Homeschool Co-op class prep

With autumn rapidly approaching, I've been doing some planning for the fall classes at our homeschool co-op. This term, I've been tapped to teach a class on embellishing ready-to-wear.

Just to test some of the patterns in this book, I put Dancing Diva to work transforming some men's t-shirts I picked up on the clearance racks at the local Target. On the seat, you can see the t-shirt as it originally looked. Across the back of the chair is the new look created by Dancing Diva. She used 2 t-shirts to make this camisole with braided straps.

Pretty cute, if you ask me.

In kitty news, we've noticed a new Harley behavior that has us rolling on the floor, laughing.

I'm not quite sure what the appeal is under there, but the kids sure get a kick out of watching him crawl around under the rug.

In knitting news, I've cast on a new pair of socks.

Just for a portable project . . . really. I am going to finish more UFO's, honest. I just had to have something I could do while waiting for kids. Truly, that's the real reason.

I am using the leftovers of the 3 yarns I hand-dyed a few years ago to make a striped pair of socks. What is really exciting about this is I figured out how to spiral knit in the round, so that there are no jogs between stripes.

It is utterly fascinating to me how someone figured this one out. For a very detailed description of how this works, check out Grumperina's great tutorial.
It did take me 3 tries to get it going and I do have one mistake in them but they are so colorful and vibrant, I doubt anyone but me will ever notice the goof.
I am doing a simple 1x1 ribbing for the sock, with plain stockinette on the sole.

Between the extra knitting time at various appointments and kids' activities, not to mention the heavier yarn, this project is going fast.

Oh, and I'll get right on those UFO's, too. Maybe . . .

Olympic challenge

Being a bit of a non-conformist, instead of joining the Ravelry challenge or any of the other Olympic challenges that happen to be going, I made the decision to challenge myself to finish as many UFO's and WIP's during the games as possible.

Perhaps it was a little less rebellion and a bit more guilt about the state of my UFO pile but, nevertheless, I just couldn't cast on something new without feeling like a flibbertygibbet or a gad-about.

In that quest, I've managed to finish two pairs of socks since the Olympics have started. Both were part of the Year In Socks challenge and now I am only 2 months behind in socks. While I'm on a UFO finishing quest for the duration of the Olympics, I have already selected yarn and am going through patterns so that I can cast on the July challenge as soon as the Olympics are over. I'm also mulling over the August and September rules and making some plans. The idea of finishing 7 pairs of socks in 5 months is certainly intimidating but doable.

Kinda like the women's gymnastics all around competition last night. While Nastia and Shawn seemed to be getting the short end of the scoring stick in the first two rounds (what the h*** was up with that???), they still managed to stay focused and win the gold and silver. WTG, girls!

Anyway, I'm well on my way to finishing Dancing Diva's ballet shrug and my new hockey vest, so stay tuned for updates on more UFO elimination rounds in the week to come.

Go, USA!!!

Sick computers and other complications

It's been a long week - a very long week. I've had a very sick computer with multiple viruses, no ability to upload photos due to increased security measures I can't alter at the moment, and an sudden increase in activities children require transportation to and from, which has kept me out of the house and away from my poor, languishing PC.

Needless to say, I have lots to blog about but no TIME or PHOTOS.

Bear with me, friends, while we work out our technical difficulties.