I am blessed.

Isn't it a little corny when people say that? "I am blessed." ick.
A few years ago, I would've thrown up in my mouth a little at mention of this phrase, but maybe time has softened me.

But really. I am blessed.

Family
During the height of work/school busy-ness of last month I caught word of 2 very cool family updates. Here they are in no particular order (Can you tell I'm the middle kid?):

• My brother and his wife are expected their 4th kiddo. This is very exciting. Especially since his three kids are mirrors of us three kids. #1's are smart, techy, industrious, how-things-work kind of guys. #2's are quiet, independent, observant, order-loving gals and #3's are courageous, unruly, loquacious, adventure seeking gals. There's no archetype for #4. Pretty exciting stuff.
• My sister is engaged. I get to be matron of honor, which is purdy darned cool. We've been doing our fair share of online dress looking and dreaming. Her fiance has been around for a couple years, so I think he knows what he's getting into with this family. We like him too and we're not an easy crowd to please.

Friends
I've received three of the most incredible gifts in the past week. I don't know how I found these friends, but anyone who gives me stuff like this is a keeper.

I wish I had a video tape of me opening this gift. Girl opens envelope and finds felt tofu. She squees and says "I love it! It's perfect!" What's weirder: loving felt tofu or having someone else in your life that knows that the perfect gift for you is felt tofu?

It's a little felt piece of tofu with a bite chomped out. And yes, that's a little button that says, "I *heart* tofu" and yes, I do. He's in my tree because that's the place of honor this season. In a couple weeks he will take up residency in my work tote, so that he can make me smile when I least expect it. Kendra gave me this and I couldn't love it more.

My friend Rhonda showed up at my office yesterday and gave me these. She made them. Made. Them. With like size 0000 needles. Yes, she's crazy and yes, I love her. The picture above does not do them justice (hey, it's New England and natural lighting is scarce). She's got better pics here. She rocks. I can't wait to show them off to the Monday night knit group.... if I ever make it back there. She's an angel this Rhonda. How else does she have the patience to make such intricate little pretties?

Another awesomely bad pic of a cherished gift. I almost don't wanna post this because if I don't this little tea party will remain a secret amongst me and my hedgehog loving friend. Friends need secrets, but I must show you because I'm telling you why I'm so blessed. This is a mirror on the other side and it came with the cutest little pouch. It's mine. I'm keeping it forever. Seriously, a mirror with a hedgehog tea party on it? I'm speechless. I imagine that when we die, this friend and I will have tea parties with hedgehogs and greyhounds in heaven. And it will be lovely. And we will serve IBC root beer with our tea. And we'll all rock out to Dar Williams.

How on earth did I find these friends?
Felt tofu, hand knit tiny socks and a hedgehog tea parties?
AND #4 AND mawiage?

I am so blessed.

So if you see some crazy woman running through the streets of Boston a la George Bailey yellin' "Merry Christmas!!!!"
you'll know why.

One lucky cupcake.

There is one soul scheduled to make his/her debut this January and if I had one thing to say to this wee one it would be this:

You, my little cupcake, are blessed.

Blessed with two pretty amazing souls for parents.
Compassionate, intelligent, creative, pensive and witty parents.

Oh yeah, and you owe your mom. Bigtime!

The little one's papa sent me inspiration for this hat and I fudged a pattern.
Pretty cute, no?

Do work, son.

Lately my life has been all school and work. The school part? Eh, that was ok. This second class was a lot better than the first. Engaging topic. Lots of work. Not enough time.

The work part? Well, the work part has been pretty dang good. I've had a steady stream of new projects and responsibilities coming my way this Fall. Building new relationships, new partnerships and strengthening old ones. I've gained a little more autonomy and had a little more fun.

My "old" projects are progressing. What I really mean is that they are growing up, quite literally.


I've had a few opportunities to see this project close up and each time it gives my such a thrill. A friend captured the image below. That's me in the foreground with gesturing mitten.

... and wouldn't it be great if I could say I had knit that mitten? Alas, I did not.

Hi! It's me, Haddy.

*tap, tap, tap*

Is this thing on?

*squelch*

Anybody out there?

I am done with my class. (Did the balloons and confetti just fall from the ceiling and cover your keyboard as well?) Phew. It's been a rough couple months. Yesterday I took my exam, survived the drive home through the storm and made dinner for Hubby. Dinner consisted of homemade pizza and appetizers that included bacon. Bacon = Happy Hubby.

I owe him bacon and then some. He's had to deal with my anxiety and frantic thoughts and actions. He's also had to do all the cleaning, cooking and laundry - AND he's had to deal with my critiques of his efforts. He's a good, good man.

We had a nice night together. He ate little bacon snacks and did dances of delight in the kitchen. We "did work" on the driveway and shoveled all the snow away like good kids homeowners.

I'm not quite sure what to do with myself yet. I did knit a little on Hubby's sweater last night. I've been trying to decide what to knit in my month off from school. I definitely have to finish Hubby's sweater. Maybe I should start something for me? I think I need some wool fumes to jog my creativity.

Mittens

Mittens for my friend at work. Probably for Christmas. They match my walls.
The mate will have the now infamous, Charlie pocket.

PS - Thanks for the pattern, Mafia.

oy.

Can you tell I've hit week 3 of my class? Oy. Everything in life, including blogs, gets pushed aside and life consists completely of work, school work and sleep.

Things I've learned recently:

1. I could be mistaken for an undertaker. I am infatuated with dressing in gray and black. I realized last week that I am a pro at putting together outfits of only black and gray. To make matters worse, I bought a bunch of stuff at Kohl's today. Mostly black and gray. Why? I don't know.
   
2. Social workers are really stylish. I went to a baby shower today with a predominance of MSW's and they were all skirts and boots and... when did this happen?
   
3. I still don't like Beowulf. Hubby and I saw the movie this weekend. I read it in high school. Probably in Miss Trouten's class. If you don't know Miss Trouten, ask me about her sometime. She's like Marilyn Monroe meets Ursula the Seawitch. *shivers* AND she taught my dad when he was a yoot too. *shivers again*
   
4. Multiple choice tests are really, really stupid. Really. Give me an essay.
5. I've never made a fruit pie. I've made a million pumpkin, mincemeat, pecan etc., but not a fruit pie. We'll find out on Wednesday if I'm a carrier for the fruit pie gene that is so prevalent in my family.
   
6. Hubby will agree to go grocery shopping with you, but he will spend the entire time trying to get you out of the store as fast as possible. You'll need one more thing from the other side of the store and he'll say, "I'll get in line now." I'm always running, hoping he hasn't totaled up yet. It's like Supermarket Sweep only I still have to pay and there are no prizes.
7. Roxie is now a teenager. She spends most of her time upstairs in our her bedroom. We'll all be enjoying a tv show together and she will get up without warning and scramble up the stairs. She'll stay up there sleeping in our bed, writing in her diary and trying on my clothes until she feels like coming down again.
   

It's Thanksgiving. My most favorite holiday. :)

Word of the Day

I have a word of the day widget. I never look at it. Today I happened to take a glance:

From dictionary.com:

woolgathering \WOOL-gath-(uh)-ring\, noun:
Indulgence in idle daydreaming.

Sentence:

Plagued by guilt, they took refuge in wine, women, and woolgathering.
-- Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust

Oh crap! They're watching me!
How did they know about Saturday night?

Overdue stash update

Back when the numbers were here, Weaver and I journeyed to Spunky's shop in Maine. It was pretty fabulous:

Look at all that freakin' yarn!

I brought home this loot:

Left to right:
wicked awesome knitting bag, Tough Sock in Iris, Skinny Sock in Backyard Campfire, Skinny Sock in Dora

Later in the same week, we went to WEBS. Here's my loot from that lovely place:

A sweater's worth of Elsbeth Lavold Classic AL in 011 Moss Green and 1 skein of Vicki Howell Love in Buttercup & Wesley.

I think the Classic AL will become a minimalist cardigan, if I ever get around to it.

This is what I'm working on right now:

Charade socks in Trekking XXL (100). I'm doin' the two at once a la aswiminknits. Basically her method is: 1) get twin needles 2) knit on one for a while then switch to the other 3) when you're done, you're really done.
She's so freakin' smart and efficient.

PS - Thanks for your thoughts on the Clapotis. It was appreciated. I still feel like I got dumped at the dance. Those socks above are for me. I'm not knitting for anyone else until further notice. I'm hoping to cover myself in wool. (It's mine! All mine!!) If you were expecting handknits for Christmas, you'd better start hinting at things I can buy on amazon.

omg. omg. omg. omg. omg.

Let me tell you a sad story about a girl named Haddy....

So I knit this clapotis, right? Out of koigu. My first koigu ever. It turned out lovely. Soft and squishy. It's probably one of the best things I've ever knit. Along the way, I started to really think about the color. Was it too pink? Was it for me? Would I wear it? Then one morning while knitting on it on the train, I had this great idea to give it as a Christmas gift to my dear friend who has a thing for pink. Maybe I'd wear it to try it out, but I was 95% sure it was going to this special person for Christmas. It was so in the bag. Me! A Christmas gift done in October?!? YAY!

I blocked it Sunday and I knew that tonight it would be dry. We had an impromptu dinner at my mother-in-law's tonight. Hubby's Auntie is in town. She used a knit a lot. I'll take it to show her. I came home from work, changed my clothes and un-pinned the clapotis. It was better than I expected. I was still on the fence. For me? Christmas gift? Maybe I should try it out, then decide. We were short on time, but I made Hubby snap this pic:

I took one look at it on the preview function and said something about how frumpy I looked. Not enough time for another pic now. Maybe later. Oh.... here comes the sad part....

So, we go to dinner. It's a raucous good time. Dinner's winding down. I decide it's a good time to show Auntie. I bring it over to her. (Brace yourself...) She sees it and says, "It's beautiful! Thank you."

Inner monologue: WHAT!?!?!?!?!

I say, "I knit this." Trying to redirect. She says, "I know. It'll look so lovely with my new pants."

Inner monologue: Oh F*CK!!!!!! She thinks I made this for her!!

Auntie is getting up there in age and her hearing.... well it sucks.

Inner monologue: Omg. Omg. Someone help.

I look around. No one is noticing this sh*t. She says she loves it and it's so beautiful and thanks me again with a big hug.

Inner monologue: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

I take one last good look at it and consider petting it one last time before I return to my seat. No one else was really paying attention, so no one came to my aid. I sit down and think several of these things at once:
stupid idiot! Why'd you bring that? Why didn't you show Mother-in-law first? How can I get it back? I can't believe that just happened. I only have one frumpy picture!!! Nooooo!

Then, I look over and Auntie is crying. She is petting the scarf and admiring the stitches. No one else noticed what was going on. She was all teary over this scarf. She just kept petting it. She gets up and slowly walks the scarf up to her room.

At this point, I'm still praying that perhaps this hasn't happened. Maybe I can go upstairs and steal it back? No. She loves it. I hope she loves it? Does she love it? I actually glanced over to where my coat was hanging. Perhaps this is a dream and it's still hanging where I left it. Drat. Just a plain black coat over there.

The thing is, I'm pretty okay with things going. I consider myself a process knitter. I love me a finished product, but ordinarily I'd let a project go freely. Not this one. This one was so special. Even to give it to my friend was going to be a sacrifice. I knew this and this was part of why it was to be such a special gift for this friend. I was willingly going to part with this for my friend. I knew that she would love it and wear it in a way that any knitter hopes that a knit will be cherished.

The other thing is that I love Auntie too. She's wise, beautiful and she's had a tough life. She deserves that scarf. She really does. It just kills me that I can let it go. I need absolute reassurance that that scarf won't be tossed aside, or re-gifted, or found by someone in the dirty salvation army bin. Oh, the horror.

So here's what I need. Help me to believe. Please, I beg you.

Do you ever think your knits have minds of their own? Like maybe they want to go with certain people? Or perhaps you have certain plans or expectations of your yarn and try as you may it just wants to do what it wants to do.

As of right now, I'm believing it. That scarf was meant to go to Auntie. I'm going to believe that my idea for this scarf was good, but somehow that scarf just knew it needed to go home with Auntie. It knew it would be loved and cherished. It knew that it could provide her with something she desperately needed.

Please help me believe this. Otherwise I think I might never knit again.

PS - She lives in Florida! A wool scarf owned by someone that lives in FLORIDA! Oh, help me. I may not get over this.

Commuting Report

Commuting Report
Friday, 10/26/07

• Everyone was far too chipper on the train
  
• Knit on striped sock while listening to the White Stripes
• The guy in the train station said, "Shoe shine. Shine 'em up!" He says that every day.
  
• I was a near miss by low flying pigeons
  
• Saw the fattest bulldog ever
• Got off the bus and the air was filled with the smell of doughnuts. This happens randomly. Where are they?
• First in months: bypassed Starbucks. The line was too long, even for me.
• Saw a van that was filled, no FILLED with clothes. Floor to ceiling. I'm not lying.
  
• Two guys in hard hats and dirty jeans were standing in line at the made to order crepes station at the schmancy cafe across the street. I imagine the soundbite goes like this, "Hey Dave! Try the apple. They're wicked good." "What? Are you retahded? I'm getting the strawberry. How 'bout them Sox?!"
  

Honestly, I love working in the city.

Tapering

Tapering. ugh.

Hubby's training rarely interferes with my life. He does his thing, I do mine. The tapering though.... I look forward to it with the same enthusiasm as a full moon. (Which happens to be ocurring right now too. Coincidence? I think not.) You know it'll pass, but keepin' a low pro is a good idea. You just never know what you'll get. Giddy, then grumpy. It's a quite a ride.

Hubby was pretty hyper this evening, being a little more chatty cathy than usual. Tonight there were songs about booties, man chairs, and goats - but not together. Separate.

At one particularly snarky moment, he turned to me with his sh*t-eating grin and said:

Hubby: "I can't help it. Tapering."

Haddy: "I know."

Hubby: "You try running 12 miles a day and just stop."

Haddy: "Yeah it's like when I don't knit."

Hubby: "Yeah."

Haddy: "Or if I ran out of wool."

Hubby, with face of shock & disgust: "Eff that! Let's not even consider that. That's crazy talk."

Just when I was overcome with emotion for this man who understands my obsession with wool, he says:

"Speaking of wool, when's my sweater gonna be done? I mean it's cold out and I could use a sweater... on my body... to keep me warm."

He then proceeds to show me how much of his belly will be covered by the in-progress sweater and something about how his nipples are cold....

The race is Sunday. Pray for me.

Rarely

Rarely do I finish a project before I've had the chance to blog about it.

Presenting: Wisp in Kid Silk Haze


It's longer than it looks, but it's still a pretty short scarf.
I need to weave in some ends and then block it.


It's my new fav.

I'm back

There are lots of new posts. Be sure to scroll way down.



And watch out this week, I've got a week off from school and a bunch of knitting to do.

Done!

In the past week, I have:

• Turned in an 18 page project
• Took an exam in a location labeled "high stakes testing area"
• Turned in a 14 page final exam

I finished my class at 1pm this afternoon and Hubby promptly loaded me into the car for some fishing. He's been dying to show me his new favorite spot.

She's a beauty, eh?

We got skunked, but who cares?!

Thanks, Hubby. That was exactly what I needed.

Bottoms up!

I walked into the living room yesterday and found this:

These dogs are weird.

Weaver Brewer and The Fam

Brewer, Weaver and the numbers came to visit the McGillicutty's last week.
There was a lot of action. Here's the breakdown:

There was soccer:

#2 into soccer these days, so we took her to a big time college game. Ok, well it was just Hubby's brother's game. Maybe not big time, but it was college.

There were shenanigans:


(I miss this kid.)

There was a lot of #3 doing this to me:

I'm still not sure what it's all about, but I miss it.

There was a lot of this kid being silly:


and there was a lot of this girl winking:


Hubby and I took them to Jordan's one afternoon.

There were liquid fireworks:

There were lots and lots of jelly beans:



(please note the Haddy with bunny ears. It will tickle #1 to no end that you're laughing at me with bunny ears.)

There were boys in pink chairs:

There were girls in pink chairs:


AND there was candlepin:

And because Aunt Haddy is pretty boring, there was a bunch of this:

Geesh. I think that might even be Star Trek on the tube.
Do I know how to entertain or what?

Seriously though, it was loads of fun.

Koigu Clapotis

I haven't shown you my Koigu Clapotis yet.

Here it is on the plane home from Homecoming:

Here it is a couple days later on a road trip to Maine:

Dropped stitches sure are fun.

Haven't worked on it in a couple weeks.
Honestly, at this moment I don't know where it is.
I do need to find it sometime soon though.

Homecoming!

Home!

Hubby and I revisited our alma mater for Homecoming a few weekends ago.
I could be the luckiest girl in the world, because my two favorite people
in the whole world were able join me:

Seriously, my two faves. Sorry if this hurts your feelings, but these gurls have my heart.

We kicked things off with the football game:


We lost, but to be honest that wasn't really the upsetting part.
Look at the new mascot:

That, my friend, is not an alligator. Looks like a lizard or dinosaur to me.

After the game, my friends and Hubby indulged me in a whirlwind tour of my favorite places on campus.
Behold! I had the pleasure(!) of living here for 4 years:

Look at it. *sigh* It never gets old.

I lived here my sophomore year:


When I wasn't sleeping, I was here:


in my favorite classroom/lab:

Not a darn thing has changed.

My senior comp lab:


It was the most beautiful day.

There was Haddy, being Haddy:


We ended the day we a visit to our old haunt, The Penny Bar:

Yes, those are pennies.

Yes, that is a map of the US made out of pennies.

There were heated games of connect four:

The Yuengling was flowing.

It was a pretty fabulous weekend.
Now, to convince a couple friends to move to Boston....