Deadlines approaching

I love this time of year! And adding to that is living in such a beautiful place! Despite the havoc the drought is causing for everyone, the trees are still turning and the air is getting colder. I'm amazed after living in a desert that got less than one inch of rain a year, that a place so full of water and plants can be in such dire straights with water supply. I've been doing my best to shorten showers, cut out baths, and do dishes without letting water run too long. Our bill this month was $25. How low can it go I wonder?

Another week, another illness. This time Mike and I have caught the chest cold. At least its not the kids again. It seems they are finally getting back into the school groove and there are half days, vacation days and special holiday activities for them to do. I think Aaron grew about 5 inches the other night! Such a big boy now. He and I agreed that when he turns 15 we'll both join a bushido school together and learn to become samurai. God, I love that kid.

There has been limited knitting because frankly...I'm tired of knitting!!! I'm hittin' a wall at a bad time. I've got the Hemlock Ring to finish by next Thurday and I'm on row 80 I think. There are Christmas stockings to knit and maybe some hats for gifts! I stopped working on Maya's Starsky cuz I decided I needed a hat. I took a skein of beautiful Malabrigo and cast on for an earflap hat. It looks good (Holy Jeebus I love this yarn) but apparently my gauge was off. The hat fits, but not well. SSSSHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEITTTTT! I don't know whats worse - being in a knitting slump or not being smart enough to check gauge on a HAT in time to realize its too small! Dumb Dumb!

I've been knitting on Starsky Jr. for 5 days straight now and have only a meager 2 inches to show for it. I somehow continue to screw up the damn banana leaves pattern!!!! The killer part is I'm done with the armhole shaping, so I'm just knitting straight with the last 60 sts to the neck. I have approximately 14 rows left until bind off and still can't manage to make it through 3 rows without noticing some huge error I've made 3 rows down. Its gotten so bad I'm saying the pattern aloud as I knit it, then closely examine the sts after I knit them. This is taking FOR-E-VEERRRRR. I'm praying to God that the fronts will go more smoothly and that I can move on! I'm trying not to think about how on the fronts, the sleeve and neck shaping takes place together and how much that might confuse me!
I've cast on the Halloween Mystery Shawl about eleventeen hundred times. I got my red beads in the mail, but still haven't decided if I'm going to use them. I'm really wanting to see Renee's finished shawl, or someone who used black yarn with red beads. In the mean time, I also got these.

They've been my consolation so far. I've only learned about 5 steps into the form, but handling these things is new and awkward and is enough of a challenge on its own. I'm learning section 2 of the form tonight.