty of those hanging around.

ON MY NEEDLES
The slouchy cardi is done, all except the hood. I blocked and pieced all of the sweater, and then decided to pick up and knit the hood from the edge of the sweater instead of knitting it separately and then sewing it on. About 9 inches to go!

The neckwarmer from Malabrigo is almost done -- just need to do the grafting.

And, the only other thing on needles right now is a pair of mittens.

I need to get back to my Vivian Hoxbro cardigan, but need some significant time to figure out where the pattern goes from here as her book does not provide a complete graph. The sleeves are done and I'm at the point where I need to cast on for the backs and fronts and move toward the center.

And, I'm getting myself psyched to start Norah's sweater from the Fall IK. Just have to finish that Slouchy Cardi first!