I know – a shock isn’t it?

I finally got buttons on the kindergarten sweater.  It’s Tater’s Cotton Cardi but done in Vanna’s Choice because, well, it’s going to kindergarten.  I figure sturdy and machine wash and dry is good in this case.  It’s an adorable pattern and I will certainly not hold my inability to get or maintain gauge and my studious ignoring of gauge issues against it.

In another attempt to keep the girly girl warm on her way to the bus in the mornings I also made her a pair of legwarmers. These totally do not comply to uniform code so she can’t wear them all day.

They’re Patons wool using a modified rpm stitch pattern from Knitty with some ribbing at the top and bottom.  Plus pom-poms.

There are mitts that match and a request for a scarf and hat as well.

to bring you the quote of the month from my stack of grading:

Chinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. Chinese philosophy has been made to fit the many schools of thought and conditions in China.

A Hat in Time is brimming with 37 hat patterns to knit and crochet, ranging from the simple to the complex, the traditional to the hip, the cozy to the cute. It was inspired by the generosity of campaigners who knitted hats for the now closed Knit One Save One Campaign. The book celebrates 90 years of Save the Children’s work for children and is sold in aid of the independent international children’s charity. All patterns were donated for this publication by their designers and all profits made from this book will go towards Save the Children’s vital work.

Steffi emailed me a couple of months ago on Ravelry and asked if she could include the Irish Hiking Hat and now an updated version of the hat pattern is in there!  Squee!

It supports a great cause and there are some seriously cute hats in there.  It’s on Lulu currently for purchase as a download but there are plans to also do a printed version.

The first loose tooth showed up Sunday morning.  I knew I had seen some tooth fairy pillows on Ravelry and sure enough I had even thought to favorite one of them.  Given the looseness of the tooth I figured the simpler the better so I ended up with the KnitPicks pattern worked up in Lily Sugar ‘n Cream.

She wanted the pocket in blue and I added a face to the other side.

The tooth fell out Tuesday and the Tooth Fairy was much happier to get the tooth from the pillow pocket than to have to rummage around under her pillow.

Poor neglected blog.

I mostly blame Facebook.

The lack of a need to write anything substantial there. Ive been teaching the second half of the summer as well as prepping a new class for fall.  I haven’t had the mental energy left over to do anything more than a random status update.

The games.  The games on Facebook have sucked me in and eaten up my crocheting and knitting time.  I haven’t finished any thing since May.  What I have been working on in bits and pieces is woefully uninteresting for “in progress” photography – a garter stitch shawl and a one-row pattern scarf.

I suppose I must also blame the heat – I haven’t really cooked anything interesting  recently because I hate cooking when it’s hot.  What I have been cooking/baking isn’t really blog-worthy.  Or it’s either stuff I’ve already posted.

One thing I have been making with some regularity is zucchini bread. The one zucchini plant in the garden has given us several zucchini.  One was over 5 pounds when DH found it hiding under a leaf!  We lost most, if not all, the corn in a storm last week but the tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. I see a large pot of spaghetti sauce in my future. The eggplant has also been very giving.  I have three in the fridge and two more in the garden about ready to pick.  I’m thinking eggplant parmesan for dinner tonight.

The one interesting thing I have made was peach jam. I had never made peach jam – strawberry jam and strawberry-ruhbarb jam, yes – but not peach.

The verdict is, if you don’t mind peeling the peaches, YUM!

I just used the recipe on the box of SureJel (though using about a half cup more peaches and tossing in a teaspoon of vanilla) and ended up with 6 half-pint jars full.

One of which is now half empty

I’ll probably make another batch while peaches are in season.

ChaosGirl started kindergarten.  Aack!  She’s riding a big yellow bus every morning and probably just getting to school about now.  While there was a reasonable amount of stuff to be done to get ready none of it was really interesting.  I’m not a writer who can make scrounging Goodwill for school uniforms sound interesting.

I did score a REALLY good find while I was hunting uniforms.  I always check the locked display cases just to see what’s there.  One day there was a what appeared to be new-in-box Leapster 2 marked at $14.99.  And it was pink.  These things retail for $70 and even on Amazon are still around $55.  I snagged it fully expecting it not to work.  We put batteries in and it powered up, so far so good.  ChaosGirl tried to put her name in and we discovered the stylus didn’t work.  Well, I figured that’s why it was $14.99.  i’m getting ready to hit the LeapFrog site when glancing through the instruction pamphlet I notice a small section on recalibrating the touch screen.  Bingo! Works like a charm. Apparently neither the original owner or the folks at Goodwill had read the instructions.  I was “the best mom ever” for at least a couple of days after that

I can’t believe it’s almost the end of July already.  I honestly don’t know where the month went.  The zucchini plant is taking over the garden and we have itty-bitty carrots and almost-ready corn.  Knitting and crocheting have still been slow – not because of any issues from the carpal tunnel surgery but more becuase I got out of the habit of sitting down with yarn after ChaosGirl went to bed.  When I had my hand all wrapped up I would play on Facebook for a bit in the evenings and I’m still to be found over there most nights.

I think I needed a bit of a blog break too.  I just haven’t had much to say the past month or so.  My brain hasn’t been working too well and I’m still not sure the new meds are helping that much.  Plus I’m teaching the second half of the summer which makes me really not want to type more than I already have to.

So, yeah, lame post covering for month-long abscence.  No promises to do better next month either.

I can has inertia?

The garden on June 1st

The garden on June 23rd

DH has been eating on the radishes for a week or so.  There are 2 baby green tomatoes and both the beans and the zuchinni have a lot of blooms.

Yay!

I know posting here has been really sparse so it seems kind of silly to say “posting will probably be non-existent for the next couple of weeks.” I’m having carpal tunnel surgery on my right wrist tomorrow so all that fun stuff that requires the use of my hand like typing, crocheting, knitting, baking, etc. are going to be seriously limited. Depending on how this goes I may be getting the left wrist done later this summer. Yick.

BTW – I’m on Facebook but under my real name. If you want to link up there drop me a comment and I’ll email you. I play Mafia Wars and Pirates if you’re looking for more crew.

PS – April and DH, I blame you both equally for this new FB addiction. Just saying.

Something finished:

a wedding present for my lovely eldest niece and her new groom

Something in process:

Stevia, Basil, and starts of Cushaw

Corn, Tomatoes, Carrots, Radishes, Zuchinni, and Eggplant

Something brand new:

KPPM from Loopy in Chicago