Ten on Tuesday

Ten things that make me feel old:

1) When I realize that I'm legitimately old enough to be the mother of most of my students. (23 years older than the youngest ones!)

2) When I look for books I loved in high school and discover that they've been out of print for almost two decades.

3) When it's 80's Day at school and I have this brief pre-caffeine flash of thinking that everyone suddenly looks NORMAL.

4) When I hear music on the radio, happily remember it from my high school days, then realize that I'm listening to the Oldies station.

5) When I realize that I haven't been a size 10 in almost 8 years.

6) When I tell people that was a natural blonde in high school and they don't believe me (it's brown + silver now)

7) When I realize that my good friend's son is about to graduate from college... he was born our senior year of high school!

8) The realization that I will have to get bifocals pretty soon.

9) Meeting mothers of my sons' classmates who are over 10 years younger than I am... wait, aren't they too young to have kids? Well, no... I just started a little later than they did.

10) Strangely enough, every time I remember that I remember the "Challenger" crash.

The value of the blog

I just amused myself by rereading last year's entries in the blog. I now understand its value: it reminds me of random bits of my past. Like the coughing crud. Or why the red socks ended up being for my younger son when they were clearly styled for my older son.

In other news, I'm tired and I have to cut 10 girls from the volleyball team by Thursday.

I have too many WIPs to count, but the most important ones are these:
Mittens for RK (styled like Druid Mittens but with different cables, about 50% done)
Socks for my mother (yep, they're still not done. They spent almost a year under my dresser in their little bag.)
Mittens for DL
Red Scarf (for the Red Scarf Project)

I was just trying to remember that last great thing I cooked but I can't remember!

What to love...

in the new Knitty?

There's a lot there - the editors' taste really matched up with mine this time!

Hex: I love the geometric shapes, but rectangular shawls aren't all the practical for me... I wonder if I can cut it down to a wide scarf?

Riverbanks: I wouldn't do it in Noro, but the concept and pattern are just about perfect for me.

Margot: if I ever knit myself a sweater, this is probably it! I love the boatneck, the top-down construction, and the little slits on the side.

Clandestine: gorgeous, like everything Cookie A. designs.

HatHeel: sheer wild genius. This will probably be First On the Needles as I need to get working on my sons' winter socks.

Kernel: lovely, just lovely.

Midsummer: elegant and clever, but I worry about how the leaves will feel inside my shoes.

MIA?

I've actually been knitting up a storm, but am 'way behind on the photos, as always. I finished two pairs of Evangeline mitts for friends; they're identical, even coming from the same skein of Cascade 220 Superwash (and knit on #5 needles), so I only offer one photo here:

And in other news, I love flowers and I love my new camera:

Bitten by the quilt bug

I've knit a lot of things in the past six weeks, but the only thing currently worth photographing is this:

A meme

Stolen from Wendyknits:

Your name: Al
a 4-letter word: Aunt
boy name: Alexei
girl name: Alicia
occupation: Amenuensis
color: antimony
beverage: ale
something found in a bathroom: ants
place: Alaska
reason for being late: absent-minded
food: applesauce
something you shout: a-ha!

Thankful

I am thankful for...

my family, who actually let me sleep until 9am this morning
living in a country where Mucinex is sold over the counter
having lots of knitting projects lined up
having a steady job that I love
my dog still going strong at 13 years
all the great books I've been able to read
all the books I haven't read yet
Vegetarian Times and all the great recipes I haven't tried yet
and so many other things...