Whirlwind days

At the end of a long day, there is nothing better to me than sitting down with a nice cup of tea. A few months ago, on another blog, I learned of a drink that Starbuck's makes called Earl Grey Tea Latte. I prefer the name "London Fog", but not all of their employees are familiar with that one, so I rarely order it under that name. I've tried schooling them, but the turnover in baristas...well, it's hard to keep up. In February, I decided I was tired of jumping in my car everytime I wanted one of these drinks. I happened to be out shopping one day when it occurred to me that maybe there was such a thing as a milk frother. So, on my way home, I popped into my local Target, and there it was! Exactly what I was looking for! I can't tell you how pleased I am with this little jewel...it's fast, has three different levels of temperature, and cleans up easily. Oh, and did I mention how frothy your milk will be? I now prefer it over Starbuck's!

                                          Love....my new Knit Picks catalog, my 'London Fog'
                                          and my new blanket from my next door neighbor.

                                                   No, I don't work for the company, just
                                                   a very satisfied customer!

It's not often that I have to rush out the door for my Wednesday night knitting group, but yesterday was one of those days. Grandkids all day, taking and picking up from school, then the after school programs they attend. It was a whirlwind of a very busy day. In and out of the house all day, I somehow managed to leave my knitting pattern on the kitchen table, so when I got to knit group, I didn't have my paper pattern. Thank goodness I thought to bring my tablet with me and was able to access a digital copy out of my library on Ravelry. I love that!!! I needed my pattern since I'm now beginning the striped chevron section on my Akimbo. I got to add in my contrasting accent color and I'm so over the top happy with it. I wasn't sure I was going to like the two colors together, but it is so much fun!!

I didn't get very far with it, but I'm hoping to add quite a bit to it today. If you're thinking you might like to knit this design, I give you fair warning. While it's very pretty, it can be rather fiddly. There are M1L and M1R's, and sometimes, they are right next to each other. In stockinette stitch, it wouldn't be a problem, but since you're doing it on garter stitch, it can be tricky to figure out which 'bar' to pick up. I almost gave up and just did a kfb increase, but I'm kind of funny that way, and don't like to deviate much from the written instructions/charts. Also, I didn't want to switch gears in the middle of my project. Perhaps if I were to knit it again, I would be very tempted to take the path of least resistance.

The last thing I want to leave you with isn't a very pleasant topic, but one that I want to reiterate from time to time. Life is so very short and precious, and nothing says that louder than the loss of a child. Yesterday, my granddaughter's school suffered a tragic and unnecessary loss when two men running from the police in a high speed chase, crashed into a car making a turn in front of them. Sadly, it instantly killed a father and his 14 year old daughter, who was a student at our local middle school. Today, they are going to have grief counselors and chaplains at the school, and I hope my granddaughter takes advantage of that.

Hug your loved ones and let them know how much you love them!!!