I Cry UNCLE!!

I know that Canada is referred to as "The Great White North," but this is rediculous already. Last winter we had the snowiest winter in 70 years. You'd think after that we might get a break this winter? Oh no, not this winter!! Yesterday I read this article. According to that article we have already been dumped on with 115 cm of snow. That's more than we usually get all winter. February and March are still to come and historically they are the snowiest months of the year. So we might break the all time record for snow this winter after coming oh so close last winter. I can only hope it doesn't mean this summer will be as wet as last summer.

This is what it looked like outside my in-laws' house on Sunday. We got even more snow last night. It all looks so pretty but I don't like having to drive in it or try to walk around in it.



On the knitting front, I am almost finished with the Moon Dance scarf I am making from some yarn I started a LONG time ago. I blogged about it here but other projects got in the way and it got lost in the UFO pile. DH handed me a bag 2 weeks ago and guess what was inside? I was just about finished with the Magickal Earth shawl so I decided it would be a great time to finally finish this up. I'm on the second border now and will have pictures when it's done.

I am not quite sure what is going on but last night when I finished the first border I turned the scarf around to start the second border and there was a HOLE in the scarf. This is the SECOND project I've had this problem. AGAIN it was a rip in the yarn. I promise, from now on there is no such thing as a scissor in the Go Knit bag when I have a WIP in it. I actually think I know what happeend in this case and it is my own stupidity. Now that I think back, I had a spot in the yarn that was a bit fuzzy and I ignored it. I am now thinking it must have been some sort of a knot and it let go. Anyway, the hole is fixed and, if I do say so myself, I have a difficult time finding it. I hope it will stay that way when I am done blocking.

I Think I Give Up

I am done getting frustrated with Joseph and school work. I can't handle it anymore. From now on I leave Joseph and his school work in Paul's hands. I don't want to know. I want him in a different school next year and Paul says if I do that Joseph will get kicked out of school. Well fine. Then he can deal with it. I'm done. We got his report card. Tonight was parent/teacher night. Paul went. I couldn't deal with it. Joseph's geography teacher said that he got a zero for the first 4 units because the time for him to take his exam expired. Joseph claims he tried to take the exam once but the code he had was the wrong code. He never tried again. I've tried giving him back the X-Box. I know he is trying harder but he refuses any kind of help. For example, he had to memorize 2 stanzas of something for his English class. I offered to test him. He went nuts and said no. I thought maybe he didn't want my help but would let Paul help. Nope. He refused help from Paul as well. He just wants to do everything on his own. Tomorrow is a PA day and target date for unit 6 is Monday. He has 26 out of 40 signatures now. Forget about geography those don't matter anymore. He can't get those units done anymore.

I'm halfway through the evergreen trees on the Magickal Earth shawl. Each round takes so long. I can't wait until I can transfer to 32 inch circulars. Thank goodness for knitting or I would be completely insane by now.

Day 29 of NaBloPoMo

Yesterday I finally brought the car in for the last of the maintenance work. I am all caught up now and have the snow tires on the car. I really dodged a bullet this week because there was tons of snow all around us in Toronto but we didn't get anything to speak of here in the city. Can you hear the HUGE sigh of relief? If I had thought about it I would have gotten the snow tires on 2 weeks ago when I had the transmission and other fluids flushed but I didn't think of it before I went to the mechanic. I just prayed the snow would hold off and it did. Tomorrow night they say we might get hit but the last I heard it was still uncertain how much snow we will get.

I decided to take Glenna's advice and give Joseph a reward. On Wednesday night I told him I was really proud of him (which I am) for the 100% he got on his French test. I also know that he has been working very hard trying to get his units done. So I told him that he could play on his x-box for 30 minutes on Wednesday but he needed to do his work first. Well he was so busy he never did manage to get the x-box time in. Instead I told him he could have last night off. He played with his friends with x-box live and he had an absolute blast. I've forgotten how loud he can be when he gets into his games. He was laughing his head off a lot of the time. I think it was good for him. I told Joseph that if I see him continue to try and get his units done then I would continue to allow him to have Friday nights off from doing school work. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday I spoke to 2 ex-Mary Ward students. Both told me the same thing. The school is very difficult, especially for first years. When I told them Joseph has 21 out of 40 units done they both said it's not so bad. One of the people I spoke to stuck it out and stayed at MW and completed high school. The other decided that MW wasn't for her and she left after grade 9. The other mother I spoke to told me her daughter is finishing in January and she is also behind. It's more difficult for kids these days because the government cut out grade 13 so the high school students have to complete 5 years of work in 4 years. I hope, in the end, that Joseph gets the hang of Mary Ward because if he does it will be a breeze when he goes off to Univeristy.

Day 28 of NaBloPoMo

For those who know me, you know what a huge Beatles fan I am. Imagine how thrilled I was when I saw they were coming out with a Beatles Monopoly game. Since I love the Beatles, and I collect Monopoly games, what better combination could there be? There was just one problem. I couldn't find it anywhere in Canada. The game was released around the time I was in NYC in August but I didn't have time to go to Toys R Us to look for it. A few weeks ago I was looking in Toys Toys Toys because they are a US company. I was told that if the game is put out by USAopoly they have difficulty getting those Monopoly games in. Well Paul brought it home for me today!!! Imagine my surprise when he handed it to me. An early Christmas present! He said that when I told him I had looked for it in Toys Toys Toys and they told him about USAopoly he decided to check in Mind Games. They carry most of the USAopoly Monopoly games. He found it there and picked it up. Isn't he the most wonderful husband ever?

Day 26 of NaBloPoMo

It’s almost the end of the month and I feel the month is going to end the same way it began – with me having fits over Joseph’s school work. Yesterday he had detention AFTER school because he didn’t hand in any more units. His TA has told him he basically needs to get 2 signatures every 3 days or he gets detention. He hasn’t done it. I’ve already taken away his x-box. What else do I need to do to see to it he does his work? I am fresh out of ideas. When Joseph’s TA called, to let me know he wouldn’t be leaving school until 4:00PM, I almost cried when I hung up the phone. I don’t like Joseph having to go through all this. Even his TA knows he is a good kid and capable of doing the work. It’s just how to get him to do it. I asked that exact question and was told that taking away all privileges usually works. Since that didn’t work then he believes detention should. I’ve got my fingers crossed because I don’t know what to do next. I’m open to ideas if anyone has had similar problems and managed to get it sorted out. On the one positive note of the day yestesterday, Joseph did get 100% on his French test.

I managed to get some great knitting time in yesterday because it was snb night. I finished the heel on the first of the Sockamania November socks. I can finish this sock by Thursday. I am going to put the shawl aside so I can see if I can get the second sock done before the end of the month. It should be interesting. I think I can do it because I only work until noon on Friday and then I have Saturday and Sunday. Should be a piece of cake, I hope.

Day 19 of NaBloPoMo

Where has the time gone? I feel old. I remember when my brother's wife gave birth to the twins. Now Baruch is engaged. Here is my brother Menachem and my dad with Baruch on the left and Shmuel on the right. I still can't tell them apart but believe it or not they are not identical twins. According to the tests that were done when the boys were born they are fraternal twins. Makes sense I guess since my dad has a twin sister.

I am very bad with names and I couldn't spell it so I am just going to call her the bride to be with my dad.

This is my brother with his wife Chana and the twins. This time Shmuel is on the left and Baruch is on the right. Mazal Tov Baruch. I wish you and your bride to be all the happiness in the world.
I did manage to stick to my plan of getting two repeats of the edging done. So I am now in the middle of repeat 36, I think. That means I only have a dozen more to go, HOORAY! I am going to be so relieved when the border is done. I do have to say that it is going faster than it did the first time I did this. The last time it took me months and months. For some reason, I couldn't remember the pattern in my head and it was so tedious to do. This time it's going a lot faster but still not as fast as I would have liked. That's the price you have to pay when you have work everyday.

I started the gusset on the socks and should get to the heel tonight.

Day 10 of NaBloPoMo

Today is flue shot day in the Ribeiro household. I know many people don't believe in getting the flu shot. I have a friend that had Guillian-Barre Syndrome (GBS) as a result of a flu shot. I've still been getting the flu shot ever since I had the mastectomy. Joseph hates shots and is not very happy that he has to get the shot. He keeps saying he doesn't get the flu so he doesn't need to get the shot. Oh well, he'll have to get over it.

I had better see some new signatures in Joseph's agenda when he comes home from school today. I don't know what else I can take away from him. I've already taken away his x-box. I've deleted all the games I can from the computer he works on. I've uninstalled MSN Messenger so he can't chat online. Someone I know suggested taking away his favourite food. That's not so easy because Joseph is such a picky eater. I just hope he starts to get serious about his school work. What boggles my mind is that he spends hours at the computer working and yet he isn't handing stuff in. I just don't get it. I asked him what he's working on and he said his inspire stuff. That's for the gifted kids. He's always loved doing the gifted stuff but I told him he has to work on other things too and not just gifted. I've made it very clear that if he isn't caught up and able to stay up to date in all his subjects by the end of this year, I will make arrangements for him to go to a different school in September. So he knows he only has a short while to prove himself.

On the border for the shawl I've managed to complete 29 repeats. I keep trying to get one repeat done per night but I get so tired that I rarely manage to get more than one repeat done during the week and then on the weekend I get around 3 repeats done. Each repeat is 48 rows so it takes a while. I made a mistake when I was knitting at the Purl on Tuesday so I had to rip back an entire repeat. That was so annoying but I'm back on track and that's all that matters. I'll be so happy when the bloody border is complete. I finally had to join the second ball of yarn in the middle of repeat 28. I wind the balls of yarn into a centre pull ball before I start using them because then I don't have a tangled mess when I get to the end of a ball. When I wound another ball yesterday I was not happy to find 4 knots in one 50 gram ball. I can understand one and maybe even tolerate 2 but 4 is just too much.

Spring Forward

Not much knitting has gone on around this place lately. I've been busy with the Tour de Fleece and when I am not spinning I've been too hot to have this alpaca shawl in my lap. Then it dawned on me that if it's too hot I should go back to the doily I was working on. That's cotton and not in my lap. I brought it with me to snb on Tuesday but I wasn't able to concentrate so I put it aside and cast on a sock. I wasn't sure what pattern I was going to do but since I do it toe up it didn't really matter. Yesterday I decided I would knit the Spring Forward socks. The yarn is something I had never heard of before. It's called On Your Toes by SRK. I was attracted to the colours so I bought one ball. So far it is knitting up nicely and it's easy to work with.

The pressure is on to finish the Tour de Fleece. I have very little singles left to spin but I have to ply as well. My right knee is bothering me a little today so I am not sure if I am going to give it a rest tonight or not. Everything has to be done by Sunday. I just hope I finish.

Joseph has been telling me for awhile that his braces will come off soon. I was sceptical because he hasn't had to use those bands some kids need. He had another appointment today so I asked. It might not be more than another 2 months or so. That's pretty good considering it is just the 2 year mark next month since he had them put on. He's not a happy camper because they want one of his bottom teeth to move another millimeter. To him if that's all that's left then he could forget about it and have the braces off tomorrow. To be honest, I can't wait until they come off as well. We are going to have some soft of party when the are removed.

Still Alive

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post. I think something just went to sleep in me for a little while after everything that happened at the end of May. I am feeling much better now. I've been very busy with end of school year stuff and I have been so out of blog mode I didn't even remember to take pictures. I knit a pair of socks for Joseph's gifted teacher. They came out great and was an interesting challenge. It was the first time I've ever knit socks for an adult that wears a size 5 shoe. I am pleased and relieved that the socks fit perfectly. Alas, as I said, no pictures. I completely forgot to take any before I delivered them. I was in such a rush to get them done. It's a good thing her feet were so small or I am not sure I would have finished them on time. I used the pattern called Twining Leaves Lace socks by Evelyn Clark. The yarn I used was Online Supersock Cotton in colour Beach. The socks are really soft and I actually liked knitting with this yarn.

On the home front, Tuesday was Joseph's graduation from grade 8. The graduation was wonderful. It was very emotional for me. I was like a blubbering idiot just crying my eyes out. I still can't believe that he is going to be going into high school in September. I still struggle with letting go of those apron strings but I am trying.



On the knitting and spinning front, I have been out of the house for the last 3 Saturday's doing differnet things. The first Saturday was the cotton class I had at Gemini Fibres. I brought my Bosworth Charkha with me and I think I might actually be able to use it very soon. The class was great and I am glad I went ahead with it. The choice still wasn't easy because I missed the big party for the Yarn Harlot at Lettuce Knit. Last Saturday Shannon and I went to the spin in up at Gemini and we met Maggie there. Ok believe it or not, at the last minute I decided to take up the Little Gem wheel instead of the Pro and I forgot my fibre at home. What else could I do but buy more fibre? I bought some Fleece Artist merino silk in red tones and am almost finished spinning the 1st 50 gram bobbin. Pictures will come when the first bobbin is done. I also bought some Fleece Artist merino/alpaca blend and some Louet roving in a wool/soysilk blend. I haven't tried it yet but I saw it spun up and it was so nice I had to get some.

After the spin in Shannon and I went over to Maggie's place. I bought more fibre (see below) and some yarn. The yarn is a blue semi-solid that I still have to photograph.

Today I met Maggie and her sister Natalie at Kimberly's house and we had a wonderful lunch and afternoon of spinning. More yarn and fibre founds its way into my bag and came home with me.




Maggie, this is the clown blanket I was telling you about this afternoon. I know you don't like clowns but I still love this blanket.

I'm Blank For A Title

When my friend's husband had his surgery I told her when he comes home I was going to buy the biggest basket of plants so he could enjoy them. His mom had passed away in March and I don't like buying cut flowers because they don't last. I always get some sort of basket with a plant arrangement. It wasn't meant to be for Tony to come home and enjoy the basket but that wasn't going to stop me. On Monday I went to the florist and asked what is the biggest basket she has. She told me she had gone to her supplier and saw this very nice wheel barrow. I told her to find out the cost. She did and I went on Tuesday to see what she had done. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is stunning. Paul, Joseph and I brought it over to Valerie's yesterday. I still can't believe that he is gone but I will do anything and everything I can to be there for the most wonderful person and family I have ever met.

Prayers Needed

My friend's husband passed away yesterday. They knew he was in bad shape but it was a horrible shock. I won't go into all the details but he had surgery about 2 weeks ago and they expected him to come home in about 10 days. Instead he developed pneumonia and he's gone. His wife and family really need prayers for strength to help them get through this.

Tony, you will be missed.

Catching Up

My last post was on Thursday. That was my birthday and I didn't mention it in the earlier post because I had planned on posting again later that day. I never got around to it.

Life has been hectic. On Friday I met Ramona for lunch. We went to this lovely thai place near where Ramona lives and the food was excellent. To my utter shock and surprise Ramona spoke to the people at the restaurant and they brought out this dish of ice cream that had a sparkler and birthday candle on it. Alas, no picture because the camera was in the car. I kept the candle but that is in the car right now as well so I can't take a picture of that either.

For my birthday Ramona gave me the Total Knitting Tote from Knit Picks in the French Blue colour. I was quite surprised when I opened the box. After I opened it I remembered she had told me but until then I had completely forgotten. It was a good thing. I was surprised and Ramona couldn't believe I had actually forgotten about it.

After lunch we headed to The Purple Purl and even more fun was had. As always, I didn't come home empty handed either. I picked up the Alpaca With A Twist Fino in Evergreen that was being held for me and a skein of Classic Elite Alpaca sock yarn in colour Fruit Basket. This stuff is so soft. I also bought the More Big Girl Knits a few weeks ago when I was there with Maggie and left it there in case Amy Singer came by so she could autograph it for me. Amy hadn't been to the Purl since I bought the book but not 5 minutes after I asked about it she walked in the door. So I now have my copy autographed and it is home safe and sound.

Since Miko asked me to knit the Forest Path Stole for the store I decided to bring that along with me and start it while I was there. The yarn is Classic Elite Silky Alpaca and it is sooooo soft to knit with. I am working on tier 2 now so I am off to the races with this. It will be the project I knit whenever I go to the Purl from now on until it is completed. Of course I will also work on it at home. Because I started the stole I haven't touched the doily. I know, bad bad Rochelle. I want to finish tier 2 (only 2 rectangles left) and then I will try and put the stole aside until the weekend. I am thinking I will do the doily during the week and the stole on weekends.

Glenna threw herself a party on Friday to celebrate defending her thesis and ending her life as a student. The part was at the Purl after closing. It was so much fun and I can't thank her enough for inviting me. Not only were we invited but there were presents for all who came. Glenna brought yarn and books for people to look and and choose to take home with them. This is what came home with me. A skein of Socks That Rock and the Austermann Step sock yarn.

Tomorrow my boss comes back from vacation and things will be back to yucky normal. To be honest, work sucks at the best of times, I'm not looking forward to his return even more so right now because my head is just not there. My very best friend is going through the most horrible time. Her husband is gravely ill in the hospital and things don't look good at all. I won't go into details because I respect their privacy but prayers are always welcome. That's all any of us can do now.

The good thing about tomorrow is it's Snb night. I always look forward to that and tomorrow even more than usual.

Relief

Remember those kidney stones I had that I ended up not having at all? Turns out, the doctor believes, it was a urinary tract infection that might have gone into my kidney. I've been fighting this infection for the longest time. I've been on antibiotics for almost a year now. It started with Sulfatrim and then switched to Macrobid in November. I've been worried sick because the last time I went to see the oncologist the blood showed the creatinine was elevated. I thought that was strange because my family doctor did blood work about 3 weeks earlier and everything came back normal. I called the urologist last week and he sent me a requisition to have another set of tests done. I received the results today. The creatinine level was normal and for the first time there were no white cells in the urine. I feel like I am FINALLY getting there. I still have to take the antibiotics twice a day for another month and then go down to once a day for the rest of the summer. I have to go back to see the urologist in the fall. I am still a little confused about the high levels in April but the doctor believes it might have been a lab error.

On the knitting front, the last chart for the doily is going to take a while. I am only on rnd 11 and each rnd takes about 30 minutes or more. I am still hoping to get it done in a few weeks. I can't show any progress because at this point I don't want to play games and try and put the sts on a bunch of different needles so I can take pictures. A dropped stitch would be disaster. That means no more pictures until the doily is completed.

Oh So Busy!!!

I am feeling so overwhelmed right now. So much to do and not enough time. I had to go to the dentist today for a cleaning. Joseph went as well. I took today and tomorrow off because I wanted to spend some family time during Joseph's March break. Except for the trip back and forth to the dentist, it doesn't look like much of that is going to happen.

Tomorrow I have to go with my friend to the funeral home. After that I have to go shopping. Saturday morning is the funeral. Then I have a spin in with some friends. I am so looking forward to that. I haven't had time to spin since I got the last bobbin done. After our spinning get together I have to go to Etobicoke and make some nut mixture. I'll come home and crash when all is done.

I also have to take Joseph to look for a suit. He needs a suit for his confirmation. I wish I knew where in the GTA I can get husky sizes. If not I am going to take him to a men's clothing store and see what can be done with alterations. His confirmation is April 6th so that should be enough time.

I got some sock knitting done while going back and forth from the dentist. I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. The TTC was more crowded than I thought it would be. I suppose it is due to March break.

Now I am back to working on the doily. I want that done by Sunday morning so I can get it blocked while everyone is out of the house.

I just have to remember to breathe while all the madness is going on.

On The Mend

What a time. I am so relieved the sequence of events took place the way they did.

Joseph came home from his trip on Friday. It was so good to see him. I think I understand empty nest difficulties after last week. We went out to Montana's on Friday night. On Saturday I went to The Purple Purl. Paul called me just as I was going to go for lunch. Joseph had a fever and Paul was going to go to get some liquid Motrin. I asked if I should come home and Paul said no he didn't think it was necessary. I left a short time later anyway. When I got hime Paul went for the Motrin. Joseph was sleeping when I got home. When he woke up he was shivering like mad and his fever was up to 104F. We gave him Motrin soon after that and when we checked things around 30 minutes after he had the Motrin his fever went up to 104.9. That was enough for me. We went to the after hours clinic at the hospital. That was a useless exercise. The doctor did a throat culture and said they have had problems with the lab losing the tests so they might not get the results. If Joseph still had a fever in 2 days I should take him to his family doctor. I did that yesterday. He has an ear infection and is now on antibiotics. Like I said earlier, I am so glad he didn't get this when he was away at Mansfield. I know it isn't fun to come home and get sick as soon as you get here but at least he was home. He's on the mend now and will go back to school on Thursday.

Not much is going on knitwise. I'm working on something that I can't really talk about and I am having fun with it but right nowt he progress is slow. Tomorrow I need to go to The Purple Purl after work and sort things out with the Joy that I am going to leave there as I try to sell it.

My Teenager

It hardly seems possible that 13 years have gone since Joseph was born. I remember that time so well. He wash't due until mid January and suddenly my blood pressure decided to spike. The doctor promptly put me in the hospital and after 24 hours decided it was best to induce. I cried and cried and cried because my ex's birthday is December 22nd. I wanted my child born any day except the 22nd. It wasn't meant to be. I laugh when I remember that time and just how upset I was. He is such a young man now. I grow more and more proud of him each day.

Someone swiped the hat that they had at Montana's so they now have this new one. I liked the old one better but no matter which hat, Joseph looks great.

This is the final package from my SP11 spoiler, Penny. Just look at all this stuff. The fibre is from Lorna's laces and its called Purple Club, I believe and it's 100% merino. The cinnamon candle, at first I thought it was a real cinnamon bun. It smells just like one. The earrings and necklace are great. Paul and Joseph will enjoy the marshmellows. I hope they are gone by the time I get back from NY. I've had the tea before and it is very good. I haven't tried the other stuff but I am going to take the hand cream, shower gel, and lip balm to NY with me. Once again, thank you Penny. I love everything you sent. I'll let you know in April what I get from Red Bird Knits when I get something at the Knitter's Frolic.

The first of my Regia Galaxy socks is almost done. I was afraid they wouldn't turn out like the pictures but they look great. I love the way this yarn is working up. I hope I can get the second sock done while I am in NY but I am not sure how much knitting time I'll get in. I know from past experience that if I get to pick up my needles I'll be lucky. I can always hope.

I was going to bring the Louet Victoria with me but Paul said I should wait and take it in the summer. He is worried the wheel won't survive the trip if I pack it in a suitcase. So I am going to take his advice and wait.

I don't know how much blogging I'll get done while I am away as well so I am going to sign off and wish everyone who is celebrating a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I look forward to another year of blogging. Thank you to everyone who reads my blog.

What To Do?

Tonight was the last of the open houses for high school. The application has to be handed in next week. I must admit that I am very prejudice about the school we went to tonight. I don't like it. I don't want Joseph going there. I wasn't impressed at all with the place. I probably wasn't impressed because I don't want Joseph going there. Why, you might ask. Paul's niece and 2 nephews went there and none of them graduated. The way the school is set up is totally different. It isn't structured at all. You learn at your own pace. If you decide to slack off you'll pay by, most likely, not finishing. Joseph, in my opinion, is the type of child that needs more structure. This school doesn't have that at all. He decides what classes he wants to take on a given day. He checks in when he gets to school but there isn't attendance taken in the classroom.

The school he went to last week I was thinking would be alright. Then I started hearing things about this school. One of the teacher's at Joseph's current school has a son in the same class as Joseph. She told me the other night she wouldn't send her son to that school because she is afraid he would get beat up. The kids say the school is a gang school. So that leaves me with the choice I wanted all along. The question is, do I force Joseph to go there or not? The kids say it's a "gay" school because it's an all boys school. Aside from the school having a great learning reputation, the fact that it is an all boy school is an added plus, if you ask me. If you ask the kids, it's a definite minus. Of course, as they told us at the open house last Thursday, the parents don't realize there is an all girl school down the road so even if the kids are not in the classroom together they are not worlds apart. I am torn. I really haven't got a clue what is the right thing to do anymore. Decisions, decisions. Choice isn't always a good thing.

Ripples

I've started my Ripples sock, the November sock from the Sockamania Club. There isn't much progress but here is what I've done so far. The pattern is done cuff down so I've changed it to toe up. I don't usually do top down socks anymore because when I do kitchener stitch my hands hurt. I can't explain why that is, it just is. The yarn is hand dyed yarn from Maggie at Dyed In The Wool Handmade. It's called Hanging Baskets. So far, I am very pleased with the way they are working up and they are so soft. I might have a problem knitting some other sock yarn in my stash now.

Last night was Friday night and I'm trying to go back to Friday night spinning. Not a heck of a lot of spinning went on here last night. I was so tired I conked out in my chair after just a piddly little amount of spinning was done. I'm going to spin this morning instead of knitting to make up for lost time. I'm off to Mt. Albert and Keswick later today. I have a lazy kate to pick up at Gemini Fibres and then off to Maggie's for more goodies.

Shannon has blogged about her colour triangle from our carding class. Boy does it look good. I have to get my ass into gear and get mine done. Maybe I'll manage that this weekend.

Life is way too busy these days - open houses for high schools, confirmation meetings that were just a waste of time. I tell you I'll be a complete nut job (more than I already am) by the time this school year is over and done with. Then I get to have fun dealing with Joseph in high school. I'm still not ready for that but it's coming ready or not and will be here before I turn around, YIKES!

November 5th Already?

It is unbelievable to me that more than a week has flown by since I last posted. I know that November is National Blog Posting Month and here it's November 5th and this is my first post. In my defense, I guess life has been way too hectic. I'm working on something that I can't really blog about right now but I'll have more about that later in the year.

Saturday was the most fun day. I met Shannon early in the morning and headed up to Gemini Fibres for their carding class. The instructor was Wendy Whelan. I've had the privilege to take a few of her classes and they are always great. Shannon is all set and ready to go. Always bubbly and always fun. It was great having her along in the car for the drive back and forth. Thank you Shannon for joining me.

Amazing Maggie met us at Gemini. I am in such awe of her talents. Her spinning is amazing. I can't even put into words how wonderful she is at dyeing fibre and yarn. Once again, she didn't disappoint at the class. She did an amazing job of blending her colours.


Speaking of blending, look at all the colours. There was a cool set and warm set of red, yellow, and blue that we used to blend and make other colours. 50% red and 50% yellow, weighed to make sure they weighed the same, and blended to make orange, etc. We did a colour triangle of 9 colours and we had white and black to make tints and shades. Once I get my triangle together I'll post pictures. Don't hold your breath. Too much in the wings that has to get done first.

I also managed to buy the last thing I wanted to send to my ISE5 partner and another goodie for my SP11 partner while at Gemini. I am hoping that package to my ISE5 partner will go out tomorrow. Now I just have to find a box to put everything in. The package for my SP11 partner has to go out a little later in the month. This is the big reveal package so I hope she will be happy with all my choices. I have one more thing to pick up, hopefully tomorrow, and then that package will be ready to go as well.

On the non knitting front, the doctor changed the antibiotics. I've been taking Sulfatrim since the end of June. I guess the infection isn't clearing up as quickly as the doctor would like so he's switched me to Macrobid. I HATE that stuff. I am struggling with it but it's only been a day and a half and I am hoping my system will adjust. On a positive note, I'm not paying homage to the porcelain queen like I did the first and only time I took this stuff about 14 years ago. It has made me more dizzy but so did the Sulfatrim and that got better in a few days. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the same will happen with the new stuff.

Fall Fire

It's only Tuesday and it has been a very difficult week so far at work. First, I should clarify I work for someone in the life insurance business. It isn't easy for me when someone calls to tell me someone has passed on. A friend of my boss, whom I have met and spoken to via the telephone many times over the years passed away on Saturday. This one hurts a lot. He was way too young, only 47. He suffered and I know he is at peace now but he was such a fighter. I spoke to him about a week to two weeks ago and he was still cheerful, upbeat, and hopeful. He knew the end was near, I think, but he never let on. He fought to the very end. Then today my boss got a call that another one of his client's wife passed away. This one was totally unexpected and she was also way too young.

When I got home I checked the mail box and this was inside. I had received an email from my secret partner to expect a package but today couldn't have been better timed. The package was sent from Robyn's Nest and I couldn't possibly be more pleased. I forgot to mention the package is from my SP 11 Pal. THANK YOU!!!! I just LOVE IT!! The colour name is Fall fire and it is gorgeous. The pattern, also Fall Fire, is adorable. There's also a few stitch markers in colours to match the yarn. How cute is that?? I can't wait to knit these up but it will have to wait a little while because I have stuff I must finish first.

I am working on a sock pattern that needs to be finished very soon. Then, Joseph needs me to crochet stuff for school and he needs it for November. When in November? I have no clue. He hasn't advised me yet. Then I have a baby blanket I have to do for his teacher's wife who is expecting in November. Looks like I am going to spend another lacevember knitting the Sweet Dreams Baby Blanket. I did the same thing last year. Oh well. Maybe by next year I'll be able to knit something differnet for lacevember?



Entrelac'tober is almost over and have I knit anything entrelac? Not even one stitch and it doesn't look like I am going to have the time to do that either. I need to stop joining and start doing, I think. I will do something entrelac but it isn't going to be by the end of this month. Maybe by the end of the year. Only time will tell.