Hope

I can’t resist—I love to look back at the past to both reminisce, to evaluate, and to plan for the future. Scrooge’s promise to let all three spirits strive within him was a wise one; we must balance all three realities of being creatures living through linear time if we want to live healthy, meaningful lives. Reflecting on the year that’s past; honestly admitting the pain and challenges as well as celebrating the triumphs helps me think towards how I want to do the next year even better. What is the next challenge on my horizon? What do I need to change? What do I need to do better? What am I getting better at? How can I become more Christlike? A few years ago I started picking a word for the year. The first year was named at the end, but the rest have been words chosen to live the year by. For 2017 I choose the word Hope, because there was healing and the promise of change wrapped up in the challenges.

The Light

• I read 83 books in 2017
• I knit over 8,586 meters of yarn in 2017, and spun 286
• I walked my first 5k for To Write Love on Her Arms in April
• I saw my three best friends
• I survived my 8th year of teaching middle school!
• I substitute taught
• I knit my first sweater that fit properly!
• I gained peace about a decision that needed to be made
• I have some better answers about my ongoing shoulder trouble
• I was able to visit with a lot of my family
• I made bagels from scratch for the first time

The Dark

• I continue to live with low to mid-grade chronic pain in my shoulder
• There has been way too much stress in my life; relational and situational
• I failed two of my grade 6 students and had two pass into grade 7 very probationally
• I almost didn’t get to make it home for Christmas
• I injured my left ankle at the end of August and is barely healing; I can’t take my walks
• My struggles with depression are not yet over
• Satan has not been idle in attacking the school I'm involved with; there has been quite a bit of heartache.

While there were some very dark moments in 2017, I realized that for the first time in a long time I actually had hope for the future. Hope for the possibility of a new life, hope for what I was leaving behind, and hope for the day to day. So, while I'm choosing a new word for 2018, I plan to keep shielding and nurturing this glowing spark of hope. Hope for redeeming the past, hope to face each day, and hope for my future. Because I know how my story ends...and that's something awesome to hope for!

Two FO's = HAPPINESS!

I should really be editing grade 7 closing paragraphs for their research paper, but I'm trying to remember how good it felt to finishing things this weekend, so very quickly:

SOCKS. DONE.

Mittens for a small one, STARTED.

Hat for a small one, FINISHED. Triple points because it used up three different odd ends of yarn! Another point for winging a pom-pom and winning!

Second baby vertebra--on the front ribbing!

Parting shot: Roses from my garden--roses are blooming that have never bloomed before, and I'm loving it! Okay, I'm going to be a good teacher and get back to marking...

Knitting and Cake of Amazingness

I got a bit done this week other than you know, my regular job! I started the second baby vertebra I want to finish before heading home for Christmas. Interesting to be making it with a sport-weight yarn after doing it in light fingering!

There was a horrible incident with a bad leak in my living room, one of my favorite knitting books, and some yarn getting soaked, but it helped motivate me to pick up and finish off this hat I've left languishing for too long. Another before I go home goal; no pattern. Just a hat. With yarn that was once very wet and now needs a GOOD wash. Also, don't try to knit with wet yarn on wooden needles. Don't ask me how I know this; just don't!

I also got the heel turned and the leg started on this second Mystic Spiral sock while enjoying It Happened on 5th Avenue to celebrate Ruthie's birthday. Home stretch now! And, that is an EXCELLENT old Christmas movie!

Speaking of Ruthie's birthday, I made another of the fantastic but oh so rich chocolate chip cookie dough cakes. Too bad I'm not 12 anymore... Coffee to cut the sweetness was much needed!

Well, I had better go finish up things so I can go to bed. Only three more week!

Many little things all keeping me from going too crazy

My craft time continues to be quite limited, but I DID mange to finish the Frankinbooties—adorbs!

And I also managed to finish off the knitting on the first baby vertebra I need to finish before the end of the month, so there is that. Just needs a bath now.

I have spent most of the last week looking into boot cuffs for a dear sister in a very cold place; I am waiting to hear about calf sizing from her, but I was able to start these crochet ones as they are worked side to side. I seriously underestimated the amount of yarn they would take and seriously bungled the first attempt, so I wound up some yarn I have had sitting for quite awhile in the stash and started again this weekend. I’m liking it! I also wound up some of my cake dye yarn for another set…soon as I get that measurement!

I did a little weaving this weekend; crocheting the two sides together with a double thickness of yarn leads to far more satisfactory results; noted!

Today I chopped off the bottom of one of my favorite skirts that had become irreversibly stained, and hemmed it up. Good thing it was ankle length before! Yes, that hem looks awful, and will until I can get it home to my mom. I'm calling it a 'lettuce hem,' and pretending I did it on purpose!

Over the weekend I inhaled Wintersong, a story for anyone who ever feel in love with Jareth, the Goblin King. A little sensual in places, but I liked the complexity of his character, and the links with the Germanic tradition of Der Erlking. Now I need to watch Laybrinth again…

I also made bagels for the first time this weekend; not as hard as I had thought, fun, and I loved the results! I’m going to be doing this while I’m home in December.

And yes, speaking of, I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

Finishing is good for the soul

Last week s*cked. Like major lemons. Like, I wasn't sure I could make it to Saturday when I would be off. So what did I do, some furious knitting to keep myself from killing someone--student or me, the jury was out.

I finally got to the next interesting bit on my Bluebell cardigan at the crazy gauge; this is a picture right before I started the lace band. Once that is done, it's going back into hybernation until the next chapter of my life. I feel ready to pull Hitofude out again!

I took a potholder loom home this weekend and found weaving squares with dishcloth cotton theraputic. Here are a few of my results:

Not a huge fan of the single crochet to put them together; maybe if I used two strands of yarn? I'm going to try again and just whip stitch the edges to see if I like that more.

I also sewed together all the squares I have finished of my twill weaving project--getting close!

On Sunday I finished my Tintern Abbey socks--love them! They are now blocked and just need ends woven in before being put in the 'home' box.

I also finished my first project with my own handspun; a lovely squishy cowl in all the fall colors I adore and miss so much right now.

So, since I finished to projects, today I cast on a new pair of socks and a blanket, 'cause that's what you do! Here's hoping this is a better week, and that the holiday this week won't throw my kids for too much of a loop.

Parting shot: Frankinbooties because I need me some Halloween whimsey about now.

Very few pictures to document not enough (for my sanity) knitting

So, since my life has been insane/frustrating for the last few weeks, a whole lot of interesting knitting has not been done. I’m going to be lazy and you’ll just have to take my word for it, but I am almost done with the first sleeve of the baby vertebra, and I started the cuff patterning on the second Tintern Abbey sock. I got through the second ‘swish’ on the second sock of another pair of Mystik Spirals, and I put down a few rows on my handspun cowl.

The big thing I’ve been working on is getting my long hibernating Bluebells past the lace detail at the waist, so I can take it and the yarn home with me (hopefully) in December. Miles and miles and MILES of stockinette in a plain yarn is not rivetingly exciting, but I am just about to decrease for the bust and at long last start that lace band. I haven’t decided if I’m going to make it wider; we’ll have to see what it looks like as written. I guess I aught to re-check my row gauge… I’m not thrilled with the yarn; Loops and Threads Wool-like. The problem with this second ball is the yarn is plied funny and a strand stretches and bunches as you go. I ended up ripping back quite a bit on Friday where it was actually affecting the garment, but now things seem to be at least knitting in well even if they are awkward in the hand. So, yes, it was super cheap, but I don’t think I’ll rush out to buy it again.

Oh—I was weak and snagged some yarn I’ve been wanting for over a year—Nomadic Fiber’s “Sirius.” Not all her dyed to order colors are available at all times, and I just happened to see this one was up again. I personally wish the name of this colorway was Lupin as he is my favorite character in Harry Potter, so maybe I’ll knit Lupin socks with the Sirius yarn. So pretty!

I just finished First Lord’s Fury, the last of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. I’m glad I finished the series; there were some interesting elements of world building, and I like the protagonist, Tavi. I almost abandoned the series after reading book 2, then book 1, but a friend said she had enjoyed it, so I decided to give it a proper go. I find it slightly hard to believe that no major characters died in the cataclysmic battle at the end, but I like this series well enough to finish purchasing them for my Kindle eventually. Now to indulge in a mystery!

The one piece of knitting I actually have a picture for, is this cat hat for Java (yes, she deserves it!). Yes, there will be a picture of my little punk rocker soon, but for right now here it is in all it’s improvised glory. Some short rows on the top of the head might be good for next time… That’s what you get for tearing up my things!

Parting shot: Trying my hand at some paper flowers for a sister--not half bad, but much harder when your floral tape is dead!

Some soaking, weaving, and dying

Once again, my life kind of exploded. Go figure--I'm a teacher! Over the very busy, stressful, and draining last two weeks, I have managed to get a bit of crafting in. I'm still sane enough to type, aren't I?

I citric acid soaked some cotton because I have a project that I don't want to bleed at the end; we shall see how that goes. Oddly enough it was the blue that gave off a little color, not the green...

After early experiments with cotton yarn, I switched to some Red Heart (Gasp! I know!) and some gray that I had just got on the container, and started weaving chevrons following the modern directions on the old loom. I have only had to rip back once--so far, and I am really happy with the results. I now have 5.6 squares finished--still enjoying the process! 6 more of the two color twill, then 3 solid I think?

I finally got the heel turned on my second Tinturn Abbey sock; we won't talk about how I bungled it royally... In the home stretch!

I also am just about ready to cast off the bottom ribbing of my Baby Vertebra that I'm working on; I love how these colors are knitting up!

Half-term is coming up, so I'm hoping to have a few minutes to call my own in which to do something other than marking. We shall see!

Weaving Endeavors

Picture-lit today, sorry! Now that term has started, I measure my knitting time in minutes rather than shows or hours. That being said, I have still managed to finish the first blue Mystik Spiral sock, and get a little bit done of the first Baby Vertebra I’m planning to knit this fall. I worked a bit more on my handspun scarf; I’m into the second full ball now, and I’m turning the heel of the second Tintern Abbey sock (appropriately while I re-watch through Downton Abbey).

This weekend I was digging in the craft container for more looms for the loops I was recently sent, and found an old 'magic loom' in the weaving box. Intrigued, I pulled one out that looked like it had all the pieces, and what I hoped was a full set of instructions (we’re not great about putting things away like that around here…). A little quick Googling turned up the full instructions, as well as some more complex patterns. Sunday in between duties I played around a bit, and ended up with this—the plain vanilla square.

A little more playing around Sunday afternoon in which I tried to do a chevron pattern resulted in this:

Conclusions? Cotton has no give, and thus does not ‘plump’ out very much when removed from the loom. Following the chevron pattern was harder than anticipated. This is oddly captivating as an activity. I have no intention of making an afghan this way. I want to know how those smart coats in the pamphlets were made from squares. I want to tackle the chevron again armed with springier yarn and more experience. I saw this bag made of woven squares on Pinterest that I am pretty interested in making—we shall see how it goes! Since I have so much free time just now…

Call me the finisher

In this last week before the chillin’s come back, I managed to get a LOT done! Too bad Stash Dash wasn’t going… Boy am I going to miss the knitting time now that term is starting…

First of all, I finished a the sherbet Mystik Spiral socks; here is a close up of the ‘fore-thought gusset’ I’m continuing to work on.

I also finished spinning up the (probably) alpaca that I used the dried up cake dye on a couple years ago. Very different to spin than the other fibers I have tried so far, but such beautiful yarn!

Then, on Saturday, I knocked out the first of my Fake Isle hats. I love the way it turned out—it was hard to see what all the colors were in the ball, but I took a leap of faith and am pretty pleased with the result.

Want to see the floats? I find the inside of colorwork fascinating in its own right…

On Sunday I finished my Apatosaurus while talking to my youngest brother; he thought it was funny that I was so stoked. Muggle!

On Tuesday I knocked out the second Fake Isle Hat; the color is now all gone. I like them both, but the first one is going to be mine I think…

Tonight, Wednesday, I caked up some of my lovely Indian Corn handspun,

and cast on a Bias Loop cowl. This is what the first ball (that didn’t fit with the repeats) looks like knit up. So squishy!

I have also made some good progress over the last three or four days on the Lost Lake Mystik Spiral socks. I think I might finally have the last lingering issues (mine) ironed out now.

Now if you'll excuse me, my life is about to explode.

If you need me, I'm probably still in the library...

So, what I was kind of thinking to myself would be a weeks worth of mornings job, is now looking like it will end up being 14 mornings worth of work to get to the stopping point I had set for myself. Today I fought the battle of Intermediate Biographies; much more fiddly than anticipated, and tomorrow I'm going to create and input for the first time (so I hope it goes faster!) the Senior Biography section. In between all the books I've managed to get some knitting and Great Courseing done! I finished Turning Points in Medieval History and am starting The High Middle Ages.

I enjoyed this course; I have studied quite a bit about the medieval period, so while many of the turning points were events and people I am familiar with, it was interesting to see what the 24 the professor picked as most critical were. While I was working through that course, I finished the first Mystic Spiral sock and started the second one. So now I have three single socks and am having to fight off the urge to cast on another. The other Tintern Abbey sock will make good mindless knitting for the beginning of term, and the second spiral sock should be done in a day or two.

I also made some good progress on my Apatosaurus scarf, but it was rather less than it should have been because I first knit this:

instead of this. Oddly enough, reading the directions gives better results. Free advice for the week!

I've also been spinning a bit while listening to an American history course for fun. This is possibly alpaca that I was given and dyed using the remnants of some dried up cake dye. It is spinning up very differently than the Targhee I was working with perviously; less 'bounce,' but beautiful yarn! I look forward to finding something special to use this on once it's all done...

See my awesome nails? I tried out the sponge trick for the first time and was quite pleased with the results. Note though, this uses up WAY more nail polish. Which makes sense when you think of it, but now you know.

Well, that's pretty much all there is to say about this week! This is my last week of 'real' holiday'; the week leading up to school will have some onerous meetings and such, so I'm trying to make the most of it. Just a few more days of freedom!

Books, Knitting, and Cooking

Boy is holiday nice! My students assume that I roam the station bored out of my tree, but so far I haven't had to resort to plastic canvass or lawn mowing... Having the time to inhale books is so nice, and while a much longer process than anticipated, I'm glad that I can now say I've made my own spaghetti sauce from scratch.

When I haven't been in the kitchen, napping, or in the library, I have been getting in some great knitting time. Here is what has been on my needles:

Here is what Magrathea looks like one me; it was already done, but the blocking photo really didn't do it justice.

I also finished my first Tintern Abbey sock and started the second one. All that was done in one day! To be fair, there were two Skype/FB chats with friends and family overseas and two Great Courses involved, but I'm still pretty impressed. At this point I might just get Judy's Magic Cast On memorized!

I also stumbled across a set of imaginative dinosaur patterns, and fell completely and devastatingly in love with the Apatosaurus Scarf. And, as I'm watching through the Jurassic Park Movies (2 & 3 for the first time), it was doubly serendipitous! This was the perfect chance to try out the skein of Preciousa that I got from Knit Picks to see if I'd like it. So far it is lovely and soft, and I was happy with how it held up when I pulled out the gauge swatch. I love things like this which let my inner geek flag wave in socially acceptable ways!

I also picked my Mystic Spiral sock back up and hope to get the first one finished tomorrow and get the second one going. At the moment I have almost three single socks sitting around--possibly a record for me. Before I can cast on another one, I feel I need to get a pair finished. I am starting to itch to cast another one on, so I guess I'll have lots of motivation!

Just in case you were wondering, my grand total meters for Stash Dash 2017 was 3,771. Woot! I'm trying to remember the last time my project page had so few WIPs on it. I think I might dig out a shawl from hibernation, and oh! I need to figure out a baby sweater. So many patterns, so little time!

Parting shot: Java is so CUTE!