Makes a Mother Proud

We'll get to that story in a minute. First of all, even though there's been only a miniscule amount of knitting this week, I do have a progress picture to show you. I've finished the first sleeve of the Simple Knitted Bodice, and started the second. I'm just starting the lace patterning on the second sleeve. Here's the overly bright flash version:


I remain skeptical about the length of this sweater. I'll be holding my breath until it comes out of its soak and I see how it blocks. In all other ways, I love this sweater. I love the yarn. I adore the color. I'm clearly in a deep red mood these days, because, even with all the time that I spend with this yarn, I still find myself ogling deep red yarns as much as I can. I will have a bunch of this yarn left over when the sweater is done, so I can extend the pleasure by knitting some mittens and/or a hat. But I also need to knit Sr. Jr. a hat, finish my MIL's socks, and go back to drooling over the shawls in Knitted Lace of Estonia...

Local business shout out: A couple of weeks ago, Mr. T gave me some chocolates from Artisan Confections, an artisanal chocolate maker located not far from us on Lee Highway in Arlington. I freely admit to being a chocolate snob. I've been lucky enough to have had some amazing chocolates from all over the world. To me, mediocre chocolate just isn't worth eating. I'd been curious about Artisan Confections for a while, but never managed to go in.

Wow. These chocolates are among the best I've ever tasted. Even flavors that I thought I wouldn't like thrilled me. The flavors and combinations are subtle yet deep at the same time. I quickly ate the four that Mr. T got me, then realized that I had a friend coming in from out of town who would definitely benefit from some gift chocolates, so I had an excuse to go to the shop and get some more. If you're local, check it out. If you're not local, they ship... and the holidays are coming up :)

The Title Story

Yesterday was already going to be a busy day. I had a brunch get-together with the playgroup moms, and a doctor's appointment right afterward (still no cancer!). I left the house early and stayed away almost all day. I pulled into the driveway at 2:30, thinking that it was a good thing that tennis would be rained out. Sr. Jr. would head to a friend's, instead of rushing home for tennis. I had about an hour to have a cup of tea, read the paper, and relax before I'd have to get Jr. Jr. As I was sitting in the car, my phone rang. It was the nurse's office at the elementary school.

Apparently Jr. Jr. and a friend, having nothing better to do at school, were messing around. They decided to take their scissors and cut up their pencil erasers. Jr. Jr.'s friend showed Jr. Jr. how he put pieces of pencil eraser in his ear. So Jr. Jr. decided to get in on the fun.

Yup. My super genius kid got pencil eraser stuck in his ear. So I went straight to school to pick him up and run him over to the doctor's office to have the eraser removed. Luckily, it wasn't in far, so there was no damage and it was removed easily.

I just looked at him and said, "What were you thinking?" "I wasn't," he replied.

We've been calling him Eraserhead ever since.