Whew!

Whew! October has been one of those months where I'm so glad when it's over! This month included: Elementary Science Day #1 (my science club visits local elementary schools and leads students in hands-on science activities), Mole Day, knitting classes x 2, soccer x 4 each weekend (kids and mine), End of Quarter grading, Parent/Teacher conferences, and of course - Halloween. Let's hope November is a bit more sane. Through all of this I've been trying to accomplish some knitting - I didn't finish the TTL Mystery Socks by the end of the month, but oh well. I started a week late, so if I finish in the next couple of days, I'm still ahead, right?

Here I am finishing the major project that had to be completed by Halloween:

The Hobbes costume c'est fini! (Thank heaven & all the stars!)

Not the svelte, lithe looking tiger you might expect (more like a tiger on steroids), but it's together & well - the extra room came in handy for wearing long underwear & a knit hat underneath. The temp last night for trick or treating was around 15°F. Brrrr!!! Hobbes said he stayed nice & toasty warm. At least the face paint was rather easy - Hobbes has just a white face & black nose. Had I planned my time better, I could have constructed some white fur to stick out around his face like it does in the real comic.

I can't even go into all of the frustration about sewing this thing - like, sewing the white belly on the wrong sides, or perhaps sewing the tail in such a way that it turned out to be on the inside of the costume. Yeah - I think I need to stick with knitting. And pins - ughh!! My fingertips are sore from the all times I poked myself. Knitting needles rarely inflict so much pain.
Here are Calvin and Hobbes - in character, of course.

Cold temps in Alaska usually means bright, sunny weather. It has been beautiful, so I can't complain. Watching the sun come up behind the mountains is my favorite time of the day - how the sky is a light blue with the mountains silhouetted in a dark navy - it's just breath taking. Cold weather also brings ice skating & the first snow angel of the season:

Yes - winter is here.