The Woman, The Legend, The Yarn Harlot

Poking around online a few weeks ago I saw that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka "The Yarn Harlot," was coming for a lecture series in Massachusetts!  And I was pretty excited, I've read most of her books and followed her blog for years.  She is a professional knitter, teacher and writer.  And to knit and yarn enthusiasts, somewhat of a rockstar!  She had come out to Webs last year but the tickets were ridiculously expensive.  (though I admit it I was still tempted!)  Plus the weekend that she was coming to Boston was already chock-full of activity:  my husband's birthday, a 5K that he was running, my nephew's first birthday....etc etc.  Sigh.....next time I guess.

Then I got a text from my friend Jenny, asking if I wanted to go with her.  Wheels started turning in my head....and then she told me the tickets were $20 apiece.  Yeah, I was sold!  We signed up for the Sunday morning lecture at 9am in Dorchester.  I was "gonna make it work."

Sunday morning I head into the city, and discovered one of the nicest yarn stores I had ever been to!  The Stitch House in Dorchester is decent sized, has wonderfully helpful staff and a great selection of yarn.  And more importantly....they hosted the Yarn Harlot.

Let me tell you, Stephanie is every bit helpful, gracious and funny that I had thought, and more!  She talked for three hours (while we all knitted, of course) about the importance of blocking, how to pick out yarn for sweaters instead of just the "OOOOHHHHHH SO SOFT" that many of us use.  (Guilty.)  Not only that, she named names when she was talking about yarn that's bad for sweaters, and she went over all of her tools in her knitting toolbag.  Needless to say, I've got a Christmas and birthday list going.  And the first item on it is a Wanda.  

This woman makes me feel like knitting anything is possible.  I left ready to take on charts and to buy enough yarn to start a really good sweater.  (I'm on sweater hiatus though, at least for myself.  I'm still working on losing more weight and there's no way I want to put all that time into a sweater that will be too big)

Afterwards she was signing books and I was thrilled that I remembered to bring my copy of "Knitting Rules!"  She was also kind to let Jenny take my picture with her, and here it is!

I'm starting a Mom Zombie Gang....Wanna Join?

Sleep.

It's something that I haven't had a "normal" relationship with for years.  It's the bad boyfriend that keeps luring you back with promises of falling asleep easily and waking well-rested. I suffer from insomnia, especially on Sunday nights.  And now we can add anxiety to that list, too, nothing like a brain that's worrying to keep a girl up at night.

But last night was my fault....Hubby's traveling for work and I let the kids sweet-talk me into sharing my bed.  Yeah.....I've had better ideas in my life, especially on a weeknight.  First the little one needed more light, so I left the bathroom door open AND got another nightlight to make him comfortable. Then the big one....man, he is a bed hog.  And the little one is a blanket hog and murmurs in his sleep.  The final straw was getting the knees and elbows of the big one in the back at 3am, and waking up to him sneezing like crazy.  I wandered into their bedroom and got a pillow, and gently transferred the not-quite-awake Will onto the floor with a blanket.  Sean woke up too, and I asked him if he wanted to join his brother on the floor.  "No I wanna stay in the bed."  Of course you do, Darling.

The alarm going off at 6:15am was like an assault to the senses.  Usually they like to pop right out of bed, but they suffered through the snooze cycle with me today.  Will has no memory of me putting him on the floor and was a bit chagrined.  Sean was complaining as we were heading out to the bus stop that he didn't sleep well.  My response:  "None of us did, Baby.  We'll get better sleep tonight."

May tonight bring more sense to this zombie.  (Mombie?)  It's a late day for us too, with karate.  Thank goodness I had the foresight to cook tonight's dinner yesterday--I'm going to be pretty useless tonight but probably will be able to work a microwave.  Probably.

And I Didn't Cry....Much

The big yellow bus came today and took my boys to school.  My younger one for the first time.  And I didn't cry.  He was a bit apprehensive and needed a "Go ahead!  You've got this."  for encouragement.   He was excited right up til that point.  The big kid, well....he was anxious to start a new school but was taking solace in the fact that it's a new school for EVERY kid there because last year it was a middle school and not elementary.

 Here they are, and yes, if Big Bro is wearing a Minecraft shirt then you can be sure the Little Bro is wearing one as well!

Right after the kids got on the bus and we walked home, Hubby grabbed his bags and headed for a work conference in Texas.  There may have been a couple of tears.  And they MAY have been that I don't have my own ticket on the plane, and am running the show this week.  Nah....I'll miss him.  That's the first reason.  The second is jealousy of his nice hotel room all on his own.  I had my turn in Vermont last May, though.

So it's "Friday Night Fun Club:  The Extended Edition" until (you guessed it) Friday.  There will be lots of pasta, school fundraiser, karate class, etc etc.  Oh, and that pesky thing called Work.

Non-Labor Day

Labor Day weekend.  The unofficial gateway to autumn.  Pumpkin spice everything hitting the shelves.  (I love pumpkin flavor but  need a chill in the air first to partake.) 

I'm sitting on the deck, enjoying  a cool day, drinking a cup of afternoon coffee and a recently expired Nonni's biscotti.  (Doesn't make it any less delicious btw)  I've got knitting in my kind, having just finished choosing new projects.  A Christmas surprise, and a baby sweater.  The kids are playing quietly and my big plans for the day are to get my nails done and knit.

But only if I get out of this chair, it's a pretty nice place to be right now.   Sunday and Monday can be all about labeling lunchboxes and hunting down forms, and Hubby getting ready to travel next week.  Cleaning out the hall closet and folding a million pounds of laundry.  Whatever is on the to-do list.