To Tomten or Not-You Be the Judge

I have a cold. Meet Patient X. She is the source of the viral contagen that has chosen me as an acceptable host.

While this isn't the worst cold ever, I am finding myself feeling tired. I'm not really getting a lot of knitting done as a result. This skirt that I have undertaken is really kicking my caboose. It's pretty much straight stocking stitch for a long time with a little fancy hemwork at the end. I am finally nearing the home stretch in this project that I was hoping would only take about 2 weeks to finish.

All this plain knitting made me think I would like to start something new. Of course I have a lot of things to knit before Christmas. In fact, I have a little sweater that needs knitting before I go to Vancouver in October. (Hey, D! How are my socks coming along?) So I really don't need to add to my workload but don't you think a Tomten jacket would look really cute on this?

It's really fat yarn from my stash(?!?) on big-ish needles. So what do you think? Could I knock out a Tomten jacket in a week to 10 days? I can surely spare that much time. I'll only do it as a reward for finishing this skirt and only if you think I can do it. Anyone out there? Have you knit one? Was it real quick?

Back to School Blues

I love the fall. Love it. It's my favorite season by far. I got married in the fall, I had a baby in the fall. And, fall means back to school. This has, at most points in my life, been a highlight of my year. New books, new stationary (I love new stationary), and all the things that go along with the beginning of the school year (clothes!!).

As I get older, however, back to school means much different things to me. Getting the kids ready for back to school (can you say "Mom's taxi??), getting ready for my classes (teaching this time round...yikes...when will they find out I really don't know what I'm talking about) and dealing with back to school traffic. An hour in Mom's taxi this am was enough to drive me to drink (it was 8am, a little early for drinking, even in mybooks).

So just as J. did the other day - I'm trying to find my silver lining.

This helps....

(Classic Elite Bam Boo in Flamingo)

As does this....

(Colinette Jitterbug in Copperbeech)

Oh, can't forget about these....

(new stitch markers from here)

And of course, this....

(Mama E's C*eye*ber Fiber in Sea)

And, as always, the back to school pic for mom....

(all yarns acquired on Yarn Crawl '07 with my friend Elsie - we had fun!!)

I've Been Better

Hmph. I'm having a rough day. Yesterday, I discovered that I lost my library card among other things and I just feel off. You know what I mean? Things could just be better.

I've been knitting. This is the beginning of a spiral boot sock. I had much more done on it before I made some unfixable error and frogged it. It's ok.

Here is my skirt. I think I'll like it when I'm done but the endless stocking stitch is starting to wear on me.

On a brighter note, I found this Kitchenaid Coffee Maker on sale today. That's good right?

And I've got all these tomatos to make salsa with. That's kinda fun, isn't it?

Unfortunately, when I got home, this happened.

Just when I thought I was getting ahead.

And yet, in the pits of despair, the sun always manages to shine through.

The Power of Reply All

My family and I went to Calgary for an extended long weekend. We haven't taken any summer holidays so we decided to make a mini-holiday.


The main reason we went is one of the 'girls' was going to be in Calgary. 'The Girls' are my posse of friends from pharmacy school. They are, to me, some of the dearest people in the world. So going to Calgary was a good reason to see them all (all 5 of them!) and their families.





The Girls do a special trip every year - we refer to it as Spa Weekend. For the last 5 years we have done this as an annual event - no husbands, no kids. Just us, some wine, some food and some spa-ing. It is our time to reconnect and refocus our friendship.



The key is that we don't really have to spend too much time catching up as we stay in close contact through regular email updates. My friend Stace referred to it once as the Power of Reply All, and I think that is so true. With a few minutes of time, and a quick punch of the Reply All - we can all stay connected. We know if someone has had a difficult day at work (this happens often), we know if someone has had a difficult day with the kids (this happens REALLY often) and we know where to go for non-judgmental advice. We have grown significantly over the spa weekends. Opened up about difficulties in our past and present. We've gone through, as a group, divorce, miscarriages, colicky babies, and many (many, many) family issues. We know everyone will provide their insight and then stand back and offer words of encouragement prn (that's pharmacy girl talk for - as needed).



This trip was important because we not only got to spend time with each other, but with everyone's families. We hear so much about them, but rarely see them. The kids got along as only kids can, and the adults sat back, watched, laughed and enjoyed every minute.



The weekend was busy, exhausting, refreshing and everything in between. Those ladies are amazing women and it was worth every minute.



And now, I'm trying to convert them all to my ways.

One down... 4 to go....

J.'s Top Five Free Sock Patterns

Or Doing a Quick Post

5. Baudelaire- My first toe-ups.
4. Jaywalkers- I just love the Grumperina. She's great! And everyone who knits should make these socks.
3. Earl Grey- Ok, I haven't knit these yet but I totally intend to and it's really hard to find nice patterns for men's socks.
2. Fawkes- Loved these socks! Quick to knit and cute and timely!
1. Monkey- Ok, if you haven't knit these socks, where have you been? I've made only one pair but believe me, there will be more. Someone out there even did baby monkeys! How can you not love a baby monkey?

Ok. There are other sock pattern out there that are free and amazing. What are your favorites?

(And did you check out my sock count? Go tell T. to get her DPNs in gear.)