When I met up with my parents and sister last month they "gave" me a bag full of towels each for me to cut up and adorn with crochet toppers. They both were nice about it and warned me ahead of time they would bring them so it wasn't a huge surprise. Well I finished them up this morning, all 26 of them.





Aren't they just beautiful? Hey they asked for them.

Bible Verse of the day

Sunday mass included one of my least favorite readings from Ephesians 5:21-32. "For the husband is the head of the wife...wives should submit to their husbands in everything." During his homily the priest made the comment that he's always amused by the congregations' reaction to this reading. The husbands nod in agreement to the reading and the wives glare at their husbands. He also noted that one must read the passage with the understanding of what time in history it was written. During this time wives were treated as property and this is not how it is today. The point he sees in this reading is that one(husband or wife) must listen to God first, each other second, and themselves third. Then I thought wow, imagine what the world would be like if we all were a bit less selfish.

I thought I could,I thought I could......

...finish this darned project in time.
I'm finally completing what turned into a summer long project. The tempting II still needs a buckle on the neckband but this sexy knitter is moving on to other projects.


Started: July 4, 2006
Pattern: Tempting II
Yarn: Bernat Denimstyle,chino(3 skeins)
Needles:size 6 bamboo
Completed: August 24, 2006

The Sexy Knitters Club is currently taking votes for the next KAL project. Voting ends at Midnight tomorrow so check it out and vote!

rip-it,rip-it

I'm guessing this isn't how the neckband on the Tempting II is supposed to look.


I ripped it back last night and started the neckband over. This time I decreased the body portion even more before I started to attach the neckband.

Rambling

I saw a mini van this week with the following bumper sticker:"Who are these kids and why are they calling me Mom?".
I started thinking how on some days this runs through my mind. Not necessarily with my kids but my life's plan in general. "Who is this man and why does he think I would turn into a totally different being because I gave up my career and birthed children?"
Seeing that it's been a month since my birthday I'm still a little bummed he didn't acknowledge it with even a Hallmark greeting. He came through on my 18th birthday (and the next 15 years)with heart felt sentiments. Remember the "brunch at Moosewood" coupons and "night at a comedy club" coupons. I am an extremely hard person to buy gifts for but I wasn't even expecting a gift. Even a handmade crayon colored card would have made my day. (Sorry sweetie but you know this has been on my mind for weeks.)Alrighty then, moving on....

I officially removed my kids from school on Tuesday. I knew I'd probably homeschool for the 06-07 school year back in May but I'm just getting around to telling the schools. I feel relived and completely overwhelmed at the same time. My oldest(soon to be 10) has spent the past 4 years set aside and bored in class so he's excited to finally be learning "new" things. The youngest(soon to be 5) spent the last 2 years struggling with anxiety at each preschool class day. Thank goodness we aren't going to have to go through the daily leg tugging, teary goodbyes of last year's schoolyear. Although at this point, I think I may need perscription drugs for anxiety.
I always wanted to be a stay at home Mom and it took 5 years after the first was born but we did it. Each year since I've looked into pulling him from school but was worried about things far off in the future. What about high school and college? I loved school, wouldn't I be depriving him of some great experiences? The more I witnessed the not so great experiences my son was encountering I knew it was the right decision to keep him home at least for a year. My knitting projects may take a bit longer to complete, the house will never be as clean, dirty clothes will build up, and dinner will be quick and easy for a little while but I won't have to wonder any more what it would be like if they stayed home to school.

So much yarn and tons of possibilities

The kids and I headed to Stitches Midwest on Friday. I knew I wasn't quite ready for a "store" of this magnitude but what the heck, I went anyway. After we found our way through the hallway maze we reached the market and I was immediately overwhelmed. There were so many colors, textures, and brands of everything knitting related. It was very cool. I'm so glad my fellow Sit 'n Stitch comrades found what they wanted. I went home empty handed. I thought I could finally get myself to commit to purchasing animal fiber(at least for the husband's sweater). On Saturday I researched a bit more at Webs on what yarns would look and work best and put them in my virtual shopping basket. (This place has one of the best selections and prices on yarns. If you haven't checked them out you're missing a great resource.) Earlier in the day I received a pretty big envelope from PETA. I can't stand PETA, they're all about shock value. I really wanted to ignore it and even went to run errands to try to put it out of my mind. I finally took a look inside:



Yep, I didn't end up placing any order. I'm back to sorting out the pros and cons again. Can I really be so against eating meat but have no problem supporting wool/sheep production? The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up September 8-10. Maybe if I buy direct from the source after seeing the treatment of their specific animals I won't feel as guilty about using wool/alpaca fiber. My husband is right-I think about everything way too much. I just need to relax and go with my gut feeling.

Ithaca in the news again.

Ithaca made it into Mother Earth News.
It is listed as one of the top 12 best places to live that most have never heard of. With all the positive press lately I'm not sure native Ithacans are too happy about the world knowing how awesome their little isolated town is. I'm so glad I got to live there for 4 years. I miss Ithaca especially in the summer when the students are away.

Ahoy Mate

I headed out to Chicago today to check out the tall ships. I got plenty of knit time on the hour and a half train ride in due to "heavy freight train congestion" according to the automated message on the train. We boarded the water taxi on the Chicago river which turned out to be a great way to see most of the ships.


We strolled along Navy pier to see other tall ships and stopped to let the work in progress admire the Barque Picton Castle.



Next year we plan to attend the Parade of Sail as the ships enter Chicago. We'll also board all the ships when they dock. I picked up a neat book I want to use as a unit study on all things tall ship related. I read through it on the train ride home and am already excited about the next time they sail into town.

Island Time

I love Island time. No watches, clocks, or cell phone coverage.
This is what time it was for us the past 5 days. We headed over to Kelley's Island,OH to meet up with my Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother-in-Law, and Niece.I had a great time staying up really late around the campfire and sleeping late(for us 8am is late). The kid's loved the ferry ride over and back.



We took in a couple of spectacular sunsets.


Riding in Gramma and Grandpa's Jeep was one of the highlights of the trip too.


I'm exhausted. I know I should be well rested and rejuvenated after a vacation but the driving time wiped me out. It was only 747 miles from start to finish but the traffic and construction around Chicagoland slowed us down. Next year-a condo in Tortola?