Back to reality

We got back from our cruise yesterday. Cozumel did not get affected by the hurricane, so off we went.

We were on Carnival Inspiration, one of 8 similar ships. If you've been on one in the group, you'll be familiar with the other 7. We've been on 3 so far. Next time we'll pick a larger ship or a different cruise line.


You gotta love the towel animals!


This was my lunch the first day.


We went to Paradise Beach on Saturday. Heat index was 101-they weren't kidding! My lips are sunburned, never had that happen before. There was sun worshiping, a water trampoline, kayaking and an iceberg that you climb like a rock climbing wall. DH and son did that. I just watched from the safety of the shore.

To really bring me back to the present, my online classes started yesterday. I checked in yesterday but was too tired to really do anything. 5 computer classes....what was I thinking?!? Today I printed out some course assignments and took tutorials of how to take a class online. There's a lot more to it than you would think. I'm hoping that once I get into a routine and get used to everything I won't feel so overwhelmed. Right now it feels like I'll only have time to do school work. I can't throw my knitting aside until the end of December!! I'm a very organized person-I'll think of something.

Cruise tomorrow

Leaving tomorrow for a Carnival cruise to Cozumel, I hope. I think Hurricane Dean has passed and it will be safe to head for Cozumel.

Here's what I have waiting for me when I get home:



I'm going back to college for my degree in web design. Classes start the day I get back from vacation. Since I'm taking all 5 (!) of my courses online I can check in a little later in the day.

What was I thinking?!?

My Son, the RA

Yesterday was the big day. It's hard to imagine 2 people sharing a dorm room-it's so small for him all by himself!



He has all the important things-computer, TV, DVD player, Nintendo. Everything else is optional :-)



Somehow we squeezed all of Favorite Second Son's things in the car. It was a little easier this year since he was able to leave his mini fridge in a storage room at college.

While hubby drove, I spent some time working on this:



It's the Lacy Mock Cable Sock from the Island of Misfit Patterns. So far it's pretty easy, a little more time consuming than I'm used to. Most of the socks I've made don't have a lot of purling. This pattern does. It's a 5 row repeat, easy to remember. The pattern was made with Plymouth Sockotta, which I'm using too, from my sock stash. I didn't get as far into the sock as I wanted to. FSS's college is a long drive through the mountains, with the accompanying twists and turns in the road. Leads to some stomach turning sometimes and crossed eyeballs when taking those roads at 55MPH. Next year I get to bring 2 kids to college. The youngest is planning on going to a school that's only 2 miles off the highway-much easier ride.

Back to School

Can you tell it's back to school time? Favorite second son leaves tomorrow for his junior year of college. Wasn't he just born.......



And that's not everything!

Pouch

Here it is...simple to make...thanks, Kerri!

Check this out

Thought this was pretty cool-may try it out tomorrow...

Pouch bag tutorial

Harry Potter socks

Okay-who hasn't read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Not too many of you, I'm sure! I won't give anything away other than to say everything wraps up and all is explained. To commerate the book I made a pair of House Socks from Charmed Knits for my friend Marie's birthday last week.




First time I made socks using 2 different colors, and I have to say, I didn't like it. The end of each row where there was a color change didn't seem tight. I think I'll stick to solid colors or varigated. I have more of the Harry Potter yarn to make a pair for me, but after that, one skein at a time.

It's About Time!

Hello, blogosphere! I guess I have finally arrived! I never really wanted a blog before since I felt like I had nothing to say that would be of any interest to anyone. But, since I'm going back to college for my degree in web design, I thought it might be a good idea to create a blog and play a little bit with code.

So, a little about me. As I said, I'll be back at college in a few weeks to get my degree in web design. I already have my B.S. in Business Administration but haven't used it in many years. I've been a SAHM and now it's time to get back to work. I'm married with 3 boys, ages 22, 20 and almost 17. The 22 year old works and will be trying college again for the 3rd time (yes, the 3rd time!) Child 2 (aka Favorite 2nd Son) heads back to college for his junior year on the 15th. He's a Resident Assistant so they go back early. My Baby is a senior in high school this year and hopes to be driving if he could just pass his road test. They say third times a charm! Hope that also holds true for Child 1. I'm also a HUGE Boston Red Sox fan, have been since I was a little girl. Interesting, since I was born and raised in New York State. My husband and kids are Yankees fans, which makes for a pretty intense household during the playoffs...remember 2004...ah, memories...

Now I guess you're wondering about the name of this blog. The "knitting" part is self explanatory. The "karate mama" part-nice story. I've been training in Shotokan karate for the last 15 years. There's a group of us who train in the morning, and over time we've gotten rather close. A few years ago we decided to see each other socially outside the dojo. The first get together was at Amy's house and she referred to us as karate mamas, since we were all from karate and we were all moms. The name stuck! We even have a karate daddy in our group!

I used to dabble in lots of crafts-knitting, crochet, decopauge, wood painting.....I guess you could describe me by the cliche "Jack of all trades, master of none". Doing all those crafts uses a lot of supplies, takes up room and cost more money than I cared to spend. So I decided to just do what I really like, and I'm down to knitting, crochet, quilting and cross stitch. Occasionally I will make a latch hook rug. But knitting has become an obsession lately, especially since Ravelry showed up-more on that another time.

I'll post pictures soon of what I'm working on. Right now it's a lace shawl from Victorian Lace Today.