hey girls! thought i'd start the sept thread since we hadn't yet...what's everyone been up to?

I went shopping yesterday with friends and got more yarn for the blanket i'm making for my neice...i'm so excited about it! I'm also doing scarves for christmas...

I used to love to crochet...I sure wish I had the time for it. What colors did you get yesterday? I love soft angora mixes!

I'm pretty eaten up with school right now. I have my first math test today & am really not feeling ready for it. My art class is going really well & english is ok. Our weather has been so wonderful here....I'm still playing hooky in the afternoons a bit & planning out my fall garden. (should be hitting the books but its soooo pretty) I bought several dark amber colored mums for 1.47...which I thought was a good deal. Also picked up an aster plant, which I'd never seen before. Dark lavenderish color...and one large rose colored mum. Just deep enough pink that it looks good with the orange in a weird way.

Dawn, what are you in school for?

I have a cold! This sucks because I'm too busy to be sick, and that makes me want to comfort eat really badly. But yesterday my favorite professor that I work as a research assistant for told me that my work was really, really good and significantly better than what he'd gotten from his other RAs, and then I answered two questions correctly in my night class and got props from that professor, too. That was good because I was feeling really down yesterday.

Oh, I'd hate to have a cold right now. I hope you get better soon. Good job on the compliment from the professor. Nothing like a compliment on your mental abilities to brighten the day.

My son has a chipped bone in his leg so we are off to the doctor this afternoon to determine what to do about it. He is so upset because he can't play basketball or football or anything else for a while.

Tiki

I finally got some knitting done over the long weekend too. I'm getting close to end of the monster yoked sweater for my husband I started *last* summer. (of course I've knitted a million other things while I've been working on it, heh) I also whipped out a cute tea cozy from last winter's Knitty.

Looks like everyone is in a creative mood this month! I got some sort of lightening bolt idea yesterday that I should do some sort of cross stitch project for people for christmas this year. I am thinking book marks and christmas ornaments, something that can be done easily in bulk.
Any crafters out there with good websites for freebie patterns? I've been searching and have found a few things, but not many paterns available online are actually readable - I know, I'm sooo picky.
The only other thing going on for me right now is counting down to my new job. Ever notice how hard it is to make yourself go to your old job after you've put in notice?

I just started, and am almost finished with, a crochet tam for my friend's baby, who will be born this month. She told me she's really excited about it because most people gave her Summery things, since her family/friends mostly live in CA, but she's living in PA and really needs winter clothes.

My mom's creative genius skipped my generation I guess. She crochets, macrames, quilts, sews, embroiders, ceramics, you name it she does it. I can tie shoes. That's about it.

Turns out my son does NOT have a chipped bone. He is suffering from growing pains. Thank goodness.

Tiki.

Hey guys....Mergatroid, whats your name? I'm fairly certain thats not it but I have not seen your sig on anything? Anyways, I am currently a graphic arts major, intenting to go into web design. It's all a bit tenuous at the moment. Lol. I'm doing fairly well considering that I'm the oldest person in any of my classes. Except math. I'm bombing that hideously...as expected. I've always had issues with math. Sigh. I got "check pluses" on a few assignments. They don't count for anything grade wise but apparently almost no one else got them so I'm tickled pink. LOL...I'm sure a check plus did not make me this happy the first time I was in college! HOpe you get over your cold quickly! Drink lots of aqua!
Tiki, I'm glad your son is doing ok!

Liz, I don't know of any free cross stitch sites....I did recently find one that had X-rated type designs though which gave me a good laugh.

Hannah, is a tam just another word for a baby blanket?

Dawnlizbeth: A tam is actually another name for a beret. I'm making this one adjustable, so hopefully it will fit him for at least the winter.

dawn - heh i'd love to see those cross stitch patterns. how fun.
i found a great book today of celtic cross stitch designs, all easy enough patterns that i could do and small enough projects to get done quickly and in bulk for chirstmas. hope it works out for me. in my spare time at work today i adapted one i found online to a smaller scale and I think it'll come out great. i cam home all excited to get started and discovered that in my move - every needle i ever had for any project has disappeared from the face of the earth. Infuriating! I think it was the underpants gnomes.

ick...colds...chipped bones...and the worst of all, school LMAO...sorry to hear about it all girls...

the other day i picked up all kinds of colors...my neice's blanket is a multicolor...a softened rainbow color (not pastel, but lighter than a normal rainbow)...it's called Monet...with white stripes in it here and there...turning out beautiful...and i know how that doing other projects thing is...i'm working on a scarf for her mom...red and black rolled together so it's double thick...i plan on going double thick for all the scarves i'm working on for christmas...then i have to start andy's blanket...i think he feels the bf should get one before the neice but :P lol...anyways i designed it myself and i'm excited to start it...whenever that'll be LOL

Got a dilemma. I have to let 4 girls know that they will not be allowed to compete with the team this year. I picked them for my time knowing that they lack the skills to compete but that they had the motivation and positive attitude that even my more skilled girls don't have. I want to make sure they know they are valuable team members but aren't ready to compete. Any suggestions on wording? I'm also concerned about irate parents.

Tiki.

hannah, I used to love beret's...I definitely think that would be beyond my skills. I can crochet flat squares & thats about it.

Liz, I cannot find the bookmark to that site, I must have accidentally deleted it. There is a site that was sort of funny but no where near as good as the one I had. The other had actual pictures & stuff....with funny sayings. This one is just samplers but it looks like a way to get ideas for being outragous. www.subversivecrossstitch.com I like the one that says "Cancer Sucks" surrounded by pretty flowers & a nice frame. The subversive site says it was created by a woman as a form of anger management when she was dealing with a boss that was a jerk all the time. lol.

Ferret, those sound like lovely colors, my gram used to use something like that in earth toned pastels...very soft. Makes me want to buy some but I know I don't really have the time. sigh.

Good luck w/your girls Tiki. Frankly, I have to say that I'd probably say screw the more talented/less grateful girls & go with the girls who have better motivation & attitude. I feel that if someone is motivated enough they can make up for a lot. I think so many people that are talented don't really appreciate how lucky they are. I guess winning is very important for the team though....I'm not very competitive so I'm sure my opinion is not very valid in the "real world". I dunno how on earth you can tell them that & not have them end up with hurt feelings.What a depressing task you have. I hope it goes better than you are expecting it too. Good luck!

Thanks again for letting me know about fitday y'all...I just filled out my info there. Looks like a very useful tool, I hope it helps keep me on track!

Dawn - my real name is Jenny, definitely not Mergatroid. Heh.

Tiki, speaking as someone who was cut from every team that I ever tried out for (pity party time!), I think that if you are very supportive and let them know they are still a part of the team and that their attitude and willingness to work hard is going to help them get to competition level next year (even if it's not), and really play up their positive qualities and ways they can contribute to the team even without competing, they will be okay. It's hard to say about their parents, though. Parents can be kind of irrational when it comes to these things!

Also, I'm glad to hear your son just has growing pains and not a chipped bone!

Man, this cold will not quit. I feel like a big, mean spider has taken up residence in my lungs.