Happy half-price chocolate day!

EDIT: New template. Like it? Hate it? Comment please!

Yes, it's the day after Valentine's, when you can buy twice the love-expressions for half the price. I may pick up a box of chocolates on the way home, not out of any romantic impulse but just so we have some in the house. :D

Things have been hectic this past week and the weekend is shaping up busy too, so grabbing a few minutes to update. Work's been crazy - one of our two co-managers quit last Friday so all this week it's been "what happened?" questions coming at me, over and over and over... here's a representative conversation:

Them: "Where'd he go?"
Me: (with a shrug) "Away."
Them: "He didn't say?"
Me: "No, he did not share that information with any of us."
Them: "Well, why did he leave?"
Me: "Why does anyone leave a job? He wasn't happy."
Them: "Why not?"
Me: "You'd have to ask him."

About 30 times this week I've had that time-wasting chat. I should have just posted a sign. *sigh* This too shall pass.

In other news, a dear friend and co-worker has gone in for surgery to remove what might possibly be a cancerous growth on his thyroid. So, in good knitterly response, I'm knitting him a Palindrome, out of the lovely handspun Kraftie sent me during SP10 last year. (Kraftie, if you're reading, what's the fiber content on that? It's deliciously sproingy and the stripes are coming out beautifully, I'll post pictures when it's done.) I just finished the first of three skeins, and I'm calculating it will come out to about 6 1/2 feet long x about 4.5" wide - a bit narrow, but long enough to wrap around a couple times. That's doing the pattern as written with 40 stitches on 5.5mm needles. It's pretty without being girly and I think he will like it very much.

Happy things - my niece and mom both have birthdays this month, so we're doing a family birthday party tomorrow, to which I will bring cake. I'm thinking marble cake with some pink and green springy-type colours for the frosting. And lots more knitting on the Palindrome.

Also this week I've had class #2 with both my Knitting 101 and Sock-knitting students, and they're both good groups - a couple of the ladies are struggling a bit but they're all determined and patient and very, very nice. I will miss having students when I stop teaching in April but will LOVE having all my evenings free to spend with Peter again. Speaking of whom, I started him a new pair of socks - the Hunter's Socks from Freshisle Fibers, in Marian's own hand-dyed Suffolk wool. They will have pale yellow (almost oatmeal-y) legs with mid-yellow feet - the Coreopsis 3-skein dye progression that I bought oh so long ago - finally it's getting turned into something! (well, 2/3 of it anyway). The darkest yellow I will hold in reserve for something else - probably a hat. The Suffolk wool is SO warm, and really lovely and fluffy once it's gone through the wash/dry cycle a couple of times. Hm, I bet it would cable beautifully... maybe I'll make myself a "Basic Cable" - I've been meaning to. Add it to the list!

Have a great weekend - pictures and things Sunday or Monday (yay long weekend!)