knitting librarian

Christmas today was amazing. AJ has really gotten into the joy and excitement of Christmas and was beside himself this morning. We told him that we were going to wait for Nonna and Pop to come before we opened presents. They went to see Ryan open his presents at 8am and got here by 10am. Last night, AJ got some gifts from my cousins and aunt and uncle. One was a game where you try to collect the fewest monkeys from a tree while pulling picks out of the tree. The monkeys remind me of miniature cocktail monkeys. We played the game this morning in bed until about 9:45 when we got up to get ready for the grandparents arrival. I won the first time and lost the second game. AJ won the second and then gave me the requisite “I won! You lost! HA HA!”

Despite planning to do very little for Christmas this year in the spirit of staying on budget, our tree was bursting with gifts. I got some lovely earrings from John and another set from the kids. John got a DVD he’s been requesting for years, in addition to a few other requested gifts. At least the movie was a surprise. AJ got the Green Ranger he was hoping for and a hat that I knit for him and embroidered with a Spider-man spider. He also got a long note from Santa which he was very excited about hearing.

We’re so fortunate to have all that we need and more. I count my blessings every day for my wonderful husband, children, and our extended families. Thank you Lord for the blessings you’ve bestowed on me and for the greatest gift of all, Your Son. Merry Christmas everyone.

I’ve finally photographed my gift for Steph’s baby shower and can get them to the mommy-to-be tomorrow. (With a month to spare before the baby’s due.) I used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Superwash Wool in River, a gorgeous mix of blue, aqua and plum.
I used the Ear Cozies pattern from FiberTrends and the thumbless mitten pattern from Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots by Zoe Mellor. I absolutely love that book! There are so many great sweaters in it that I keep saying I’m going to make. Someday I may even follow through! I had to adapt the mitten pattern as it was intended for 3-6 months, but I hope they came out so they’ll fit Wyatt for a little bit at least!

So, here’s the picture of the hat (with a link to the set). I can’t believe how tiny they are. I can’t believe that Zoe and AJ were that tiny, but of course they were. I do hope that Steph likes them (and if she doesn’t that she spares my feelings!)

We got together tonight at my friend Theresa’s and knit and visited. It was a nice evening in spite of the fact that I didn’t really get to knit anything. I took yarn and needles for AJ’s ear cozies hat, but I didn’t really have the right size needles and it didn’t make sense to keep working when I knew I was just going to have to rip it out later. I did knit for about an hour anyhow, just to do something, but then Theresa sat down and needed some help, so I stopped, did my ripping quick and reminded her of the lesson she’d had the last time we tried this out.The kids were well-behaved and we had a nice (not-my-own, not obligated to jump at the screaming) child-free time.

After my day at work, I was glad to have some peace and a working toilet! The school’s water pumps were not functioning properly and the second floor toilets wouldn’t flush. They shut them down at noon and the kids had to go to the first floor “but the ground floor would be better” if they needed to go. A few of my reference questions this afternoon and Wednesday were “where should I go to the bathroom?” It’s kind of funny that they come to me, but I guess that they know they’re not interrupting someone else’s class if they come ask me. I sure hope that things are up and running tomorrow!

(I confess I’m posting after the conclusion of November 1 in my time zone, but I haven’t gone to sleep yet, so it’s still the first day of November for me.)

I don’t have anything profound to say but I did have a crazy day at work! I had classes 4 periods and another 100 kids that came from individual classes. We found a book I thought someone “borrowed” without checking out yesterday. Whether they took it and returned it or whether we just couldn’t find it, I’m glad it turned up!

Yesterday I took some pictures of MPOW and it made me realize just how bad it looks. When I started three years ago, the average copyright date of a book in my collection was older than me. I’ve now got it to closer to 15 years old which is better but as you can see, the shelves are extremely empty. The low shelves in the foreground should have three rows of shelves but I don’t have the books to fill two rows, so why have three? The shelves in the background don’t have anything on the top or bottom rows (there are four rows with books on them in each set of shelves) and as you can see the last two sets are completely empty. I guess the good news is, they’re using the books that they can find now that all the old stuff is gone. We’re planning to apply for some grants and hopefully we’ll get some additional funding to help improve the collection and get more current fiction and informational books that the kids are interested in reading. The colors in this room make me think it was done in the 70s but surprisingly, it was only built (an addition) in 1986. Who thought orange walls and yellow/tan carpet would be attractive? We’re pricing some custom banners and window treatments to improve the look, but I don’t know how much it’ll help. Anyone have any suggestions?

Tonight, I knit some thumbless mittens for a baby shower at work on Monday. The Ear Cozies hat was knit while watching football on Saturday night. I hope that mama likes the colors! I think they’re gorgeous…pictures when they’re finished (ends sewn, etc.)

I got my Ravelry invitation tonight and have been fiddling around for the last 2 hours trying to learn how to use it. It’s pretty self-explanatory—I’m mostly making it harder than it needs to be!

Back to revelling in Ravelry!