Dave’s first day of the new school year is today.  No students today, just teacher/department/etc meetings, but he went in at his normal time (rode his bike to work!  20+ miles one way).  What with budget cuts, there wasn’t any summer school to teach, so he had the entire summer off.

As much as I loved having him home this summer, I’m a creature of habit and routines, and his presence — well, I don’t want to say disrupted, but — altered those routines.  Routines like getting up early and meeting my friend Tina to go running (it’s hard to get out of bed when you have the nice warm snuggly husband snoozing away next to you), housecleaning on set days, errands on others, etc.  And I love fall, it’s my favorite season, whether when I was a cadet at West Point and got to see the fall foliage in all its Hudson River Valley glory, or now, when the beach is quiet and uncrowded, and there’s that hint of crispness in the evenings (and our wine drinking segues from summer whites and roses to big, bold reds).

Now it’s back to business as usual.

I made my daily latte (eschewed for french press coffee most of the summer) and have settled in for planning my day.  (I schedule things in Outlook.  Works for me.  I don’t always stick to everything, but it helps to have it written (typed?) in one place.)

Anyway, I’ve just finished up a great online class on ebooks with Sister Diane of Craftypod.  I’ve been wanting to do a pattern collection in time for the onslaught of holiday gift knitting, grouping together some of my sock & mitts patterns that are big on the work to glory ratio — quick to knit yet delightful to behold.

I’ll be hosting a Holiday Gifts KAL on the Ravelry group, including some fun contests & giveaways, starting in the next week.  Last year I knitted a ton (31!) of small projects (hats, fingerless mitts, worsted socks, etc) as gifts.  I don’t think I’ll be able to repeat that this year, but I’d love to enable you all to do so.

Upcoming on the blog:  more book reviews, interviews with indie dyers and small business owners (knitting & fiber related), gardening and farmer market updates, various knitting topics….let me know what you’d like to see or learn about!