Lots o' Stuff

Since my last big post, a few momentous occasions have happened for me in the world of knitting. Firstly, I got to hear Kay and Ann of Mason-Dixon knitting speak at Threaded Bliss Yarns in Brentwood. I bought their book, and was fortunate enough to have it autographed by both Kay and Ann. This picture was taken in front of the Cascade 220 wall (aka. "The Perfect Yarn" wall).















About a week later, I got to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee speak. She was ridiculously funny. I presented her some Goo-Goo Clusters, which you can see as a bright glare in this picture




I also started (and have since completed) my first pair of socks. Here's a pic of my sock with the famous travelling sock. Mine is on the right.















Here's a picture of my first sock on my foot. Woo!
















Those socks were made with Arcania Wool (or something like that), and aren't really very comfy. I think my feet are a little too sensitive for a worsted weight sock. When I took it off, I could see all the purl bumps on the top of my foot. I'll keep these socks, since they were my first pair, but I probably won't wear them again. On to real sock yarn!

Let's see...I have a few pictures from the fourth of July, where I spent the day knitting on my second pair of socks. The yarn is Simple Stripes from Knitpicks, in a color that I think they're sold out of. My friend Urs sent me two skeins of this yarn in a package. Here are a few shots of the fireworks, including one of the sock enjoying the night.











































See that blob? That's the sock. The sock has been put on hold for a bit, due to a frustration that took an hour and a half to fix. It seems that one of my decreases came undone, and it was impossible to tell exactly where it was supposed to go. I had to pull out all the stitches I picked up, as well as take out the heel and some of the heel flap rows. I'm at the point of re-turning the heel, but I'm giving it a break for awhile.

Baby Riley
Riley is officially a year old! His birthday was on May 14th. He's a good boy. I took him to daycare yesterday, and he did really well around all the little kids. I was worried that he might be too excited and spastic around them, but he did a lot better than I expected him to. Here are some pictures from Riley's birthday.






Medical Update
I've been on my thyroid medicine for about a month now, and I'm not sure if I'm feeling an effect or not. I've had some good days, but I've also had some really bad ones (meaning I sleep most of the day). I've also attempted to change my schedule around so I wake up earlier and go to bed earlier. I function better staying up later, but unfortunately the rest of the world doesn't work like that. Riley and I have been getting up between 8 and 8:30 (*way* early for me) and walking. It's been pretty hot here, so some days it's harder to walk than others. We have a mile and a half circuit that we do if we don't get too hot. So anyway, I'm attempting to do some things for my health, and I guess we'll see if everything works out.

School
I finished my first year of grad school on July 1st. At this point I have a 3.787 GPA (without my last class factored in yet), which I'm pretty happy about. I have two classes I could've done better in, but oh well. I still don't have an internship site, and classes start back in a little under a month. Goodlettsville Middle School is our backup, so that's probably where I'll end up. It's amazing to me that we don't have more connections with children and adolescents in the Nashville area. The two options I've been given are Goodlettsville or a school out in Dickson. Dickson is 50 miles from me, so that's not very feasible with my schedule. The weird thing is that my mom went to high school where Goodlettsville Middle is now. I just hope (if that's where I end up) that they know how to use me and can give me some good experience.

I guess I'm all caught up for now. I need to run to the bank at some point today (I hate going to the bank), and then I have one of Scott's shows tonight. One of my favorite wrestlers is going to be there, so I'm excited about that. I plan to take my knitting, and hopefully will get some done during the more boring matches/intermissions. Next week is a work week, and I'll be there from 12-6 everyday. I might babysit on Friday, depending on how things work out. It's been years since I've done any babysitting though, and I'd have no clue how much to charge. If it's just one baby, it would be pretty easy and I should have time to knit when he sleeps. I like being with babies, so this could be fun. I guess I'll see on Monday if the times work and such.