A burst of creativity

Hey—I actually finished some things over half-term! It was a pretty crazy feeling; being all caught up on marking and having time do some more fun projects. Too bad my kids had homework this week… Ah, the double edged sword… I also did some cloths altering over half-term, but that’s not terrible photogenic. So, here’s what I did!

Unfortunately for blog fodder, there are some Christmas gifts that are just going to have to wait to be shown in all their glory, but I think I can pretty safely show these siblings ornaments—Captain Jack

And a Creeper for a certain teenage boy among my relations! He’s kind of a cute little green guy…

I also finished off one of these that I charted off a picture of a kit I found online. I sure hope the character is correct! I really like how it turned out though.

I also made some of these lovely paper snowflakes—way easier to make than they look, and possible to do with even rather inept children. I’m considering making some for the hall now…We’ll have to see how far the crazy train goes!

In some spare moments last week I also whipped up this little gem—it made me SO HAPPY! Nothing like a crafty release for my inner nerd!

The big thing this week has been trying to get my travel plans nailed down. I think the outline is there now—I just need to get confirmation from someone before I can buy tickets for a quick trip to OH and GA. I know December is going to fly by so fast and there are so many people I want to see and things I’d like to do! Continually praying for wisdom and help in knitting all these loose ends together.

Parting shot:

I've always wanted a pirate hat...

Hey-I actually finished something this week! First though, since Reformation Day was Friday, I want to share how I made my tricorn hat so I could be a very quiet steampunk pirate (not that I told anyone that!). After shaping two layers of felt into the crown using a bowl and some white glue, I cut out the two brim circles and stitched them on. Result- a very floppy hat!

Then I put glue between the layers and pinned them in to the tricorn shape and let it dry.

After that I just sewed some ribbon binding around the edges and put in a few judicious stitches to hold the shape. Voila—swash swash buckle buckle in the bush!

I whipped up a pair of baby socks to match the sweater I just finished; I took the lace pattern from the sweater and used it on the cuffs. They look slightly out of proportion to me and I have no idea what size they actually are (oh the difficulty of not having the baby around to try things on!), but hopefully they will be usable with or without the sweater.

I’ve also made some good progress on my dragon fire shawl. After adding several repeats to it I’m back in the pattern proper and about to finish the second chart. Yes, I am one of THOSE people who almost never knits a pattern exactly as written!

I’m working on a Christmas ornament for someone special, and I started a gift for my brother-in-law that is so barely started and boring right now that I’m not even going to post a picture. Other than that, I’m enjoying researching ancient Greece for history, re-reading the Anne of Green Gables books, and trying to not die of stress before the term can end. Just a month till I’m home!

Parting shot:

Not dead, just very busy!

After two weeks I figured for my own self discipline I had better put something up here. Plus, I never know who is actually reading this and keeping up with me and my oh so riveting life!

The big story today has been adding two products to my TeachersPayTeachers store. I've generated so many documents and things over the last five years of teaching--it will be interesting to see if other people find them useful too! I was surprised to see that the one I uploaded today has already sold one copy; huzzah!

I've been mostly working on this adorable little baby cardigan for a wee hobbit that has arrived in some dear friend's lives. I love the yarn, and I'm using up the last bits of it designing some matching socks. While it's rather challenging knitting for a baby long distance, I love this one so much (even though we've never met!) that it's worth it to me to attempt it!

I've also been cross stitching lately. I finished this delightfuly nerdy project (don't look to close though; I apparently can only count some of the time)--if only it were real!

I also had a serious bout of 'I-want-to-cross-stitch-something-fall-related-and-there-is-a-really-cute-pattern-I-like-but-it-costs-money-and-I'm-trying-to-save-for-December-so-I-guess-I'll-check-out-Pintrest.' This was the result:

I'm still working on my 'dragon' shawl and a few other things, but nothing else worth posting pictures of. With that, and since I am deep in Holmes lore with my grade 8 and 9's just now, I leave you with this parting shot

Nothing much to report

I have been pretty insanely busy lately--what's new? I haven't been able to do near as much crafting as I wanted to, I've not got my marking done as quickly as I hoped, and there is the double edged sword of Christmas looming on my horizon (Escape! Deadlines! Show! Report cards!), so I've been just keeping my head down and taking each day as it comes. That being said, I have managed to do this in the last two weeks:

My dragon shawl now has the full edging finished; I'm just working out how to lengthen it a bit without making my life too interesting. I really like the beads I've added, but I'm glad that they're all on now as they are a bit fiddley!

My Christmas gift for a little hobbit is coming along nicely.

Over half-term I put up 5 shelves--mighty woman!

Also, I started a project who's first step looked like this,

Any guesses?

Parting shot: This has been my iPod background and been making me smile all week!

Cast on lots of things!

For some reason I thought I had updated this blog since school started, but apparently not. So, here’s what I’ve been up to!

I got a few projects finished off right about the time school was starting, and then got a killer case of startits inflamed by CHRISTMAS+The HOBBIT IN 4 MONTHS, so this happened:
The Smaug sock pattern in some hand dyed yarn of mine that has been sitting around in the stash for a few years,

This adorable baby cardigan for a little hobbit of my acquaintance,

And this shawl that I have been hankering to make for quite awhile now. I decided to be crazy and add beads to the edge; it took me four tries, but I’ve finally got it. I think I’m going to make this cape a little longer than the pattern calls for; hopefully I can finagle a way to make it look like I want it to without that awkward length issue.

I did finish something this week as well as all that casting on. I still have the double knitting bug, and while I had to crochet an edging to make up for a brain fail that wasn’t realized until WAY to late in the process, I ended up with this:

Man, if I wasn’t out of nice colors of fingering weight wool I’d probably be casting on another small double knitting project of some kind. There’s just something magical about color knitting, and since I’m such a whack-job I like this better than stranded knitting!

Well, that’s about all I have for now. Parting shot: This is my current iPod background—too bad there isn’t anyone here to play the pants game with (plus, it would take on a whole different spin in British English…).

Why is the holiday almost gone?

While I’ve been very busy these last few days (well, except for the weekend—I was pretty lazy while I was at Kalene) I have very little to show for it! A lot of what I’ve been working on is either a) boring school stuff, or b) secret Christmas stuff. I have also been trying to get a big curtain project for the orphanage finished before term starts as well as handwork prep and other mundane things like that. However, there are a few things that I can show you!

I finished this round dishcloth awhile back; it’s done with finer cotton and I really like it. I might have to stock up on some more DK to fingering weight cotton—I like the fabric it creates.

I’m working on another of a three dishcloth set; slow progress since it’s a ‘vegging at home’ (which I haven’t done a lot of recently!) project.

Another project that I’m enjoying right now is a really cool steampunk/Victorian style fingerless glove pattern. I just need to do the thumb on the first one so I can cast on the second one. I’ve had this yarn in the stash for quite awhile—I LOVE it and can’t wait to get the buttons so I can finish these spiffy things.

I’ve been reading The Hobbit in preparation for my literature unit—that story never gets old for me! I’ve decided that a ground rule will be no, absolutely NO talking about the movie till the end of the unit, and even then I’m not sure if I want to hear it. I had to laugh when I saw this on Facebook awhile back—so true!

Parting shot: So, I found a whole new way to waste time on the internet—I’ve been having way too much fun finding nerdy “Keep Calm and…” pictures, so I’ll be sharing a series of them for my own enjoyment and hopefully for yours as well!

Quiet week

I haven't been able to do near as much handcrafting as I would have liked this week because I strained my right hand/arm, so I've been taking it much slower, and had to *gasp* merely read instead of reading and knitting! I've been trying out some new recipes, doing lots of dishes (how can one person make so many?), going for daily walks with a big of a job on the airstrip, and hanging out with Jill in the evenings. Here then, is the fruit of this week's labor.

This is actually a cheat--I meant to post pictures of this last week. The latest finished nerdy Christmas ornament--May the odds be ever in your favor!

I finally got Java's cross stitch portrait done--love it!

I used up the very last of my beautiful Mountain Colors yarn to make a luggage tag,

And, I found a picture of a kit to make several Japanese character ornaments, figured out the pattern, and have one finished up.

Currently I'm working on finishing up a gift that I just decided who it was for, and a Warehouse 13 ornament that I designed. Hopefully I can get ride of this hand/arm strain and be back in business! This holiday is flying way to fast...

More Nerdy Christmas

So, I’ve continued to be busy crafting over the last few days. I’ve been so busy that I strained my hand/arm and had to give it a rest yesterday! Some of my projects are for Christmas so they will just have to keep, but here are the next batch of ornaments-nerdy and otherwise.

Star Wars Rebels,

Star Wars Empire.

Sits pretty cunning, don’t ya think?

Crazy quilt trio,

Claudia, my three-legged pet mouse

and Hazel the wog-dog.

I've found it very compelling to create portraits of my pets in cross stitch. I have a book that has some good starting places, but part of the fun has been adapting them so they more fully reflect the animals. I plan to do the cat soon, and I have a few ideas for some other pets to stitch. I’m still knitting; pictures of that later. I’m trying to get the last big of some sock yarn used up, and I need to get a Christmas present finished up. Well, I'm going to take a nap since I was so busy installing my new stove to get one yesterday!

Nerdy Christmas in July!

Wow is it nice to be on holiday! While I have been staying up late, there hasn’t been too much sleeping in as I’m taking care of the watchman right now, but there have been some lovely naps, some reading, some sewing, and lots of knitting and cross stitching! Here’s a look at what I’ve been up to:

I decided it was time to spruce up my living room a bit, so I made a new lampshade and recovered most of my throw pillows with a chetengi I liked—I’m liking the change!
Before:

After:

Here are some of the nerdy Christmas ornaments I finished last week—I have a few more on the go right now, and plans for yet a few more. It’s nice to be able to indulge in such ‘fiddle faddle!’ Next week I'll post the ones I finish this week as well as the final product.

Star Trek Next Generation com badge-

Star Trek Voyager com badge-

Welcome to Night Vale-

A TARDIS-

And a penguin wearing a Jayne hat.

In addition to working on some ‘stealth’ projects which I will be able to reveal in late December, I’ve also been doing some cooking and working on cleaning up my house. It’s amazing how many little jobs accumulate over the course of a term! This week I want to get a lot of sewing done; we shall see how many garments I have finished by the end of the week!