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!

June and July Picks

So, June as a, shall we say, interesting month, I never got around to posting my picks. Just in the case someone was hanging on the edge of their seat to see what I chose to indulge in during these last two months, here goes!

I splurged on a few different books in June; it was a pretty rough month, and I was still celebrating my birthday a bit. So, among other things, I bought Ross Poledark: A Novel of Cornwall. I had watched the first season of the mini-series and enjoyed it, so I wanted to see what the books were like. The mini-series was quite faithful actually, and in some ways more enjoyable as the way the author wrote his characters they are rather distant and harder to engage with. I think the character of Ross shines thought better on the screen. I plan to read at least a few more of these books, but right now I’m on a mystery binge.

Speaking of mysteries, I also have started working my way through the Nero Wolfe mysteries, and I have decided to do them in order even though there isn’t any strong chronology, so in June I downloaded the second one, The League of Frightened Men. A very enjoyable read; Archie was drugged by a vengeful wife! As I continue my end of term murder mystery kick, I’m enjoying some Lord Peter Whimsy in the form of short stories and the first novel, Whose Body?.

For July, I picked the book Night Circus after seeing it in a friend’s post on Facebook. I haven’t read it yet; I’m saving it as my reward for surviving the end of term, but I can’t wait based on the person who posted it, and the synopsis I saw on Amazon.

For music in June I had two picks. First, an album of the Beach Boys greatest hits. I suddenly found myself with a Beach Boys craving, realized I had almost none of their music, and set out to correct that immediately. Total fluff, but oh such good memories of listening to oldies with my dad!

The second album I went with was the soundtrack for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. The fact that it suddenly decreased in price might have had something to do with it! While others have complained that it didn’t have a strong theme like the other new movies, I loved Rey’s theme, and thought that John Williams did a much better job than Howard Shore did when he revisited his previous scores with The Hobbit movies. I’m not a huge John Williams fan like my brother, but I have been enjoying getting into the Star Wars mood…a few months after everybody else. December, I’m gonna be there baby!

For July’s pick I pre-ordered and then immediately began enjoying Needtobreath’s new album, Hard Love. Once again, they knocked it out of the park. While they are going in a more rock direction, I’m still loving this band. Their songs have great lyrics, great energy, and as with Rivers in the Wasteland there were a few songs that I could swear were written just for me. I particularly loved the title, “Hard Love,” and “Great Night,” and “Happiness.” Keep making music guys—I’m going to need another album in about a year the way my life is going!

So, that's it folks. I finished re-watching through Jeeves and Wooster as my marking TV, and am looking forward to some non-marking watching once school ends!

Bracing for impact...

This week is exam week. The big, tri-annual questions is asked once again--will I survive? Will a kid die? Will there be any time for knitting?

This past week did not have near enough knitting time in it, but over weekend I had a chance to put down some good solid work on the Petite Lisette while chatting with a dear friend over Skype. I somehow bungled the decreases a bit—I apparently can’t count to save my life—and had to fudge a bit (‘cause there was NO WAY I was pulling out all that mind numbing stockinette!), and finally got the pleats done. Aren’t they charming? Now it’s divided and all ready to start the top! I’m looking at this, and I think it’s going to be rather bigger than anticipated, but that means it will fit longer, right?

I forgot to post this dishcloth last week; I’m trying out some new round dishcloth patterns; this one is the Double Diamond Dishcloth, and the verdict is a) too big (I have this weird thing about dishcloth size) and b) too much trouble. So, this won’t become a handwork pattern, and I don’t really see myself trying it again unless I used a finer cotton. I started another one this past week that is much more promising. I think this one too might be a little big, but it’s a simple enough pattern to become a go-to.

I got the heel turned on my Blink socks and have started down the foot; this is no mindless knitting again,

And I started the second Groovy sock. I had to fight the color repeat a bit; the dark purple stripe isn’t always consistent, so I’m hoping that won’t become a constant thing. This is also now in the mindless knitting stage.

Parting shot: Subversive toile is making me laugh just now guys. It's Toile About You by Emmy Cicierega was something a friend showed me a long time ago, and I recently remembered and found. Dudes, now I want this on something...

I can always control my knitting...mostly

You know how sometimes reaching a knitting goal becomes super important? I think part of it for me is that my life totally out of control right now—on both sides of the ocean, but my knitting is something that I can control. So, I had in my head that I wanted to get two projects to the half-way point over the weekend, and…I did!

First, I am now done with chart 5, and thus officially halfway on my Names of the Doctor scarf. A weeping angel is coming up on the next chart—I’ll try not to blink.

Here is a picture of the whole scarf—I’m loving it! I can’t wait to wear it!

The other thing I wanted to get to the half-way point, is the pair of socks that have been my river knitting. Since I had an unexpected supervision on Sunday morning, I zoomed through the toe, and then after fellowship last night I sat down and did the heel. I made a newb mistake that resulted in my kitchner not being exactly even, but I won’t do that on the second one. Overall, I’ quite happy! And I love how my little forethought gusset looks!

The other project that got a good bit of love over this last week was my Blink sock (very Whovian knitting at the moment, huh?). I’m working on my second heel turn; I love how the feathers chart can work into the flap so nicely! Once I get that all done I can start zooming down the foot as it is pretty much mindless knitting.

And that is pretty much it for now. As previously mentioned, life feels pretty out of control right now, so I am working on my trust muscles. And, keeping my eyes fixed on December! I can do this, I can do this. Just keep knitting, just keep knitting...

Independence Day

After another rough week, this weekend off was a golden gift. Because I knew had worked hard during the week, and because I knew I would be doing some heavy duty marking this morning, I had time to actually relax! I took a healing nap, started a knitting project, and re-watched The Force Awakens just ‘cause. So, here’s a look at what I’ve been up to!

First of all, I started a Petite Lisette for a special little girl, and this is my first time using Knitpicks Hawthorn. I’m LOVING it! The colors are beautiful, this yarn has a nice twist to it, and it’s lovely and soft. I can’t wait till things get interesting in the waist pleats, though I’m enjoying the ‘mindless’ aspect of the knitting just now.

I continue to work on my Groovy socks. They were my companions at Sports Day, and I think the toe might be in sight. I have to decide if I’m going to take out the afterthought heel before or after I get to the toe shaping. How does one usually know how long to make socks when you don’t have a heel to measure from? Here is my scorers set up—I come prepared!

I also started a Hitchhiker ‘scarfette’ (my word for a cross between a scarf and a shawlette) in the yarn that I had originally planned to use for the Petite Lisette. I couldn’t get the gauge working for me, so I decided that a bright pink scarf in a fun pattern to nibble on over the next few months wouldn’t hurt anything. Such a clever pattern, and I hope that I will have 42 little teeth by the time I’m finished.

Last night I indulged myself in a some ‘higher brain required’ knitting and picked up my Names of the Doctor scarf again. I just started the fifth chart, so I need to get a move on if I want this to be ready for December. I love double knitting, it just isn’t always easy to do it in the midst of all my crazy. Loving the yarn, loving the pattern, and loving the process.

As it is half term I’m getting caught up on some big marking projects, and I plan to get a few more naps in. Only three more weeks and a half more weeks left of term, and then a month of PEACE!

I’m reading G.K. Chesterson’s The Man Who was Thursday just now, and am finding it a pretty gripping read. I picked it up because as I’ve been listening to Neil Gaiman’s essay collection, I’ve been checking out some of his favorite authors. I’ve found that when you like an author or musician, you should look into what they like to read or listen to as it’s probably well worth it. After I finish this, I think I’m going to read some more Tey, or perhaps a Nero Wolfe. Mysteries go well with end of term madness…

‘Cause it’s ‘merica day.

Dear America,

You are my country, and while I’m not convinced that patriotism is a vital part of Godliness, I do love you. I love that you allow me to vote for our leaders, and I appreciated have the right to do pretty much anything I might want to (because I’m a very law abiding citizen; this is not true for everyone obviously). I am protected by a military that believes in this country and these freedoms, and while I actively dislike spending time in government offices, yours are run far better than others I have suffered through. I am served by a police force who receives mostly hostility for doing their job to try and make our highways and cities safe, and after taking road trips in a third world country, I won’t complain (too much) about Louisiana’s highways ever again. You are where the land of my heart, the South is located, and I love your majestic landscapes and diversity. You are the home of barbeque, Ranch dressing, sweet tea, Root Beer, and Dr. Pepper.

There are some things about you that I don’t enjoy so much. The embarrassment of being around most of your tourists in foreign countries is pretty bad, and unfortunately the stereotypes of rude, brash Americans has been pretty fairly earned. Your people have made some, shall we say, ‘interesting’ political choices in the last few years, and your are providing an excellent and vivid picture of the weaknesses of a democracy where it’s people are either uneducated or won’t participate. I find it frustrating that you have made acceptance your greatest virtue instead of integrity or honesty, and there are a host of social problems that we are trying to solve in the wrong way by treating the symptom, not the disease.

But, despite all that, you are still my country, and I am thankful for you. I’m thankful that 240 years ago educated, Godly men signed a document the likes of which the world had never seen, and that I am a part of that heritage. I’m proud to bear your passport, and I pray for the future of my country. May God bless America in the coming years, may I be able to do some small things to make my country a better place, and may we never forget how blessed we are. Missing you today,

~ A Texan ex-pat

Knitting and Tea Pretty Much Saved My Life This Week

This past week was pretty awful. By the end I was physically and emotionally exhausted, and it was a rough weekend on. However, I had my knitting, I had chai, I prayed a lot, and I am now coming to a place of peace with the storms around me. Also, I got my birthday box, and there were some things in there that helped a lot. Like these fun bits of media!

I also got these fun bottle toppers to make my on hand oil more elegant.

Probably one of the best things in the box in terms of this week was the wild colored hair extensions. Green, pink, and blue hair in the evening helps for some reason. Here I am modeling my finished Pogona shawl (much in need of a blocking) and some green hair.

Here is the shawl drying on my oh so glamorous towel after it's bath today.

While down at the river I got some good work done on my Groovy Socks. I found an interesting 'forethought heel' in one of my sock knitting books; if I had two balls of self-stripping yarn I think I would have gone for it, but as it is I'll just do a classic afterthought. Measuring for the foot length will be a bit interesting though...

The other big news for this week is that I have not finally seen The Force Awakens! Some initial reactions:

* BB8 is adorable and I want him.
* That being said, how does he work?
* Finn is adorable too!
* Why does everyone look at the Falcon and say, "Junk!"
* I love Sci-Fi mechanic/tec jargon.
* Why was the Falcon conveniently fueled and charged? It was parked a scavenger depot! Like no one would have checked it out?
* Since when is light sabar fighting intuitive?
* What is wrong with the Skywalker boys?
* Why did R2D2 randomly wake up at the critical moment?
* Whatever they paid Mark Hamill, it was too much. Talk about being trolls!
* Did they let Josh Wheddon get at the script? Really? Han?

All in all, it was a fun ride, and I think they did a great job of bringing in thrills for fans of IV-VI, and I thought the score was particularly well done. Unlike The Hobbit where they quoted too heavily from the original trilogy, this one used snippets of old themes beautifully, and had a fresh, new sound for the rest. Watching this 'with' my mom was one of the best parts of the weekend.

Oh, the other fun thing this week was 'falling down' at Knitpicks and socking up on 5 socks worth of their self-striping yarn Felici. I got more Time Traveler, and a few other colorways that took my fancy. It really is a great deal on sock yarn, and I look forward to knitting it up.

Well, I need to look up some pictures for my history lesson tomorrow, so I'll sign off. Things can only get better, right?

Parting shot:

A Gift of a Weekend

This week has been quite busy, and one of the reasons I pushed so hard was that I wanted to be able to *breath* a little this weekend. Saturday night was a real treat—while waiting for my mom to be ready to watch The Decoy Bride with me, I worked on my birthday Pogona and listened to my audio book of Neil Gaiman’s The View From the Cheap Seats. I have been a fan of Gaiman’s for years, and listening to his speeches on the importance of writing and books, and his thoughts about life is such a treat. Why aren’t more people like him teachers?

I am so glad that my mom came up with the idea of watching movies ‘together.’ Yes, we are separated by 7 time zones, but to be able to enjoy the same films together and text our snarky comments back and forth (everyone in my family is a chronic movie talker) is a great way to celebrate a weekend off. I really enjoy that movie as well; it’s not a typical RoCom. I love the witty lines, the unexpected twist, and that the main leads are awkward human beings who make ‘complete twats’ of themselves and talk of going ‘man vegan.’ Plus, the accents don’t hurt either!

An exciting thing that happened this week was that I won a skein of beautiful “Proud Lady Mary” sock yarn from One Twisted Tree in the Stitch Sister’s Downton Abbey trivia contest! I am so tickled; I have been drooling over most of One Twisted Tree’s stuff since I looked them up, and of all the prizes in the contest, that is the one I most hoped to win. One of the really cool things about OTT, is that she gives pattern suggestions for her yarns, and so, since most enablement is always a good thing, right? I checked them out. Now I know exactly what socks I want to do with this yarn, Tintern Abbey. I’m wondering if there is a way to incorporate some beading into those arches now… I shall have to get the pattern and explore! Also, speaking of Downton, I realized that two episodes of Jeeves and Wooster take place at Highclere Castle, and when checking out their website I learned that it was the seat of Lord Canarvin, as in King Tut! They have a collection of minor antiquities that he brought back from Egypt that was cataloged by Carter himself! As if I didn’t want to visit Highclere enough already…

One of my knitting goals this weekend other than to do as much of it as I could, was to get a pair of socks past the forethought gusset stage. This is the first time that I have attempted the whole process—forethought gusset and afterthought heel—on a full sized sock, and so far I am quiet pleased with the results. I am so pleased with the neatness of this solution, and just need to figure out a way to make it available to other sock aficionados. I’m not sure if I should just make up a ‘how to’ and post it to my Ravelry store, or if I should build it into a sock pattern. Which would of course mean that I need to design a sock pattern…in all my spare time. I do have a pretty cool idea involving beads kicking around in my head; maybe in December I’ll be able to make it a reality. So, here is the sock with it’s odd looking forethought gusset ready to return to being river knitting—mindless and enjoyable.

I have also made some good progress on the second Blink sock; the chilliness of my floors has provided excellent motivation to turn out more socks, and while I have decided that these will wait till December to be worn, I’m still excited.

I had to put my Names of the Doctor scarf into a bag because my cat has started running over and attacking the cakes of yarn while I’m sitting there watching her; such subtlety, eh? Once I get my birthday scarfette done—hey, I like that name!—I plan to pick that back up again. Call me crazy, but I find myself contemplating doing another double knitting scarf; maybe the Sherlock one or one of the Regency patterned ones. I think this holiday I might try my hand at charting a few nerdy things to double knit into hotpads, and one of these days I need to make myself my own gates of Moria and banner of the king. It’s just a matter of how much suitable yarn I have left. After two years of almost exclusive ‘knit from my stash,’ my options are getting quite limited. I foresee falling down quite a lot in yarnstores next year…

Well, that’s me for this week! Enjoy your summer, you in the Northern Hemisphere, and keep knitting!

Parting shot: This rosebush is amazing; I wish you could smell the loveliness through your screen!

A Tribute

I am unspeakably grateful for the parents God has given me, and today I want to take a moment and shine the spotlight on my dad. My dad taught me to work hard and well, to lead by example and service, and how to plan. My dad shared his music with me—The Beatles, Roger Whittaker, and Enya. My dad modeled sacrifice and integrity for me—to swear to one’s own hurt and the value of your name. My dad shared his books with me—Asimov, Tolkien, Forester, and O’Brian, and takes the time to read books I love as well. My dad’s life is an example of giving in secret and being the unthanked person who makes things work. Daddy, I can’t thank you enough for being a such an awesome dad. You have set the bar impossibly high for the other men in my life!

Big socks and mini socks!

I have a few finished items to show off, despite the decided lack of knitting time this last week. I need to work harder on finding those marking fairies...

I got the three luggage tags one only finished including their ties, but I even gave them a bath and gentle blocking! I love making these, the the using up of not one but TWO odd bits of yarn was an extra plus. I'm just waiting for day day I'm on the same flight as half a knitting convention when my luggage will then be hard to distinguish...

The other big thing I finished this week was the Stitch Surfers. These are toe up, so I tried out my 'forethought gusset' with the neat new way to do a short row heel; I think it might be my favorite to date. This was a fun knit, and I totally plan to do it again, and I even am kicking around plans for a fingerless glove version around in my head...

I was sent an Amazon gift card by a good friend for my birthday, so I have been enjoying the Poledark soundtrack this weekend. I just wish the had more of Demelza's singing, and that the tracks were in order. Great music, great story, and stunning photography all make for a great show.

Another accomplishment this past week was finishing another Great Course--How Great Science Fiction works. I got some ideas for new books to read, and found it interesting to see the history of the genre which stretches back to Frankenstein, as well as a good discussion on what science fiction actually is. I love getting a nerd fix!

I've been trying to decide what to cast on as a reward for finishing those socks... I want to get my Pogona finished off so I can wear it, but I also am feeling the urge to knit something purple. I'm debating about what to use some yarn I got for Christmas for; scarfy-shawlette, or socks? Aren't possibilities delicious?

Recent interesting idea that turned up while doing research for science--colonizing Venus, instead of Mars first. Floating cities? Cool! Practical? Surprisingly. Would I sign up? No!

Parting shot: Java being adorable...as usual!

May Picks

I usually allow myself a few extra indulgnces in May, and as this was a ‘big’ May, I decided to splurge on some yarn as well. So, here are my entertainment picks for my birthmonth!

First of all, in yarn, I heard about this Star Trekkie yarn from Fibernymph Dyeworks, and I went online and bought it so fast that my keyboard was almost smoking. This will be to be a delayed gratification, but I can’t wait to knit up some socks in the colors of the classic Trek uniforms! And sorry, no, she doesn't have anymore just now.

Also, I decided to splurge on some yarn from Round House, a little alpaca farm in Onterio run bu some good friends of mine. I’m coming round more and more to the idea of brown, and this sparkly yarn called my name. http://www.roundhousealpacas.ca/store/

For books, I thought I would just read the first of a two part series this month, Blackout by Connie Willis, but I clearly forgot what an outstanding writer Connie Willis is and how gripping her time travel novels are, because I finished the first one and knew that it was not going to work to wait a month for the next one! So, All Clear was quickly purchased and downloaded as well.

I also indulged in the first of the Nero Wolfe mysteries. While there is no real chronology, it helps to choose the next read. I just wish they were cheaper in both print and Kindle versions…

Last month’s music indulgence was the delightful The World of Jeeves and Wooster, the soundtrack to the brilliant show. The only problem with this album is that the silly songs Wooster sings totally get stuck in your head; I’ve had “Nagasaki” in my head on and off ever since I listened to it the first time. I have to say that I’m a growing fan of Hugh Lorrie’s music, as you’ll find out in June’s picks!

So, that was May! Happy knitting, reading, and listening!

Less productive on the knitting front than I might have liked...

Despite having a weekend off, I was actually pretty caught up in a) trying to get caught up on school stuff so I could function this week, b) sleeping, and c) taking care of some pressing personal business. Oh you know, little things like paying your bills. Such an exciting life I lead...

I have had time to make two luggage tags. They were both supposed to be gifts for short-termers, but the one on the left turned out so lovely that it is MINE. So I'm making another one...

In addition to making some small progress on both the second Blink and Stitch Surfer socks, I also got some more done on my birthday shalette/scarf.

Speaking of that second Stitch Surfer, I need to figure out how to do the heel turn properly (I did it the first time!) so I can get on with the rest of the leg. Gotta love not being able to brain...

Parting shot: Java is very cleverly camouflaged on my bed. The wild look in her eyes is one of both triumph, and mischief. I love my cat...