Where Did November Go?

So, in my last post I announced Icarus had been banished, Clapotis had been pulled from retirement, the Jaywalkers were complete, and the *b-Marie* socks were underway. Much has happened since that day, and it also seems that I owe some eye candy, so here goes...

First, here, on the right, are my completed Socktoberfest Pomatomus socks. Scout created the colorway, and I've absolutely enjoyed wearing my autumnal socks made from her fabu yarn over the last month. I may even keep them around through the winter!

Next, on the left, are those pesky Jaywalkers in Lisa Souza's Joseph's Coat colorway. I must say I enjoyed knitting the first one, but the second one definitely led to second sock syndrome. It's a great pattern from Grumperina, and I'm glad I tried it. It will probably be my only pair of Jaywalkers though, because I'm finding them a bit baggy in the ankles for my liking. They make great lounging socks though--absolutely lovely with my jammies!

I scored some awesome Koigu in the mail from Yarnzilla last Friday. It was destined for Maude, and I raced home from piano lessons with the Roo before heading back out to a birthday party that evening just so I could check the mail. I spent my time at the party avoiding small children and swatching for Maude. The other parents looked envious because I had something to do. They should learn to knit too!

The Roo and I have co-opted a phrase from the movie Over the Hedge to explain how we feel about Koigu. You have to check out Hammy the squirrel. He has a great line in the movie that he utters in a childishly sweet voice when he wants a treat that has been taken away: "But I love the cookie." After we both oohed and ahhed over the Koigu in its box and lovingly petted it, we looked at each other, and almost immediately said together, "But I love the Koigu." The Roo does almost a perfect imitation of Hammy, and it completely sums up our love for my new yarn. I know I have created another yarn addict in exposing my youngster to Koigu at such a tender age, but it's better that she develop an appreciation for luscious yarns than be stuck in forced acrylic ignorance as I was at her age. It's my prerogative as her mom and knitting mentor!

Now for this week! Each year, the teachers at my school are required to attend the regional ACSI conference in Anaheim. It always falls during Thanksgiving week, and school is closed for the entire week to accomodate our trip. The students all get homework to make up for the 2 or 3 days they miss because we're out of town and growing as professionals. The DCA and the kids meet me in Anaheim on the closing day of the conference, and we usually spend the next day at Disneyland riding as many roller coasters as possible.

As you can see, my Clapotis is finished. It went along in the car on the way up to Anaheim on Sunday, and kept me occupied during the two general sessions and four seminars I attended on Monday. I finished dropping all the stitches Monday night at the school staff dinner and wove in all the ends afterwards in the hotel. As a reward, I actually wore it Tuesday because it coordinated well with the sweater I packed for that day. The Lisa Souza Silk Merino is toasty, and I would use it again for another project. My only wish is that the colors were more evenly matched between the skeins. They are all from the same dyelot and dyed on the same day, but each skein was slightly different from the others. I know it's due to the vagaries of hand-painted yarn, and I also know I could have fixed it by knitting a few rows with each skein and carrying the yarn up the back. I just didn't see how it would work very well with the edge on Clapotis. I'll just toss it casually over my shoulder, have a croissant, and worry about something else, like whether or not I will ever finish Icarus.


I did cast on my *b-marie* yarn in the Snicket pattern, and got about halfway through the cuff on sock #1. That's about where I decided the pattern and the yarn just weren't a good match. I couldn't see the lattice pattern, because it kept getting lost in the stripes. I have opted for a plain vanilla sock instead, which I like very much! They remind me of zebras! I started this pair on Monday night while I was in Anaheim. They provided me much entertainment during the Tuesday general session, and they kept me from being overly frustrated with the lines during our annual trip to Disneyland on Wednesday. I think I'll use Snicket for the skein of Socks That Rock County Clare that's calling to me from the sock yarn stash...


So after a long day at Disneyland on Wednesday, we headed home on Thursday morning and managed to avoid all those crazy Thanksgiving Eve drivers on the I-5. Maude was born as we drove out of Anaheim. It is a quick and rhythmic knit, and I am enjoying every stitch. She seems a bit small, as I mentioned before, but I have never been good at gauging the size of a shawl as it grows. I'm hoping she grows by leaps and bounds in the next several repeats. I do, however, have an extra skein of my yummy Koigu just in case I need to make Maude a bit wider than the pattern calls for.

After all this, I wake up today and realize it's the DCA's birthday, 22 days until the Moose's birthday, and 31 days until Christmas. I'm glad I got a lot of Christmas knitting done this summer, because I would probably be panicking that November is fading fast. Now I just have to be a responsible knitter and put the handmade gifts in the mail. There's still plenty of time for that, right?

I may be scarce again next week too, because I have to grade all that home study work I assigned and the first trimester ends Friday. There's nothing like last-minute grading and report cards to eat up all my knitting time. I might have to be teacher-y and responsible during my planning time at school this week just so I can grab some moments of sanity with my sticks and string here at home. Maude will make it all better!