Silly Contest...with a Real Prize!

Ok, I could've sworn that the LAST issue of Interweave Knits was the LAST issue of my subscription, but given that my real LAST copy arrived in the mail a couple days after I bought one at the newstand, I guess I was mistaken.

So, I have an extra copy of IK Summer 2007 (I'll even pick up mailing costs) for anyone who can give me a great, good, or merely workable answer to the following question:

What can I knit for my kids' teachers? It's that time of year again and I'd like to make small gifts for at least some of them. (FWIW, the girls have two male teachers, a female teacher and two female EAs amongst them)

Quick/clever/fun are all useful criteria.

Oh, I have started a little something for one of the male teachers. It's only about 25% of the way there, so I'll hold off picture posting until I have a bit more to display!

Thanks in advance!

We're Number One..yeah...We're Number One

Ok, I'm not number one. On a good day, I think I'm closer to number 23 in my life. I'm using the royal 'we' to refer to my daughter Clare. Hey, I'm a mum, I'm allowed some bragging rights!
Today was the local school's track and field meet and my dd Clare won 4, (not two, not three, but four) first place ribbons.

I'm so proud I could burst. Now, appreciate that my girlhood athletic career was at best non-existent and at worst fodder for years of therapy. Clare's prowess is evidence of genes skipping generations (MIL was quite an athlete)...or disputed parentage...(did I mention that MIL was an accomplished amateur athlete?)
Anyway, Clare (our youngest, who has been reassigned the role of oft-neglected middle child by fate) is basking in her triumph...and so I am happy...happy that she is happy...cuz remember, a mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child, and all of my children are in pretty high spirits today!

BTW, older sister Ellery placed third in shotput. Ellery is much more like her mother (looks, temperment, athletic ability) than Clare, so any ribbon is a huge accomplishment. Shotput might be Ellery's forte though. When it comes to our natural abilities, Ellery and I are; to quote my schoolfriend's grandfather when he described how he and his brothers selected wives in the old country... "not much like pretty face, but strong like ox!".

Yup, I shoulda tried shotput.

Oh, Gillian is doing well too. Her recent tantrums at school have subsided and days are once again uneventful, plus today, I made cake! Life is good!

Weekend Snaps!

Mothers and Daughters Weekend

Not much knitting to report. I'm working on a ribbed, drop-stitch sweater that is boring to knit and shows very little progress. So, weekend pictures instead!

Four other local mommies with daughters invited E, C and I to a weekend of wilderness fun!
After school on Friday, my neighbour and I packed the kids into her minivan and headed out of the city to a distant YMCA camp. It's sort of "camping lite". Cabins, but with water and electricity. Oh and you get to eat in a mess hall, so no cooking! The staff arranged lots of fun activities involving daredevil stunts and embarrassing photo opportunities...here are the highlights:

The teeny little object dangling from a rope is Ellery on the "Giant Swing".

A very happy camper!

Team uniforms ...dorky, but it made it easy to spot each other in the woods!!

Hanging by the lake...

Clare and Natalie made it all the way to the top of the "Dangling Duos" climb in record time. Not surprising to those who know Clare...she is a monkey.

Ellery and Clare on the "Low Ropes"

And mum...No laughing.

So, lots of bugbites and some very tired kiddos at school on Monday, but otherwise a spectacular weekend. Oh, and DH had fixed curry for my Mother's Day meal when we arrived home. What more could you ask for?

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step

Pictures of the trip when I get a minute to sort them...

In the meantime, from Stephannie at "And She Knits Too"

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.


Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental Knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
American/English Knitting (versus Continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic Knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair (unintentionally only)
Hair accessories
Knitting in public


Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

Happy Mother's Day to me...

Once again, not much knitting, cuz things have been silly busy.


Mother's Day is this weekend and to celebrate, I'm taking two of my three daughters on a "Mother-Daughter" Camping trip up north. I'm not sure what medications I was taking when I agreed to this.

First of all, I'm not a camper. I camped with school trips in high school, pitched tents in the driving rain illuminated only by headlights, built cooking fires from soggy kindling, begged tentmates to accompany me out into the dark, scary woods at midnight when nature called at inopportune moments and did not enjoy it. In university I majored in biology...plants and animals. I believe it was preparing for yet another "data collection" trip , while I was being instructed in how to construct an impromptu igloo using nothing more than my snowshoe, that I first contemplated public accounting. Or maybe it was when I fell through the ice covering the pond whilst collecting "mouse box" data...one or the other...but you get the idea. I'm no nature girl.

Somehow my girls' friends' convinced their mothers to convince me to take them on this "bonding experience".

I've been busy with a zillion other kid-related activities: Church plays, Folk Dancing Jamborees, a myriad of lessons, school fundraisers (including an inhumane amount of paperwork associated with a raffle) and so I haven't had too much time to get stressed about the trip. My fellow travelers have remedied that by providing lists of things that I will absolutely, positively need to have close at hand. Sunhats, sunscreen, sleeping bags, flashlights...I was prepared for that stuff, but the bug spray and mosquito netting kinda knocked me for a loop. Apparently, besides mothers and daughters, there will be other guests at the camp this weekend.

The dreaded Black Fly and
The common mosquito.
So, I'm preparing for a Friday afternoon departure, packing my sun and insect repelling supplies, ensuring that I have dry footwear for three days (cuz of course it's scheduled to rain this weekend), locating maps, flashlights, OTC medications and mommy potables to last the duration of the trip and sewing lead weights into the clothing of my youngest...cuz she's smallish and might otherwise be carried off by the flying insects.

wish us luck.

Oh, FWIW, I will bring my knitting.