Catching Up

Finally, we are moved into our new home. It still sort of feels like someone else's house that we are living in, but slowly but surely, it will begin to feel like OURS.

What have we been up to? Well, thanks for asking :) Unpacking, and organizing, and starting a new job, and a getting used to a new school for the kids, and more unpacking and organizing, and of course reading and knitting, to keep myself sane. Sometimes you just have to do something besides unpacking/organizing and working.

A lifesaver for me has been Dream Dinners, a prep kitchen which allows me to make 12 meals in a couple of hours, and then we have something delicious and healthy to eat on nights when we probably would have gone out to eat or had hot dogs and Mac and Cheese.

I am loving my job. I hadn't realized exactly how much I would miss patient-care until I didn't do it for 6 weeks. I really really find it rewarding, not to mention it's easier to live with 2 paychecks than 1!

So, first off, let me show you my first actual hand-knit garment:

I am so proud of myself. I actually got the proper gauge, and followed the pattern and completed something that wasn't a flat item like a scarf, or a sock or a hat. I'd been afraid to try a sweater, because of the expense of buying yarn I'd actually wear, and the fear that it wouldn't fit and I'd have to frog it. But, there you go, an actual wearable item!

Here's the colorwork close up--
This was also my first fair-isle with more than just 2 colors. I had a little trouble figuring out the right tension at first, but I got it right after a couple of rows.



Details:
Pattern: Sweetheart Vest from Interweave Knits, Fall 2007
Yarn: Brown Sheep Bulky. Colors: Oatmeal Heather, 7 balls; Aran, Rust, Aubergine, Spice, Victorian Pink--1 ball each.
Needles: Size 10 16-inch and 29-inch Circulars, Clover Bamboo

Finally, I wanted to share our experience at Denver AIDS Walk 2007. The whole family went, and all that lovely fresh fall air was great for us. It really confirmed for us how much we enjoy Colorado. There was the "joy" of a five-year-old who spent the last mile whining "I'm tired. I'm so tired I can't even breathe! You said this would be fun but it's just walking!"

Most importantly, we were all affected by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, parts of which they had on display. How powerful that is, just to see the sheer numbers of people who have died...and we only saw a part of it.










All of the children understood that it was an important and reverent thing to see this memorial. I explained to them that every block was for a person who had died from a disease called AIDS, and that people who loved them made a block so we would never forget them, or forget that AIDS still makes people die. When we walked through the pavilion with the quilt panels, my son clutched my hand and said "Mom, this makes my eyes water..." Me too, buddy, me too.