Today I joined the scarfalong from Sandysknitting!
What a fun thing to do! I've watched knitalongs, but never joined one. I do make a lot of scarfs, and I like to participate, so. . .
Which one to work on first? I have the one I'm supposed to make for my oldest daughter, but I haven't bought the yarn for that yet. I have one that I want to make with many fancy yarns. And I would love to make a multidirectional scarf with Noro yarn, but again I don't have any of that either! That is one yarn that I want to see in person and not mail order, but I can't find a store near me that carries it. So, I guess that means I'll start on the fancy scarf and then buy the yarn for my daughter's scarf next week during a lunch break. What fun! Thanks Sandy!

It's mid-week, and it feels like mid-week! Not a whole lot to report. . .but sometimes that's not a bad thing. I've been working on my sweater (working on the plain back is quite boring!), and some socks. I haven't picked up my shape-it scarf in a while though. Maybe this weekend, then again, maybe not! I also promised my oldest daughter one of those two colored scarfs, so I'll probably be working on that. On the up side, it means I have to go buy some yarn, which means a trip to the yarn store. Yeah!!

What a weekend! It was all good though. I spent Saturday with my friend (hi Bev!) in downtown LA. Not only did we go to Olvera Street and Chinatown, but we walked to the Walt Disney Concert Hall (beautiful - now to see a concert inside of it!) and the new Catholic Church Our Lady of the Angels. And to top it off, we took the Metrolink there. So not only did we not have to bother with traffic, but we were able to knit the whole time going and coming! What a great day! By the time I got home, my family was still out and about, so I picked up "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. I had heard some good things about it, but it sat by my bed for a little while. So, I thought the quiet evening was a good time to pick it up and see. I ended up reading until 3am the next morning!! Then Sunday, after getting the family off to work (my girls ref on weekends for the most part), and doing all my chores (including grocery shopping), I sat down and finished the book! It was so different from what I expected, but I really enjoyed it. I've given it to my girls so we'll see if they read it next. If not, I'll pass it on to someone!

Once I finished the book (and my chores!), I turned on the Golden Globes and sat there with my girls and my knitting watching the people.

Now it's back to work. . .!

Okay, it's really late Thursday night, but the Friday Five was up so I'm posting!

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?

Life's Been Good (Joe Walsh for those that don't know!)

2. ...food?

Sushi

3. ...tv show?

The Daily Show

4. ...scent?

Roses

5. ...quote?
"It's never too late to be who you might have been" George Eliot

January seems to be going by rather fast! I guess with schedules getting back to normal, the times to rest and relax are farther and farther apart - making it seem to go by faster!

Two weeks of school have gone by, and so far it's not too bad. I was really dreading taking speech, but so far the professor has been pretty instructive and helpful in trying to make people feel comfortable. She's a stickler on her certain rules, but I can surely work within that!

As for reading, I'm in the middle of a few books right now! I've decided to try and read at least one classic each month. This month I'm trying to read "A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man." I'm also in the middle of "Bob Hope: My Life in Jokes," (but that I'm reading during breaks at school - so it may take a while!), "Lamb : The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal," (I'm about 1/4 through that), and I just downloaded "The Blind Assassin" to my PDA and I'm carrying that one around in my purse now to read. I'm hoping it's not too hard to read on the PDA because it's a lot easier to carry around! Plus, there are supposed to be some benefits like being able to highlight sections and look up words easily. We'll see. . .

On the knitting front, I'm still plugging away on my projects. I'm almost 1/2 way done with the back of my new sweater, but it's so boring knitting the stocking stitch! I probably should have started on the front or the sleeve - but then it might have taken me longer to finish because I would dread doing the back. This way I'm pushing to get through the back so I can work on the front and the cute pattern! I'm also still working on that white scarf (the one that matches the socks)! I have about 2 more inches to go. . .so you would think I'd pick up that first and finish it. Maybe this weekend! Then I was trying to learn to do two color socks. By the time I finished my gauge, it was going to take 90 stitches around and I was having trouble changing colors smoothly. I gave up! I'll try doing two colors on a sweater or scarf, but not socks! I have some neat color yarn that I'm going to use to try a lace pattern though. Plus, I've ordered some self-striping yarn that should be here any day!! There is no football this weekend, so I probably won't get as much done; but there is an award ceremony on Sunday night - so I'll be knitting away during that! Maybe I'll make it my goal to finish up as many projects as I can during the show. But you know what I do when I finish a project. . . I cast on at least two more to take it's place!!

So, what to do with bits of yarn left over from making socks and scarfs with Woolease?! A few years ago, when I was making A LOT of socks, I made a really neat afghan for my parent's cabin. I made small squares out of the yarn, then I held two together and crocheted a black edge around them. Then, I sewed together all of the double squares and edged it in black. It took a while, but it is one of the warmest afghans I've made. So, I am doing that again. But, I also decided to make a pair of Joan's Woolease socks that you hold two strands of Woolease throughout. I would change one color and do some rows, change the other color and do some rows, until I ended up with this:



Besides these socks, I did work on some of my other projects while watching football, but none of my currents projects are holding my interest. What to do. . .what to do. . .cast on a new project! And that's what I did this morning - cast on some wristlets!

Okay, here are my answers to the Friday Five:

1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?

Nothing fancy except my web page!

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?

Okay, that was a LONG TIME AGO! I know it was Pink Floyd. . .

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?

Okay, the outside plate reads: CHS Varsity Soccer Kicks Balls. The inside, if I had one, would say PEANUT.

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?

Nope.

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?


I've never thought about that! I plan on being cremated so I won't worry about that!

Classes started back again last night. Or really, I should just say class for me. This is the first time in three years that I am only taking one class!! My family is hoping that means I'll be less stressed and doing less homework. . .

So now I'm back into my regular schedule (as much as one can be) full swing! I won't be reading/knitting as much as I did over the holidays, but I'm assuming it will be more than last semester when I had two classes and a lab! Okay, I know, one should never assume because it makes an ass out of you and me. But. . .I'm going to do it anyhow!! (Mom - I know you are reading this, but it just seems really silly not to spell it out!! :-)

So, to wind up here - I have started two new books, but can't seem to get into either one. I may start yet a third one this weekend! As for knitting, I made some progress on my sweater, then looked down and realized there was a mistake 9 rows down :-( I'm using a cotton/silk yarn that is made of many fibers. If one is not careful with it, the knitting needle can be put in the middle of the yarn and split it apart. Well, now I've learned not to drink wine and knit with this yarn - because I split the yarn and never noticed! Oh well. I frogged, knit back to where I was, then put it aside. I did a little on the white scarf as well, but my heart is not in that one. It's a tedious pattern, but when done looks really pretty. I've been working on that scarf for a few months now. So, of course the next best thing to do - cast on a new project. This time it's socks with left over yarn from all of the scarfs I knit!! I'm having fun changing colors, but I'm not sure the sock is looking all that good! I know I keep saying I'll post pictures, but when I finish these socks (and I've almost finished the first one), I will post the picture of them!

Well, I forgot to take pictures over the weekend! I can give all kinds of excuses, but the honest one is that I just plain forgot! That said, I did have a busy weekend that I wasn't expecting. I thought I would be able to relax, watch football and knit. Well, I forgot about the soccer tournament and hosting the final games on Saturday morning. So, off my husband and I went to do that. Then, it was home for the afternoon and some football and knitting. I finished my purple striped scarf and the matching hat. Although, I had the same problem with this new hat pattern that I have with every hat pattern that has one count rows instead of inches (and one would think I know better by now. . .), which is that it is just not big enough! So, I put it aside for now, but later this week I do plan on frogging the top part, adding another inch, and then doing my reducing part again. Oh well. Not that I could have used it this weekend anyhow, because the weather was beautiful!

Sunday I ended up getting up at 5:30am to drive my youngest to her refereeing assignment. I grabbed my knitting bag and a new book before running out the door. I started with the knitting, but the project I brought just didn't hold my interest. So, I started the book (and, for those of you on my book group that know I've been in the middle of another book, nope, I didn't bring that one!) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. I was so into the book, that when I got home all I did (besides football), was finish the book! Of the Atwood books I've read so far, I really like her style. I'm not sure what made me wait so long to pick this one up (I've had it a few months on my TBR pile), but I'm glad I finally did. Maybe I waited so long to read it because, like my knitting, I have so many books (projects) waiting to be read (worked on), that I could not buy anything more and stay quite busy for at least the next year!

So, it's back to work today. . .back to school tomorrow. . .

Well, it's back to work after the two week break. I know that sounds odd for a working woman, but I work at a college! Anyhow, I think it's going to take me just a couple of days to get back into a good schedule again. I stayed up late reading last night (The Gospel According to Biff), and forgot that I had to get up early for work. Needless to say, I'm a little tired this morning! Oh well. I did get a little bit of knitting done before I started reading, but nothing really to write about! Maybe tonight. . .

With the soccer tournament (games in the rain, cold wind, fields closing) I didn't have much time for anything on either Friday or Saturday. So here goes with my Friday Five:

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
Football and knitting! (I guess that would have been different if I had actually answered this on Friday!)
2. ...over the next week?
Getting the house back to pre-holiday status
3. ...this year?
Graduating!
4. ...over the next five years?
Traveling a little more.
5. ...for the rest of your life?
Just enjoying my family :-)
Now that that is done. . . I'm going to go take down some decorations and then pull out my knitting and watch some football! Hopefully I'll have some finished projects and pictures to post tomorrow morning!