Other knitting going on

I have done a couple of things besides baby blankets this summer. Here is a scarf knit with a novelty yarn. It took less than an hour to make. Here is the yarn:

You can see the yarn at the bottom, with the black thread, which is what you actually knit. The funny thing is that you knit it lengthwise: cast on 90 stitches, knit back once, then bind off. Guess who loves it?

More than a week ago a friend and I went to Stitches Midwest, a knitting show in Schaumburg, IL. We had a lot of fun! We both had budgets to stick to, and I managed to keep to mine, except for lunch. I didn't really want to spend my yarn budget on food! I got a kit to make a necklace out of a ribbon i-cord that should turn out pretty cool. We saw a demonstration of making a necklace from a crochet chain with beads added; I have been working on that one. And we both fell in love with a very simple shawl knit in garter stitch with a very fine mohair on big needles. Carol bought yarn for it. I had some mohair, but it is not fine... so we shall see. I got a couple of needles that I "needed" and some notions. We had a wonderful time!

I also knit up the skirt kit I got at the Midwest Fiber Festival. I stitched it on to a t-shirt, because it seemed like it was going to be too short... then the back stretched out. I am going to take it off the t-shirt and put it on an elastic waistband. Hopefully we can get it to stretch out all the way around. I think it will be cute, if we can manage that.

Work on the 3rd baby blanket is progressing. I was kicking myself, because I hadn't ordered enough yarn, and then I couldn't remember where I had ordered from. I was prepared for a horrible difference in dye lots (it was my own fault) but when the new yarn arrived, it was the same dye lot! I guess some times you are just lucky. Pictures will be coming soon.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. C starts first grade, and P is going into 5th. There are some extra nerves because of starting a new school, but we got a tour of the school last Friday. C saw her classroom, and P even got to meet his teacher. We figured out what door to go in, how to drive around the school for drop off and pick-up, and we have 95% of the supplies packed in the school bags. We still need some markers, some erasers, and a couple of dry erase black markers... hopefully it will be Walgreens to the rescue.

Last week we spent a day in Michigan. My folks have sold their condo and are moving into a retirement home... mom is tired of cooking, and they will get their main meal in the dining room each day. Of course, since they are giving up their house, they are distributing a lot of their treasures. I got 3 teacups from my mom's china, used when we were growing up. I got 2 crocheted bedspreads and a queen sized quilt that I had made for her... a crystal bowl, and a vase from Bariloche, Argentina, that was a treasure growing up. (We vacationed there several times.) DD1 and DD2 also received some nice heirlooms. It is not necessarily a happy transition, but mom and dad are excited; I am pleased they are wise enough to make this change on their own.
I wrote this post last week, but didn't get pictures until today. I need to get back into my blog routine!