Juggling

Dear Mom,
A cloud of volcanic ash has not trapped me in Europe unable to blog. Nor am I buried under an avalanche of yarn. I've just been juggling the usual housework, kid schedules, an attempt to keep up with the yard, some knitting pattern writing and the knitting that goes with them. Throw in some hair appointments and dental visits and you pretty much have my week and not enough time for blogging. Oh. Add a home repair.

After years of failed attempts to locate and fix a leak, we are having the copper roof replaced with shingles. I hated to see the copper go, but once removed, it was clear that we are on the right track. All this activity has the dogs (mostly Patsy) on high alert.

I've lost track of sock progress. I AM working on socks, though. And writing up the pattern for them, so I don't think I am too far off my sock-a-week resolution.

This pair is almost done. Plus it is a Man's pair and that may deserve a hall pass or something. Extra credit maybe.

Isn't the yarn pretty, though?

I've also had fun knitting these:.

A sneak peak at two future patterns for KnitPicks! I'll show you more once they are online there. For now, I have been knitting the samples and writing the patterns. MaryLee has been test knitting one of them for me, giving me some peace of mind, an extra set of eyes and the pleasure of frequent emails from her.

With KnitPicks, unlike my submissions elsewhere, the responsibility for charting, schematics, and photography is mine. Last week I spent most of one school day on the computer learning how and then drawing a schematic on Word and charting a knitter's graph using Excel. I even downloaded a knitting font. Can you believe that I, Kim Wagner, did something, anything, using Excel?!!?  I just know that at the end of that day I had a bad cramp in my right shoulder. And for someone who never got past 27 words per minute in 9th grade typing class (which was my one and only business class, by the way) let me tell you that any success on the computer is a Major Accomplishment. Major. I even had to stay after school to finish the typing assignments. Yes. I was THAT good. 

We are 2 weeks away from Puppy Kindergarten Graduation. If we pass. We need to practice sit-stay and Patsy isn't too quick on learning Shake. Shake is one of the five Requirements to graduate.  Sit-stay for 10 seconds is another. I can't remember the other three. Really. If she doesn't pass, how old does a dog have to be before she is too old for PUPPY Kindergarten?

Love,

Kim

p.s.

I'll leave you with the view out my front window. I would lower the blinds, but Patsy would destroy them in her attempt at Homeland Security.