Knit Night!

So, I finically finished my Firefly socks and they are very beautiful!  I will never be making another pair, so these babies better last forever! 

I started 3 projects yesterday, since all of my other projects were complete.  I'm very proud of myself for going 12 hours without any works on my needles.  And then, I go all crazy and start 3.  I'm going to confess something...  I frogged the bridger cowl.  It was too small.  And I was so happy that it was too small so I can make a shawl out of that beautiful yarn.

These two skeins are my newest socks.  Russian Rainbow and Spring Forward.  They are utterly fabulous so far.  I'll show pictures in my next post when I can take the picture outside...  The rainbow socks are self striping so I'm making plain socks.  The Spring Forward pattern is kind of swirly and I'm using Destination Yarns "Cleveland Spring" colorway.  Yay for Cleveland socks!!

Since the break up with my BFF, I've been struggling with myself.  Questioning why I can't seem to make GOOD friends-- why they always seem to put unrealistic expectations on me. Andrew says it's because I have nothing in common with them.  He's right--he generally is.  He told me to go out and make new friends--but not at the yarn store.  Ha!  Where else to make good friends?  With people I have something in common with!  I know he said that because he didn't want me buying yarn because when I told him I was going he was cool with it. "Get out of that little room and go meet people!" So tonight, I drove to Lakewood and plopped myself down at the community knitting table at my LYS and knit for 2 hours with some nice ladies. And next week, I'm going again.  (The hardest part was the initial meeting and hoping they would like me,  Laura said, "How could you not be nice?  You knit!"

Beautiful Weekend

So, this was Father's Day weekend and I got to spend Sunday with my parents and Andrew's parents and his uncle Alan. Very relaxed and pleasant.  We spent the day relaxing on the porch enjoying the beautiful weather.

Friday, this lovely arrived.  It's from Simply Sock Yarn and it's the Poste yarn in Bravery.  I got it because it is my school colors and I needed a pair of school socks! Right? Right.

I finished my Bridger cowl on Sunday evening.  It is a beauty.

And I took a quiz to find out which Snow White Character I am and I got Grumpy. 😳👍 I asked Andrew which character I got and he guessed grumpy.  Hmmm.  Perhaps I need to work on my personality...

So Far...Not the Best Week Ever

Sumer vacation is in full swing.  I've battled through my caffeine addiction and am now headache free. It took about a week to ween myself completely off Diet Coke.  Now, I can have one if I like, not because I HAVE TO! Very nice to be drinking water more.

I finished my watercolor memories socks today.  242 or so yards.  My stash dash total is over 1100 yards, so not bad!

I finished the Plumeria Frill and was disappointed that it is too small--despite an accurate gauge swatch. Booooooooooo.

I broke my glasses and can't get in to the optometrist until July 1.

Rik Mayall died this week from my favorite Bristosh Show called The Young Ones.

And my BFF is now my BFNM. (Best Friend No More) 

What can I say?

Getting Back on Track

So, my yarnbox subscription was a bust.  Out of the 6 shipments, I only really loved 1. So, I've been exchanging and selling the ones I don't like.  These sales allowed me to purchase this beautiful yarn below.  What makes it beautiful?  School. Colors. Self. Striping. Sock. Yarn. Ok, it's actually Harry Potter colors, but who cares?

Today, I finished one pair of the 3 I have working.  These are Kroy in Sing'N the Blues and they are lovely.  209 yards puts me at 663 total yards for stash dash. 

And this lovely spiral of yarny goodness is the Plumeria Frill I fell in love with at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival.  I'm finally on row 5--only 12 more to go.  Gosh, I love crochet. Quick!

And this week I started walking a mile everyday with my neighbor Alice.  As a result, when I get home, these two insist on their walk, too.  So, I get 1.5 miles in each day.  One walk is nice, one is fast and quick and full of dragging! The nice part is that it gets Alice out of the house and gives her a chance to talk instead of listening all the time.  We've gotten closer and the husbands are now thick as thieves.  We spend a lot of time sitting on their porch picking on each other and it's very nice.  I don't really have any friends so it's nice to get to spend time with someone as nice as her.

Planning my Days

So far, if you were to look at my daily activities, my summer would look like this: knit, nap, read, knit, sleep, repeat.  So, I created a list of things I would like to do and places I would like to visit so I don't sleep my vacation away.

Today, however, I knit and slept.  I did manage to move to the front porch for a while but it got hot and there was no breeze so I moved back to the cool house.

Andrew decided we needed real food so we showered and went to our favorite restaurant.

Now we're home and I'm knitting and he's doing whatever he does...  Here's my progress today on both socks.  These are Kroy Sing'N the Blues.

And these are Lollipop Yarn's Watercolor Memories.  My goal is to get to the heel on both tomorrow after I go to the West Side Market and Target and Office Max and I contact the county Auditor about lowering my taxes.  Wish me luck. 😳

Summer is Here

Summer means extra time for all the things I didn't get to while I was busy working.  So, I've been reading a lot, sleeping a lot, cleaning a little, and knitting.

I'm doing stash dash again this year as I mentioned before.  My current total is 555 yards.

These socks brought me up to 454 yards this morning.

The firefly sock I just finished brings me to 555 yards.

Today I cast on another Kroy sock and tomorrow I'm casting on my Lollipop yarns socks.  I know I won't reach my goal, but I'm putting a serious dent in my sock yarn and my sock bin is FULL.  I'm up to sock number 25 for the year and 15 pairs total for all time.  Can't wait to get through this stash so I can buy more!!

A few nights ago I attended graduation for my seniors.  As I was leaving a Public Auditorium I looked up and realized that Cleveland is truly beautiful up close.  Gonna try to get downtown more often this Summer and take advantage of the open spaces to knit and read!

May Madness

In the past, May has always been the month I feel I lose control of everything and just hang on until the last day of school.  This year, it's been crazy, but in a much better way.  First of all, I'm not freaking out trying to finish a million reports and get tons of signatures on paperwork.  

So, here's a little of how the past week shaped up.

I found this awesome series on netflix called "Longmire."  Man is he a hunk.

I taught Imari and Danejah how to knit today.

I watched my student who is on house arrest completely freak out over rubber band bracelets.

I've continued to knit socks

I am doing cabled socks that are a pain in the butt.

And I'm getting ready to enter the Stash Dash 5K.  5468 yards of yarn knit in 10 weeks.  These socks will be my first entry at 207 yards when I sew the toe closed in the morning.  Technically, not cheating, but still cheating.  Stash Dash runs from May 23rd to some day in August.  You knit entirely from your stash.  If I wanted to just knit socks, I will have to make 22 pairs of socks.  Crazy, right?  I'm still going to give it a go.  I failed last year when that damn Color Affection ruined my life.  (LOL)

And luckily, these four beauties arrived on Tuesday so they count for Stash Dash!!

Birthdays and Reflections

I turned 42 on Friday...  Here's a couple of the awesome gifts I got from mom!  Can't wait to knit these both up into awesome socks!!  ( Thanks mom!!! )

And like some of us do with birthdays, we reflect on the year we just "survived." I sat on the porch today and did a mental inventory of things I'm thankful for--my parents, husband, and pups, of course.  My awesome new job at a new school. The lovely view from my front porch and the quiet of the neighborhood.  And I also looked back on some failures and I realized that my only real failures are my friendships.  I broke off a friendship in November with a friend I had had for years.  It was time.  She drained me of my positive energy whenever she was around.  But I miss the things we used to do together and the cool things I would have never done had it not been for her.  The most recent failure is with my best friend.  She means the world to me. I love her so much that I think it may be too much.  She has noticeably drifted away from me and I don't feel as important as I used to feel.  Sure she lives 4 states away and her life is tough being so far away from her family, but I wonder if I expect too much.  A phone call once a month, a birthday card, a visit longer than an hour and a half when she's home for a week.  

And naturally, I assume I'm the problem.  I'm not usually needy and insecure.  Why can't I maintain a best friend?  Are my standards too high?  Am I too difficult?  Am I the annoying one?  Am I too vocal and stubborn?  So, I'm now alone.  Not a big deal--I was alone when she dubbed me her best friend.  So, I maintain my solitary existence in friendville.  But, I don't like it.  And I have a tough time making friends because I don't like to put myself out there.  Catch 22, indeed.

Birthday

So, this year we have cut back our spending voluntarily and now out of necessity.  As a result, my birthday week is pretty tame.  I usually plan the whole week out and buy myself gifts I know no one else will buy me.  Dinner out a couple of times to collect my free birthday meals or desserts.  This year, nada.  No big deal, actually, because as a result of our decision we've realized that so much of what we bought was wasteful and unneeded. His unemployment is at times worrisome. (I find that I tend to sacrifice things for myself so that he can have things because I know how hard it is for him to be out of work.  He'll says to me, "Get it if you want it". But I always talk myself out of it.) I still buy yarn occasionally, but only with money I make off the stuff I sell on eBay.  As for everything else....

So, Baldwin and I are coping.  LOL.  Ok, Baldwin's not very happy, but that's just how he is.  He's a man.

I may, however, buy myself a new pair of Converse because I NEED them.  I may even bling them out and call them my "happy chucks" and I'll only wear them on special days!  Rhinestones, studs, or sequins?

11 Days

11 school days left.  Eleven. 11. E-LEVEN.  I'm pretty happy.😜

So on May 31, I'll be free to do whatever I want--within reason.

As for now, I'm working on 2 more pairs of socks.  The ones below are another pair of Paton's Kroy Socks in Mean Green Stripes.  Compared to the last pair I did, this yarn is so soft.  I'm loving working on them.

This pair is out of Madelinetosh Sock in Kelp.  The pattern is Firefly in the Knitter's Book of Socks.  Some cable action going on in these.  I'm wondering if I should have picked a lighter color yarn so the cables would show more.  Perhaps the farther I get, the better they'll look.

And most importantly it was 91 degrees today and I had no air conditioning in my classroom.  And no windows to open.  And kids with coats on complaining about how hot they were. (Eye roll) And I have a painful rash under each eye 😳 from the heat and humidity that I can't get any relief from for the 8 hours I'm working. Let's just say I'm glad to be home with the air on and my clothes off (not completely, but I sure couldn't wear this outfit to work).  

And I turn 42 Friday.  (Sigh)

Mail Day Monday, Tiresome Tuesday and Whack Wednesday.

Monday, these two wonderful boxes landed on my doorstep....snacks and calligraphy.  And then I went to bed.  

Tuesday, this picture shows up on my phone. This is Malik.  Apparently, I shouldn't leave my phone lying around.  Came home and went to bed.

And today, I wasn't allowed to have my instrumentalists play their horns because of ACT testing in the next classroom so I spent my day sitting around with high school kids planning next school year, teaching a couple kids to knit, and unlocking about 100 padlocks I found in a cabinet. I'm so tired.  I forgot,how tiring the end of the school year is.  Probably because it's so boring.

BUT, the sock is almost finished, a lot of instruments got inventoried and I have a working plan for the summer.  And now I'm going to sleep.  😴

Andrew

As many of you know, Andrew has been out of work since October. He applies constantly and has interviews, but cannot seem to find work.  Well, let's just say he's starting to get bored.  He does the dishes.  He vacuums. I'm hoping that soon he will start to cook. 😳

We were talking one afternoon and I mentioned that I wanted to buy a Lego kit and build something cool.  "Is that dumb?" I asked him and he actually said, "No."  He usually rolls his eyes--especially with my hobbies.  Then one day in Target he walks down the Lego aisle and asks me which one I liked.  None of them were very captivating to me.  I told him I wanted landmarks or buildings like the puzzles we used to do when we first started dating.

Long story short, when we were eating lunch Saturday, he says, "You've got me wanting a 3-D puzzle, dang it!"  I was shocked!  So, I opened up the eBay app and searched for Puzz3D puzzles.  We found 2 for under $10 each so we bought 'em.  Below is one of the ones we bought.  Can't. Wait.

And then, tonight, I knew he was truly losing his mind (as if dishes, vacuuming, and puzzles weren't clue enough) when I caught him watching YouTube videos for paracord accessories.  "I have paracord in the craft room." "Really? What colors?"  Oh my, something crafty?  He needs a job..... 😜

Thankful for Thursday

One more day of work this week. I'm now 25 days away from summer vacation--and I'm pretty psyched. It's been a great school year and I'm happy to close out a year on a good note.

Also........more time for socks.  Here's the latest pair of pairs...

Regia 4-ply in Clown Stripes. I don't really like the yarn against my fingers.  Wool vs. superwash wool--no brainer. BUT, they'll be pretty awesome next winter so I forge onwards.

And to make things worse? My second pair of socks is in Regia 4-ply, also.  Not as scratchy, but not silky, either.  The good things about these socks is the awesome pattern--Kandahar by Alice Yu in her Socktopus book.  Love the twisty lines and the lace work isn't so bad.  I can manage 16 rows pretty swiftly, so they may take longer, but they aren't tedious to knit.  Not the best pick of yarn to pattern, but it's still working out nicely.

AND? I moved all my yarn to the big bookcase today.  Love it!  The small bookcase is about to meet a new room in the house and the craft room is about to have room for a bigger chair!!!! Yay!

Craft Room Revamp

Over break, I used by IKEA wares to reorganize my craft room.  I needed to take out the big bins and put smaller bins In their place so that things epwere easier to find and access.

The IKEA bins are on the third shelf.  I put scrapbook paper in the ends to tell what's in each bin.  Also, I managed to clear out 4 squares since this picture and I brought all my craft books back into the room.

I bought this lovely organizer at Michael's to organize the scrapbook paper I kept and that opened up space in my little cupboard for my stamps, stickers, remotes, and knitting notions.

And lastly, I organized my yarn by weight and managed to empty on bin on the bottom and filled it with my project bags.  Of course, I did not yet clean out the side of the cabinet as you can tell by the crap piled there (Don't tell my dad).  Actually, since this picture, the pillow is in the chair, the box is in the closet and the bag got thrown away.  

I continue to purge and downsize. My goal is to empty the yarn storage unit and move it to the bedroom.  Soon, my stash will be small enough to do this.  I could do it now if I weren't so darn tired and achy from being on my feet all day to monitor the ACT. Sooooo boring.

😜

4 Day Socks!

I mentioned a pair of socks in yesterday's post and then I looked back a saw a previous update that hadn't published and realized you probably thought I had imaginary socks on the needles.  Never fear! I did, I just didn't have proof.  Now, I do.  Here's my beautiful socks that took me 4 days to k it.  Pretty amazing for me.  I'm especially proud of myself.

So proud, if fact, that I cast on 2 pairs today.   This padri to work on at work--plain vanilla knitting. 

And this pair from the Socktopus book I showed you yesterday.  This is the Kandahar pattern.  Kinda tricky at first, but I'm sailing along quite nicely.  This pair will be knit at home where I can concentrate on the lace sections.  

Not bad for a day that started out fighting with a neighbor and being late to work.  Proof that knitting can make a bad day good.