Well, let me do the knitting news first: Icarius is in the blocking stage! Thanks to my pal Janet for her excellent assistance, the shawl is MUCH bigger now and looks beautiful. (However, if Tina reads this, she still might want to consider making it one repeat larger.) It is probably completely dry now, so soon I will have photos. I took some of it on the blocking wires. I now wish I had taken some of it in its pitiful lumpen "before" shape. I am now partway through a "hankie" I am making, and spent so much time sitting and waiting at band events in the last couple of days that I almost finished my first silk/wool sock that had been languishing for a while. I think I will finish that one today.
So...it has been a very busy few days, all in a good way. I have enjoyed doing a lot of high school band volunteering. They are a nice bunch of folks to volunteer with, and I feel no pressure about it. This year's band is way ahead of last year's in marching and music progress after a week of band camp, too. The tubas all march in a circle at one point, which will look cool from the stands. This year's music is classical stuff that is also in old TV cartoons, which should be fun. The Older Boy says the tuba parts are too easy, but the marching is hard, so I think that is actually a good thing. Isn't the picture for today nice? The band historian took it, and her mom sent it to me. The location is the large tarmac where the band practices.
Anyway, yesterday I spent the morning at "everything day," where the band come in to get fitted for uniforms and all their supplies, and even though there was no air conditioning in the band hall, it was not TOO hot, and the crowds were not bad. Very successful day. I spent a lot of time with my son's friend and his little sister, and they were most entertaining, too. My son, lucky boy, went off to a water park (Schlitterbahn for you locals) and had a blast. He is a bit pink today, though.
Most of the last few days has been spent spending time with my good friend, Janet, who is going through a turbulent time. I am glad I got the chance to be there and listen and commiserate. Sometimes you need a friend who does not judge you, even when you make "mistakes" or do things in ways others might not. We had IMMENSE margaritas Friday night at La Mesa Rosa (conveniently located little more than a mile from my house) and that helped a lot. I was probably a bit overly interested in the friendly waiter. Oh well, that rarely happens any more, so it was a nice diversion from the theme of "eek, things are gonna be a mess for Janet for a while, but eek, things are looking up," and that is good. In any case, it was nice to spend that time with her, and my only regret is that we left her dog at my house and that made all the dogs bark and irritate Dear Partner. I am so glad to have Janet for a friend, and glad I won't really "lose" her, since email is Our Friend.
Yesterday after the band thing, Janet and I headed out to the yarn store, where we attempted to relax and had fun in between her phone calls from various people in her cast of characters. We enjoyed yarn, teaching a nice woman how to knit (really nice woman), talking to the Yarn Store Staff minus the beloved Cheri, and meeting up with Deb and her family, who also dropped by. They got the NICEST yarn (even if they did spend a lot of bucks on it--they will have NICE outcomes). Deb's spousal unit got the best shades of green to make a felted "man bag" (satchel) out of--I hope to see a picture of the final product. I might make such a thing to carry my stuff to work in, if I see how his works out. And their kids were great, too. We do get some of the most well behaved kids in that place!!
When Jody got to the shop, "fresh" from her Friday of fun, we eventually decided to take a field trip to the sewing store, and that was a nice diversion, other than it being SO HOT HERE. A walk down the shopping center was almost too much! I had wanted Janet to see the "cherry" theme fabric they had there, and sure enough, she got some to line a purse (her birth name was "Cherry"). Seems like a nice marriage liberation theme fabric.
After yarning all day, Janet and Jody and I went to dinner and did some serious tarot stuff. The dinner was good (Bear Rock Cafe again) and the readings interesting. More on them will be found in the tarot journal. Janet's reading was reassuring and VERY accurate, and mine was...thought provoking. Jody's was a tough one to crack. We eventually went home, where Icarius got blocked and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the pug and Janet's dog (yorkie) play together. Whoa did they have a blast. I think Srcunchy was in heaven--Gwynnie doesn't play as well now that she is blind, and the cat usually declines his invites (frequently issued).
Janet left before I woke up this morning. I took sleep stuff and zonked a LONG time. Finally got rid of the headache and other aches. Today is chore day, so off I go to finish the laundry and stuff.
Comments
Tina said...
I am probably going to go ahead and add another repeat - it DOES seem a bit small. Did you find out if getting Zephyr wet will make it freak out? I guess I could knit a swatch (I usually don't with shawls. Hard to REALLY screw up on gauge.).
Sunday, August 06, 2006 5:25:00 PM
Deb said...
Anton is almost done with his man bag and it is quite nice in those colors. I am so glad we talked him out of the black and grey. I finally finished my market bag that I rag out of Big Koreon for over a year ago but we able to nicely match another # skein from the shop. It is on wash #2 and I will make sure to take pictures once it is done.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006 9:31:00 PM
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