What Day Is It Anyway?

Nobody told me it was Thursday. Nobody. I missed SnB! Thanks to the girls for thinking of me, wondering where I was, and calling me. So sad I missed it. I was sitting on the couch knitting this. Does it look familiar? De ja vu?

It's another, identical Anthropologie. My sister, Kim, wanted one just like mine. And no, Boy, she wasn't just humoring me. She really likes it and wants one of her very own. So there. Go clean your room. I could have been knitting this at Panera surrounded by friends and enjoying a bowl of Summer Corn Chowder. Crappity crap crap.

School is out and no longer do I remember to pay attention to the calendar. Our last day was Monday and it already feels like it was so long ago. So strange. I've been back to school twice since then to get my classroom organized. One or two more days and I'll be done for the summer. I think I have a hard time letting go at the end of the year. I like cleaning and organizing the room. Too bad I can't transfer that energy to cleaning and organizing my home. Home is for couch-sitting and sweater-knitting.

It's also for reading. I stopped at the library on the way home and grabbed these:

Can't wait to get into bed tonight and flip through the books.

As I was going through papers near the end of school, I re-read a story written by my little tough guy/class clown.

Don't know if you can read it, but it really gave me a chuckle. (You can click to embiggen the photo.)

One day I had a football game against Fairfield. I was a left tackle. "Hit," the QB said. Someone tried to blitz. Then a DB ran at me and nailed me big time. But I took the hit like a man.

Nothing better than a 3rd grader who can take it like a man.

Adoption is a Beautiful Thing

My just-friends sweater has a new home!


My sister Kathy has adopted her! I had a feeling that since this sweater looked small on me, it would probably fit my teeny tiny sister. I was right. It looks really cute on her and even though the sleeves are large for her, I think they look good that way. Stylish.

Kathy, being the kind soul that she is, didn't want to adopt this sweater at first, only because she felt guilty about taking it away from me. It took some convincing and many statements about how the sweater would spend its life folded on a shelf and how that's no life for a sweater. She took it. Yay! I'm so happy that this sweater has a good home where it will be loved and cared for, fed and watered, worn and washed. Makes me all warm and fuzzy.

On our way home from Kathy's house, my boy asked me if I thought she might just be humoring me. Just being nice? (And no . . . I didn't smack him.) Look how happy she looks!



She loves it!

Right? She does . . . doesn't she? Right? Kath?

This Kathy-and-my-handknit photo reminded me of another photo that I keep forgetting to post. Remember I knit a Swiffer cover for my sister? Well, she loves that, too. She said it works perfectly on her new hardwood floors.

Here's the proof.


Ew. It really works.

Anthropologie, The Sequel

My new favorite pattern. Couldn't wait to make another.

I'm knitting with a blue and white twist in the same yarn I used for the Sunkist Cardi (the one that I just want to be friends with - maybe, as commenter Emily suggested, we'lll just have coffee). I like this yarn so much better on larger size 11 needles (rather than the 10s I used before). I'm going to make this one a longer cardigan, rather than cropped like my first one, with elbow-length sleeves. I also made the two front panels a bit wider so I won't show so much boobage. (I sure have been saying boobage a lot lately.) It's so much fun to sit inside in air-conditioned comfort, knitting a sweater while the world melts outside. I should be knitting a bikini. Okay . . . a one-piece.

Yesterday, one of my little darlins' told me she'd written a song and wanted to sing it to me. In the 95+ degree heat, she belted out her tune with pride:

All right, now.

Not Feelin' It

Cardigan, cardigan, how do I dislike thee? Let me count the ways . . .


1. Your sleeve length is just plain wrong. Bunching around my elbows. Not good.

2. Your top front area above my boobage is not laying flat. I know you're supposed to have a tie front, but if I give you one, I'd have to put the tie up higher than I'd like it, which would make your neck opening smaller, which will make me feel like I'm choking even though I know it's not that tight because I just have a neck thing. (See? I'm out of breath just thinking about it. I think someone must have tried to strangle me in a previous life.)

3. You make me look . . . um . . . dumpy. You do. Don't even try to deny it. (Okay, I could possibly be slouching in the picture because I wasn't feeling the love, but you'd make me look dumpy even if I stood all perky and proud. You would. You know you would.)

You don't look bad when you're resting on the couch. Maybe you could just do that? Or maybe I could hang you on the wall. You could be art.

Maybe I can just wear you while I'm blogging, like I am right now. You're kind of comfortable, except that I'm really feeling you under my arms. And that bunchiness around my elbows . . . Not good.

Maybe we can just be friends.

Stick a Fork In It

It's done! And I love it. Love love love.

My version of the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet. I'm so much happier with the longer sleeves.

I wore it to school today and all my Knitting Club groupies went gaga over it. So sweet. The grown-ups were impressed with it, too. The first big girl sweater that I've finished and worn.

While my kids were at their art class, I went into my friend's classroom to drop something off. She told her class that I'd made my sweater myself, so I started walking like a model on the catwalk, posing and making a fool of myself. The kids got a kick out of it. Then I went to pick up my class. As the little darlings were lining up, one of my knitting girls said to one of the boys, "She knit her sweater, you know." As he took a closer look, I started to do the posing thing again, vogue-ing like Madonna. I stopped after about five poses, holding the last one. Then the boy said looked back at the girl and said, "That was awkward." That kid is the king of the nudges, but he is a riot.

Now I'm ready to finish my Sunkist Cardi, and then I think I'll knit another Anthropologie. I love it.

I'll leave you with a glimpse into my excellent teaching this year - a few words from one of my girl's spelling sentences. She spelled all of this week's spelling words correctly, but also gave me this:

I really thinked that I maked shure that I teached that this year.

Halfway to Love

Better? I think so.

The longer sleeve works for me. Off to fix the other one. Be back soon.

Waiting to Feel the Love

I've made lots of progress on my Sunkist Cardi. Just have to finish the sleeve and it's done. Not sure yet if I love it or not. We'll see . . .

Since you heard from me last, I knit this:

It's the Anthropolgie-Inspired Capelet. I got side-tracked after seeing it on Ravelry and couldn't wait another second to make one. I knit on it like crazy, adding some length to the body to accommodate the boobage, and got it finished pretty quickly. Then I tried it on.

Not feeling the love. Yet. But I'm going to try to love it. Really. Tonight, I've ripped back the sleeves a bit so that I can knit them longer. They're too short. I think. It seems to me that this cropped little ditty needs either tiny little cap sleeves (which will call all kinds of unwanted attention to the jiggliest parts of my upper arms) or elbowish-length sleeves. Elbows, here I come. Stay tuned.

I opened the refrigerator door this afternoon, felt a little thud, and heard a little mewing sound. I hadn't seen her, but Emmie was laying inside the kitchen curtain, enjoying the sun, and I clunked the poor thing with the door. Look at the spot she found for herself.

Cuteness.