Christmas knitting

I've decided not to do much Christmas knitting this year. Last year I knitted 7 gifts for different people ranging from sweaters (Mom) to socks (my MIL, sister and boss) to convertible mittens for all the guys in the family. Out of all that knitting, which took a very long time, I've only seen my sister and the boss wear what i made them.

So, from know on, my knitting is for me and my family with the occasional gift for those who deserve and appreciate it. My boss will get her socks, and my sister has asked for a knitted purse, so they will both get what they want.

In other news, I took the kids to NYC after Thanksgiving and we had a great time- Here they are in FAO Schwartz with the life size Harry Potter figures. I got to go to Habu, and only bought two yarns, a cone of silk for a new scarf and a cone of a green silk for myself, project yet unnamed.

On the drive home from the train station, my car started acting up and once I told Tim, we talked about it and we made the decision to get a new car- so I bought a used Subaru wagon. I think this is the nicest car I've ever owned.

visit to PA

We (the kids and I) went to PA to visit my sister for the weekend- we had a really nice time, the drive was long, but it was nice to be away, no housework to get done and let someone else be in charge.

I got a ton done on the refined raglan- the end is in sight


the lace on the sleeve decreases is looking pretty good, but I think the yarn color is going to obscure it a bit-

I'm planning on taking the kids to NYC the weekend after Thanksgiving. We all have time and it worked out with a place to stay for free. The train is even pretty cheap, so the kids will get to see the city all decked out for the holidays. They have never been, and its been a long time since I've been as well.

Fiber Cult

I was driving to work today and heard Ancient Threads on the Rhinebeck recap episode of Fiber Cult

This isn't a podcast I have been a regular listener to, but they are up to 9 episodes already. As I listen in the car, I have problems with hearing all of their voices, and figuring out who is who.

Thank you FiberCult, hope you enjoy the yarn.

New Yarns on Etsy

I got a big shipment of yarn in last week, got some dyed over the weekend and have updated ETSY.


I picked most of the black walnuts at my parents farm in Easton. I'm shocked at how much dye is in one hull- I just loaded all of them into a 5 gallon bucket, filled it with water to cover the hulls and let them sit and stew in the basement. When I want some I just strain it off the top and then filter it with a coffee filter. I love the browns I'm getting with it- very different than the chestnut, quebracho browns, these seem softer.

We got a new ram this weekend also- his name is Edsel, and he is a 7 year old Soay ram. The girls (the ewes) seem very interested.

Good Knitting- no photos

I cleaned up the fiber corner on Friday and threw out three bags full of junk. Most of this was stuff from teaching the kids. i come home and generally throw what is left over in the corner and then never look at it again. So, I had tons of acrylic yarn, glue bits, half made projects and satin cord with beads in a ton of bags. I organized, saw what i had and tossed quite a bit. I know know what I have for the rest of the year.

I then organized the UFO's, found a scarf that only needed a few hours work took it with me to work and finished it before going bowling with JA on Friday night- I ended up earning $160 in donations!

Saturday I got new tires on the car and had three hours of uninterrupted knitting time. I finished the second sleeve for refined raglan and have now attached the sleeves and I'm getting to the yoke bits. I still like this pattern.

Sunday, I did more dyeing- so the Etsy page should be updated as soon as I can get it skeined up. I used to have Logwood purple as my favorite dye, but I think that has been replaced with black walnut- so look for browns, purples and of course pink.

Happy Anniversary

It has been 21 years honey- Tim and I started dating 21 years ago on Halloween- We were at the Halloween dance in High School - I was dressed as a dalmatian, he was a mountain man in tight buckskin pants- I'm not sure where those pants ended up, but I still have my dog collar somewhere


I started a pair of socks in my Sioda yarn- The yarn is dyed with lac and looks like a baby pink and light purple blend. The Sioda has a barber pole effect, the merino picked up the dye differently than the silk (85% Merino and 15% silk).
This one is in DK, so to make sure I had enough (this is a smaller skein than I sell), I weighed the ball as I wound off enough to make one sock- this is the baby cables pattern from the first Charlene Schurch book
Sensational Knitted Socks
This is a great sock book if you don't have it.


I have been often asked about beginning socks and how I learned. I followed the directions in the Anne Budd book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges (Interweave) This is a great book and I recommend it for every knitters library. it gives basic patterns for nearly anything a knitter needs to make at one point or another. I was forever looking for mitten patterns at one stage for hand spun and then I found this book, now I can spin away and worry about gauge later.

What I'm listening to- Henry the VIII, I am- Herman's Hermits- This song is a bit before my time, but I saw Herman's hermits and the Monkees in concert when I was in High School, so it took me back to the fateful dance. All I can think of is the horrible Lionel Ritchie song we danced to

Never mind- Norah Jones is on now- I'm going to make it

Now back to real life-

I have actually been doing some knitting this week- one I can't show you, because she found the link to the blog- so no peaking at the Xmas gifts!

Here I am on the Refined Raglan-

I like this sleeve design a lot, it and the rest of the sweater had a provisional crochet cast one, you then turn the edge and pick up the stitches on the other side, so the edges come out super neat, with no ribbing, and no curling. I know you are supposed to pull the chain out, but I liked the way the white looked against the brown. I may try to use this sleeve in the disastrous Spiral sweater of my own misguided design from ages ago. it would be quite nice to wear my own sweater design to a show sometime.

And, I found my Clapotis from last summer. i don't think I ever loaded a photo, so here it is-

It is too long and too narrow, so I think I need to reknit it again. Tim was right, the colors are ugly, maybe I can overdye it and make it better-

We made Knitter's Review!

We were mentioned in Knitter's Review!!!

I can't breathe! I can't breathe!

- Donkey from Shrek 1

Just my luck

We have a two hour evacuation of the building and I didn't have my sweater knitting with me- I know, I should always have a sock project handy, but after making all those samples for Rhinebeck, I don't have any desire to knit socks at the moment. I'm trying to finish the refined raglan I began last Spring.

But look, someone else is planning to make socks- Dropstitch knitter - who bought two skeins of my yarn- I'm so excited- i can't wait to see how all those skeins look knitted up- it's like letting my kids leave for school all over again-terrifying and exciting all at the same time- you are happy for them, but cringing at the same time.

and another one

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownhair/1713864146/

The amazing thing

The amazing thing is- I bought nothing at Rhinebeck- and I did try. i walked around on Sunday afternoon when it started to get a bit quiet and I saw nothing that I had to have. The yarn diet has been going really well this year and while i have bought some yarn, it certainly isn't what I have bought in the past.

I did drop off a merino fleece we found in the basement to Twist of Fate to get processed, but other then that- nothing- not even fried dough! So, I think I deserve a present- I worked hard- I dyed all that yarn and worked all weekend without fried dough- although the fried dough guys were just across the way and it needs to be fiber related- so I'm thinking a woolee winder would be the perfect me gift-

Tim wants a Soay ram as his present

and look - my sold yarn on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archivistontheedge/1698058825/

Bad swapper, bad blogger, bad driver- decent knitter

July- really July! Has it been that long? Apparently it has- no excuses really, but now that Rhinebeck is come and gone- let's hope time is a little easier to come by.

Rhinebeck was great- thank you to everyone who stopped by the Ancient Threads tent between barns 26 & 27- we had a record breaking show and the hand dyed yarns sold like crazy. I took over 120 skeins and I think about 10 came home.


I will try and get those on Etsy asap- maybe today. The roving all sold really well also- we have a small amount left.
One of the best parts was seeing some of the projects people brought in to show off- made from our fiber
here's one


A beautiful shawl made from mystery roving- I'm sorry I forgot the get the name of the spinner/knitter- please email me if this is yours!

I think the whole experience showed Tim how there is a market here- now he is talking about buying/ making another carder- I have to order more blanks to dye. Back to work tomorrow-

I'm the worst pal ever!

So after all the bitching I did earlier because people can't say thank you- I'm weeks behind in getting out my pal's box for http://www.hogwartssockkitswap2.blogspot.com/. The order with the needles and the special prizes hasn't come in yet- and I'm anxious not to be a bad pal.

Back from Ireland. I was disappointed, the students weren't as fun as last year- my boss stayed the whole time. I don't know I guess it just wasn't foreign enough. I did buy a small amount of yarn and did very little knitting. I drank a lot of beer and did no dancing. What a waste of a trip. Otherwise it was a nice trip, the building were beautiful and the people were great. The business was very good.

Maybe I'm a moron

But I'm not really sure how the swap trivia thing works

1. "What happens if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" "Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Which two people are talking? Harry and Ron in SS, just before they go to fight Malfoy in the trophy room.

2."If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest." Who say this? Fred in CS- he is talking about Mr Weasley.

3. When sitting on the wall next to Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the book, who does Professor McGonagall bet was the wizard responsible for the shooting stars seen by Muggles over Kent?
Doris Crockford
Dedalus Diggle
Gilbert Whimple
Cuthbert Mockridge

4. Known by the students as Nearly Headless Nick, what was Nick's actual name?
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
Sir Nicholas Delaney-Podmore
Sir Nick de Mimsy-Porpington
Sir Nick Delaney-Podmore

5. When venturing into the Dark Forest with Hagrid for their detention, who is the first centaur Harry and Hermione see?
Bane
Ronan
Firenze
Morgana

6. We know that Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor house, but what house was her twin Padma sorted into?
Slytherin
Ravenclaw
Gryffindor
Hufflepuff

7. What colour do the flames turn when you use Floo powder?
Bright red
Emerald green
Bright blue
Bright yellow

8. What colour tie was Cornelius Fudge wearing when he came to take Hagrid to Azkaban?
Brown
Silver
Purple
Scarlet

9. After running away from the Dursley's, Harry took up a room at the Leaky Cauldron. What number room did he stay in?
7
11
9
3

10. While Ron, Hermione, and his other classmates are in Hogsmeade, Harry stops in for a chat with Professor Lupin. What did Lupin tell Harry he had just taken delivery of for their next lesson?
Red Caps
Hinkypunks
Kappas
Grindylows

Picture Scavenger Hunt
The pictures can either be posted on your blog or you can link to them from your blog.

Harry's Aunt
Whomping Willow
Cornelius Fudge
Buckbeak
Emma Watson

it would be nice-

If I could spell sock correctly!

Scok kit swap answers

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Hufflepuff, but I thought I was more of a Ravenclaw


2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars? I love my crystal palace bamboo dpns, and the knitpicks circs


3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? I would like the new knitpicks in the new size.


4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
5. Do you have any allergies? no allergies

gratitous sock photos

Yes I have been knitting, no it has not been exciting-

Roza's Socks in Cherry Tree Hill- wild cherry


I also finished a pair of plain stockinette sock sout of my natural handdyed- it would be nice to have a photo, but that is just too much to ask in one post- to be organized that much?

I'm also making the Lutea Lace Shoulder shell from summer 07. I need to add something to the sleeves to make them more sleeve like. I have quite a few balls of Rowan Cotton rope I bought for a song last spring, so I ma using that and hope I have enough. I was going to send this yarn off to charity and then saved it, so it would be nice to do something useful with it.

We leave for Dublin in just 5 weeks from today. I feel like I am so behind, but I think I am actually in better shape today than I was at this time last year.

Uninspired...

I've been having inspiration problems lately. All I want to do is cast on something new, when I have so many things undone. Two pairs of socks are here unfinished, a Roza's in Cherry Tree Hill Wild Cherry, and just a plain old sock in my own naturally dyed. Both have one sock completed. (the natural sock 2nd is almost finished, but it is taking forever)

I have my clapotis done with the silk from Argentina, but I wasn't happy with it. The clap pattern is fine, but the yarn is too bulky so I need to rework the stitch count, or I will run out of yarn. Also, my assistant was rooting around in my knitting bag looking for a magazine to read and she dropped a ton od stitches off the needle. sigh... I think it is a firing offense, but others disagree.

And, I am working on the refined raglan from Winter 06 IK. This issue was by far my favorite in a long time, and I plan on making many things from it.

So, I did some spinning. I pulled out some Merino and was working on very fine spinning. It was quite refreshing to do something new and work on a new fiber for me. I was really pleased with hoiw it came out.

I have been reading "Knitting for Peace" by Betty Christiansen and I got inspired to do some more charity knitting so I cranked out a pair of mittens in a night while watching the national spelling bee. I also got in contact with a friend with the idea of beginning a charity knitting group with some of the kids in the area. I have taught many of the kids at Morningstar how to knit, so why not keep it going over the summer? We need to work out the details... but more to come.

MA Sheep and Wool

MA sheep and wool was a sell out- I had 23 skeins of my handdyed, natural dyed yarn and I only have three left! Now to buy more yarn to dye for Rhinebeck-

I met Spunky eclectic and bought some yarn and roving! I also got some new dyes to try out- tesu and mycrobalan.

MA Sheep and Wool

We are going to Massachusetts Sheep and Wool
Apparently MA sheep and wool had a cancellation, so we are in! Hope to see you there. I will have all of my new yarns there as well as dyed roving and our natural colored stuff!

Its been sooooo long!

And still no new knitting content. Graduation is this weekend, so finally these kids will be out of here.

I got a new laptop at work and it is really nice if I do say so myself. The computer guys earned themselves a plate of pecan cookies.
Maybe next week life may return to normal- o but wait, we leave for Dublin in only 8 weeks! All the planning needs to get done!

Out of the loop

I feel like I have been out of it for months and months- not checking anyone elses blogs has left me dazed and confused. Welcome to spring in a University! As classes wind down we wind up to get in next year, plan graduation and generally work to get the kids out of here.

Things are also busy at home- we now have six lambs, Out of all the photos here is Megan and Gomer. Megan is the tilted head one- she and Gomer are Soay crosses. Soay are an ancient sheep breed from the St Kilda islands. They are not sheared, but are rooed- you pull the hair out similar to an angora rabbit. I haven't had the opportunity to spin any of it yet, but the fleece is pretty rare and hard to come by. We now have six grown Soays and now 2 lambs that are crosses with Shetland. Tim is trying to get a Shetland cross that roos as well- not sure how is going to work for him.

Knitting- no photos of any ontresting. I'm working on a feather and fan scarf for one of my students wife. She arranged her Mom to bring me wool from Chile last month and I know she went out of her way to do so, so I wanted to do something to say thank you.

new lambs, new yarn and a soap maker

We had a new lamb born on Sunday to Pome II (daughter to Pome I), she is really cute and is getting around just fine. Birth for Pome was alot easier than it was for me!

I loaded more naturally dyed yarns to Etsy, more pinks this time, rather than reds.

Also a friend of a friend is a soapmaker and can be found here - I love her blog name!

I sold yarn!

I'm really excited to announce that I sold my first two skeins of yarn on etsy! Now come the dreams of world domination and the fantasy that I can do this full time and quite my well paying, but irritating at times job. So, I used all of the money to buy more yarn and dyes to use.

Thanks Holly!

I got my last Sock-ret pal package on Wednesday night!

it was filled with lots of great stuff. The socks fit great and I love the yarn and the chocolate as well!

My pal was Holly

Thanks Holly!

Does it count?

Does it count as buying yarn if I didn't pay for it? I bought some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino this week, but it was only three balls, on sale and I used my gift certificate from Christmas. So, I'm saying it doesn't count.

We bought a new Mac with our tax money. Tim seems to hate it, I love it. I just have a hard time with a few things, like hyperlinks, I can't find the button and I'm too lazy to code it manually. Maybe it is the mac? (Can you tell I'm the webmaster at work?) I'm even thinking hard about getting a microphone and starting my own podcast. I;m taking a class on Audacity at the library at work. For work purposes of course.

I've been doing quite a lot of natural dyeing of sock yarn. They are coming out really well, so I'm going to post them on the Etsy site at www.AncthdsFarm.etsy.com. (or look in the sidebar, for my mini etsy shop- Thanks Lavender sheep http://lavendersheep.blogspot.com/ for pointing out this was possible) I was afraid that the colors would run, but they are pretty firmly fixed. I can't wait to cast on a pair for myself.



I've decided to use names from old sitcom tv shows- we'll see how it goes

we got into Rhinebeck!

I can't believe it, I had always heard that it years and years to get into Rhinebeck as vendors, but somehow we were asked to come after we applied.

It may have something to do with being an outside vendor, but I'm really excited- now I just have a ton of dyeing to do. We have this tent and it looks so cool set up
We bought it from tentsmiths a few years ago and everyone comments on how great a tent it is-

I can't believe the Connecticut show is in six weeks. I have so much work to do-

51 days!

i can't believe I've been 51 days without buying yarn! I've been working really gard at using stash yarns this Spring and it is going pretty weel. To begin with I had a six foot cabinet stuffed full of yarns, plus it was beginning to overload onto the floor in front of the cabinet as well.

The funny thing is I really only had enough in my stash for two sweaters, the rest is all sock yarn, homespun and odd balls I picked up for smaller projects. So, it is dwindling slowly.

Another thing is I took a hard look at all of the ayrns I was keeping as special things, the yarn I bought in Uruguay, what I bought in San Francisco and decided it was time to begin using it. Why do I hold onto these balls of yarn with no projects in mind. So, the Uruguayan yarn became a scarf for Tater, the SF yarn will become a gift.

Lastly, I took a look at all of those odd balls and leftovers and made some hard decisions. I bagged up three large grocery bags and am planning to send it all to a women's halfway house in PA. I certainly can't use it all, or never will and maybe these women can get something out of it. I have the info if anyone is interested.

Update!!!

Well I think maybe the snarky post worked- I did get a thank you

And I would like to say thankyou to my Sock-ret pal who sent me an unexpected extra - a llama calendar. My kids took it off somewhere, or I would photograph it for the blog. I really need to get thier rooms cleaned out.

More updates, we had a long talk this past weekend regarding the fiber mill and have decided to open it for the public again. Tim ordered soap and that is in- so the webpage is up, we are in business again. I think selling the roving on Etsy helped his decision along. Also, we did make changes, we will no longer take merino, ramboillet, targee, southdown or anything really fine that is impossible to clean. if it comes in clean we can do it but otherwise it just took so much time and resources, it wasn't worth it financially. I will be taking on a bit more, doing the emails and helping more at night and on weekends. I should be able to know, my job is calmed down since I started just after we opened the mill 4 years ago.

I will supplement with naturally dyed yarns and sell those at the sheep and wool fairs. We have applied to get into Rhinebeck and I have my fingers crossed. We expect to be at Connecticut and Massachusetts (we hope for Mass anyway!). For anyone interested, here is our webpage
Ancient Threads Farm & Fiber Mill.


I really enjoy the wool business and the customers, it is just hard not to have the regular income that normal employment brings.

Shouldn't I at least get a thank you?

Ok, so I sent one of my secret-gift exchange (unnamed to protect everyone) pal her gift a little late. I think it was Feb 9 th or something when it was supposed to be out on Jan 31. And I have the thing from the postoffice that says it was delivered just a few short days later. Wouldn't good manners dictate that said spoliee would at least say thank you. I'm not looking for effusive thanks or her first born kid, but an acknowledgement would be appreciated. I had to email her last time just to make sure she got it before I got a thank you. Now I understand work, kids, home blah, blah blah, but I have all those things too and I still get to say thank you in a resonable time frame, (two weeks seems reasonable to me).

To my former pals and current pals, I always appreciated everything you sent, and Margarethe I working on a pay it forward now, Arwen got in my way. With warmer weather here today I'm glad I finished in time for yesterday.

Fyberduck- My friend Michele has taken on the neckwarmer project and reports back that it looks great

Arwen is done!

I'm not ever sure if I ever mentioned I was working on this. Since I am such a bad blogger. I started A Cardigan for Arwn sometine in early-mid Janurary and have been working on her ever since. I'm really pleased with the final sweater. While it is boxy and shapeless- it is a casual cardigan, and I'm good with that- I'm boxy and roundish, so take that into account.

The front shot with grinning idiot with multiple chins partially cut out.




and the back shot of the hood

Yarn: baabaa joes wool packs in Forest - ply was 10 I think. I used about 4 packs of 250 yards each. and I had very little yarn left in the end.

Source: My stash- I bought tons of this yarn last year when Stephanie of Wool N Word had her fire sale last year. It was about $18 for five wool packs, so I have one left in the green and five left in a natural brown. the yarn despite being sold after the firwe didn't smell of smoke at all.








The problem- I don't know what to do next. I have almost nothing on the needles- lets think
Jake's alpaca afghan- yeah right (destined for the frog pond- I discovered I despise feather and fan in this year)
My spiral sweater- also not going to happen- major issues with this one - I wasn't ready to design at the time.
Jake's cashmenre hat- I knot this once and the yarn (panache from Knitpicks) just isn't meant to keep its shape, after three weeks it was about a foot too long and looked like that kid from Fat Albert, you know the one with the hat half way down his face. I ripped it and am reknitting with a strand of merino added.
Jake's scarf- I took some left over Panache and added in a strand of my navajo plied shades and knit them together. The color looks great together.

But, wait Feb is almost over, can i wait to finish all of the cold weather stuff till later- do they really need hats, mittens, and scarves for this time of year?

Hat re-do

Tim mentioned a while ago he wanted a new hat, so I spun up some of Freya's fleece for him. Freya is an emsket Shetland ewe. Emsket is a grey/blue mix and it tends to be somewhat rare, so she is a special girl.

I spun it fairly fine and then chain plyed it, or navajo plied it into a three ply yarn. So, it became a fairly bulky yarn taht I then knit in a waffle knit hat. Well, it was way too big. I made the mistake of not making the ribbing on a smaller needle, so it streached out, and really didn't keep the hat in his head.

So, I decided to use my steeking skills and do some surgery.

I measured Tim's head and then the hat, measured again, and then cut out about 4 ribs of the hat. At the top, I stopped before cutting thru the tie-off at the top and cut my steeked part off of the center. I was going to graft them togther, but it was really difficult to see the stitches, so I just ended up seaming it up the back, and he wears the seam to the back. Here it is all finished and about 4" smaller-

Typical sock photos

Well it is the standard sock photo
but I'm really proud of the yarn. It is Knitpicks Bare that I dyed in natural dyes, using Lac and Logwood purple I got a mix of purply grey and pinks that I really like. i didn't expect it to be so stripey, but I'm ok with that.

Etsy store

I finally posted some of the roving we have laying around to my Etsy store. Check them out if you like. There are a few I priced high, as I don't really want to part with them, but if they go, so be it.

I've been working on quite a few projects, Jake got a hat made from Panache from KnitPicks in Cranberry, Tim got one made of homespun and I have been working on A cardigan for Arwen from the Interweave Knits Winter 2006 for me. I bought the yarn last May from Stephanie when she had her fire sale. it is BaabaaJoes woolpacks in the 10 and color is forest green. I really like how it is coming out.

The back is done and I am 2/3 done on one front/sleeve. This pattern is really fun, the cableing isn't too extensive, yet the pattern is intresting enought to keep me awake. The back nearly killed me with the stockineet, but I did it first knowing I would never get it done if I did the fronts first. I know there are several knitalongs for this, but I can't face another swap/Kal etc yet.

I need to finish and send off my SP9 package, but I will probably miss the 31st deadline. I'm almost there. I did get the Sock-ret thing done at long last.

New year, new stuff

I have a lot of things to say thank you for...

First, to Fyberduck who sent me this neckwarmer as a thank you to my pay it forward gift last Fall. The purple/blue was yarn she intended to use in the One skein swap and something unfortunate happened to it, so she sent something else. After saving what she could, she sent me this. It is a bit too small to fit my fat neck, so I am working on taking the skein she sent me in the summer and reworking it into a scarf.

And my SP9 pal, revealed herself with this package
It is a great felted bag that she handdyed the wool and knit. It has the cute little side bag that is felted onto one of the handles. My kids tried to claim it, but I finally got it away from them. it is a perfect size for my smaller WIP's that I carry to work. And just in time, I was teased the other day for using ziplocs to carry all of my projects. I Thanks you Margareth from Austria!

What happened?

What happened to winter? i worked all summer on new things to wear and now it barely goes below 40 degrees? Well today we got down to 34- I got to wear my new pink coronet hat from knitty. I've also been wearing my fingerless mitts that Fyberduck sent me-they are great for this in between weather.

I've been walking- a lot lately, I did the Univeristy loop twice last week (3 miles for a loop) and did another 1.5 on another day- I also did the loop again today. With this weather, I feel like I have to get out and I am feeling better. I think my favorite thing thsi week is my IRiver. I loaded a whole bunch of old 80 & 90 music and put it in a playlist, so now I can walk to Come baby come and We are the champions when i walk- when that gets old I can listen to knitting podcasts.

I'm taking a class, Presentation Skills here at school. My boss is teaching it, but i am enjoying being in the classroom again. I keep thinking about the PhD, but can't really do anything until the kids are older. It isn't about the work, its about the time to do the work.

On the knitting side, I am working on my sock-ret pal socks- they are nearly there. They are out of Knitpicks gloss and to say this yearn is fairly inexpensive, it is pretty nice. I also started a new cardigan for me, A Cardigan for Arwen from the Fall or Winter 2006 Interweave. I'm about 10 inches done on the back boring square. I'm using some old Baabaa Joes woolpacks I bought at Stephanie's fire sale last summer. I have a tom of this yarn and got it super cheap. I'm attemptiong to knit everything from my stash this year. Not sure how it will go, but I'm trying. So far so good.