Pop Goes the Weasel

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel.
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun.
Pop Goes the Weasel!

The center of winders were made of mulberry because the grain is less likely to split. The arms going around were called the monkeys. The weasel is the latch on the base of the winder that pops when it's full. Pop goes the weasel!

Thanks Carmichaels flea market guy.

welcome to south western pennsylvania

I Voted.

and Rachel (me7of11) will be proud to know that her scarf was a part of an historical moment in democracy. Man- those other people in line looked SO Bored. I only had to wait 45 minutes.

I may have picture proof later on but the sign in the voting parking lot from Republican candidate Hopkins said "Rednecks Vote Here." It was part of an ongoing slime campaign against John Murtha.

Not Rednecks vote there too and you can be sure Hopkins didn't get my vote.

Goodies on the Way

Friday (November 7) marks the beginning of my 43rd year on this planet.

To honor and celebrate this occasion, the following presents are on the way. The first two in the form of a Scout's Swag gift card from the mama and the last from Mr. Sophanne. Since I had to order it, I engraved it for him to give to me.

All are scheduled to arrive within the week WooHoo and while I never really need anything- birthday presents are so much fun!






What I really want for my birthday though is a president I can stand to listen to for the next four years. GO VOTE!

chilly toes?

Bust the misti alpaca chunky weight from the stash- grab some size 10 dpns and in an hour and a half, problem solved. 30 stitches in case anyone's interested.

I am forever wearing socks to bed and struggling to take them off and it makes me crazy. I just realized what the term "bed socks" means.

BOO!

Hey- THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of the entries in my Halloween Costume Contest.

And the winner is Angela from Larksongknits

I really enjoyed all of the pictures and the costume descriptions.

I love blogland.

Mice are to Mr. Sophanne as Moths are to Wool-lovers. I think it has something to do with his Brooklyn background and knowledge of rats.

Last night we heard the skittleskuttle of teeny mice feet on our ceiling tiles. This happens every time the weather gets a little chilly. Annabelle the cat usually takes care of them while they're outside.

Mr. Sophanne overheard them and decided that he needed to put some mice-killing-stuff in the ceiling tiles. He dutifully banged on the tiles to let the mices know that he was coming.

Apparently there were a couple of deaf mice- or maybe they're sound sleepers. A squeak and a scream (not so much from me) later we had a pile-o- mice killing stuff all over the floor and Mr. Sophanne endured a mouse falling on his head.

There's a mouse in the basement-living room now. With the cat and the dog that we have I don't imagine the little feller will last long. I am not sure, however, how long it will take Mr. Sophanne to come back downstairs and enjoy the new furniture.

Exposure therapy may be the answer. More than once last night (and by more than once I mean about seventyleven times) he said "A Mouse fell on my Head. It wasn't as bad as I thought."

We did do a thorough job of cleaning up the mice killing stuff after the fact. By we, I mean I.

If you plan on doing that Halloween contest post for some scout's swag you've got til tomorrow to get it posted!"

eta- Mr. Sophanne just came downstairs, asked if I'd seen the mouse, beat his chair thoroughly and asked where the cat was.

the cutest pets ever

These rare moments happened during row six of the fifth panel of Oleva's Afghan.

keeping busy

This baby fern scarf by Jill Smith is an unassuming adorable little knit. I'm using Rowan Tapestry and it's my new favorite thing.

Sunday?

Sunday was the last post?

I've got nothing. Guess that's what happens when you're comfort knitting.

Waiting for some more traveling scarves to finish this KAL.

Fiddling with some mittens and scarves but nothing solid yet.

Waiting to give away some scout's swag cash on the Halloween contest.

Waiting for the election to happen.

That's all.

Oleva's Afghan

Lest you think there hasn't been any knitting- here's a fix for you.



Also there have been a couple of mittens in the marle yarn. I've come out of denial and realized- with the help of my friends- that the yarn is too busy for cables. Looking for a hat pattern that will complement the mittens from one-skein wonders.

This afghan is a testament to beauty in simplicity.

completely unrelated

I wanted to title this post "non sequitur" but really struggled with the spelling and didn't want to look stupid until the actual post.

Above is another Mr. Sophanne shot from working on the railroad.

On the other hand (the unrelated part) there's my job. At my school I see some kids twice a week. I see other kids 4 times every 3 weeks. There is one little glitch in the schedule that allows all 15 classes in the building cycle through my room and extra class every 6 days. While I have a guess, there is never any real certainty as to which class will be cycling in on a given day (complicated by the fact that I teach there 4 full days a week and the cycle goes over every day of the week).

We call this class "exploratory." I use the time to do things I might not otherwise have time to do. Over the past 2 months we've been making cool water/oil waves in water bottles to go with the water theme that's part of music class this year (my decision)

Having finished most of the waves I was faced with the next thing to explore. We've been exploring the microphone. If you want to crack a lacka yourself up and a half, slowly lead young children to a microphone. They will be afraid at first. In fact if you just start teaching school by talking into a microphone, they listen a little closer. I'm sure there's an entire sociological study based on this phenomena. BUT... once they get a taste of it and realize that it's not going to implode in their hands their imaginations start to go.

It started with "it's raining cats.." (they were being weather forecasters- possibly connecting to the water theme- forgetting the dogs.) Then it rained shoes. Then I was interviewed about what I was going to do when it started raining shoes. (duh.) Then it rained bombs. Maybe I should have not let this happen but you know, they see enough about war in their lives (it's been going on for nearly their whole lives). I was interviewed about what I was going to do then. I said, "Eat some ice cream."

I was also asked what I would do if King Kong came to life and if Godzilla came and wanted to battle him followed by a pterodactyl that scientists would recreate who would want to eat all of them. I let the interviewee know that K.K. and G were now good friends- they just vacationed together in Hawaii and that there was no way the pterodactyls were coming back.

Later we were told by another forecaster that it was raining cauliflower and we all better hurry up and start eating caulifuckers really fast. Fortunately I was the only one who heard what I was hearing. O.k. I might not have the scenery- but I've got some laughs now and again.

Mr. Sophanne



At Work.


I believe he and I have what are called opposite jobs.

What I learned yesterday

I can knit cables without a cable needle- being careful not to twist didn't work out like I had planned but no biggie- I was going to steek anyway


Crochet up the sides of steeking area.


Make sure you can see the ladders in the middle of the stitch to be cut.


Have at it. No biggie.


This giant swatch is in some water to be blocked and then I'll decide if the yarn is too busy for a cabley-jackety sort of thing with a zipper.

the tweed

That's what his friends call him. Not really.

All about the EPS. Yoke confusion clarified. Considering texture (cables) as a design element possibility. A steek with crocheted edges made easy.

The quote of the day from Mr. Flood himself. He said, "I like to knit." I said, "me too."

Costumes

As I was looking through pictures in search of a favorite costume, it occurred to me that I've worn some sort of costume all of my life. I don't think it has to be Halloween just to call it a costume. I was too lazy to scan and had to do some creative "light" editing to make these photos palatble.

This first picture is the only actual "Halloween" picture. circa 1975, Batesville Mississippi, I was a bum. You could change the channels on the t.v. behind me by shaking up a bunch of pennies.


Just after college at my first job, I often dressed up as a band director


Once I became a general music teacher I got to go to conferences where banquets were "costumed." I made these medieval "digs" with help from the Claw when it was time to insert the grommets in the vest.


Most recently I pretended I was hip new yorker in a photo taken by Mr. Sophanne


I didn't post any pictures of the groupie costume or the maid of honor costume. I was just too skinny then. It depresses me to look at them too long.

Maybe after Saturday I'll have a picture of me in my trendy knitting costume with Brooklyn Tweed

well-developed socks

So named because they were knit only during staff development sessions. It's Online something something that I bought in a destash from The A.D.D. Knitter quite some many months ago. (if you have never seen her stash, it's well worth the trip to Ravelry) The pattern the standard Sensational socks k3,p3 then k1p1. Knit on size #1's -60 stitches and a lovely little fit. The Dog- Liza Jane.

knit night 433rd edition and a CONTEST!

Claire had my favorite line from knit night tonight.

"We should call this the Tuesday Night Rip Club"

Because I am knitting Olives afghan I have no counting or yarn overs or decreases to do and had time to think

A topic that occurred to me is Halloween Costumes.

It makes me want to have a contest.

I think the prize will be a $20 gift certificate to Scout's Swag. Cause I love me some swag.

To enter- tell me about your all-time favorite Halloween Costume.

One entry= if you post about it here.

OR skip the posting here and get two entries if you post it on your blog and put the link in the comments here. Add another entry if you put a picture of yourself in that costume on the blog.

I'll share some knit night favorite costumes and look around for a few pics of my own- just to keep the excitement building.

The contest will end on Friday October 31st- sometime that night. Plenty of time to find those old photos. The winner will be random. Happy October. Spread the word about the contest if you feel like it.

big comfy chairs

Yea, so we figure out how to disassemble our couch AFTER 45 minutes of trying to fit 31" through a 29" door. Couches are heavy. I said, LET'S GET FURNITURE FROM A PLACE THAT WILL DELIVER AND TAKE THE OLD STUFF AWAY. I'M NOT MOVING ANY MORE STUPID HEAVY STUFF.

He said, "maybe we can make this work."

I love it and hate it when he's right.



These are the giant decadent chairs and a love seat for company. LizaJane seems to be company. Many thanks to Vince and Art from the Railroad who came over after work today and helped make it all happen.




The bottom of the old one is still in the driveway. If only we actually lived in WV- we could wait for a big win- a big loss- or the wind to change and we'd be able to get rid of it. Mr. Sophanne says he has it figured out. If you drive by this time next year and it's still there, you'll realize he was wrong- once.

This is what happens when you 1) have multiple projects on the needles and 2) have allowed yourself mindless knitting with no yo's, dec's, or k2tog's. Stuff gets finished.

This lovely Noro scarf will be a present for a teacher at school who reminds me of my sister. I've found that when your family doesn't talk to you, it's best to go out and find replacements.

babette...elle est finis

Full size pictures to follow but it was such a cute "action shot."

w00t!

Guess who's going to hang out with Brooklyn Tweed in a couple of weeks?

I'll be taking the two Saturday classes.

The funny part?

When making plans like that I'm kind of an SNL Chris Farley "That's another one of those things I'm never going to do" character. I mean well but I never follow through and justify not doing so in any number of ways- most of them completely absurd. (e.g. what can Jared Flood tell me that I don't already know? HA! I'm an idiot)

Knit Night Chris proposed going. Knowing my ways of being I said, "Sign me up for whatever you do. I'll copy you." It didn't really occur to me that advance payment would be required and signing up was more than saying "hey, we're coming." (which would sort of prove the first statement about another one of those things...)

At any rate The Knit Night Sage Chris signed me up and fronted me the cash I didn't know I needed and I couldn't be more thrilled

here's what I think*

*These buttons can be purchased here


*This one can be found here.

photo op

No cut off heads here- how else could I show the new specs as well. Note the transitioning lenses.

a photo

Until Mr. Sophanne is in a picturey mood, this will have to do. The biggest bonus of this sweater is that it's the first one I've done that actually FITS!

FLS is done

The ends are woven. I'll attach the buttons tomorrow. There will be pictures tomorrow but I had to have a little blog celebration tonight for a finished object.

re: the last post

Does this mean if I am looking for his dad in the crowd I have to say

"Has anyone seen the Father of Mojo?"

"Who here made Mojo?"

Talking to his mom... Mother of Mojo!

Oh the possibilities... talk amongst yourselves-I know you'll crack a lacka me up.

Name that Kid

fyi- about 25 quick rows left on FLS and 2 1/2 GIANT rows on Babette. In the mean time....

Funny names are a part of my job. It's always a treat to see the new batch of k'ers and what their parents decide to call them.

Given the names I've heard tell of over the years, Gunner and Cannon really didn't strike me as all that funny.

However- this year I have the Mother of All Nicknames. As declared by Mom, Dad, K teacher and classmates, I am required to call a 5 year old child "Mojo."

p.s. edited to add. This Is Not A Lie.

Johnny Appleseed

No knitting here-this is for the handful of music teachers that stop by on occasion and anyone else who wants to laugh.

So I remember hearing the story of Johhny Appleseed when I was in first grade. I loved apples and the story and the telling stuck with me. At a workshop a few summers ago I heard Peter and Mary Alice Amidon sing their version of his story. It was beautiful but I've never really had the right context or skill to pull it off.

I decided to try it again this year. I was pretty sure kindergarten was doing a little theme on apples. I asked those k'ers if they knew what Johnny Appleseed did. One kid said "pass out apples." I said, "sort of. but he passed them out in a special way." I still had hope that they had maybe heard the story but were just forgetting it. A child named "Gunner" (no lie- but not related to the other child named Cannon) raised his hand and said "I believe it was applesauce. Yes, it was applesauce he gave to everyone."

That's funny to me standing alone but when I shared this story with Lydee she reminded me that one of the standard kindergarten dictums to maintain a modicum of order is "criss cross applesauce" to remind them not to sprawl around all over the floor. Lydee wisely said.

"yea, I know Johnny Appleseed- he's the guy who invented criss cross applesauce." I know there are at least 5 of you who are laughing your apples off right now! Lydee-- you crack-a-lacka me up!

Why Mr. Sophanne is a Keeper.

to distract you from the lack of fiber content... Babette will be done before the month is over. Possibly before the week is over.

Our terlet had a leak. Because we have a well, the pile of water leaking through (thankfully not out of) the terlet (don't you love the sound of terlet?) caused a temporary lapse in the functioning of the pump in the well. That was fixed easily by the breaker switch. Whether the fix on the terlet was easy or not, I don't have to know.

Mr. Sophanne said "I think it's fixed. Can you help me for 5 minutes?"
Me: o.k. (dreading the possibilities)
Him: pick up that lid and put it on... now flush. All fixed.

Crack-ed me up.

He had to go to the grocery store for some lunch supplies. He came home, sat on the couch and said, "Stop what you're doing. You have to have one of these." And he handed me a triple chocolate Klondike bar. Holy Sweet Chocolate Heaven.

That Mr. Sophanne. Master of Terlet fixing of Klonkidian Proportions.

Stay tuned for babette.

Money in the bank- Money out of the bank

Money in the bank- if you could harness the unbridled enthusiasm of 5th graders on the first day of choir at my school and sell it, you would have lots of money in the bank. Every year I think, oh no, choir- whatamigonnado? For the last two years they've come into the room with the pre-conceived notion that it's going to be more fabulous than the day they were born and I slowly bring myself up to their standards and/or disappoint them terribly.

Money out of the bank- I'm going to the bank this afternoon. I'm going to the yarn store tomorrow. I have to. I "need" some koigu for the traveling scarves. I want some ultra alpaca to make olive's afghan (ravelry link) Another Larissa Brown original.

Thanks to slightly scolding and disbelieving looks at knit night, I've managed to see that the puppy is calmer in the evening. A trip or two to the crate is what did it. Still want some mindless knitting and Olive seems to be the answer


Just got a message from Ravelry- My photo is up for Lisa Carnahan's Stocking Cap. I almost feel famous.

NEW AND IMPROVED WAKE YOU UP IN A HEARTBEAT ALARM CLOCK!*

"THE DOG'S PEEING IN THE BED!"


Note to Mr. Sophanne- just because she doesn't WANT to go out because she's scared of the thunder and lightning is no reason to let her stay in.


*Patent Pending

yea, sometimes I knit.

This is that scarf for the librarian- I finished it some time ago. It needs reblocking perhaps with some string to straighten out the edges. I can do that by Christmas, right?




My new favorite thing to do- Brooklyn Tweed's Noro scarf- The colors in this one are interesting enough but now that I've learned how to look at the colors a little better on the skein, the next 3 should be even better. Did I say three? Did I buy 12 skeins of Noro? That will be our little secret.

wwsbw*

*What Would Sophanne's Brain Wonder?

At an Eye Exam-

to self- how am I going to keep from laughing when the eye dr.'s big ole eyeball comes a-zoomin' in.

Why don't the handles on this chair pull you back like on the airplane?

to dr.- do you have the letters memorized? (obligatory chuckle from dr.) Do you ever just want to say "NO you BLIND IDIOT! It's a G!!" (another obligatory chuckle)

Why are all of these frames so ugly? Followed shortly by the optician/frame helper asking "Were you thinking you wanted men's frames?"

And in spite of these many thoughts and driving through a university town at traffic time, still there was dinner. Hamburgers, buttered red potatoes and more fresh broccoli.

short and to the point

Chicken Parmesan

Can you believe it? Maybe by the time Yvonne and I have a Saturday in the strip district I'll have something to buy.

One sleeve down, one sleeve to go on FLS. It fits!

update

Almost a week since a post? How can that be?

FLS is getting some sleeves.

Brooklyn Tweed Scarf is on the close to finish side. I love making this scarf. I will make another. I'd never spend 4 Noro skeins worth of yarn on a colleague if it was a Wallyworld present but how can I resist when it's yarn?

Mr. Sophanne is slowly slowly on the mend. As in on his feet an hour or two a day. Apparently this current malaise was caused by a bike fall a few weeks ago when we were biking with Liza. Some kind of pelvis bone stopped moving freely. It manifests itself by a searing pain that appears first in the knee.

I made chili cheese fries last week and banana nut muffins yesterday. No culinary disasters to report. Slowly I am becoming a cooking type.

I'm enough of a pack leader to clip and file Liza's toes but not enough of one to get her to stop the pawing-Sophanne's a chew toy- game.

Bless you for reading this household drivel. Now I must attend to more of it.

huh?

Sports Clinic Dr. Guy: I think I know exactly what's going on here.

Mr. Sophanne: What is it? A sore knee?

Sports Clinic Dr. Guy: A sore knee. It will go away. Physical therapy might help. Meantime here are some even stronger drugs (who knew there was stuff out there stronger than percoset?) so maybe you can sleep for more than an hour at a time.

Those of you who intuitively knew that it's "sick husband house" around here are completely right except he's not really exaggerating.

Tonight's attempt at domesticity came in the form of frozen burritos baked with salsa/bean/cheese layers over them. One would think that 40 minutes at a preheated 350 degrees would have done the trick. Not so. Still a little bit frozen inside. How can that be? You can zap those babies for 2 minutes in the microwave and they're blazing hot.

Fortunately Mr. Sophanne had Chinese food earlier in the day and wasn't hungry. Unfortunately he was sleeping and unable to tell me that there was "ra-men" (what he calls lo mein) in the refrigerator for me.

Liza is still completely puzzled at all household events making it clear that she can still pee on the carpet when she wants and chooses to do so when no one around has the energy to be the pack leader.

74

The number of unread blog posts. How can this be?

Mr. Sophanne has blown out his knee.

I made biscuits and gravy for dinner.

so surreal. all of it.

a change in course

Remember all those hard projects I've got going on? No? That's o.k. I'm tired of knitting hard things. Right now my favorite thing to work on is my Brooklyn Tweed Noro scarf and my eezy peezy socks. I might even frog Salt Peanuts and try something easier. There's no rule that says you have to knit the next hardest thing. If there is, I'm breaking it for a while.

conversations and clarifications

Mr. Sophanne- Writing isn't an expensive hobby but he spends a lot of money supporting my knit night by going to the slots. I wonder if he considers this as cost to my hobby.

Closing Ceremony of the Olympics- After the vastness of the opening ceremony, I think China has 3 choices. Jed Clampett (ya'll come back now y'hear), Porky Pig (th th th that's all folks) or somebody in a Chairman Mao mask waving and saying "bye bye".

Smocking- saw some live and in person smocking last night. Still trying to wrap my brain around it.

KNQDebbie has been MIA from knit night lately. Plans are to get the weed killer from Claire's husband and write a message in her very likely tall grass ala the wicked witch of the west- except it will say DEBBIE COME HOME!

I'm wondering if the Knit Shoppe will tell us if/when their knit night is reinstated- or perhaps this summer canceling was a way to weed out undesirable clientele.

My favorite words to hear yesterday had to do with "suffering fools gladly."

Did I mention that the teachers went back for an inservice yesterday?

Live and In Person

Saw this somewhere else and at notscarlett's blog. Mr. Sophanne said he'd play.

Me: What is your favorite thing about my knitting?
You like it. It's something you enjoy

Me: What is your least favorite thing about my knitting?
It's messy sometimes. It's clutter.

Me: What is something I have knitted that you recall as being good?
The hats.

Me: Those were crochet honey.
I like the one sweater you have.

Me: Do you think knitters have an expensive hobby?
It's not expensive but it's pricey. It can become compulsive.

Me: Do you have any hobbies?
yes

Me: What are your hobbies?
writing


Me: If we compared money spent on hobbies, who would win?
It's even.

Me: Has my knitting in public ever embarrassed you?
never

Me: Do you know my favorite kind of yarn?
alpaca

Me: Can you name another blog?
I don't know any blogs.

Me: Do you mind that I want to check out yarn stores everywhere we go?
no not at all. Gives you something to do. I do heroin. That's a joke.

Me: Do you understand the importance of a swatch?
Is that like a piece of fabric you look at?

Me: It's something you knit
I have no idea- it's not a watch and it's not a piece of carpet you look at.

Me: Do you read my blog?
no

Me: Do you think the house would be cleaner if I didn't knit?
yes, ehh, I don't think so. no.

Me: Is there anything you would like to add in closing?
Happy everybody's happy and I'm happy too.

In knitting- Just as the gymnasts seemed to be overshooting some of there landings last night, I overshot the front below the sleeve on the left side of Salt Peanuts last night. It's frogged and ready to go now. I didn't join ravelympics but maybe this is a trial run. Back and most of left front done.

TRAMPOLINE!?!?!?!?!?

Oh the many things I never knew about Summer Olympic Events.

eta- I wonder if there is synchronized trampoline

Just a nice day.

So I went to Mountain Mama's house.

She lives in a beautiful rural area. In a house that feels like a vacation home every time I visit.

We played with Baby Ben, picked zucchini and onions from the garden, made bachini bread-it's when you don't have quite enough zucchini and supplement with banana (she did the picking and making while I did the playing) and accidentally planned the first week of school so that we wouldn't stress out about it so much.

I didn't get pictures but it was relaxing and one I'd like to read about when life gets a little stressful.

Some Final thoughts on Stuff

Moving "stuff" from downstairs to upstairs does not always decrease the amount of stuff. It does allow for some culling of stuff which is always a good thing.

In the same way that I think startitis in knitting should really be called start-o-rama, I believe there is an aspect of stuff to be examined. The stuff that "clutters" my bookshelves are mementos, gifts from friends, students and colleagues that are important to me. They are souvenirs of the places I've been and the people I've known. They help me remember who I was, who I am, and who I can become. I say thanks life for being o.k. enough for me to have stuff to want to remember it by.

Room One- Mostly Done

Yea, so I wasn't too impressed with this until I took a second gander at the before pictures. The reason I say mostly done is because that pile-o-stuff on the bed belongs at school and is here for only one more week. Upstairs I go.

Intermission

All bookshelves have been moved. More pictures tomorrow. I believe there is something significant in the wall solutions that have come via the interwebs.

Yarnhog gave step by step advice. Yvonne and Deborah both said it was easy to fix- just hard to match the paint. (Painting the wall was not out of the question)

When Mr. Sophanne saw it he said "We'll get an electrical box and a blank plate and make it look like former wiring."

The Claw said-

Miss Sophanne – allow me to prescribe an easy, no mess, no fuss sure-fire way to deal with the damaged wall. There will be no need to make a trip to Lowes for supplies and a return trip to Lowes because you forgot something on the first trip. There will be no need for cleanup afterwards and you will not be adding to the clutter with the left over supplies. And, you will at the same time lower your clutter problem. Considering all of this and the fact that I know you – go to one of the clutter sites – grab a picture and hang it over the hole. the Claw

I like the way the boys think. If only they could wrap their minds around clutter.

Also there was NO pogo stick in the "bad room." It was a keyboard stand (sold to me by the Claw)