Some Knitting, a Birthday, and some Picks

So, there is a bit of knitting news, though I haven’t finished anything this month. It’s like I suddenly had 50+ hour work weeks…

Oh, I actually did finish half of something! The first Time Traveler sock is DONE, and the second one cast on.

I have 5 repeats done on my Hitofude—so pretty! I can’t wait for it to be done so I can wear it, but I’m also enjoying the knitting process.

I started a dishcloth to survive the birthday party show—loving the stripes and loving that it’s at a finer gauge.

As it was my birthday, there was knitting, there was a new favorite movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty , enjoyed with Ruthie, and a few special drinks!

I made a magnitude accurate constellation on my laptop lid—nerdular nerdulance!

For my May music pick I indulged in the Hamilton soundtrack. If you had told me how much I would like it a few months ago I would have laughed, but I guess I’m a millennial and can’t help myself!

With a gift card I was gifted, I bought the matching biography that I’ve been wanting to read for quite a while, and a book of essays about knitting. I’ve also got a couple books on the go borrowed via Overdrive—I love that I can borrow books digitally from my local library!

Well, that’s about it for now. Stash Dash has started, and I’m trying to figure out what I can most likely get done, and enjoying the process of picking out a new project or two to start as I (hopefully!) finish things. We shall see how this goes… It is half-term at the end of this week, so there is a possibility of getting a bit more crafting done!

The Year of Being 30

As I look back on the last year of my life, I thought it might be nice to process through a little the good and the bad, the triumphs and the challenges. Because, no life is without both of those things, and they are important to remember and grow from. So, some of the best things about being 30 were:

• My furlough. It was so good to be home for a few months, to rebuild relationships and form new ones. To get to visit my three best friends and reconnect with others. To get Godly council from a variety of people. I have many precious memories from those 5 months, and have been greatly blessed by them.

• I took my first solo road trip, and got to visit many places like Bath, Philadelphia, Colorado, and Northern Indiana for the first time. I love to travel, and this was certainly a good year for traveling!

• The same can be said for pretty much the last 15 years of my life, but I knit a lot of fun projects, read a lot of good books (Blackout, All Clear, Questioning Evangalism, 100 Cupboards, Six of Crows), saw some great movies (Hidden Figures, Rogue One, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty), and heard a lot of good music (Hamilton, Audrey Assad) for the first time last year. Oh--and I bought a spinning wheel!

• I walked (with a pinch of jogging) To Write Love on Her Arm’s 5k in April. Through various circumstances I have become very aware of how many hurting people are out there who are unlikely to ever get help for various reasons; I want to be a voice of hope to those who are in a dark place, and to do what I can use my own hardships to make me more sensitive to others.

• While I was home, one of the things I did was to substitute teach at a Classical Christian School in my hometown. I so enjoyed seeing how another school runs, reconnecting with people I know, and to get to know some of the kids a little. The 8th graders were my favorites!

• Another of the best things about being home was the many, many churches I got to visit with my different friends and family members. It was refreshing to be in English services, and exciting to see living, growing bodies of Christ in many different flavors. I am so thankful for all those worship services and sermons.

Some of the hard things about being 30:

• This was my hardest birthday to face, and it was particularly difficult because I was still grieving a loss. Because of the circumstances of my life at present, I often feel downright old, and turning 30 felt a little bit like a death knell. I had always hoped that my life would look rather different by this point, and in some ways it felt like I had not achieved as much as I could have/aught to have.

• In all honesty, coming back to the school was pretty much the hardest thing I have ever done. There are a lot of factors in this situation, and I am so thankful that the Lord confirmed that it was His will for me to come back before I got on the plane, and He has shown me some other reasons why I needed to come back. So, while it was hard, God is faithful.

• Being away from my family is a constant ache, and last year was no exception. My family is not perfect (after all, I’m in it), but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

To finish off, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the year of 30:

I did NOT sign up to be Katniss!

...the girl on fire.

Sometimes I think my job/the people I work with purposely try to punish me for taking time off… The last two weeks since I arrived in country have been CRAZY, and I still feel like most of the world around me is about to catch on fire, but I seem to have stopped my clothes from catching on fire, I haven’t forgotten any major duty (yet), and I have mostly got 6 hours of sleep a night. So, it could be worse!

I have been doing some knitting in the midst of all the fire-fighting. I’ve made some good progress on my Time Traveler sock; Vanilla is the New Black might be my favorite vanilla sock pattern ever! I want to try Smooth Operator; maybe for the next self stripping socks?

I have also picked up something I cast on at the end of Stash Dash last year; the Magrathea scarf/shawlette in the lime green yarn that I can’t remember why I bought it. It’s a nice simple pattern, and I’m enjoying it. I’m also hoping to be able to finish it for this year’s Stash Dash. It has already saved my sanity during a frustrating movie night, so I look forward to having it as my almost mindless knitting.

Also, as a special treat for not catching on fire last week, I cast on the Hitofude sweater that I have been itching to make since I first queued it back in 2014. I’m using Knitpicks Lindy Chain yarn; a little splitty and stiff right now, but I’m hoping that the linen will soften out with wear. I am enjoying the pattern, and I LOVE how clever the construction is. Am I already planning one in wool? Maybe…

Other than those few projects, I have pretty much been consumed by work and trying to not let my real life get totally thrown to the wayside. I hope to do some spinning either during the term or in the August holiday; I want to finish off my Indian Corn project so I can knit a squishy cowl with it! As always I have a Great Course on the go, and I am currently really enjoying The Crooked Kingdom as my bedtime reading. A friend lent me the complete set of Eureka!, and I’m enjoying watching through those as I mark. So, life is (almost) under control…for now!