Channeling Stuart Smalley

 "I am good enough. I am smart enough. and doggone it, people like me." -Stuart Smalley

Hello my kind people,
For those of you who do not know who Stuart Smalley is, he was a character, played by Al Franken, on the show Saturday Night Live back in the early '90s. I highly recommend checking out some the skits if you have never seen them.

I know it has been a really long time since my last post, like 3 months. And while I did allow my self some time for a pity-party, it was not long lived. If you are wondering what I have been up to these long months, the short answer is 'things that make me feel clever' (a.k.a. not writing). I will you a quick review in pictures (with some narration). Enjoy:

First, I finished a few things like the ladies coat:

  

I am really happy with how it turned out.
More importantly, she loves it!





 I finally got around to blocking my sister's Elder tree shawl, just in time to ship it to her for her birthday. It is amazing how lace will just open up and be beautiful.


I started on many new projects and learning new skills like:
washing and carding raw fleece:

And trying different kettle dying techniques.
 These have since gone to some friends who help me put together and teach a knitting class that was auctioned off at a school fundraiser.

I also tried my hand at stenciling on 1/2 yard knit fabric for a cowl (I highly recommend it):

 


I worked at perfecting my stranded color work and learned intarsia by making a bunny dress for my little niece.

I learned so much! And it turned out amazing, if a little big (it is the 3 m size, but I think it will work up to 3 years). I want to make one for my lady now :-D .

Also, since my last post we had a family vacation which lead to this:

 knitting the leg of this guy by: knit-a-zoo, while my kiddos played. I learned more about knitting with tiny double points and getting (or not getting) sand out of yarn, than with anything I have done so far.

While I know that this looks like everything has been rainbows and sunshine, these were the things that were keeping me sane while two very intense things were happening.
 The first was fighting with the school district over my little guy's elementary school placement. He is starting kindergarten in the fall and they were trying to send him to not his sister's school. A.K.A. our neighborhood school. The school we walk to EVERY morning. The school he is supposed to go to because siblings have priority. The school we clearly marked as the one we wanted him to go to because: SIBLING and NEIGHBORHOOD. It wasn't a simple fix either. 20 neighborhood kindergartners were placed in other schools, of course none of the others were siblings. So we did not know if they would be able/willing to make a spot for him. Fortunately, they did make a space, and not by kicking someone else out. Although this whole thing still makes me think rude adult words, it may have also given our principle the extra leverage needed to get the O.K. and open another classroom to accommodate the neighborhood.

The second crisis was dental. Just before Easter, the children had their regular dental appointment. Little man got a clean bill, everything looked perfect. But, the lady had cavities. And not just 2 or 3, twelve. 12. One of them had become an actual hole. My baby had a hole in her tooth. It took 4 visits to a pediatric dentist, nitrous oxide, and a crown to fix 11 of them, #12 was in a tooth that fell out between appointments. Just for kicks here is a picture of the crown:

 

Finally, as it is summer again, and we are packing up for our annual camping trip. We heading out in a couple of days, so my house looks like this again:

If I don't make a post before we go, I will fill you in when we get back.

Thanks for checking in,

XOXOXO

Lue Lue Ellabee