Ten Things I Learned at College this Weekend

We had a great weekend with College Boy in Indiana! It meant a lot of eating out (a perk when parents come up – you can get away from the DC – aka, the Dining Commons) and plenty of walking around in the wind. I did discover a few things while we were up there that I thought I ought to share with you. If you have college kids, maybe you have learned similar lessons? Do share with me…..

1. College kids are always up for silliness. This is College Boy (on the left) with his two great roommates. Ohio Boy is in the middle and Indiana Boy is on the right. Indiana Boy’s mom knitted (!) all three boys hats in the college colors, and then brought them fake teeth for this photo op. They were great sports, even when it was mentioned that this photo would go up on the blog for all to see. (Note that I have protected their identity by naming them after their states. If I really wanted to have fun, I’d post this photo on their Facebook sites…..) 🙂

2. College dorms frequently smell like a) burnt popcorn or b) pepperoni pizza. I guess it could be worse.

3. There is always someone yelling, somewhere in the dorm. The mothers present will always wonder if someone is hurt or just fell out of bed. The college students in the dorm ignore it. Makes one wonder what would happen if someone really did need help.

4. Cookies are always accepted, anywhere, any time, for any reason or no reason at all.

5. When you ask how classes/grades/tests/projects/papers are coming along, the answer is always, “Fine.” That’s it. Just one word. Always “fine”.

6. I am drawn to buying a sweatshirt every time I walk into a college bookstore. I’m wondering if this transfers to colleges that I don’t particularly care about? I have not walked into a college bookstore that I’m not somehow “related” to. I ought to test that out sometime. This time, it was a navy hooded pullover sweatshirt with TAYLOR in pink and white letters. How could I resist? I’m wearing it today, even though it is supposed to be 75 degrees this afternoon.

7. Sometimes when your college student picks wonderful rommates, they come with wonderful moms that you can become friends with. Besides knitting our boys wonderful hats, Jari (Indiana Boy’s mom) brought me a very fun care package! In there, I found this sheep that I am totally in love with. You’ve seen these sheep tape measures, right? But have you ever seen one with Loopy’s red socks on them? I’m throwing all my other tape measures away. None of them measure up (ha!) to this one. And then she made me this wonderful felted little bag! (It came with gum and a pack of Kleenex. Both of us get just a bit teary when telling our boys good-bye and she was planning ahead for me. It came in handy.) I found that this is perfect for hanging on the car door lock and keeping your tape measure, your scissors, and your needles in when knitting in the car. I have other uses in mind for it, too, but I really liked it in the car.

8. I always over-estimate what I will get done on car trips. I won’t tell you how many skeins of yarn I took with me, but I will say that I was nuts they didn’t all get knit up. I have been wanting to knit one of the Sock Blocker Keychains, and that was very fun to do. I used Claudia Hand Painted yarn in the Blue Fields colorway. One gal told me that she knits a mini sock with each pair of socks she gives for gifts. I thought it’d be fun to knit up a keychain like this to give with your hand-knitted socks. You could use it as the package tie-on! (These are great as keychains, or to hook onto your purse or knitting bag, or to attach to your scissors so that you don’t lose them so easily. Although we just got in more cute Zecca scissors fobs, which are fun as well.) Now that I have made one, I want to make more. I did get my Posh Cashemere/Wool sock done and have included the second sock that I’m in the middle of, lest you think I knitted one and moved on to something else as I seem to have a bad habit of doing. These are a Christmas gift, so I had to do the twin right away. I like how it went together and I also like knitting for someone who’s feet are not as long as mine. It makes a difference. (Posh mailed out our order – from the UK – last week, so I’m hoping it will arrive at The Loopy Ewe sometime this week.)

9. If there are knitting shops within shouting distance of the campus, it is your duty to check them out. We detoured slightly to go to Mass Avenue Knit Shop in downtown Indianapolis and I’m glad we did. Husband was glad that we arrived a half hour before closing time, as that limited the damage that I could do. It’s huge and packed with all kinds of yarn, patterns, accessories and books. (But not much sock yarn.) I bought a book, a magazine, and a couple of accessories. There just wasn’t enough time to buy yarn. I did tell them that I wished they were my LYS, as I was checking out. If you’re in the area, it’s worth making the detour to visit. They all seemed very friendly and helpful there.

10. No matter how often I see him (or not), I still really miss having College Boy at home. But I’m glad that he’s where he’s supposed to be, and that he’s happy. 🙂

Sheri gladtobeoutofcollegebutit’salwaysfuntovisit