A New Scout

This is G2 on his first night of Cub Scouts. We've been waiting for this for a long time after watching G1 and all of his Scout activities. G2 was so excited about this. At the meeting the boys got to decorate Halloween treat bags and play a cool game of unwinding themselves from each other. G2 had lots of fun and gave it a big thumbs up! Plus, he looks really cute in his uniform.

I'm Back

I've been gone a while. I've had some computer difficulties. My old computer, which was working fine, crashed. We had a big storm coming in July, so I decided to unplug the computer. Looking back, that was probably not the best idea. Well, the storm never really came. I tried to turn the computer back on and it wouldn't turn back on. After about a week, I took it to Best Buy to get it fixed. After they had it for two weeks, they let me know that they could fix it for about $400. I decided to go ahead and get a new one. I had them keep the old one to try to get the info off the hard drive. Info like my kids' pictures for the past 3 years and all my music. After another week, they told me they couldn't do it there. They could send it away to have it done where it would cost around $1500. $1500 that I didn't have, especially after just having bought a new tower. So after all that... I'm back.

I finally got my Ravelry invitation today. I never thought it would come. Last time I checked there were about 3000 people ahead of me. My heart jumped a little when I saw the email invite! I'm so excited to get started on it.

I don't have any new knitting pix to show. I'm still working on the Tweedy Vest I had started in my last post. I did knit a pair and a half of socks in the meantime, though.

I do want to post about something we did last summer. We went to the Mansfield Reformatory. And I'd like to say that it was awesome. The movie "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed there. We took the Hollywood Tour, which showed a lot of the rooms where the movie was made. Take a look at these pix:





This is G1 and G2 in front.

In the movie, this is where Brooks and Red carved their names (this is a reproduction. the real one was stolen.)

The hole in the wall where the warden kept his safe. The safe was taken out after the movie was completed.

This is the warden's office where Andy locks himself in and plays music over the intercom system and the guards have to smash the window to unlock the door.








This tour was great. The tour guide, I think his name was Greg, was excellent and knew so many facts about the prison itself and the movie. It was very interesting and he does a terrific job.

This prison was also on an episode of Ghost Hunters on the Sci Fi channel. We got to see some of the places they went, too. I didn't the prison was spooky at all, but we were there in the daytime. I definitely wouldn't want to spend the night, which you can for about $50.

Other than that, I've spend the summer preparing for school, which obviously has already started now. I switched from 11th grade British Lit to 10th grade American Lit. I've been rereading stories and coming up with plans.

Fun trip yesterday

Yesterday my knitting group (all 4 of us!) took a trip to The Olde Yarn Loft in Somerset. Wouldn't you know I didn't think to bring a camera. We first went to The Clay Haus, which a restaurant that was built in the early 1800s. We had a good lunch and then went on the The Olde Yarn Loft (I don't think it's online). Kim Christman, the owner, sat with us while we knit. She did a variety of things--she knit for a while (she's just starting to do lacework), she worked on a scarf on a loom, she did some spinning, AND she showed us the triangle looms her husband makes on which she weaves shawls. She is quite the jack of all trades! Needless to say we were there a while. I was able to get a couple of pattern repeats done on the Tweedy Vest. I'm almost to the armholes.

We had a great time and we all came away with great purchases.

In the 3rd picture is the yarn I plan on using to make the Tomato sweater. It's Berroco Ultra Alpaca. In the pic on the bottom in the middle is my very first skein of Cherry Tree Hill. I was so excited to see it. I got the Wild Cherry colorway. And on the right are 3 balls of Universal Yarn Deluxe Chunky Long Print in a color called Sea and Sand, which I will probably make My So-Called scarf with.

We stopped on the way home at Tom's Ice Cream Bowl. I treated myself to a one-dip banana split. It was yummy. I hardly ever eat ice cream.

We had a great time!

I also finished reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd this week. I liked it pretty well.

It's been a while

I realized yesterday that it's been a while since I posted on this blog. I'd better get in gear! Some knitting has been happening. Right now I'm working on a pair of socks using this pattern. It's super easy to remember. I have this thing for cables right now. I was going to knit a cabled pullover vest for one of the men in my family, but after asking around, I found out no one would ever wear except when I was around. At least they didn't let me go ahead and knit it out of politeness, I guess. So I'm going to make myself a pink one.

We went to South Carolina to visit my family. I visited The Peace of Yarn in Matthews, NC. I picked up some Rowan Big Wool to make my vest, four skeins of Fortissima Socka, and one skein of Austermann Step with jojoba oil. I've been wanting to try Austermann Step for about a year. From what I've seen, I like how the stripes come out wide. If anyone knows of any other sock yarn that comes out in wide stripes, please let me know.

While visiting my family whom I hadn't seen since Thanksgiving, I realized how bad my dad's eyesight is getting. He was diagnosed with macular degeneration a few years ago and his sight has become bad lately. He is now completely blind in one eye and can only see 25% of what healthy eye sees in the other. He has stopped driving. I had to help him down steps and read a wall menu at a fast food restaurant for him. I can't put into words how I feel about this. Simply, it makes me cry.

The kids, Katie (my sister), and I went to Carowinds and had an awesome time. It wasn't crowded at all. The lines weren't long. The weather was great. We rode a lot of water rides and after riding the Nickelodeon Flying Super Saturator, we were completely drenched. We saw the parade with all the Nick characters, too. It was fun.

We're off to Buckeye Lake tomorrow for their fireworks show. Have a good 4th, everyone.

Cub Scout Day Camp Day 1

We had a good first day. The theme is Gizmos and Gadgets and the weather was fantastic. 78 degrees with a breeze. We didn't even sweat--much. Our first activity was building a rocket. We used a film canister, put water and half of an Alka-Seltzer tablet in, put the lid on quickly, turned it over, and it shot up in the air. Pretty cool. This is a pic of the kids working on their rockets.
















We also had a "Flag Respect" given by a Korean War Vet that was interesting. I learned quite a few rules about handling and hanging the flag that I hadn't heard before. I also learned that when the flag is properly folded--ending up with a triangle--that each fold symbolizes something different. He named several things. I tried to look it up but couldn't find it. Graham and I decided to take a few pictures of the flag as we were looking up at it. This is one of our better ones.




More scout camp posts tomorrow.

Balloons and Knitting

Knitting has been slow lately. I did a 10x10 square for my knitting group's throw we're making from the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar. We started with January 1, which I think without looking it up, is basket rib. I'm using acrylic yarn that I've lost the band for. It should be easy to wash.

I also finished the reversible scarf from Cables Untangled. I gave that to Graham's kindergarten teacher. Miss Cores, as an end of the year gift. We were really sad that she would no longer be his teacher. She was awesome.

An annual local event that we always look forward to is the Hot Air Balloon Festival. The balloons land pretty close to my in-laws and we sit in their backyard and watch. Sometimes the balloons fly really low. Low enough so that you can yell up the the people in them. We can hear them coming when they light the fires to heat the air. Here are some of the pix we took yesterday.

They also do a "night glow," which means they illuminate the balloons after it gets dark. They are really pretty. You can also go up close during this time and talk to the balloonists(?).

No knitting posts lately

because I have been so busy grading papers and I just finished a really good book. I stopped working on the Reversible Scarf from Cables Untangled that I posted about way back on April 8. I picked that back up last weekend and am now about 1/3 of the way done. I'm such a slow knitter. My knitting group and I have started making blocks using the 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar. We're taking turns picking which pattern to knit and all knitting the same pattern at the same time. We started with Jan. 1. Now that the school year is coming to a close, I have lots of knitting projects in mind. I just wish I could knit faster...

I wore my Mary Jane Crocs today for the first time. I've had them for a while, but the weather has been so hot I've just worn sandals. The Crocs are SO comfortable. It's like walking on marshmallows. They aren't exactly the most attractive, but they're kinda cute. They feel great on the feet, though.