my real post for today

I just had to post about the absolutely stunning yarn I just received from White Willow. Have you ordered from her yet? If not, you definitely need to order from her very soon. I know, some of you are on a yarn diet..so maybe you shouldn't look at what I'm about to share with you...






Now, I present to you, Cherry Bomb:

Sigh. Isn't she gorgeous?? She even feels heavenly. I couldn't stop touching it. This is my first purchase from Brooke and it is for sure the first of many.

Today was our staff party at my boss's house and it was a lot of fun. I carpooled with my partner teacher and her family (husband and adorably cute and hilarious son). Here's to many more staff gatherings! Ohh!! And I received a check today so I won't be poor until October. It turns out that at my new school, they have the sense to pay their staff every two weeks--like most normal people. I haven't felt this normal since I first began working! Practically every place I have worked has paid me on a monthly basis. Now the trick is going to be managing my money--will I do it wisely or poorly? Hmm...at this point, things aren't looking good. Luckily this need to spend money on yarn will taper off--or so I think! I hope everyone has a lovely Labor Day weekend. I will be spending it here at home, doing absolutely nothing (or so I think!).

My Personality

One of my friends did this and I thought it was pretty cool so I'm sharing. :) I think the results are pretty accurate. What's your personality?? My Personality

Neuroticism	8
Extraversion	52
Openness To Experience	46
Agreeableness	74
Conscientiousness	79

You are neither a subdued loner nor a jovial chatterbox. You enjoy time with others but also time alone. You are generally calm and composed, reacting moderately well to situations that most people would describe as stressful. A desire for tradition does not prevent you from trying new things. Your thinking is neither simple nor complex. To others you appear to be a well-educated person but not an intellectual. You have a strong interest in others' needs and well-being. You are pleasant, sympathetic, and cooperative. You set clear goals and pursue them with determination. People regard you as reliable and hard-working.

Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report

Have you seen this yet???

If you haven't yet, it is Juliet--another creation from those Zephyr gals. :) Oh, I can't wait to pick up some yarn for this and start knitting it up!!
Okay, in some life news--today was the Kindergarten "BBQ" at the park and it was fun. It was really cool to meet most of the students that will be in our class. They had a great time. The parents are wonderfully warm and awesome. Tomorrow we have our staff party @ our boss's house--apparently the food is going to be amazing! We've still got a lot of loose ends to tie up in our classroom--more so than we had oh, say Monday. It's because we went shopping yesterday. So today was the aftermath--having to put everything away! We're still in the process. We have two kids coming in to do a school visit and then we'll be trying to piece together the rest of the room at least by Wednesday!
In knitting news--thermal is pretty much all seamed up--except one sleeve is a bit bunched up. :P And I haven't taken the time out to fix it. I'm moving right along with my thujas--I'm to the heel with the second sock so it should be done soon.

what's been goin' on

wow, I just noticed a new feature...I can add video here now. Cool. Well, I survived my first week of 'work.' We've got almost two weeks before the students actually come. This past week was full of training in the morning and home/school visits in the afternoon. I have to tell you that I enjoy going into work everyday-not just because of my commute but my coworkers are awesome. I was telling my fiance this morning that one other great thing about my school is everyone is so positive. Everyone is very supportive of one another as well. I actually feel as though I'm a part of something good. I also feel comfortable enough to participate in whole group discussions. I have to say, I don't usually participate in them. I usually sit back and just listen, taking it all in. Part of the reason I feel comfortable enough to share and participate is because I don't feel threatened at all. Everyone values every one else's opinion. Can somebody pinch me please??
Well, thermal is off the needles and waiting patiently to be blocked and seamed. That's not happening anytime soon. Especially since I have spent a good chunk of my day on ravelry but I'm done now cataloging everything and am way, way burnt out now. Do you know I was supposed to get my homework done for work??? I was given an article to read called "Teaching Transitions" and we were given a book to read over the summer (the packet that went to my partner's house!). The book is the latest from Howard Gardner-Five Minds for the Future. One of my coworkers said it was really dry and she only got through the first 2 chapters and that a lot of the stuff just went over her head. I've only read maybe a paragraph but I'm actually excited to read it. We'll see how much I get through between today and Tuesday since we won't be discussing the book until Tuesday.
I started two socks this past week. I cast on for a pair of thujas for my fiance. I decided to use my rum runner for a pair of mad color weave socks.
At first, I was a bit concerned with how the rum runner would knit up. I'm still on the fence about whether or not I like how it's knitting up as a mad color weave sock.
Okay, my homework is calling to me!!

I'm on ravelry!!!

I received my invite this morning while @ work...I'm so glad I have this weekend to get all my projects and stuff up..though it's a very slow and tedious process...I'm starting to run out of patience with uploading stuff into my notebook. You can find me at ravelry as Ggirl. :)

second yarn pirate shipment!

Here's what was in the box.. And here's what was under that hot pink tissue! And here are some stitch markers I worked on over the weekend..they're in need of rings but they're pretty much done. I hadn't made a set in a really long time!! I wasn't feelin' the stitch marker vibe until recently. :)
Today was day 2 at my new job..what kind of weird actually enjoys the drive to work?? The drive back home wasn't too bad..I think I made it home in 20 minutes (and this is with traffic). Not too bad. I learned that the new 1st grade teacher has an hour commute. I couldn't imagine. The longest my commute has ever been to work or back home from work was a half hour. I don't know how people can commute that far.
We did three visits today. Two were school visits and the third one was a home visit. The home visit was by far, my favorite. The student lived in an enormous house and he was amazing. Do you know any five-year-olds who play the bongos or guitar?? And have a favorite truck that plays, "We Will Rock You?" I do. :) It was very clear that our boy is very musically inclined. I noticed today that I was able to pick up more on what kind of a learner he was but I couldn't get much out of the other two. Though the boy who came today is very mathematical. He showed me 'half past five' on the big judy clock! I couldn't even tell time myself until 1st or 2nd grade!!
There was very little knitting done today. I was able to squeeze in about 5 minutes @ the end of our little lunch break. I'mthisclose to being done with my second sleeve!! I think I only have 2 more pattern repeats and that's it. I can block it tomorrow and seam it Thursday. In the meantime, who's ready for some socks?? ;)

my first day

I'm home from my 'first day' at my new job. We didn't really do much. We went to Joann's to pick up some fabric and ribbon for the bulletin boards. We went over the curriculum for the year (the main themes that we cover). We talked about splitting up math and reading-we're going to have to do this in small groups. My first day of training isn't until Wednesday. It's a nice lil commute. I should've brought my camera this morning so you can see what my view will be every morning. Put it this way, I"ll get to drive by the beach twice a day. I'm home early because all the fabric we bought--wrinkled. I volunteered to iron it all since I have to steam my sleeve once it's all done. I'm about 2 hours away from completing my second and final sleeve! Talk about exciting. I can't wait to cast on for something new. I'm so tempted to pick up the needles I need to start green gable but I. must. wait. sigh. Yesterday, my fiance and I made it down to the Fabulous Fiber Fest. I stupidly forgot my camera. There were alpacas...silk worms..which were so unbelievably soft, chinchillas, lots of quilters, quilted art which was absolutely beautiful, lots of spinners, fiber, and yarn! I walked out of there without buying one thing. They had Lisa Souza there! There was a guy with glass circular needles! There was a table where they had possibly any and every fiber/bead related book ever written and I came away with nothing. Nothing really called out to me. Plus, being broke didn't help. I think if I had money to spend, I probably wouldn't have bought anything--well, except for a drop spindle. My fiance has been wanting to learn how to use a drop spindle ever since he saw how to make a drop spindle on Knitty Gritty. He bought the dowels but that's as far as he went. He actually got to try it out when we were at the Gosh Yarn It booth. The gal said he was a natural. He picked up a bit of roving but now drop spindle. :( Yet. No new pic of my last sleeve..though like I said, it's almost done!! I can't believe it. I need to get off this computer already, start some ironing, and then get knitting..maybe not in that particular order! Oh yeah, before I forget, I was invited to join this kal: Campanula for the Cure-Along. There is a gorgeous lace sock pattern up and to get it, Ramona asks that you make a donation.

we've got a magic loop cuff!!

I seriously wish I had learned magic loop sooner in my knitting lifetime. Thanks to Amanda for getting the ball rolling! I think if I hadn't had this last week off in between my two jobs, maybe I wouldn't have sat down to really try to figure it all out. Who knows. It's much easier than I thought it was going to be, that's for sure.
I knew that you divide the stitches in half but the whole notion of how do I knit the stitches is what truly scared me. Once I got it, I couldn't believe it's simplicity! And is it ever fast! On dpns it would've taken me forever just to do the ribbing (I currently despise twisted rib!) with a few breaks in between because of my hand hurting from the awkward way I start holding my dpns while doing the twisted rib. I'm still waiting for the kicker...there's gotta be something I'm not getting! When I showed my fiance, he kind of threw up his hands and said, "I. don't. get. it." I had to sit him down, show and explain what was going on with the stitches. He didn't understand how they came off though. In the end, he liked magic loop too. Okay, off to get the rest of that sleeve worked on! Sarah, you have to try magic loop now!!

progress

I've been working on my sleeves this week. I'm determined to get them finished this week--at least one of them! Here's what my sleeve looked like as of Monday night: I wanted to steam block what I had so far to see how much it would stretch-hence the reason for the ironing board and the iron in the background! This is what my sleeve looks like today! I tried to finish it up last night but I just couldn't do it. My fingers were getting too tired. :P I haven't been devoting as much time as I would've liked to my sleeves but I think I've done pretty good so far. :) Late last night, I tried casting on for the second sleeve using the magic loop technique and I think I kind of get it! Though, I got a little mixed up as to which stitches should be in the back, so I frogged what I had but recast on the stitches so that I could start all over again today! We'll see if I like magic loop better than dpns. :)
Would you believe this is the only project I've been working on??? I had thought about casting on for my green gable and was all ready to do it after watching video on how to do the backward loop cast on and then I realized I don't have the right needle lengths to start. Oh well. Maybe today I'll make some stitch markers. :) I thought about casting on for my very own swell but again, I don't have the right needle. I could cast on for some more socks but I'm going to wait until thermal is done-@ least that's what I keep telling myself!!
On the school front, I got my very own school email address! :) I found out today. I don't know how to access it but I'm just glad to finally start feeling like I'm a part of the school. I've been emailing and talking on the phone with my partner teacher for the last couple of days. She has this mailing that she sends out at the beginning of the school year every year so now that we were a team, I had to look it over and add to it. I also got to learn all the important dates I'm gonna need to know. Like the fact that there's a Kindergarten BBQ @ the end of this month! I'm getting more and more excited by the minute about starting this school year. The school has so many activities planned already! Not only is there a BBQ but at the end of September, there's a school-wide walk-a-thon. Another cool thing is the Kinders have half-days the first month to transition them into attending our school. One more cool thing-I get to do home visits! There are teachers out there who hate these things. I absolutely love them because you get to see what your students' home life is like and they get to share it with you. Plus I think it brings you closer to your students when you know what their home life is like. This is going to be an exciting school year!

ETA: I finished my first sleeve today!!!! I'm attempting the magic loop (again) with my second sleeve..wish me luck! :)

Saturday

My socks are complete! :) There's a pic posted in my other blog for you all to see. I would totally make these again if I had the right yarn again. :) I started working on my sleeves for thermal. I reread the pattern for the sleeves and I think I was doing them wrong so I frogged a couple times but now I'm on track--if only I could remember what round I left off on once I get back to the sleeve. I'm going to try magic loop with the other sleeve. I'm determined. Here's a suggestion for you all. It's not a good idea to work on a lace project while watching Disturbia. I hadn't touched my dfs in at least a couple of weeks. I wasn't quite sure if the row # I had written down was really the one I was supposed to start on. I also noticed that a couple of rows before my lifeline, there was a boo boo or two--or it could've just been the bad lighting. Needless to say, the dfs is dead for now until I can find the time to really devote to it. In the meantime, I need something quick. I was considering casting on for a swell for myself sans the earflaps but I need to finish thermal. So, right now, I only have two things on the needles-thermal sleeves and my chevron scarf. Wow. Though I did have my sister wind some yarn last night to make a pair of thujas...

my first chewy spaghetti sock club shipment!!

Don't look if you don't want to ruin the surprise!!! My yarn was in this cool lil bag from messie-crafty. This bumper sticker came with my yarn.
And here's a close-up of the button that came with my yarn. :)
And ta-da, here's the reveal! The colorway is called frivolous. It reminds me of spring veggies for some reason.
A better shot of my first skein of chewy spaghetti ever!
Amanda just mentioned to me that Chewy Spaghetti is having a Holiday Sock Club and there are still a few spots left..I was good and didn't sign up!

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I love knitting with hand-dyed stuff from indie dyers on etsy! I like merino wool blends/merino wool in general. I don't like acrylic/eyelash/or any novelty stuff. I've worked with cotton but haven't lately. I like sportweight/fingering weight yarn. I don't really like alpaca or alpaca blends--itchy. :P 2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? My dpns are in a cute lil dpn roll that I just recently picked up. My straights are in a drawer organizer. My circs are in a ziploc. :P I've been looking @ needle rolls for my straights and a binder for my circs but am waiting to find the right ones before I start spending money! 3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been knitting for three years as of this month in fact! It took me three tries to learn how to knit--each time a friend tried to teach me. Obviously the first two didn't succeed but my last teacher, was excellent. :) I am intermediate I guess. 4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Of course...I've just linked it in my sidebar under my 'a lil' more about me' section. 5. What's your favorite scent? I don't have one particular favorite scent though I do love the scent of grapefruit..berries..if you went to the body shop and looked through the home fragrance oils, my favorites would definitely be exotic. I also like the scent of cranberry, ginger, etc. I like clean, fresh scents like--the scent of just washed linens. I even like the scent of grass! I despise vanilla..it makes me want to throw up. 6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Why, yes I do! Favorite candy? Reese's peanut butter cups/peanut m&m's and dark chocolate. My idea is dark chocolate covered nuts or a dark chocolate candy bar with nuts. 7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I make stitch markers and I make cards. Not a spinner though. :( 8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD). I like punk/indie/mtv tres indie 101 stuff/classic rock & soul/80's/and even some current stuff that's on the radio. Yes, my computer can play mp3s. 9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? In no particular order, I like greens/blues/pinks mixed with red and or orange/grays/greens mixed with blues and or yellows/blue-violet mixes/burgundy/merlot etc. I'm not found of yellows-I don't look good in that color! 10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I live with my sister, my fiance, and all of our fish! 11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Yes to all but ponchos! :P I like my scarves long so they can wrap around my neck twice. Hats need to be a bit big for me to wear them and actually like how I look in them! 12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? My favorite item to knit? I think right now it's lace..I love just watching the intricate beauty of the stitches unfold into this amazing design. 13. What are you knitting right now? I've got a thermal, a chevron scarf, the last of my hedera socks, and a diamond fantasy shawl in the works. 14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? I do. They're my favorite kind of gift. ;) 15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? Um..straights..I have yet to purchase my own knitpicks option set so that might change. Between the three, it's bamboo then aluminum. Oh, but I do love my pony needles.. 16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes, and yes. :) 17. How old is your oldest UFO? Eek...February! 18. What is your favorite holiday? Valentine's Day. :) So what if it's one of the most commercial holidays that isn't even really a holiday. I just like the idea of having a day specifically for celebrating love. It's always been my favorite. 19. Is there anything that you collect? Not really. I used to collect a bunch of stuff. Now, I don't really have room to collect much. 20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? The books that I want are on my amazon wishlist. Yarns that I really want? Wollmeise. Duet Sock Yarn. Sknitches. The Knittery. Zen String. lisa souza. Blue Sky Dyed Cotton. Needles--knitpicks options, denise interchangeables. Patterns?? Where do I even begin? HeartStrings FiberArts Beaded Lace Scarf II Pattern, fifi, jemima, flower basket lace shawl/scarf, button me up pullover and so far that's it! 21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I definitely need to learn magic loop and possibly how to knit two socks on one circ though I might lack the attention span for it! Just learned magic loop! Now I need to learn socks on two circs. 22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I'm in the beginning stages of calling myself a sock knitter. I wear a size 6.5-7 shoe. Circumference of my foot is about 8.5 inches. Length is 7 inches. 23. When is your birthday? May 5 24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? Not just yet but soon! Now, I am! Ggirl.

my reward

I'm allowing myself to blog because I have pretty much done all my sub plans! I just have to start filling out my hand-off forms and I have to email my sub about her students and I should be all set. It's weird thinking that this is my last week at the Kelter Center. I don't know if it's going to be my last week forever or just for now.
Here I am modeling my lace shrug and my thermal tank. lol. I wanted to see what the shrug looked like with something solid because it can't be worn with something striped or patterned (@ least I don't think!). And since no one has seen my thermal since I finished the body, I thought why not. Please forgive the fact that I haven't sewn in any buttons hence all that yarn bunched up above my chest. It actually looks pretty good. I'm too lazy to work on the sleeves though I know I'll be able to wear it soon should I finish it!
I experimented with steam blocking Saturday night. I steam blocked my shrug, my thermal, and my chevron (what I've knitted so far). I had never steam blocked before so I thought I'd try it out. I kinda like it.
And now, here's my first finished hedera. I'm nearly to the gusset with the second sock so I should have a finished pair soon enough. Now, is it me or is the second sock normally knitted tighter and the first sock knitted looser? That's what I've noticed I've been doing. :P My first sock is a bit loose on me (I think I might've done one round too many for the gusset). Oh well, good thing socks come in pairs. lol. I started looking through my stash a bit this morning to figure out what I'm going to use for a pair of thujas. :) I also started wondering what pattern to use for the skein of tofutsies I've got..

showing off

I should've posted this sooner but I've been busy working on sub plans for the week I'm out @ work. Looky what I received in the mail the other day!A very cool sock dpn case and a set of stitch markers to boot! I ordered this from Robyn who by the way, just opened up her own online shop called Robyn's Nest. Check it out! She's having a grand opening sale!! She's got a sock club starting up in September and there are only 20 spots well, possibly 19 now if not less!). Not only do you get a gorgeous colorway but you also get a set of stitch markers and a pattern!! How awesome is that?? And it's so inexpensive!! Here's the sock dpn sideways. lol. I've got only one needle in it but it can hold up to 4 sets. I absolutely love the colors and the fabric--I let her choose for me. :) Thanks again, Robyn!!Here's a close-up of the cute stitch markers that came with my case!
And now for what you all might've been waiting for, more progress on my hedera socks. :)It's almost done!! I stayed up to finish working on the gusset last night. I was listening/watching "The Two Coreys" as I worked on the gusset. Who else needs a reality show? How about one for Courtney Love? lol.
Here's the front view of my hedera sock. :)
And here's another side view of my sock. I will probably finish it tonight and cast on for the second sock tomorrow. I tried working on my chevron scarf after working on the sock for a while and it was soooooo hard to transition from a size 1 dpn to a size 5 straight. It felt too weird so I just went back to my sock! I think once I've finished the pair, I'll work a bit on my chevron and hopefully finish it. I haven't touched my diamond fantasy shawl since I started hedera. So it'll be awhile. Thermal is still waiting on completed sleeves--that yarn is too thick for me to work with right now. Hence the reason it's still on hold but one day soon it'll be complete and I'll get to wear it in the appropriate season!

in love with hedera

I cast on for my hedera socks yesterday. One of my students cancelled so I was able to knit @ work. :)I'm using knitting notions yarn (classic merino sport) in the colorway golden olive. I think I described the color and pattern as being glorious yesterday to my fiancé, in the car on the way to that blasted clinic.
Don't you agree? :)
Here it is below as of like 1 o'clock this morning. I was listening to and watching Apocalypto last night and decided I'd stop working on my sock once I got to the heel.
This is such an easy pattern. I just might make a second pair of these socks in a stretchier material so there's more give.
And the heel? Perfect.