'Tis the Season

...for putting the flannels on the bed and thermals under everything I wear. I swear as I get older I get more and more cold-natured.

It's also the season for Stitches South!!!

I'm so excited about going to my first major knitting show. I've already signed up for two classes: You Don't Need a Pattern for That! and Celtic Cables. I would like to sign up for another class but I'm waiting until after Christmas to see if I have a little extra spending money. Plus I have to save for the market! I would almost rather buy 3 more skeins of yarn than go to another class but at the same time there are some really interesting classes being held. And since I will be taking Friday off from work to go it would be nice to have a full day of things to attend :)

Sappy

I wrote another post that I was originally intending to put up but I just felt like it was too sappy. Maybe I'm just afraid of being too personal on the blog.

Knitting is coming along. I've very excited that I can actually see the end of all the Christmas knitting. I'm really glad I scaled back on the number of gifts I decided to make (note to self: start Christmas knitting in June next year). When I finish I think I'm going to crank out a hat for myself since I realized the other day that I have exactly zero practical hats that I can wear to work. I have some silly hats with tassels and crazy colors and slogans on them but nothing that's just beautiful in a plain way and looks nice enough to wear around the playground with the little ones. Then I'm thinking some fingerless mitts. And of course I have that sweater I wanted to do... even have the yarn ready to begin it...

For the last 3 weeks I've been battling a runny nose and head congestion thanks to the chill that has settled in. It's making me tired and ready for a vacation. Only 2 more weeks until we have Christmas break! Then maybe I can nurse my cold.

The run up to Christmas is proving to be a tough one so I'm trying to revive some old hobbies like ARMA and composing music to help me keep the holiday blues away. It helped that I went out with some friends last night to celebrate my friend BK's birthday. It was nice to be around people that love me and make me laugh. Hopefully more of that will help combat the holiday yucks too.

For now, it's off to knit some more and listen to a snoring cat.

An Actually Conversation

Just a little light hearted moment I thought I would share...

An actually conversation from my 1st grade classroom today.

Me: J (little boy) your desk is a mess!
J: I know! When you tell us to clear our desk I just throw everything inside like this...(throws a pencil inside and a piece of paper and book fall out).
Me: :::sigh::: start to walk away
A (little girl who sits next to J): leans over and looks in J's desk Ms. Brown! J has a sock in his desk!
Me: A sock!?!?
J: triumphantly pulls out a sock

This will totally be my child some day. I can see it now...

Ring! Ring!
Me: Hello?
Lady: Mrs. So-and-so (My last name will not really be So-and-so, nor will it be Brown. By this point I'm married of course. Probably to Billy Corgan or Prince William. Whoever gets to me first.)? I'm Mrs. O'Malley from the prestigious private Scottish primary school you send your son to (Because at this point I will of course be living in a mansion/castle on the Scottish moors. Surrounded by fog, wind, and maybe sheep. Depends on whether my rock star or future king of England husband will feel like hiring someone else to look after said sheep. Otherwise, no dice.).
Me: Of course! What can I help you with Mrs. O'Malley.
Lady: Well, I hate to call in the middle of the day (Of course this doesn't matte because I don't work. Thanks to my rock star or future king of England husband) and bother you but we found a sock, a clean pair of underpants, and a men's silk tie in your son Phoenix's (Because that is actually what I plan on naming my first son) desk today. It just seemed a little odd.
Me: Well, thank you for letting me know. I'll have a talk with him tonight once he gets over the moat. Now I have to go let my rock star or future king of England husband know we found his good tie.

Edited to add: Remember that blogiversary goodness continues at the store! Just type in "blogiversary" to get 15% off your total order. Sale ends Saturday.

Happy Blogiversary!

One year ago today I started this blog. Happy Blogiversary to me! And to you...if you go to my store (Vivid Creation Fibers) you can use the code "blogiversary" to receive 15% off your order. The sale ends this Saturday so hurry in! Now for a recap...

Thanksgiving:
My dad and my brother's girlfriend Brandi ran the half marathon held every year in Atlanta.
I can't even imagine walking 13.1 miles, much less running it, so major props to them.

On the way home from picking them up I was able to find a new place to get my hair did.
Welcome to Atlanta.

Friday:
My family had our full on Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house on Friday (Thursday I had tacos with my parents which was a fun twist on the traditional meal).

My Uncle Mark fried a turkey in the backyard.
And we had all the traditional side dishes like mac and cheese, dressing (that's Southern for stuffing), broccoli and cheese casserole, and loads more yummy stuff.

P.S. If you have never had a deep fried turkey, run, do not walk, RUN and make one. Do it. I'll wait. The turkeys are on sale now too. A word of caution though: keep them a safe distance from the house. Vinyl siding and 350 degree hot oil apparently do not mix well.

This is my cousin Jake who, when he saw me knitting away on a sock after dinner, wanted his picture made with it.
And then he wanted to take a picture of me with the sock.
Currently I'm pretty hung up on this second Jaywalker sock (Rav link). I've got to dig in the stash and see if I can come up with teensy amount of yarn I had left from the first sock to try and finish the toe of this second sock. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it I can make it on one skein but it's not looking too promising.

December:
I put up my Christmas tree yesterday to get me ready for the upcoming holiday season.
It's not decorated yet but it's still festive. Especially when I light the mistletoe candle :)

Today I received my gift from Warm Woolies. This is the book I got.
I think I can get into this. There are some pretty nice designs. Some are a little more glitzy than I would go for but then there are some that I think would be a nice little challenge for me.

I also got some size 9 DPNs which are nice because I don't have any of those and 5 skeins of this:
Rowan 4-ply cotton in a buttercream yellow. I have no clue what to make with this. Socks? But isn't cotton super non-stretchy? I found a cute top (Rav link) but I'm not sure that pale yellow would look very good with my amazingly Irish skin. Any suggestions are welcome.

Otherwise Christmas knitting continues as planned...except for having lost a tiny little slip of paper that tells me what row I'm on...off to figure out that mess now...

Belated Thanksgiving

Things I am thankful for:

Family-all of them

Friends-the ones I know in real life and through the internet

My (almost 100%) recession proof job-the world will always need teachers

My cat-she keeps me company and, since I'm the only person she likes, makes me feel like I truly have someone who could not live without me

My apartment, my car, and all the other Earthly possessions I have-I may not have much but it all belongs to me and that's more than some people in this world can say

Freedom of religion-so I can practice (and preach) what I believe without persecution

Democracy-because my voice can be heard

Living in a country that isn't ravaged by war-imagine if 9/11 was your everyday life

Indoor plumbing-you don't know how big a blessing this is until you have to go without

My talents and abilities-God gave them to me and me alone and that makes me unlike anyone else out there

A family that likes to celebrate-all major holidays and birthday's get at least a week long celebration, which is why Thanksgiving may have officially been yesterday but my family is having the traditional turkey dinner tonight

So many other things that I cannot begin to list them all here...

As you recover and reflect on your Thanksgiving and look ahead to the next month of holiday festivities please remember that almost 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. They may never get to experience any of the blessings that I listed above. Please consider giving to a charity this year.

God bless.

A Growing Sense of Accomplishment

Today my wonderful, amazing, incredible mother came over and spent about 4 hours helping me clean my apartment. She is the best. My apartment is sparkling. And since I cleaned out so many boxes of junk that were lying around I now have a lot more room. I'm seriously going to try and keep it clean for the holidays (and beyond). I was afraid my mom might faint or yell at me when she saw the state that my apartment was in. But she didn't. And that is why she is the M.O.M. (Mom of Moms).

Before she came over I went to the post office and sent off my box of knitted items for Warm Woolies. Here's a recap for anyone who's been playing along for the last 8 months (the official knitting time was 8 months 11 days).

4 vests
A gull wing cable sweater vest
2 plain sweater vests
A double cable sweater vest
A Tree of Life sweater vest
2 seed stitch paneled sweater vests
3 sweaters
12 pairs of socks (various sizes and styles)
and one little hat.
It felt so good to send them on their way. I said a prayer for all the wee little people who will be the recipients of these warm knitted items. I won't stop knitting for them but I do have to finish my Christmas knitting first. Tonight I think I'll watch some TV or a movie and get started on those Christmas gifts.

25

This is half of the last pair of socks that I will make for Warm Woolies.
This is half of the finished items soaking in my washing machine (not actually on a wash cycle mind you...no accidental felting here).
If all goes well I will send all 25 items off this Friday. Pray for a speedy drying time and nimble sewing fingers as I need to add about 10 buttons to the finished vests. I'm very paranoid that they are going to look into my box and say, "Well, this vest is really an infant size and we said toddler or larger..." or "Well, this sock is a little bigger than that one. I don't know if this pair counts...". Totally freaking me out. I may have to whip out a few more vests just to make sure that I've got my bases covered. I can do all that by Friday....right?