So Far, So Good

It's only been a little over a week since school started, but I feel like I've been accomplishing a lot. It's not that I've sat down and worked on anything for hours on end. In fact, I've been doing things sort of here and there -- go to the post office, knit a little bit. Hit the supermarket, spin for a bit. Vacuum, then knit. And amazingly, it's working nicely. Things that I need to do are getting done, and I'm doing things that I want to do as well. I'm still craving a good BLOCK of time to sit down and work on something, but I'm sure that will come. Someday.

I finished the body for Hallett's Ledge. Here it is all unblocked and yuck looking:


Yes, I have to work around the cat. As per my plan (stated in the last post), I will now put this away for a little bit and finish up the body on Paper Crane.

I'm working away on the second bobbin of my spinning project. This bobbin doesn't seem to be going as smoothly for me, and I'm not sure why. I don't know if the fiber isn't quite as cooperative or if it's me, but I'm not as happy with how this bobbin of singles is turning out. Hopefully, when the whole thing is plied, washed, and finished up, it'll all be a wash. Here you can see the bobbin I'm working on and the one I finished already:


And the obligatory dime shot:


I might finish up this bobbin today. We'll see. It's early release and I'm not sure how much spinning I can do with two kids on a sunny afternoon.

I also finished up my Lagoon socks, using Twisted Fiber Art's Playful yarn:


I couldn't make the socks match, but I don't care. I love them anyway. They're also a teeny bit snug on me, so I think when I knit with this yarn again I might cast on a few more stitches or go up a needle size. But pictures can't do justice to how beautiful this yarn it. The color transitions are subtle and perfect. I'm very excited for her upcoming sock club, and I'm definitely going to knit another pair very soon. Maybe I'll go pick out the next skein this afternoon :)

In the meantime, I cast on another pair of stripey socks, this pair in a yarn from Yarn Chef called Minestrone. It's very soft with some subtle color shading as well:


Most of the time I knit socks as my carrying around project, or as a palate cleanser, something to knit when I don't want to work on whatever other complicated project I'm working on at the time. Stripey sock yarns are great, because I get great socks even when knitting boring old stockinette, and I don't get bored. The "oooh, colorful!" factor keeps me interested.

In my non-fibery life, things seem to be going well, too. Both boys seem to be enjoying school, and seem motivated to do well. Sr. Jr. tried out for the tennis team yesterday. He thinks he did well enough to make the next round of try-outs, so I'm anxious for him to get home to find out if he's right. We're starting to add in all the after-school activities, like piano lessons, Hebrew school, and soccer. The weather's been gorgeous. Can't complain.

So far, the only person who can complain is poor Mr. T, who's been socked in at work. There never seems to be any in between for him; he's either too busy and stressed, like he is now, or worried that he's not busy enough.