Busy December

This last Saturday was my good friend's 50th surprise birthday party. After all the months of planning and keeping this a secret, all that hard work paid off. I really thought she was going to find out - how could she not? - but it was a total surprise to her. It was so good to see friends and family come together to celebrate with a special person. What a great feeling.

It's funny, isn't it, how sometimes you seem so busy, but when you look back it doesn't seem like there's much that's worthy of posting on a blog. Some could argue that there really isn't much of anything worthy of posting on a blog. But if it gives a little satisfaction to the writer and possibly the reader, then it's worth it, right? Add pictures into these stories, however mundane, and it spices up the story. I love pictures - most of the time. I love taking pictures, I love downloading my pictures onto my computer, I love ordering and receiving my pictures. I love to scrapbook my pictures and make them my little works of art. I do NOT love having my picture taken. Photoshop has eliminated much of my fear of seeing my own image on a print. I love to use that "Bandaid" button, and the distort button has become a close acquaintance. This is most useful for a body that has seen better days. That is why you will rarely see my picture here, unless it has been taken in the right light, the right angle, and run through Photoshop a few times!

Now on to the fun stuff. In December my husband and I took a trip to Mexico. We went with two other couples, and another friend whose wife had finals and couldn't make the trip. My husband and his brother make this trip yearly with the guys, but wanted to take the wives this year. The place we stayed is mainly a fishing resort, and is beautiful. The guys went fishing three days, I went on one of those days. I am happy to report that I did not get seasick. Alas, I caught absolutely no fish. Apparently it wasn't a good day to fish. That doesn't give much satisfaction against the fact that we prepared almost all year to go down to Mexico and go deep sea fishing, and then I catch nothing. Oh well. I did get lots of knitting done. I knit on the plane - took size 8 circular bamboo needles on the plane with no problem - I knit by the beach, I knit in my room. We went with special friends, and that is what will make the memories.

I was able to get some projects finished for Christmas. I knit the skull scarf for my daughter, and finished the vest for my son. These were fairly easy projects that knit up quickly.

Tonight we are having a little get together for New Year's Eve. A few friends and family are coming over for Bagna Calda. My cousin is in town from California and has never had it before, so we decided to make it this year for her. Tomorrow I plan on just kicking back and relaxing! We plan to go to my mom's house and knit for a while.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year!

LYS's - Naughty or Nice?

Where has the time gone? I can't believe Thanksgiving is over, and we're heading for Christmas at full speed. Two months ago I had envisioned myself at this time completely done with my holiday shopping, nearly done with all my knitting projects, even a few presents wrapped up. What a joke. I can't even seem to update my own blog on a regular basis!~

We did have a very nice Thanksgiving. But I didn't get up early to go shopping. My daughter and I went out shopping in the morning, but there just wasn't a lot on sale that we wanted.

Then it was on to our LYS to indulge ourselves in buying some yarn. Ok, before you get any further, I want to let you know that I am venting a little on this, so proceed with caution! What a surprise to find that all of their yarn was 35% off. Now, we have been going there for almost a year. We aren't there really often, but enough to where I think the owner recognizes me - and my daughter. At least she pretends to. My mom also has been going there for at least six months, even going in to work on her projects about once a week for the last month or so. Not once had we been told about this sale. If I would have known about it, I would have prepared a little better. I would have looked up projects, written down what I needed and made my shopping frenzy at least a little organized. I didn't even see it posted on their windows. One of the reasons my daughter wanted to go there was to drop off some hats she had made for charity. She likes to make them, plus it helps out her community hours she needs for Honor Society. When she gave the owner the piece of paper to sign verifying that she had dropped them off, the owner looked at her like she had never heard about it. We both got the feeling that she didn't want to take the time to sign it. I certainly didn't get the warm fuzzy feeling that I want to get when I leave a store spending money on something I don't REALLY have to have. (naughty!)

Fast forward to the next day, (today). My son had a birthday party to go to at Chuck E. Cheese, so my daughter and I decided to walk over to Jimmy Beans Wool, which was just a few stores down. Imagine our surprise when we were actually greeted with a friendly smile, and not one, but two employees actually asked us how we were doing and if we needed help. Samples galore in this store, and they even had the pattern I wanted. Ok, so I plunked down even more money than I had planned on spending, but I walked out of there with that warm fuzzy feeling I've been looking for. Don't know if this happens every day in there, but I'm willing to go back to test it out. It's quite a bit further than the other store, but way worth it. Just goes to show you how much customer service can take you. (Nice!)

I did add to my yarn stash - bought some Lorna's Lace sock yarn for making baby socks for Christmas presents, more sock yarn, and some Lorna's Lace worsted for a vest for my son. This will be my first time making a vest. I'll post pictures soon on Ravelry (look me up - stitchnscrap), and get pictures of projects on work here shortly.

Thought for now: It pays to pay it forward. If you've never done this, try it!

I really have been knitting! Felted skull scarf for daughter's Christmas gift.

Happy Halloween!

We're home now, after a fun night of trick-or-treating. Took my youngest out with his cousins. My oldest went to a friend's house to watch movies and my middle stayed home to pass out candy. By the time my kids have kids I wonder if anyone will trick-or-treat anymore. It has changed so much from the time I was young. Used to be we were dropped off and a bunch of us went out without any parents. Now I wouldn't dream of letting them go alone at the age I went. I love seeing all the fall/Halloween decorations out, and I especially love the people who answer their door and make a big to-do over the kids' costumes. I will remember that, and I think my son will, too. Tonight he said he got so much candy because of his costume, so I'm sure he was thinking of the people who mentioned who he was dressed up as - Jengo Fett from Star Wars. Tonight I will go to bed thinking of the memories that have been made with each of my children. I always want to be with all of them on holidays, but as they grow up I know I can't. I miss that. Maybe that's why I take so many pictures, to try to capture those memories on film. When all my children have grown and left, I will still have the photos to remember these times by. I can wait for that day.

Life is Good

There's nothing like getting Boo'd to get you into the Halloween spirit. On Monday night we found a bag of goodies left on our doorstep with a note that said "You've been Boo'd." It was so much fun to go through the goodies, and it's so nice to know that someone thought of you to deliver the goodies to. Tonight - hopefully - we are going to drop off two BOO bags to friends and neighbors. My kids have a great time with this - the only time other than Christmas that I give them the go ahead to doorbell ditch.

I have really been in a crafty mood this month! This is a good thing, but also a not so good thing. It's a good thing because I get things done. It's a not so good thing because I usually want to try out NEW crafts to do, which means I spend money at the craft stores. My newest venture is making stitch markers. I'm the kind of person who sees something cute and thinks, I can make this myself. Sure, I can make this myself, but at what price? Let me tell ya, I have certainly spent more money on supplies making these stitch markers than I would have had I just bought some on etsy. But I had fun making them, and I think they turned out ok. The larger markers fit on my size 13 needles for the bags I've been knitting from she-knits. What do you think?

On my needles I have a scarf I am making for E as a Christmas present. It's the skull scarf from knitty.com. It is knit in two parts and is felted. I have one part made, and about halfway through the other part. Yes, another Christmas present almost done!

As the weather turns cooler and the days get longer, one of my favorite things to do is get up early when everyone else is sleeping, fix myself something warm to drink, and browse through my Christmas craft books. I have a collection that I started buying back before I was even married. Some crafts/recipes I have tried, more others I have not. The books are older, but they always bring back memories for me. I am posting a recipe for a spiced tea. You can make it as is, or omit the tea for a hot drink that is still great. You can even grate a little fresh nutmet or sprinkle a little cinnamon on top. Enjoy!

Spiced Tea

2 c. Tang

2 c. sugar

1/2-1 c. instant tea

1 large pkg. powdered lemonade

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. allspice

Combine all ingredients and store in airtight container. When ready to use, put 2 tsp. or more to 1 c. boiling water.

Today is my wedding anniversary. 20 years! When I was younger I always thought that people who were married 20 years were sooooo old. Now I am one of those "old" people! We celebrated our anniversary last weekend by taking a little out of town trip. We drove to Sacramento for the weekend. We didn't really do much in the way of going places, but it was so nice to relax and spend time just the two of us. I don't think we do that often enough,

I did get to go to a yarn shop. Filati Yarns, in Rocklin. Here locally I've only been to one store that is on the small side, which made the yarn store in Rocklin seem oh so huge to me. I kept my purchases to a minimum, but I want to come back soon, this time with my daughter who also knits. I stayed away from sock yarn because I have enough now to make several pairs of socks. They carry Koigu and Lorna's Laces, both of which I want, want, want! I bought some yarn to make another purse, and a scarf for my daughter.
I finally finished one of the Diamante socks. I had such a hard time with this pattern that I'm afraid my friend will only receive one socks for Christmas. I don't know what it was because the pattern is not that difficult, but I had a heck of a time with it. I was never so glad to finish a sock. I really want to start another sock in another pattern, but I need to force myself to finish the second one. Maybe I'll put both on hold and go on to making my next purse. I love those purses, they knit up in such a short time. Instant gratification, that's what it's all about. She-knits had a good podcast recently. It was about knitting only what you love. I guess I can apply it to my housework, too. Must be why I am on the computer right now instead of working on the ginormous pile of laundry I have. Hey, I'm doing what I enjoy, right?!
Speaking of enjoying, I LOVE Ravelry. If you're on Ravelry, look me up - I'm stitchnscrap. Like I said before, I could easily spend way too much time on the computer.
Until next time . . .knit on!

Ravelry - I'm In! - And how do you Felt?

Well, after waiting since July, I have officially joined Ravelry. Now I am starting to see what all the talk has been about. The only downside I can see is spending too much time on the computer. This is going to be so much fun!

I finished my felted bag (the Pipes and Braid bag from http://www.she-knits.com/) . Now looking at it, I wonder if I should have felted it a little more. I think it will be okay though. When I ran it though the washing machine I forgot to see how long I set the cycle for. I think I went on automatic pilot and set it for how long I usually wash clothes for. I used a regular pillow case and just knotted the top, and used a hot wash, cold rinse cycle. I will say I loved this pattern. The directions were easy to understand, and it knit up so quickly.

When my daughter made pot holders last week we didn't want to put such a small amount in the washer, so I tried felting them by hand. I am not a patient person, so when it didn't work after a few minutes, I put some hot water in my Kitchen Aid bowl, stuck the potholders in it, then felted them with the Kitchen Aid, using the dough hook attachment. What can I say, it worked.

The cooler weather here is really getting me in the mood to knit. Last night it actually snowed! If that's not a sure sign to get those needles out for me, I don't know what is!

Ravelry.com - I'm almost there!

When I put my name on the waiting list to get on ravelry.com, there were something like 18,000 people in front of me. Yesterday I checked to see where I was on the waiting list to get on, and there were 900+ people in front of me. This morning I checked and 445 people were in front of me. Tonight I checked and only 45 people are ahead of me. Maybe I will get invited tomorrow!!!!

Holiday KAL-CAL

I have joined my first KAL. Who knew the internet could be this much fun? Anyway, I wanted to post the link to this KAL-CAL. It's put on by Marly (yarnthing) and Sharon (She-knits), both of whom have podcasts that I listen to (see their links to the right). The KAL-CAL officially starts on September 22, so if you need a little motivation to getting your holiday projects finished, sign up! Here's the link: www.holidaykalcal.blogspot.com

Musings from a parent of teenagers

Somehow I seem to always be behind. I'm never caught up on my laundry, I'm forever rushing to get the kids to school, I never seem to get to bed on time to get enough sleep, and I am rarely, rarely on time to work. With life as crazy as it is, any little extra activity can really throw me off. This week was one of those "off" weeks.

It started out on Tuesday. I was taking my younger daughter to the library. As we were walking in, the wind caught her hair and I noticed something glittering on her ear. This should come as no shock to me, but she has pierced her own ear (with the help of a friend, as I find out the next day) - the upper part of her ear. I think what really gets me is she didn't tell me about it. At the point I am speechless, and all I asked her was if she sterilized the needle before she did it. We get done at the library, start to drive away and we see my dh driving toward us. He tells us that our oldest has cut her lip during her color guard practice and may need stitches. I race home - pierced ear all but forgotten - to meet dd. I am envisioning her being driven home, with a huge gash on her lip and blood gushing from the wound. But no, she drives herself home, gets out of the car with what appears to be a little cut on her lower lip. The bleeding has stopped, and I think this is great, she's going to be just fine with a little ice. then I look closer. And closer. No, this is not going to be fine with just ice. The cut is deep, we need to go to emergency.

A quick - quick, ha! - trip to the emergency room. Before rushing out the door I grab my Don't Leave Home Without It items - camera and knitting. While we waited I was able to get quite a bit done on my sock, and I got some great pictures of our trip to ER. I even got to take home tweezers and scissors home as souvenirs. Did you know they are disposable? The nurse asked if I wanted them, since they just throw them away. And to think what they are going to charge me for them. . .

The mate to this sock is what I am currently working on, and what went with me to the ER. It's a striping yarn, using a very simple sock pattern. I love this kind of pattern, since I don't have to think too much when I knit. I am knitting them as a Christmas gift for a friend who loves the Harry Potter books - Gryffindor's colors.

This started my week, but there's more. This story is going to need a post all its own.

I opted for a change of pace this weekend and put my knitting down to work on this page layout. I started on Friday and finished it up this morning. Lots of inking required - much more than I usually do on a page. I was having a major scrapbook block for a while, but this page got me back on track. The patterned paper and diecut embellishments are from Bo-Bunny.

My List

School starts tomorrow. It is after 10:00 pm here and the house is so quiet. All the kids are in bed and - I think - asleep. Starting tomorrow I will officially have all three kids in all day school. The last time our two oldest were in all day school I got pregnant with our youngest. It's a joke around here that I tell about our kids being in school and NO! I am not pregnant! Although if I knew I was going to have three children and was younger, I might have gone for a fourth. Five in a family is just an odd number. Think about it. Lots of rides at amusement parks are for two people. You can't pair up evenly with five. Four people fit much easier in a smaller car than five (thus the SUV we bought a few years ago). That's ok though, I love having a family of five, too.



Some of my mom's family are in town. We had a big barbeque at my mom's house last night. Two of her sisters are here and her niece. We had more family over last night, too. It was fun, but I arrived a little late because I worked at the scrapbook store yesterday. As soon as I got there it was time for dinner, and then it seemed that everyone left shortly after that. We've decided that we need to have these get-togethers on a regular basis. I've thought of having theme dinners when we get together. Any ideas out there? I'd love to hear them. This would be new to me, so I'd love any help I can get.



Before any kind of get together, though, I NEED to get my craft room organized! The craft room is now called the crap room, because it seems to be the room where all the stuff you don't know what to do with gets stuck. Yes, a lot of it is mine, so I need to get working on that. That is high on my list of things to do when the kids are at school and I have a day off. I think I'm going to work on it, and then reward myself when I'm done by spending a day at the scrapbook store and cropping all day with no interruptions.



I've started a new pair of socks - again. I'm working with a striping sock yarn by Cascade Yarns in a superwash. The colors are similar to Gryffindor's colors from the Harry Potter books/movies. I got it at my lys. I also recently bought some yarn through Etsy. It is yarn from Fearless Fibers, superwash Merino colorway Midnight Passion, which is shades of purple. I love the yarn. I I have an idea for this, but I'm not going to mention what it is because it is for Christmas and you just never know if that person might happen to lurk here! You can check out her Etsy shop at: http://www.fearlessfibers.etsy.com/ She has some delicious looking yarn. I never thought I'd say this, but I think I am getting a little sock crazy. After this pair is done I want/need to go on to something different. Something easy, something quick. Any suggestions?



On my list of things to do this week are. . . First, you should know about my list. It is a big white erase board on which the left side I write down things that need to be done around the house - basically chores. On the right side of the list I write down the things I'd like to do once the list on the left is finished. As I am finished with that chore/project, I erase it. Rarely does the whole left side get totally erased, and even more rare is the total erasure of the right side. This week on the left side of my list I will have to add working on my craft room and go through the paperwork on my computer desk (it is pushed next to my hard drive, and is slowly taking over and becoming bigger than the tower!). On the right side of the list I need to add: work on my current socks, and make at least one, and clean the scrapbook junk off of the treadmill. Even though this has the five letter word "Clean" in it, I am still putting it on the right side of my list, because believe it or not I do enjoy cleaning my scrapbook stuff. I just spend more time making it a mess than I do cleaning it. Once the treadmill is cleared, I will have to add "Exercise" to the....left side of the board.



Enjoy the last week of August!

Pictures of socks!

Ok, I'm attempting to add these pictures without the help of my kids. If all goes well the first picture is the "Spiderman" sock I'm knitting up for my 6yo. The second picture is the finished pair of jigsaw socks.

podcasts and projects

What a busy week it's been! Here's a quick summary of what we've done this week: DD's oral surgery to extract wisdom teeth, picking squash, high school registration, first Cub Scout meeting, First Grade homework, picking squash and beans, 911 call for my mom (she's fine, had a heavy nosebleed), band practice, picking squash and cucumber, son learning to ride a two wheel bike. . . and did I mention we have squash?

In between that I did manage to finish my jigsaw socks! I love this yarn, the color and the way it feels. I'll take a picture and post it hopefully tomorrow. I found a pattern on the internet (www.craftown.com) for a child's sock. They are for my son and we are calling them his Spiderman socks. He picked out the yarn for this and it reminded him of Spiderman. It's a striping yarn that has black and red, yellow, green and blue stripes. It's Regia yarn 75% wool, 25% polyamide, whatever that is. It does feel rougher then what I have been working on, but once it's knit up, it's not bad.

I haven't really done much scrapbooking this week. I have been attempting to organize my craft desk a little at a time, and I do mean a little at a time. I did manage to put away most of the supplies I had taken with me to Tahoe.

Something fun I've been doing is looking up podcasts and listening to them, usually when I am knitting. I really should be listening to them while I am on the treadmill, but apparently the treadmill hasn't been calling my name loud enough to hear over the noise of our household of five. Here are a few I have been listening to: socks in the city (www.socksinthecitypodcast.blogspot.com) - Carrie talks about different yarns for knitting socks, and lots of other things pertaining to sock knitting. She also has an Etsy shop (www.etsy.com), and her store is under dharmafey. lime & violet (these gals are crazy-fun), she-knits podcast (www.she-knits.com) - seriously, she has 7 kids and finds time to knit! and sticks & string podcast (www.sticksandstring.com.au) - this is one I started listening to. I just really like the sound of his accent! Plus a guy who knits, how awesome is that!

Well, I don't have much in the way of a list on what I want to do this week. I'd love to finish those Spiderman socks. I'm working at the scrapbook store this Saturday so I may get to see what, if anything is new in the scrapbook world! I've been thinking about Christmas - you know it's only about 19 weeks away. Start making your list.

Furry Adventures in Tahoe

I am back from my scrapbook retreat. We've always called it a scrapbook retreat, although it's really more like a mini vacation with friends. This year two friends and I spent five days at Lake Tahoe. It was a friend of a friend's house they let us stay in. We were close enough to the lake that we could hear the boats, and close enough that we could walk to if we wanted to, but we stayed at the house almost the whole time. This time away is just that for us. We get away from our every day schedules. We set our scrapbook stations up in the living room and leave it there until it's time to leave. We watch movies when we want to without having to worry about whether it's ok for the kids to watch. We wake up in the morning knowing that we can sleep in a little if we want to. We go to bed at night and read with the lamp on. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. We have so much fun and look forward to it every year.

This year we did have some excitement while we were there. One evening I heard what sounded like a plastic cup drop on the driveway. I looked out and the door to my SUV was wide open. I yelled and out comes what looked to me like a big blur (it was dark and I was looking through the screen door). I screamed to my friends that someone is breaking into my vehicle. Well, there we are, the three of us all wondering what to do. We should call the cops, should we go down to look at it? Hurry, lock the door! We eventually go outside on the deck and yell across to the neighbors who are outside and ask if they've seen anything. It was a bear, they tell us. I'm thinking they've had a little too much to drink, but we go along with it. When we finally venture downstairs to the driveway we look inside my Suburban. Inside we find that the console has been opened and two sets of headphones have been pulled out of it. There were two cups from Starbucks left inside and one of them is laying on the driveway, the lid is smashed on the floor of my Suburban. Later I find a bottle of Tums in the back and it's been partly chewed. There is also a sandwich bag on the ground. I remember that my kids must have left it there, conveniently eating the sandwich, but leaving the crust of it in the bag. Must've been that the bear smelled! Luckily there were only a couple of light scratches on the outside of my Suburban that I can have buffed out. Once we found out that it was a bear, we actually had a good laugh. What a night!

I did bring my socks to knit, too. I finished one sock and am close to the heel on the second. My daughter is getting them, as they fit her perfectly. I wanted to finished the 6th Harry Potter book so I can start on the 7th, but I am still reading a Patricia McKillip book that I want to finish before I start another. And, of course, I got lots of scrapbooking done. Got almost caught up with my oldest's book, and almost finished my youngest's DW album. Plus I organized my paper.

It was nice to get home to see my family. I think they even missed me a little. Now it's back to the real world. My daughter gets her wisdom teeth pulled out this Friday, so I won't be working at the scrapbook store this Saturday. Just a nice relaxing Saturday (which equals running around playing catch up on the housework in our house). I plan to get the other jigsaw sock finished this week. Next will be knitting "Spiderman" socks for my son. He picked out the color of yarn (red, dark blue, yellow, thus Spiderman), now I need to figure out how to change my sock pattern for adults, or find one. I'm fairly new to knitting socks, so it takes me a while to figure it out. I'm looking forward to knitting those.

Just a reminder, only 141 days until Christmas! That works out to about 20 weeks. It's never to early to think about that, especially if you want to make something for gifts. This year my daughter has already started a list of who she wants to make socks for. Takes after her mother, I say!

G'Night!

My Excuse For the Day

It's just too hot outside. That has been my excuse all day, actually all month. My family is tired of hearing me complain about it. It is 99 degrees outside right now, and tomorrow's forecast is 102. I have not even gone outside today. It's just too hot outside.

With being indoors, I have been able to work on some knitting. I have been working on the dishcloth KAL every day. Tomorrow is the last day. I can figure out what the design is, and I just love this idea. Knitting dishcloths with only knitting and purling is so relaxing for me. It's quick so you get to see the results in a short amount of time, and it's easy so there's no frustration.

The jigsaw socks are coming along well, too. The pattern it's making is so cool, and I love this color of yarn. I've even learned how to post pictures on the blogs. Hey, guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I am officially a member of the jigsaw sock KAL. Carrie (socksinthecity.blogspot.com) sent me a very nice email. I still am amazed at the technology these days (makes me sound so old, doesn't it). I really enjoy listening to her podcasts, and looking at her blogs. She just seems like someone I'd like as soon as I met her.

Anyway, onto the scrapbooking side of my life. I am leaving for my retreat to Tahoe in four days!!! Am I ready? Of course not. Last night I worked the midnight madness crop (6:00pm - 1:00am) at my LSS. When I scrapbook I like to prepare power layouts so everything is ready when I actually sit down to crop. Last night I brought some pages to start the power layouts. I actually got them done, but that's all. If I don't get it done today, that's ok, I'll just stay up really late the night before I leave. If nothing else in my life, I have become a pro at procrastination. That's when I do my best work - last minute.

Tomorrow we are driving to Tahoe to take our DD13 to band camp. She'll be gone until Saturday. She's really looking forward to it. Of course, as a mom, I will worry about her. Quite a few of her friends are going, so I know she'll have fun

I think I'll venture out into the hot desert, otherwise known as my back yard. Those zucchini that need to be picked are calling out my name.

Update on the knitting. . .

I really love this jigsaw sock pattern. This pattern says it's a size small, and since I can't remember the last time I wore small anything, I've decided to give them to my daughter. She has been begging for them since she got home from camp on Saturday. Maybe I'll just tuck them away and make her wait for them until Christmas. The yarn I'm using - Panda Cotton, in the color Sable - is beautiful with this pattern. The only drawback with this yarn I've found is that the strands of the yarn can separate so you have to be careful they don't get separated as you are knitting - especially those knit two together stitches. I'll post pictures once I get my kids to help me figure that out.

I also started a knitalong - my first one. It's a mystery KAL. All we know is that it is going to be a dishcloth. I got the pattern for the first 9 rows today. At lunch I bought the yarn (a bright yellow), cast on (50) and knit one row (K1, P1).

It's funny, isn't it, how knitting - or any hobby - can be therapeutic as well as fun. Today my youngest started first grade. Even though I've gone through this twice before with the girls, it still gets to me. I was doing fine until he was lined up, ready to go into his classroom. The teacher had them put their lunches away, and I realized he could do this all by himself. He didn't need his Mommy's help. He was going to be gone all day long. No more Mother and son time before the girls got home from school. I certainly won't get goodbye kisses anymore from him at school, and I'll be lucky to get him to hold my hand these days. My baby is growing up. I so wanted to go home and curl up on the couch with my knitting (and Kleenex). But today is a work day, so off to work I went. I did go to the yarn store and scrapbook store today, so I got in some shopping therapy.

I'm getting ready for my scrapbook retreat coming up in a couple of weeks. This year we are going to Tahoe. I can't wait. We look forward to this every year. My friend has some friends who have a house in Tahoe and they are letting us use the house for our retreat. In the past we have stayed at condos, so this will be roomier than previous places. I cannot wait, even though I am not even ready. I still need to plan my layouts, order pictures and pack.

This week I plan to work on my socks and dishcloth, pack for the retreat and order/organize photos. This weekend we will be driving to Tahoe to drop our daughter off at band camp. I also want to buy the new Harry Potter book, but I still need to finish Book 6. Our Crickhollow book meeting is scheduled for this Friday, of which I haven't even started to read the book yet. This month's book is by Patricia McKillip - Moon Solstice, or something like that. I have the book on hold at the library. Until later !

Addicted, Obsessive Compulsive - oh my!

I've recently taken up a new hobby: knitting socks. Who knew socks could be so much fun? Who knew socks could take up so much of my time?! Well, with the way I am obsessed with scrapbooking, to those who know me it should come as no surprise that this new hobby has taken over. I find myself waking up and thinking about knitting. I bring my socks to knit at work. I knit whenever I have waiting time - like at my son's dentist yesterday. I was actually happy that it took over an hour for his appointment, because that meant more knitting time for me. I bring my yarn everywhere. Heck, I even tried knitting while waiting for the light to turn green - in the driver's seat. I know - bad, bad.

This week my two oldest are at camp, and that leaves just one home. I finished a sock and actually cast on another last night. I have started listening to podcasts, and there is a really good one I like to listen to, socksinthecitypodcast.blogspot.com, and she is having a knitalong. I have emailed her to join because it sounds like fun. I have never participated in a knitalong, but the pattern for this one is more than just knitting up. There is an actual pattern to it that will challenge me. I am hoping I can keep up, and not get frustrated. Right now I am thinking that because I'm new to sock knitting I'm not ready for this pattern, but I'm gonna go for it.

Today at lunch my fortune cookie read "Don't underestimate yourself." Just what I needed today! I think I'll go work on those socks...