93 Degrees

• I meant to post a photo of my daughter's finished cardigan but modeling a wool sweater in 93 degree heat just makes everyone grouchy.  So instead my kids are running in the sprinklers.

• I meant to make this soup this week but a hot oven for roasting vegetables and soup simmering on the stove in 93 degree heat just makes me grouchy.
• I wanted to finish the hoodie for Jack for our camping trip this weekend (probably the last of the season) but.....you guessed it!  It's 93 degrees.

I wanted to take some pictures to change up the old blog here with some autumn foliage but all I got was a photo of my Gerber daisy on the patio that is still hanging on.

Hopefully this weekend we'll get a chance to cool off in the mountains and I can get some of my to-do's done.  Have a great weekend!

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More

So my self-imposed moratorium on buying any more yarn or starting any more projects failed miserably.  I received Webs new fall catalog and fell in love with some of the projects.  And yes I succumbed to temptation like a true junkie and started clicking away. 

When I saw this pattern in particular I couldn't resist and since I haven't made my son anything green yet what is girl to do but cast on?

The pattern book has 13 patterns and I want to knit up at least 6 of them at first glance.  The children patterns have a large range of sizing and so I can knit something for both kids out of this one booklet. 
A cardigan for me and maybe something for my husband (that would be a first).

Now I need to finish at least a couple of projects this weekend in order to allow myself to cast on for this one.  Hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a relaxing weekend!

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School Uniform

For me that is.  Five days a week I have to be at school to do the kindergarten drop off and since these kids are so little and on an unsupervised playground until school starts I have to hang out until the bell rings.  You know what that means right?  No schlepping from the house and just hanging out in the car.  I need to be 'somewhat' ready to go in the morning.  Now this isn't that big of a deal but I work early in the morning before the family is awake and I stop at 8 am and we leave by 8:30.  Me, the kindergartner and the 3 year old.....hence the need for me to have a school uniform.  My uniform is going to consist of jeans, a trench coat, and sunglasses most day.  Looks put together on the outside and hides everything :).  I decided that maybe in preparation I should knit up some accessories to help change up my look, if that's what you can call it.  So here is the point the way scarf.

I used 3 skeins of knit picks cadena yarn and the beauty of it is that it's reversible.  So no matter how quick I throw this around my neck I don't have to worry about a "right" side showing and I can at least delude myself into thinking that I look put together.  It is really long and so soft and the color will hopefully add a little pep in my step on the mornings that I'm dragging.

Now I'm off to get the last minute stuff together for Avery's sixth birthday party tomorrow.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

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Tuesday

Thank you so much for all the lovely comments about my cardigan.  This week it has been cool in the mornings and I have slipped it on over my jammies while I sipped my morning coffee out on my back deck.  The cool air combined with the cozy warmth of my cardigan definitely dismissed any ideas I had of frogging it.  It is designed to be roomy it just feels a bit too roomy when I wear it but as the weather cools I can see myself reaching for it more and more.  It is a keeper.

Now it is a Tuesday morning and I planned on getting in a run.  I have a shelf over my treadmill in my office where a small DVD player fits perfectly so that I can watch a show while I get in some exercise and still keep an ear out for my son playing trains in the next room.  Besides the exercise I want/need  I have quite a few projects hanging over my head.  My featherweight cardigan is still waiting for sleeves.  I recently cast on for this little project after I saw an ad in the recent Vogue magazine for a friend of mine who is having a baby in November.

I need to finish the button bands and collar on this sweater for my daughter.

Oh and I would still like to get a run in before I have to leave for kindergarten pick-up.  What am I doing instead?  Well Jack, my son, requested a red sweater with a zipper for him for this winter.  So after perusing ravelry I found this pattern.  I have some red worsted weight yarn, the picture of that pattern in hand, my son's measurements, and some Elizabeth Zimmerman books, and  I have dropped everything else to try and figure out a pattern for my 3 year old son.  This really isn't like me.  I'm not strictly a monogamous knitter but I rarely have more than 2 things going on at once and if I decide to cast on for a third project I finish up what is hanging out there.  I think a self-imposed ban from all knitting sites is in order until I get a grip on myself.

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Swank

Amidst all the busyness of the end of summer beginning of fall transition there has been some knitting going on.  I finished this cardigan a bit ago but haven't taken any photos because I am not thrilled with how it turned out.  I have concluded that I either have a funhouse tape measure that is constantly misleading me or else any math skills I may have possessed (and there was a time when I prided myself on being very good at math) have abandoned me. 

My gauge is correct, I knit to my own size/specifications and still it is just too big.  Too big in a great for around the house watching a movie on the sofa kind of way but wouldn't really want to venture out into the world wearing it. 

I love the little details on it like the seed stitch cuff and bottom.  The ribbing that makes up the raglan sleeves.  Berroco Ultra Alpaca is very soft once washed and it is very warm.

 So should I keep it and just know that it will remain an around the house knit or should I scrap it and do something different?

By the way do you like my impromptu shawl pin to hold it closed while I took some photos?  A small stick from our yard.  I needed something and knew that if I went back inside I would be sucked into mom stuff and domestic duties :)

By the way do any of you have any pangs of embarrassment when someone spies you taking pictures of your knitting?  I heard my neighbor puttering around next door and immediately froze wondering if he had spied me.....is it just me or does anybody else have that moment of....hope no one saw me. 

All in all it is  warm and cozy and I will probably wear it around the house this winter. Before I forget here is the pattern link (free).   I'm not a fan of these photos so sister dear when you read this know that you are going to be phoned for the next photoshoot :)
Happy Friday to all of you!!

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End of Summer

So sorry I stepped away for so long.  The wrapping up of summer and the start of everyday school for my daughter kind of left me in a time warp.  There has been a flurry of organizing going on so that the morning routine runs smoothly.  My oldest started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago, we did preschool a few mornings a week the last few years but this is still a big step.  5 days a week, lots of kids, new teacher, a big school, a longer drive.  Just as things were getting really fun with her off she goes to school :)

I find that the longer I go between posts the harder it is to get back in the routine of it all. So although I don't have pictures to brighten this space up or anything finished to share I just needed to post a small hello.  I hope all is well with all of you and now that I am back in the swing I'm catching up with all your stories.  Hopefully I'll have something finished by this weekend to share.

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