Update photos - I've started the Silk Smoke cowl after trying a lot of other patterns this week. Turns out that lace knitting really isn't my thing. I cast on for the Diamond Fantasy scarf several times and kept ripping it out because, as careful as I was, I kept losing stitches somehow. I double-checked my yarnovers and counted each section as I finished knitting it but by the next row I was missing stitches. Maybe Yarn Harlot's fates are doing a number on me. I finally gave up and cast on the Silk Smoke. It's pretty easy. I haven't lost any stitches yet. I should be able to finish it using one skein of the Sea Silk and will be able to return the other two. At the cost of it, this is no small matter.

I also did some more of the sleeve on the FLAK cardigan. I had pretty much abandoned it over the summer as it was too hot to knit with all that wool in my lap. I now understand why people in the knitalong kept referring to being lost on sleeve island. It's pretty repetitive and seems to take forever.

Well, I was back at work for two weeks and came down with a cold that turned into laryngitis then a bacterial throat infection. I haven't had a voice all week so have been at home. Sheesh! Those children will have bonded with the sub by now and forgotten all about me. Diabetes means never having a simple cold without complications. I have a lovely small class of grade twos this year.

I do have a couple of kid-bits. The first one was provided by my niece Katie. The day before her first day of grade one she took it upon herself to cut her hair. This may be have been prompted by my sister's comment that they really should have gone to the hairdresser over the summer for a trim, at least the bangs. I don't think that Katie will be cutting her own hair again any time soon. After an emergency trip to the hairdresser that afternoon Katie now has very short hair, especially her bangs. The hairdresser really couldn't perform miracles with those bangs unless she wove extensions in them. Katie plaintively asked if they could get her a wig for the first day of school. After a few double-takes from her friends on that first day of school, she seems resigned to the fact that she will have short hair for a while. Katie's teacher told her that she looked like Tinkerbell and that helped soothe her soul. School pictures will be taken soon and there will be a lasting memory of her haircut. Someday I'm sure it will be good for a chuckle. Actually, I already find it good for a chuckle but I don't think Katie does.

The other kid-bit is courtesy of a grade two student (in the other grade two classroom at my school) on the first day of school. After lunch, he went to the office for a late slip. The secretary, who is a good buddy to this boy, teased him about being late on the first day of school and asked him why. He replied that the pepperoni pizza took too long to cook. Turns out it was his birthday and he had been taken out for lunch. While writing the late slip, the secretary asked him who his teacher is this year. A look of total confusion came over his face. Now, to be fair, it was the first day of school and his teacher is new to the school and has a hyphenated last name, Mrs. ____________-Drumm. After hmming for a while, he finally had a brain-wave and said, "Oh yeah! Mrs. Drumstick!"

After a long, hot, dry summer, autumn is making itself felt here with cool, rainy weather. The pictures above had to be taken indoors as it is just too dark in the sun room today so the colors aren't very true.