Organizing

A local furniture store is going out of business, so Bill and I decided that it was a good time to invest in a bigger bookcase for my knitting books and supplies. Once it was delivered, I spent an afternoon moving my books from the various places around the house (I'm still finding them!) and organizing them by topic. You know those free address labels that various charities send in the mail in hopes of receiving donations? I've found that those are great to stick inside your books for identification, especially if you are one who is willing to lend books to friends!

Anyway, here's how things are looking so far on that new bookcase. It didn't take long to fill it up!



The top shelf has some tall books and pattern binders. The basket has knitting magazines in it. That jar on the left is full of Claudia Handpaint sock yarn.

The glass terrarium jar, bought at the craft store for $9.00 is full of sock yarn leftovers. The pretty square Longaberger basket is my sewing basket, which my kids got me for Mother's Day years ago.

On the bottom shelf, more baskets. The first is full of knitting notions and spare project bags. The middle basket has spare spindles for my spinning wheels. Yes, I have more than one. It's an illness. The basket on the right is full of circular needles of all sizes, mostly Addi Turbos.

Since that photo was taken, I've added something new, and have a crummy cell phone photo to show you. What do you think of my new bookends?



Like I said, it's an illness.

Baby it's Cold Outside

It's been really cold here lately, barely reaching 30 degrees most days for the past 10 days or so. You know, the kind of days where you don't want to go outside unless you really have to. Combine that with the gray skies and the early darkness that sets in, and you have a hibernating Karen.

So what have I been up to, you wonder? I did some Christmas shopping online (thank you, Amazon!) and then I spent 3 days sleeping off a cold/flu kind of thing. I used so many tissues that I thought the front of my face was going to peel off! eeeew We all have to be healthy for December 19. That's when my entire family is gathering at my parents' house to celebrate Christmas. With my dad being sick, we can't take any germs!! And ALL of us have to be there. Period.

When I wasn't sleeping I started re-reading the entire Harry Potter series. The kids and I had been to see Part 1 of The Deathly Hallows at the movie theater right after Thanksgiving. That inspired me, along with some friends doing a mini book club, to read the series again. The books are so much better than the movies!

I have also been doing more knitting since my shoulders are better! I can knit for longer periods of time and don't have pain, so I am actually finishing things. Not anything big yet, but my endurance is increasing, and it's so encouraging. I have been released from PT as well. Hooray! So, knitting? I am working on a secret project for Mayhem for Christmas involving very purple yarn to match her coat. I detest purple, but like all middle school girls, she looooooves purple. So purple it is. Bleah.

Last night I finished a hat for my Mom for Christmas. At Thanksgiving she was saying she would love a warm hat.


I'm almost done with Book 5 - see how the hat matches the book?

This hat took me two evenings, maybe a total of 3 hours (including the finishing) to knit. It's knit with Berocco Sundae, a bulky yarn on size 11 and size 13 needles. It's a pattern from my LYS, but if you search Button Band hat on Ravelry, you will find similar patterns.



Other than that, I am job hunting, Christmas shopping (frugally), and waiting, rather impatiently, for some snow to arrive here in T-Town. It seems that it has fallen all around us, and in places that don't normally get snow, but none here!

The kids are with me this week, so we are tidying up and getting the Christmas tree up by the end of the week.

Do you have snow? Is your holiday shopping done? Are you knitting gifts for the holidays?

Alone time

There are some people I know who will do just about anything to avoid being alone. Not me. I really enjoy being alone. That's probably because it happens so seldom. My house is busy and chaotic to the point of me often saying, "I go to work every day because it's the one place I can go to the bathroom by myself." Seriously.

This weekend, Mayhem and The Absent-Minded Professor took off with their dad to see their godparents and also go to the Deer and Turkey Expo at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. It's an annual thing. That left me, worn out from a hectic school schedule and some late nights (I'm a building rep for my teacher's union and we've had some heavy-duty grievance hearings this past week), home with the 4-legged kids.

Know what I did? Not much! I slept. Finally. Embarrassingly late, I might add. Bruno and Coco are so good to me, when I let them sleep with me. They know if they get to sleep in the people bed, that they better not ask to go outside at 6:30 in the morning. When the big old blue blanket gets tossed on top of the bed, the doggy blanket, the tails start wagging. B & C know they get to be on the bed! Normally Bruno sleeps on the floor beside the bed, and Coco sleeps in a crate (that's a nice word for doggy cage). Lest you think badly, it's big enough for me to get into, or both of my kids to be inside at one time.

Saturday I didn't do much. At some point I got dressed enough to go out and clean up the "land mines" in the backyard. After that, I built a fire and camped out on the couch. I read an entire James Patterson novel, Step on a Crack. I didn't feel like knitting. (What's up with that???) I watched the fire. I dozed. I went to bed and slept 12 hours.

Today I did venture out of the house. To reward my furry compatriots for their stellar behavior, we walked two miles early this afternoon. B= 120 lbs. C= 95 lbs. Connect them both to one leash with a splitter. I got more exercise than they did! After that, I headed to Borders to pick up this: The Friday Night Knitting Club and this: Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs From Interweave. I added a large coffee to my purchases there. Seattle's Best Coffee isn't Starbucks, but it will do in a pinch. Plus my purchase adds to my holiday rewards bucks.

On the way home I stopped at Panera to get a sandwich to go, planning a late lunch/early dinner. Heading toward home, I called my favorite Chinese restaurant to order a take out container of hot and sour soup to go with it. Might as well have what I want since I don't have to feed any kids, right?

In about two or three hours the quiet will be shattered by "Mom! Guess what we saw!" (Wow) "I got to touch a..." (Eeewwww) and "Do I have to take a shower?" (YES... especially after touching that!) The washer and dryer are already going, getting the kids' clothes ready for another week of school. I'm going to clear away the evidence of my little smorgasbord meal and go knit.

Or read.

Or not.