In which there is much sewing and knitting

So, I had this idea in my head that I would finish off two sewing projects yesterday, but I had forgotten how labor intensive they are if you do them fancy (lots of top stitching), and since I wanted to do them fancy…they didn’t get finished. However, I got a lot done last week, and even a lot done on other things yesterday!

I finished a whole bunch more project bags—zippered and drawstring. I really like how the revised wedges turned out.

I also finished the six new handwork bags for next years incoming grade 3 students. Why am I doing this now? Because I’m not going to be here for term 1!!!! I just need to get these labeled and they are ready to go. While I was at it, I cut the rest of the piece of cloth into handwork bag pieces. It’s a fun fabric because it is pink on the one side, and purple on the other. I love variety!

I finished a skirt that I have been wanting to make for some time. It was a bit of a challenge because I had only one chetengi and it is a rather directional print, but I’m pretty happy with the results. Nothing earth shattering, but I did wrestle out the skirt myself.

And, I finally made myself a bag holder as a rather more elegant solution to corralling my plastic bags. I put a pocket on the outside for Ziplocs; I did it a bit weird, but it actually seems to be working in my favor. So, now my kitchen got a smidge more classy!

Most of what I was working on last week was Vivid blanket squares; I made 4 last week, and I’m trying to get two more made this week. After that I’m going to have to wait till I get home and buy some yarn to finish it off; I don’t have enough of the right yarn out here to do so. Here are the purple squares from the Groovy socks,

And then here is what I got when I laid out all my finished squares to try and plan how this crazy thing would look:

I also finished the sixth chart of my Names of the Doctor scarf last week; only four more to go!

And had to pull out most of the leg of my Monkey sock because it was too tight. I’ll take a picture when I’ve got that all sorted out. And, I’ve been enjoying my Magrathea scarf while listening to the Greek Great Course I’ve been working through. I’m annoyed at myself though, because I realized I was doing the wrong side rows incorrectly yesterday, and I’m not going to rip it back. I only did two or three repeats before I figured it out…

This week I’ve got quite a bit of planning to do in preparation for school, but I still hope to get a few more projects knocked off. And, yesterday I found the yarn I needed to make myself a little nerdy beastie… Last week of holiday, here I come!

August Picks

So while there are always one off song downloads and sometimes deal snags (I hit silver almost gold with one of those this month; somewhat unusual), here are my picks for the month of August.

The Martian Chronicles is a book I have heard about several times, including my science fiction Great Course, and I LOVE the short story from it, “Dark They Were and Golden Eyed,” but I have never actually read the whole thing. While this is very light on the ‘science,’ the writing style sings lyrically about what humans do when faced with a totally new world. I have taken a short break from it, but look forward to finishing this classic.

For my album, I decided to indulge in some light pop with Be Okay by Ingrid Michaelson. I had first head the title song in The Decoy Bride, and decided it was a nice bit of fluff for the holiday. I enjoyed this album; not wild about her cover of “Over the Rainbow,” but it’s totally listen-toable.

Since school is starting soon, I have started and will be doing some reading on our history topic of ancient Greece both for me personally and as potential child fodder. I have a book coming out, Children of the Fox that I am excited to read, and I’m trying Mary Renult on more time with The Mask of Apollo. There is already some light references to male-male romance; hoping we can stay focused on Greek theater! What is it with Greek historical fiction?

In my ‘other’ splurge this month, I did two things. First, I bought this shirt because it is too good of a book reference, and because it is totally true:

I also bought some specialty fabric to make some geeky projects bags when I’m home. The fandoms represented are Doctor Who and Star Trek; you’ll just have to wait and see the bags!

Stash Dash Win!

Whew—note to self: Do NOT decide to participate in knitting challenges 2/3 of the way through them. Think if out next time dumb bunny! That being said, I totally made my 3k Stash Dash goal with a grand total of 3,245 meters knit. Yay! I am not a competitive person by nature; physical challenges totally leave me cold. But make it a personal challenge? Books read, meters of yarn knit? I am so there. So. There. This is why Goodreads and Ravelry are a double edged sword... So, to reach my 3,000m goal, I finished the Done the Impossible Scarf—so named because the yarn was a graduation gift,

And I put a rush on the Hitchhiker scarf I was doing initially as a relaxing knit, but then finished off in a whirl for Stash Dash. P.S. I LOVE this pattern and totally want to do it again. I now want to knit ALL the Behm patterns. I love the color of the yarn, and had fun draping it (very, very carefully!) over my bougainvillea.

While on the cottage cookout trip on Saturday, I started one last little project that I finished on Sunday and just squeaked in, one more Swirl hat. I love this pattern, but hate how long it has to be because it is SUPER stretchy. A real test of patience for someone who is on a deadline/bored of the pattern.

In celebration, I swatched for a pair of Monkey Socks while talking to my middle younger brother last night, which I then cast on today. These will become my river knitting socks for third term. I also started Magrathea, another Behm pattern today with that lime green yarn I have no memory of why I bought it and what I was thinking. Not sure who this is for so far, but enjoying the knit.

Today was also a sewing day. I had cut out a bunch of project bags following the Betsy Makes

and the Very Shannon tutorials over the weekend, so today was assembly time.

Don’t ask me why I am suddenly gripped with a burning desire to make project bags; my urges can be weird. A few notes in case any of you get bitten by the bug. With the wedge bag I halved the width 'cause that was the size of zipper I have access to. I'm going to try another one where I don't cut out such a big rectangle from the bottom; this one is a little small on the bottom, but a good size for a sock bag. On the reversible bags, adding a big button or bead to the pull is a nice touch and will help keep your bag closed. I accidentally forgot the interfacing in the purple one, but because it is reversible it is still nice and sturdy. I want to make the wedge at the given dimensions to see what I think of it; I'm liking the reversible bag more than I thought I would based on the pictures and what I had in my head.

I love projects like this--a good way to use up bits of fabric, and a high time to finished product ratio. I have a few more to assemble this week as well as a skirt and a bag keeper that I want to get done. Now I have my eye on some fun nerd fabric I saw on Etsy... I can't wait to hit a fabric store! Not to mention our to LYS's. I'm starting to think spinning wheel thoughts...

A Stash Dash kinda holiday

Do you know how wonderful it is to have days at a time in your home when you are used to waking up in it, visiting it briefly after lunch, and then not getting back to it until around 6:30 or 7pm? To drink good tea, eat hot toast, and be in your pajamas past 7? Bliss indeed…

Since my life hasn’t been crazy enough lately, I decided to give myself a personal challenge for this August. What kind of personal challenge you might ask? To participate in Stash Dash for the first time. What is Stash Dash? A challenge dreamed up by the Knit Girllls to knit a certain number of kilometers of yarn from your stash. The challenge started May 27th, and runs till August 21. I’m crazy, but I’m not 15k crazy, so I’m going for the attainable 3k. Several things have flown off the needles, and I’m gripped hard by finishitis. Yes! So, here’s what I’ve been doing.

Swirl Hat to finish off the amazing Hawthorn yarn. Done!

Cowl in the lovely Round House Farms Lopi, dyed by my lovely friend Beth. Done!

A Welter cowl that I actually BLOCKED THE SWATCH for! (It still ended up being small then anticipated, but I’m not ripping it out!)

The pair of river knitting socks from last term!

And I’ve pulled out the Favorite Scarf Ever from almost two years ago and decided to finish it off. This skein of Noro was given to me as a graduation present, and it’s had various false starts, but I’m enjoying this pattern. I would tweak one little thing if I did it again, and I want to try one other way to do two halves without having the weird join, but this one has been modified into a straight shot. Loving the color progressions! I knit pretty much the whole rightmost section of the scarf TODAY.

I also finally got around to making another plastic canvass insert for my red Blue Moon silk project bag. This sits in the bottom and helps to give the bag a little shape. A small detail, but a nice one!

Other than that I’ve been sleeping, cooking, sorting, burning as much trash as I can get my hands on, and reading. Oh! And one other thing.

I booked my tickets. I’m going home for Christmas!

A trip and some finished projects!

Term being now over, I am begging to become a human being again. I’m mostly over that nasty sinus infection that dominated my life the last week of term, and I survived a trip to Solwezi. I have also been getting some real knitting done since term ended. So, lets get to it, shall we?

First of all, I was tickled to find this cloche style hat at the new mall in Solwezi. Very Downton, and will be great fun to have when I’m home.

I may have also found some new jewelry, and a sleep shirt that has the wonderful and oh so true to my life saying,

I also bought a brazier upcycled from a drum that I can use as an outdoor fireplace on my porch. I love that it’s red, and that I didn’t have to pay a white person price for it. I'll post a picture of it when I use it for the first time. To tide you over though, here some tubs made from metal drums for sale—I love the ingenuity!

While driving back we got to go by some big bush fires, and of course, some patches of bad road. Good thing there are some good stretches of tarmac to book it down!

In knitting news, the Blink socks are finally done! Another item to check off the furlough wardrobe list!

I also finished the Grumpasaurus that I made for a former student of mine who is going on to RVA. She would squish mine every time she came up to my desk, so I decided she should have her own to take with her and love. Now I want to make one in fingering weight just for the fun of it…

The Petite Lisette has the knitting done and the ends woven in. Here it is after taking a bath—love it!

I started a cowl using the lovely Round House Farm Lopi that Beth send me on the container; I’m adapting the Burbury Inspired Neck Cowl because I don’t want mine to be quite that wide. Again, winter, here I come! As I've pulled it out twice now, I'll post a picture when I actually have something to show.

In reading and watching, I’m coming to the end of my Peter Whimsey spree, and have Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles to start reading through. Fitting, as I just got my copy of The Martian on the container, and could at last enjoy Matt Damon making up for being a space ship stealing jerk in Interstellar. The disco music totally rocked, and I loved the Bowie song! Now I want to read the book again…

So, it has been a good start to the holiday. Who knows what I’ll get done before the hoardsImean kids come back? I need to get going on my Names of the Doctor scarf again, and I have another few projects with an end of November/December deadline that I need to get working on. Huzzah for a month off teaching!