True Love

True Love means going to work with yellow hands ... after coloring one's spouse for Halloween.
True Love means creating a Squid out of whole cloth.True Love means using the last of one's eyeliner to create a Pirate's beard three times in one week.

True love is what I feel for these three!

Happy Halloween!!!

P.S. This is what I did while tagging along on the Trick-or-Treating. When I left the apartment it was just yarn and needles. Now it is the start of a blanket for my brand-new niece -- born last night.
And this is how I celebrated Halloween -- with orange fingernails and an orange shirt. Amazingly I did not chip a single nail while searching backpacks.

Bits of a Weekend

So, if you finally save a post that has been languishing in draft status, it posts underneath any posts that have come since. That, or blogger is just playing games with me. Anyhow, if you are interested in a well thought out, partial piece on song lyrics, go down two posts. I say partial piece because I think I have a lot more to say but I started it before work one day and have not been able to pick up my train of thought since.

This weekend, as I predicted, was all about Halloween. I therefore have no knitting to show and hence another week without a Sunday Sock post.

Saturday was spent sewing miles and miles of red fabric for Papa Squid's costume. I have finally mastered the art of "superhero" brief construction. Getting smart for a change, I found the Batman briefs and copied them. The Batman brief were a bit cobbled together but had a decent final shape -- this year's red briefs went together very quickly and look very good if I must say so myself. Those and a properly hemmed cap -- no ragged rolling edges on costumes this year -- make for what I think is a decent looking costume. The rest of the costume is of purchased pieces (unlike Batman) and an iron-on logo. Fortunately, the character in question wears dark glasses. I say fortunately because of this: While riding in Central Park this morning Mike encountered a Road Runners race. He kept to his lane but at least one runner did not keep to the race lanes and veered in to the bike / recreational running lane running in to Mike on his bike. Fortunately, Mike was going slowly at the time and was able to stop himself without falling. His glasses got jammed in to his face, hence the black eye. The runner then proceeded to pummel Mike and yelled at him. Mike did not lose his cool and other runners stopped and pulled the irate runner off of him. After pedaling on to the race headquarters, the incident was reported and the race medics checked him out. Blah.

Stupid Stuff

You wake up, you blow your nose ... and trigger an allergy attack because the #$%$^&^ tissues are scented!

You walk out the door, get into the car ... and realize that there is a HUGE run in your stocking.

You go to the drugstore, purchase antihistimine and stockings, drive to work ... and leave the stockings in the car.

The rest of the day went along a similar vein ... nothing horrible, just lots of annoying little stuff.

Song Lyrics

Occasionally the news brings forth commentary about the lyrics in songs and about how they influence our youth to do things they should not do. These days the most frequent criticism is aimed at Gangsta Rap. The people who listen to them, however, will often claim that they just like the way the words sound, that they do not really listen to the lyrics -- listen with understanding.

I have come to the realization that these young people are most likely telling the truth. From personal experience I know that I have sung along to countless songs just because they sounded good. The ones with good, meaningful lyrics seem to take longer to learn then the ones that I like because the words make a good rhythm or those where the music just takes you away.

Paradise By the Dashboard Light is one of those songs. The music is infectious, the alternation between the male and female singers is intriguing and the song is just fun. I was introduced to this song and Meat Loaf in general by, of all people, my father. To give him his due, however, I suspect that my older sister was responsible for slipping this album in to my dad's collection of car tunes.

I like Paradise and play Meat Loaf's songs in the car -- both with and without kids present. Recently, however, I really started thinking about the lyrics and was about to cut the song off when I thought harder and realized that despite where the young lovers are heading, they do wind up in a monogamous relationship and that the song actually speaks to the consequences of ones actions. So, despite the fact that I am exposing my kids to a song about teenage hormones (yes, I substituted a word there), I am also exposing my kids to a song about sticking to your vows -- no matter the result. Yeah, right, I just like the song.

It is my kids that make me think about song lyrics. I like to listen to Broadway show tunes and have exposed the kids to Two By Two, Fiddler on the Roof, Pippin, and West Side Story among others. It was seeing my son act out "Gee, Officer Krupke" from West Side Story that made me start thinking about what I play in the car. Here was this 5 year old belting out a song about how his "parents treat him rough," and other things a 5 year old should not know about. When I introduced A Chorus Line in to the car repitoire I listened to it by myself first and found myself skipping several songs when I played it for the kids.

I know that I can't protect my kids forever but it is choices like these that influence our kids. Simple choices, like what words to use when telling off the driver who just cut you off -- I favor "frizzle-frazzle" outloud while muttering "a@@hole" in my head -- can impact how our kids act as they grow up. Unfortunately, too much care can result in kids who are (amusingly) naive. Hence poor Captain Bluebird wound up terrified at the school Halloween party because we did not expose him to zombies and bloody bodies. (Why fourth and fifth graders are being exposed to this stuff is beyond me.) So here I am, shielding my kids from bawdy song lyrics when their friends are seeing and hearing far worse. What's a mom to do?

*** Pictures of Captain Bluebird (yes, bird) as well as the other costumed crazies will go up after Halloween. ***

*** Very little knitting got done this week due to Halloween induced sewing and party schleping.***

A few answers and a poem

To answer the unspoken (and spoken) question "What is Mama Squid going to be for Halloween?" I must simply answer "the Wicked Witch of Manhattan Center." This is where I will dress like an Assistant Principal (albeit one with orange nail polish) and start the morning off by searching backpacks. I will then spend the rest of the day patrolling and waving my orange fingernails around. In the evening I will escort Little Squid and Squidette in a spot of Trick-or-Treating through our double core building. I may wear my Witch hat while doing this and I will knit.

I do not dress for Halloween because of my job. Papa Squid's school is in a position where they can allow the kids to dress up so he joins in the fun. He even teaches in character for the day. That is why choosing a costume for him is a very particular endeavor. After 9/11 he went in as Batman. There was the year of Hans and Frans (with a fellow teacher) and the year of the Hulk. Hans and Frans even went in to the gym to find some "girly men." He has fun with it. The year of Bob Ross he even painted pictures while teaching his classes. We have yet to figure out how to safely do Emeril.

I have very little of fiber content -- some work was done on the second Squidette mitten, the sock-ret pal sock has half a heel flap and the charity blocks are being slowly churned out. The spinning has started on Papa Squid's first pair of handspun socks. I tried to restart the knitting club on Tuesday but a school party took precedence and the next two Tuesday's have no after-school component. Blah!

Tomorrow I have the pleasure of working until 8 PM for parent-teacher conferences, and so does Papa Squid. The squidlings will have the pleasure of being spoiled by their grandparents for the evening.

Lastly, I leave you with the most recent poem posted here. It was written by Squidette. (Ignore the time stamp on her blog -- it is wrong, the poem was posted on Monday.) Please comment on her blog -- yeah, I am schilling for my kid and being a proud mama here.

The Day After ...

The day after Rhinebeck should be all about the fiber. In Casa Squid, however, it is all about Halloween.

The morning proceeded like any other Sunday with the Squidlings off to religious school with Papa in tow (or doing the towing depending on your perspective) and Mama Squid doing mundane Sunday tasks such as laundry. Some fiber was spun while the clothes dried (Blue Moon BFL roving from last year's Rhinebeck) and some previously plied fibers were skeined. Singles were also divided in preparation for plying ... so I guess some fiber was touched ... just a bit.

Once the Squidlings were home though ... the sewing machine made its yearly appearance, fabric was cut, fabric was sewn, costumes were tried on and pronounced to be good -- at least by those intending to wear them. Squidette looks a little like a blue clansperson with tentacles. I think the tentacles will discourage the thoughts of clan -- that and the blue. Little Squid will look like a Pirate when we are done. The only sewing required for him was a quick vest which is way too big but he likes it. Their costumes look homemade and they are happy. The costumes are definitely unique.

Papa Squid ... well we have a tradition of secrecy because he wears it to work so you will have to wait until after Halloween. Other then finding the cape fabric I did not work on his costume -- we are waiting for the main pieces to arrive in the mail. Basically I will spend all of next weekend tweaking it to his specifications. This happens every year and I am used to it at this point. At least there will not be any head shaving the night of parent-teacher conferences as there has been so many times in the past.

And now to embark on a week which includes Parent-Teacher conferences for the adults and an evening with the grandparents for the kids...

Rhinebeck!

Interesting how we refer to certain festivals by their locations instead of by their proper names. The two that come immediately to mind are the New York Sheep and Wool Festival (Rhinebeck!) and the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Festival (Cummington). Rhinebeck is actually a very interesting town in upstate New York that apparently has many historic sites. I say apparently because the most I have ever seen of the town of Rhinebeck is Pete's Famous (a diner), the county fairgrounds and a gas station or two. I have, however, spent ample time at the fairgrounds attending both the Sheep and Wool Festival and the Dutchess County Fair. There is a problem with the county fair -- when you go you expect to see sheep and wool at every turn and there are only the sheep -- no wool off the hoof.

Today was all about wool off the hoof.
(But first a picture of Wool-on-the Squid (hoof) -- the smaller feet belong to Squidette and are decked out in Socks That Rock -- purchased before it became the big thing. No STR was purchased by a Squid today. I will not stand on a line that stretches from the front of the barn to the back of the barn. The Fold was empty by 2:00 -- and not a single skein of STR remained.)





We start with the long and winding road known as the Taconic Parkway. We will not discuss the brief period of time when we got stupid and went with the GPS's directions instead of gut instinct to get to the Taconic. That momentary lapse in judgment shall be forever forgotten.

One of the things I love about this festival is the drive up. The leaves are at their peak of color and it just feels like autumn.

A mere two hours after leaving home we rolled on to the quiet streets of Rhinebeck and indulged in a decadent breakfast at Pete's Famous. Three out of four Squid had banana pancakes and two out of two Squidlings were indulged with hot chocolate with whipped cream.

Another momentary lapse had us parking at the more northern parking lot. Not really a big deal except that my Aunt, paying attention to my insistence that we always park in the southern lot, parked in the southern lot. We, of course, had to move stuff between the cars. In a day full of walking it was not a big deal but a bit silly none the less.

Entering the fairgrounds we immediately met with a sheep milk cheese vendor and three out of four Squid were in cheesy heaven. (Mama Squid tolerates their peculiarity much as they tolerate her obsession with things fibery.) Almost as immediately the Squid met up with good friends and started a long conversation. Let it be said that Mama Squid did not tolerate this at all ... there were no crowds yet ... the shopping had to begin! Since the other adult female was already off hitting the stalls, Mama Squid left the men and charged ahead trailing Squidlings behind.

The first purchase of the day was made very quickly -- a brushstrokes batt from Indigo Moon Farm -- 50% alpaca, 30 % merino, 20 % silk. Soon after two bunches of roving from The Wooly Hutch (destined for socks for Papa Squid) and another bump of Coopworth from Stefania for the never ending Mitered Jacket project
That was it for the fiber purchases. Yup -- nothing more. Really! We did get pickles, wine, cheese and fudge (of course!). We also noted where the Route 9 bike route was and may ride part of it next summer.










Much of the rest of the day was spent playing Blogger Bingo! The entire family got in to the act with Squidette being the main Square spotter. It was really cool to meet people that I only know through their blogs. It was also very satisfying to realize that people actually read what I have to write. More then a few people commented on the biking and one lurker introduced herself as a fellow geocacher who had managed to find one of our signature Z socks! (Jessica Z. of Experiments in Greed, come forward with your blog link!)

The game reached a frenzy with the Blogger meet-up. Papa Squid was kind enough to document the proceedings for posterity.























Bloggers met included (but are not limited to -- I did not write down everyone's name): Marilyn, Kirsten, Carol, Christine, Dana, Jessica, Chris, Stitchy herself, Elizabeth, Cathy, Jessica, Monica, Michelle, Julia, Iris, Hannah and many, many more. It was rather surreal for this shy squid to introduce herself to so many people. It was pointed out by my loving husband that had I been alone I would not have gotten a single square since I just did not want to bother anyone. He is probably correct. Fortunately I had him and the Squidlings along to force me to overcome my innate shyness.

I did not get a Bingo but it was still a whole lot of fun.

And for a slight contrast -- a view of zero bloggers.

We have an idea for next year -- a variation on geocaching involving bloggers, small trinkets and logs (the written kind, not the wooden kind). It would solve the "oh, your not on my card" comments which were then followed by moving on to the next "square."







Little Squid participated in the Mad Science show. Both squidlings next to a Gaint Pumpkin (the misspelling is the Pumpkin's, not mine, read the sign).






















And one last view of the lovely fall foliage.

Dreaming ...

Of Rhinebeck. Last night my dreams were of waking up and getting dressed for Rhinebeck. Each and every time this dream occured I had to convince myself that no, I had to get up and dressed for work instead. Squidette had a similar night. Strange, no?

Oh well. Tomorrow is actually Rhinebeck and I am desperately behind in figuring out how to identify my Bingo Bloggers. Last night (and still this morning) my computer keeps disconnecting from the network so it is rather frustrating. Surfing at work is not an option so I suspect that knitting may be suspended tonight in favor of blog stalking. I have memorized a few unique knit items that will be worn by my squares and am sorry to say that Woven is not nearly as obvious as what some of you will be wearing. My appologies to my stalkers. I will be wearing a "I'm a Square" sticker and may be wearing a "Squid on Wheels" sticker. If Woven is removed due to warm weather, I will be wearing my Squid on Wheels tee-shirt so I should be easy to spot later in the day.

Unlike others out there, I am not setting limits on my purchasing except to say that no equipment that is too big for my tote bag will come home with me. I am looking for a small set of Hazel Rose looms and will probably get another Bosworth spindle. Fiber from Stefania is also a probable -- I need more for the mitered sweater -- and I really wanted another few batts from Grafton Fibers but after the Yarn Harlot's praise of Linda's batts I suspect that her booth will be mobbed. That combined with the fact that since The Fold is usually right across the aisle from Grafton Fibers, that building should be packed! I do not do well in crowds so I am counting on my aunt and daughter to keep me moving.

Yes, my aunt is coming down this year and we should have a good time combing through the aisles. She is a horrible enabler as is Papa Squid so I suspect I will wind up with far more then I need or can use in a life time. My real shoping goals ... sock yarn from small vendors that I cannot find in a LYS. I do not like buying off of the web sight-unseen and I do like "souviner" yarn, stuff that you cannot get anywhere else. Last year I did not by any pre-made yarn -- just roving and washed fleece -- this year I think I will buy some yarn. My sock yarn stash is pitably small compared to others. Honestly, I only have enough for 5 pair of socks!

To keep Papa Squid interested I have charged him with the task of finding the fibers for a sweater for himself. They can be in fleece, roving or yarn form. Papa is coming along because Little Squid wants to come this year. So ... Look for the entire Squid family plus Aunt and Uncle!

An Open Letter to My Husband

Dear Mike,

Years ago you tried to convince me that you would not turn 21 because the probability of becoming "over-20" was far less then the probability of staying under-20. At this point the odds are almost even and in another year they start going against you. Despite this small bit of absurdity I loved you then and after many more years, and much more, larger bits of absurdity, I love you even more.

Your sense of humor is often at the level of a third grader but then it is just as often at a graduate level. You love the silly, sublime and the absurd. (That would be Squidette, Me and Little Squid.)

You are incredibly intelligent and loving and sweet. The years have made you even more interesting and complex and every year I discover more and more reasons to love you. Without you my life would not be complete.

I love you so very much.

May this birthday be one of many, many more.

All my love,

Devorah

Oh My!

Gee, if this is a thank you note from KnittyOtter then I wonder what it is like to be her swap partner?!
This is what I found (after I opened the package) when I came home today. I am totally overwhelmed. The pumpkin bags are loaded with Halloween goodies for the kids including pencils, assorted candies -- many in the shape of eyeballs -- and a variety of Halloween toys. Little Squid is totally entranced and is figuring out where to hang his bat. The white bag holds a scrumptious smelling tea, the ziplock bag a skein of Treking is a scrumptious purply colorway and the box with the bow, unique to Nevada chocolates. I plan to break in to those in just a few minutes.

Today was a long, hard day and coming home to this wonderful, totally unexpected gift, had moved me to tears. Thank you so much KnittyOtter!!!

The Weekend Before Rhinebeck

First we have the promised Northern Lights Mitten with it's miles of corrugated ribbing. Once I figured out the problem with the pattern -- mainly that it tells you to purchase a color that is never used -- I was just fine. In a few minutes I plan on sitting down to some serious knitting. No, I really do no think that I can have these done by Rhinebeck but what's to stop me from trying?
Then we have the DNA socks out for a ride. These are one of my early pairs of socks -- I forget where I found the cable pattern but googling "DNA cable pattern" will probably do it for you. These are one of my thinnest pair of handknit socks which make them good for cycling. I do wear other hand knit socks in my cycling shoes but they really are a bit too thick and buying wider cycling shoes in not an option right now. When these wear out I will be more discriminating in my cycle shoe choice. The grass, by the way, is on cedar Hill in Central Park, NYC.
And almost last ... the Square logo for Rhinebeck. We purchased sticker paper today so that I can print this out and stick it on my sweater. I hope to also print out the Squid-on-Wheels logo so that you can spot any one of the four Squid in attendance. Technically you should have to find me but I'm willing to concede if you spot Papa Squid or a Squidling.

Last is the cycling update. Squidette had a "reunion" with her fifth grade buddies today so we all rode up to Central Park. This may be the last ride of the season as next week is taken up with the three r's (Rhinebeck, Religious School and Relatives (we hope to see my folks on Sunday and my aunt is coming to Rhinebeck) so riding is out. The following weekend is up for grabs as we may only have 3 bikes for the four of us if Papa sends his out for servicing and sells the Sequoia (yes, we now have 5 bikes for 4 people). My Birthday Bike is not due to be delivered until December 5. (Yes, that is after my birthday but close enough.) So, for those of you who have been anxiously monitoring the sidebar, today's total may be the contest ending total. But ... then again ... maybe not. I promise to announce the winner after Halloween.

That said, this year we rode almost 500 miles in 3 NYC boros, 3 States, crossed 3 major NYC bridges and ate lots of chocolate. We are discussing our goals for next year and hope to add at least one more boro (the Bronx), another major bridge or two (Queensboro, Williamsburg and or George Washington), another state at least (New Jersey) and possibly another country (Canada). Our team aims to do at least the 55 mile portion of the 2007 New York Century and maybe the entire Lancaster Metric Century. We also plan to eat ... lots of chocolate.

Next on tap ... Halloween. We go all out for costumes here at the House of Squid.

Am I nuts?

So I know that I swore not to start a new project until I finished the Tulip and Gingham socks for Squidette. Well ... actually I never did do this publicly ... it was in a blog post that never made it off of my Treo. So I guess I am not breaking it by starting the Northern Lights Mittens (Knit Picks).

That said, I am sitting here knitting miles of corrugated ribbing. Blah! I love the effect but it is slow going. Why am I doing this? Well, in my frenzy of yarn buying last spring I picked up this pattern, along with the Tulip and Gingham socks pattern when I purchased the entire Palette Sampler and, oh, the 4 skeins of Dye Your Own for the infamous Dye-O-Rama swap.

I started the Tulip socks for Squidette and then they sat for a while while I knit lots of other things. After finishing Woven, I picked them up again and have actually finished the first one. Then I had Squidette try it on. Good thing she is a growing kid. They should fit her in a year or so.

That determined, I was no longer in a rush to finish them for Rhinebeck -- she can wear other hand knit socks -- but it was brought to my attention that she found it hard to knit before school these days because her hands were cold. We decided that a pair of fingerless mitts would be a good thing and that a pair of "squid" mittens would also be a nice commuter accessory. (Squid mitts are what we call the mittens with the flip top so that fingers can be used when necessary. The pattern that I have for them calls them "pop-up paws.") Since I am still in a color-work-at-home place I have decided to adapt Northern Lights to make them Squid Mitts.

And so, I am knitting corrugated ribbing. I should probably also start the mitts as a "mindless" project but I still have the blankie squares for the charity project and my sock-ret pal socks ... so many projects, so little time. Back to corrugating. Pictures tomorrow.

Management Mode

It is amazing how fast one can kick in to Management Mode. At 2:55 I received a call from Mike telling me to get to a computer and get the news -- FAST. I was in a friends office so I made her get to a news service and then realized that if everyone was hitting the various news agencies at once we might have problems. I then saw her radio and tuned to the news -- QUICK. My phone rang again with my Boss asking if I knew and suggesting that I get on the P.A. right quick before we dismissed.

I did so and then managed to reach Squidette on the forbidden cell phone telling her to get quickly to the West side of town with her friends and to call if she ran in to transportation problems. Then and only then did I manage to get to a computer to figure out if there were transportation problems. (There really weren't.)

I find it a bit sad that by 4:00 we were all relieved to hear that it was an accident. A sad accident but, only an accident. Six years ago I would have gotten on the P.A. with solid information regarding subway shut downs and traffic problems and no one would have thought twice about it. Transportation problems in NYC are not unusual. It used to be a common occurance to have an administrator get on the P.A. in the morning to announce the day's subway delays. No one thought twice about why the A, B or C trains were running slow -- they just were.

Today, however, we had to think about how to phrase what we were saying so as to avoid panic and hysteria. Actually, despite that fact that this was all happening at dismissal time, there were still over a hundred kids in the building at 4:15 particpating in various after school activities. Just saying ... When I suggested that their parents might want to know that they were o.k., they responded "we already did." Good kids!

My thoughts are with the families of Cory Lidle and the other person in the plane but, I have to admit, my thoughts are mostly with all of those here in the city who relived the panic of 5 years ago. I'm glad to be home right now. I think I'll go hug a Squid or three.

Presenting .... Woven!

My apologies for the out of order photos -- blogger is not letting me move them right now.

It really looks a lot better in person. It is light, warm and snuggly. All the things I wanted in a weekend cardigan. Those of you who are playing Blogger Bingo -- look for it at Rhinebeck on Saturday.

We went on a "short" ride yesterday. Short these days is defined as under 15 miles. Monday's ride was only 11 miles but it included a geocache and chocolate. Wait, don't all of our rides involve chocolate? ;-) This was a "new to us" chocolate place -- the venerable Mondel's on 114th Street and Broadway. Yum!

This ride also involved some serious playground time at the "Classic" playground (that is really the name of this park -- the Classic Playground). This is one of the few places in this litigious city where one can find see-saws (teeter-totters to some of you). It is also one of the few remaining playgrounds with the old fashioned slide. No super enclosed, ultra safe apparatus for this playground. It even has old fashioned, knock-your-teeth-out-when-you-swing monkey bars! (No picture of the monkey bars because other people's kids were on them.)

Finally, this may be the last you see of "my" bike. Papa Squid is taking it downtown so that someone can test ride it tomorrow. Hopefully it will sell and hence partially fund my new, on order, bike. The new bike is scheduled to arrive just after my birthday. This bike has been good to me but it never quite fit -- the Bike Friday is simply a more comfortable ride and so the Sequoia is going and a new Bike Friday is coming.

Hope your day was just as lovely as my yesterday.

The Squid Ride Again

For the first time in several weeks, the Squid family took to the road on wheels. They first headed East to the East River (aptly named despite that fact that it is not, in deed, a river but rather a tidal estuary). There they sought out and found their 39th geocache with Squidette and Little Squid making the find at the same time. Our intrepid cephalopods then pedaled south to a very cleverly hidden cache which was discovered by our Smallest sea creature.

Continuing on their journey they attempted for a trifecta but could not find the interestingly named "Elefante Rosado" cache despite thinking that they had in deed found a rosy elephant.

Disappointed our Squid went to drown their sorrows in ice cream sandwiches and then pedaled home. 16 miles and three hours after they started, the smaller Squid were heard to remark "that was 16 miles? Didn't seem like it."Three out of four squid contemplating a cache.The sock enjoying a sunny day.The buildings we lived in when Squidette was born.Yummy endings.

10 Knitterly Things

Yes, I am joining in this meme. It gives me something to fill space until Woven is done later this weekend. (One more sleeve to attach and seam.)

1. I think my mother taught me how to knit but I have no actual recollection of the event or of knitting in her home.

2. I started knitting (again?) in high school and used books to self teach what I needed to know.

3. I picked up knitting again about 8 years ago and have not stopped since.

4. After avoiding them for so long, my aunt persuaded me to try knitting socks. I now always have sock knitting with me.

5. I do not really do gadgets. I have a ball winder and a swift and a plethora of tape measures but no cable needles (I use a spare dpn) and no stitch holders (scrap yarn) for me. Paper and pencil serve as my row counter.

6. I lose darning needles at an astonishing rate. I was once introduced to the Chibi and told I would never lose it ... it was gone two weeks later.

7. I used to knit at work but have stopped for the most part in an effort to change people's perception of me. My knitting bag does still come into the office with me every day ... just in case. While talking to a fellow Assistant Principal on the phone recently, I reminded him of who I was by saying "you know, I'm the lady who knits."

8. While I no longer knit in work meetings, I still knit in public meetings and "spread the word" that way. So yes, I will not knit at PTA when it is "my" school but I will knit at PTA at Squidette's school when I am the parent. (Got to embarrass the kid, right?)

9. I am slow to try new techniques if the old ones serve my purposes. Cuff-down socks only recently entered my repetoire after years of doing them toe-up. I use the same toe-up cast on that I learned with my first pair and have never tried another because "figure-8" suits me just fine.

10. I can knit in the dark if it is just stockinette or garter. Ribbing can be done but I'm more likely to make mistakes.

Your turn!

That Kind of Day

comes from that kind of night. To start with ...Yes, I went through the entire day like this. I realize it shortly after I arrived at work. I blame it on Squidette. Do you know that curling your toes up on one foot does not actually make the bad shoe disappear? This happened unconsciously whenever I left my office. The toes in the black shoe just curled up, trying to make my nice, size 10 foot disappear. It didn't work and now my toes are a bit sore.

Why am I blaming Squidette? Well, first of all, it is her job to make sure I am dressed properly when we leave the apartment. Obviously she fell short today. I blame her failure to assess my attire correctly on a lack of time spent in her bed last night. Or rather, to her evening stroll in to my room last night. Sound asleep. We had a very interesting conversation about why she was leaning over the dirty laundry cart. She felt she needed something for the next day. I knew better (despite being half asleep myself) and after imparting the information she needed -- mainly that the laundry had been washed earlier in the day and there was nothing she could possibly need in the cart -- steered her back to bed.

I then proceeded to sleep very lightly for the rest of the night, waking at every rustle -- and there were many since the windows were open. In other words, I am exhausted and did not pay attention when I grabbed my shoes off the shelf this morning. If I had just stuck with the outfit I laid out last night, this would not have been a problem but nooooo ... I had to change my mind and wear something else.

Now to finish my button bands. Tell me, am I tempting fate by trying to do buttonholes in my state?

Tea Swap Pal Revealed

And the winner is ... me! I was gifted with a wonderful package from Tammy G. Included were two tins of tea -- English Afternoon and Republic of Tea Blackberry Sage. I know and love the Blackberry Sage and look forward to trying the Afternoon tea. Since I am a big fan of black teas I am sure it will be hit. Adding to the wonderful teas was a great felted Tea Cup and Saucer which will grace my shelves at work, a bag of cookies -- which will be devoured in short order, 2 skeins of Regia Crazy in shades of pink, a bag of Vanilla Chai with it's very own wire whisk and a copy of the Yarn Harlot's first book!

Even more overwhelming was the card on top addressed to Squidette. See all the yarn on the left? Tammy sent it to Squidette to support her charity knitting habit. I am all teary eyed. Thank you so much Tammy!

Now, everyone go over to Tammy's blog and let her know how sweet she is!

Lesson Learned?

Note to self -- even if the caffeine headache is threatening to split you skull, it is a bad idea to drink copious amounts of tea as a way to Break the Yom Kippor fast. The resulting sleepless night is not worth it and 2 aspirin would probably work almost as well.

Yes, I keep repeating this mistake and this year went overboard since I was battling a sinus headache as well as a caffeine headache. I think I am mostly recovered this morning.

Woven is getting there. She now has shoulders that are sewn together and has a collar. Tonight ... button bands!

In other news, my wonderful Papa Squid gave me a subscription to Craft for part of my birthday present. Given that the rest of my present is a Bike Friday (ordered on Saturday), Craft might look piddly but it just proves how thoughtful he is.

Also, apparently my Tea Swap package attempted to arrive yesterday but alas no one was home. I have the little postal note in my purse and will run to the post office as soon as I get home from work. I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow.

Weekend Rap Up

Quickie post as Yom Kippor is looming ...

First we have the package of goodies which went winging it's way to one of this blog's readers as part of the Tea Swap. Yes, there is Chocolate Haven chocolate in the box. I would be a very bad Squid if I did not corrupt yet another person with this wonderful confection.
The there are the completed Corn Maze socks. Check out Sunday Socks to see them posing on a corn stalk!We then have the NYC corn maze at the Queens Farm Museum. Yes, the corn is much less dense then that of the Lancaster Corn Maze. We were joined by good friends and did the maze in 39 minutes.
Some farm creatures ...Finally, I am more than half done with the second Woven sleeve and also knit 3.25 blanket "squares" for my samples for Mitzvah Day. I also started my Sock-ret pal socks. Turns out that the yarn I bought on impulse a few weeks ago contains all of my pal's favorite colors. Woo Hoo!