My Summer Vacation is Almost Over!
I really though that this summer I would be better at keeping up my journal, since I have so much more time at home. Oh well. It has been a good summer overall - very social and busy. I did not get a whole lot done, but we had a good time! I apologize in advance for the marathon post!
On the social end, there were lots of visits for the kids to play. ("Playdates," I guess you could call them, but I'm not fond of that word.) We went to Jolene's house twice, once to swim, and once to dye yarn and roving (more on that later.) She has 3 kids around my kids' ages, so they had a good time together. Amy down the street with 2 boys came over once. It was too hot to play outside, so they ran around and around in the house and had loud, chaotic fun. Alison brought Ben over, and this time it was cool enough to swim, even though Ben, at 2, preferred the swing to the pool. (Inflatable wading pool, that is.) We also got to host rhiannon76 for dinner, and she came with me to my weekly sit and knit.
We had 2 birthday parties. One for kids, and one for Jeremy's co-worker, Marshall. Last year, Marshall and I got into a discussion of the Marx brothers. In "At the Circus," part of the grand finale involves shooting Margaret Dumont, the ultimate straight woman, out of a canon. We had a long discussion about the effects of this WMD, and which other character actors we would like to shoot out of canons. It took me a whole year to get the right parts, but I was able to present him with this for his birthday:
When you push the button on the side, you can hear her yell, "Someone get me out of this cannon!" I was especially proud of her dress, which I did try to have match the one in the movie somewhat. I did not include the cape, and the color is wrong, but I was limited to Jo-Ann's remnants selection!
Last weekend, my mom and I took the kids up to my grandmother's house.
We got to visit with some of my cousins and try to pick blueberries in their "pick-your-own" farm. (They didn't have any left my the time we got there, but my grandmother had tons at her house. Unfortunately, it was too late for the black raspberries, which are my favorite.)
Today, Rhonda is taking us out to lunch at Cafe Mezanotte in Severna Park! Summer is not complete unless we get to see Rhonda once.
On the crafty front, I did not do as much as I would have liked. Just this past Monday, I finally finished knitting my February Lady Sweater. Last night at Sit and Knit I wove in the ends, but I will have to block it before I add the buttons, just in case it stretches. (It's made from Ultra Alpaca, so it's guaranteed to stretch.) Last night I also did a swatch for my next cardigan. The swatch will also have to be blocked, because I used a bamboo blend, in a lace pattern, that needs blocking before I can measure my stitches per inch.
I did some spinning in two marathon sessions. I turned my 1.25 lbs of Lincoln wool into 4 skeins of 3-ply yarn.
I took an intermediate spinning class where I got to try different techniques and different fibers. (I did well with long draw and spinning from the fold. The silk was EVIL to spin. Very slippery and frustrating.) Of course the best part was getting to sit and chat with other spinning students!
After the class, after a recommendation from the teacher, I got some #10 crochet thread to replace the heavy twine on the Matchless. Finally, I could make small adjustments to the tension so I could spin without the drive band popping of, or the wheel yanking the fiber out of my hands! Plus, it was much easier to treadle. One thing the teacher said, in the beginner class, that seems to hold true a lot, that if you are having a hard time, it's probably the wheel's fault!
Then I did 4 oz of BFL in hot pink and did my first Navajo ply. I took the Ladybug spinning wheel to my sit and knit for help. Once I finally got it to take up (I think I forgot to sit up my Scotch tension when I sat down. Which is understandable, since I have been using double drive for so long!) As for the results? Well, there are a few places that look great, but the twist is all kinds of uneven for most of it. It's... art yarn! :)
became this:
Something new that I got to try was dyeing. At Jolene's house 2 weeks ago, she pulled out a box of yarn and roving, and I took over 5 skeins of yarn that I had bought a couple years ago, and we mixed dyes and made a pretty big mess!
became these:
Samantha and Christopher each dyed a skein of yarn. While I was at my grandmother's, I knit Christopher a hat, and an I-cord snake with the yarn he died. Samantha is knitting her own snake with her yarn. Now that she is 5, she has enough focus to try a few rows at a time, rather than getting fidgety after 2 stitches!
Last topic of interest for my summer is fitness. Like knitting, I did not run as much as I wanted to. I did manage two 25 minute runs, but not easily. We did attend the family fun run sponsored by the Howard County Striders. It is a one-mile run through the neighborhood across from Centennial High School. It is very hilly!! We did that 3 times. Chris ran once, but after that we needed to borrow my MIL's jogging stroller. Talk about a handicap! Samantha ran all 3 times and did great. I only ran once without Christopher or the stroller, and I have to say, it is much harder running outside than on a treadmill. But I am learning, and Saturday I may be brave enough to try 3 miles outside. Jolene invited me, and I am torn. Mostly because I am afraid of failing miserably.
I am really loving Yoga 2. It is way hard, and everyone in my class has years of experience, compared to me, who started in January. This is actually a good thing for me, because I am comfortable as the underdog (here, not in running) because I can accept what I can and can't do when I know it's going to be hard and a little over my head. The first day Tom came back after his 2 week vacation, I did a headstand! (against a wall, but still!) It was exhilarating! I have been terribly sore afterwards but it's all good. Since I missed one class, I will be doing a makeup tonight in his 1-2 class. I'm looking forward to it.
Well, that's enough for now. Can you tell I like my new camera phone? Is it bad that I take pictures with the plan to post them here?
On the social end, there were lots of visits for the kids to play. ("Playdates," I guess you could call them, but I'm not fond of that word.) We went to Jolene's house twice, once to swim, and once to dye yarn and roving (more on that later.) She has 3 kids around my kids' ages, so they had a good time together. Amy down the street with 2 boys came over once. It was too hot to play outside, so they ran around and around in the house and had loud, chaotic fun. Alison brought Ben over, and this time it was cool enough to swim, even though Ben, at 2, preferred the swing to the pool. (Inflatable wading pool, that is.) We also got to host rhiannon76 for dinner, and she came with me to my weekly sit and knit.
We had 2 birthday parties. One for kids, and one for Jeremy's co-worker, Marshall. Last year, Marshall and I got into a discussion of the Marx brothers. In "At the Circus," part of the grand finale involves shooting Margaret Dumont, the ultimate straight woman, out of a canon. We had a long discussion about the effects of this WMD, and which other character actors we would like to shoot out of canons. It took me a whole year to get the right parts, but I was able to present him with this for his birthday:
When you push the button on the side, you can hear her yell, "Someone get me out of this cannon!" I was especially proud of her dress, which I did try to have match the one in the movie somewhat. I did not include the cape, and the color is wrong, but I was limited to Jo-Ann's remnants selection!
Last weekend, my mom and I took the kids up to my grandmother's house.
We got to visit with some of my cousins and try to pick blueberries in their "pick-your-own" farm. (They didn't have any left my the time we got there, but my grandmother had tons at her house. Unfortunately, it was too late for the black raspberries, which are my favorite.)
Today, Rhonda is taking us out to lunch at Cafe Mezanotte in Severna Park! Summer is not complete unless we get to see Rhonda once.
On the crafty front, I did not do as much as I would have liked. Just this past Monday, I finally finished knitting my February Lady Sweater. Last night at Sit and Knit I wove in the ends, but I will have to block it before I add the buttons, just in case it stretches. (It's made from Ultra Alpaca, so it's guaranteed to stretch.) Last night I also did a swatch for my next cardigan. The swatch will also have to be blocked, because I used a bamboo blend, in a lace pattern, that needs blocking before I can measure my stitches per inch.
I did some spinning in two marathon sessions. I turned my 1.25 lbs of Lincoln wool into 4 skeins of 3-ply yarn.
I took an intermediate spinning class where I got to try different techniques and different fibers. (I did well with long draw and spinning from the fold. The silk was EVIL to spin. Very slippery and frustrating.) Of course the best part was getting to sit and chat with other spinning students!
After the class, after a recommendation from the teacher, I got some #10 crochet thread to replace the heavy twine on the Matchless. Finally, I could make small adjustments to the tension so I could spin without the drive band popping of, or the wheel yanking the fiber out of my hands! Plus, it was much easier to treadle. One thing the teacher said, in the beginner class, that seems to hold true a lot, that if you are having a hard time, it's probably the wheel's fault!
Then I did 4 oz of BFL in hot pink and did my first Navajo ply. I took the Ladybug spinning wheel to my sit and knit for help. Once I finally got it to take up (I think I forgot to sit up my Scotch tension when I sat down. Which is understandable, since I have been using double drive for so long!) As for the results? Well, there are a few places that look great, but the twist is all kinds of uneven for most of it. It's... art yarn! :)
became this:
Something new that I got to try was dyeing. At Jolene's house 2 weeks ago, she pulled out a box of yarn and roving, and I took over 5 skeins of yarn that I had bought a couple years ago, and we mixed dyes and made a pretty big mess!
became these:
Samantha and Christopher each dyed a skein of yarn. While I was at my grandmother's, I knit Christopher a hat, and an I-cord snake with the yarn he died. Samantha is knitting her own snake with her yarn. Now that she is 5, she has enough focus to try a few rows at a time, rather than getting fidgety after 2 stitches!
Last topic of interest for my summer is fitness. Like knitting, I did not run as much as I wanted to. I did manage two 25 minute runs, but not easily. We did attend the family fun run sponsored by the Howard County Striders. It is a one-mile run through the neighborhood across from Centennial High School. It is very hilly!! We did that 3 times. Chris ran once, but after that we needed to borrow my MIL's jogging stroller. Talk about a handicap! Samantha ran all 3 times and did great. I only ran once without Christopher or the stroller, and I have to say, it is much harder running outside than on a treadmill. But I am learning, and Saturday I may be brave enough to try 3 miles outside. Jolene invited me, and I am torn. Mostly because I am afraid of failing miserably.
I am really loving Yoga 2. It is way hard, and everyone in my class has years of experience, compared to me, who started in January. This is actually a good thing for me, because I am comfortable as the underdog (here, not in running) because I can accept what I can and can't do when I know it's going to be hard and a little over my head. The first day Tom came back after his 2 week vacation, I did a headstand! (against a wall, but still!) It was exhilarating! I have been terribly sore afterwards but it's all good. Since I missed one class, I will be doing a makeup tonight in his 1-2 class. I'm looking forward to it.
Well, that's enough for now. Can you tell I like my new camera phone? Is it bad that I take pictures with the plan to post them here?