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!

I went There and Back Again, and now have an awesome scarf!

Once upon a time there was this crazy, nerdy, knitting teacher who saw this incredible scarf pattern that told the story of The Hobbit, one of her very favorite books. It required double knitting (a skill she did not yet have), and lots of time, but on one quiet Saturday afternoon near the end of her term break she decided to GO for it, and embark on her quest.

It took awhile to get used to the rhythm of double knitting, and there is a little ‘oops’ in the hobbit’s garden to prove that this technique needed some working out, but before she knew it, the first chart was finished. Term started, life got crazy, and most of the knitting on the scarf happened on her weekend off. Yet, stitch by stitch, row by row, the scarf continued to grow.

Finally, after 812 rows, 74,704 stitches, and 3 1/2 months, the scarf was finished.

The dragon was complete, the treasure was won, and the last stitch was cast off. It was a quiet victory as there were no knitting buddies around to celebrate with, but not every victory ends with banquets and speeches. Sometimes it’s just the quiet of a Sunday afternoon in the bush; a gal and her knitting. There and back again.

I'm going to kind of miss working on the scarf--it has been my constant companion for all of term 2, and now I'm trying to decide which exciting possibility I should start working on next! There will be lots of 'ninja' Christmas knitting over the next few months, but I am excited about my current project that I'm throwing myself into--Nerdy Christmas in July! More details soon...

Chart nine is finished!

Folks, we've got dragon!

There is only one more chart and a bit on this epic journey, and then I will have to decide how much crocheting I'm going to do around the edges. Whew!

I made this luggage tag for myself over half-term and finished up the second tie this morning during handcraft--Jayne, the man they call Jayne....!

I also finished the first of the fingerless gloves that I was smitten with recently. Because these are purposely a size too small for me, and because I don't have the buttons here to finish them, it's a little hard for me to figure out if I made the flap long enough, but now I'm excited to make a pair for myself! I think I'll make mine a bit longer so I have 4 pattern repeats across the flap. I think they are supposed to stretch quite a bit, but as I said, it's a bit hard to figure out.

Well, I'm going to get precious little knitting done this coming week because of these minor things called EXAMS, but I'm getting excited about the crafting I plan to get done this holiday. Christmas gifts and a few 'treats' for myself are on the list as well as lots of reading. Boy am I looking forward to being caught up on sleep!

Huzzah for 'Finishitis'!

Whew—I’ve actually got some knitting done this week! Finishitis struck--score! One of my best knitting days was actually Sports Day; as the ‘scorer’ I had a lot of down time, so I finished off a birthday present for a friend. As a plus, this set of luggage tags also used up an odd skein of yarn! This was hand-dyed with the exhaust from some yarn I dyed as a present for Beth.

For the same birthday girl, I made this cowl and used up a skein of yarn I had forgotten I had. I wish I had been able to make this long enough to wrap around twice, but hopefully the recipient will still be able to appreciate it as it.

I also finished the hat I was working on in plenty of time for Sports Day, even though I didn’t end up needing to wear it. You know what, I love this hat!

See that button? That is an edelweiss button that a friend brought me from Austria. I’m so thrilled to have the perfect place to put it!

I also have to say, this hat looks pretty good, even on my head! The pattern is Izmir, and its free on Ravelry!

I also finished this hanging dishtowel that has been lurking about for several weeks. I wanted one to match my blue kitchen towels set, so I didn’t hang a new one up when I changed my kitchen linens over as motivation! I love the button; I wasn’t sure if it would work, but I really like the finishing touch it gives.

I’ve also started working on that fingerless glove pattern that I feel to greatly in love with--Spatterdash. I just got to the 'fun' part, the hand flap in the variegated yarn. Love it!

So, that's what was up with this knitter in the bush. Oh, I hope you all had a lovely 4th of July! I celebrated in private that evening; while there are many, many things I don't like about my country, I'm so glad that I'm an American!

Fake Entry

Begin transmission:

This is not a real blog entry. There was very little accomplished this week other than a shocking amount of marking, building a lot of paper pyramids with my students, and some reading. A project was finished but needs to be blocked before it can be revealed, and a project will be started despite the fact that I am swimming in WIP. I have cast-onitis and finishitis all at the same time, so this week could be interesting!

End transmission.

I guess I should actually finish something one of these days...

Drum roll please--I just finished the 8th chart on my scarf of doom, and now have only two and a bit till it is complete! Here is the chart 8 section,

And here is a close up of the section that I adapted to include the rune for 'd' like the map in the book has.

I also finally finished off the third tribble which is destined as a gag gift for someone. They're multiplying!

This morning I started an alternate birthday present for someone here because I'm not sure that she would wear the Noro scarf I started for her. So here is an 'oatmeal' sort of project--simple and comforting. I had some Wool-Ease I had forgotten about in a lovely gray color, so I started a cowl.

Finally in other knitting news, I finished the first of the blue socks that I really wish were done now since my toes are so often cold, and have started the second one.

Last night I made baked apples since I had the oven on already for bread and supper. Hollow out an apple, pack the core with raisins or walnuts, drizzle with honey and some brown sugar, bake, and it's heaven in a bite!

Yesterday was the winter solstice here in the Southern Hemisphere, and while there is a part of me that loves snuggling in my warm knitted things, I really wish I had a way to heat my home a bit. Oh well--it will be hot season all to soon!

Parting shot: I've put out my magnetic poetry for my kids to play with, and one of my 6th grade girls wrote this yesterday.

Cooking

Very, very little happened on the knitting front this week. About the only thing I managed to accomplish was this--I finished chart 7 of the scarf of crazy! Everything else has been little snatches in between massive bouts of marking, test writing, and planning.

I did want to post some pictures of the things I cooked last weekend. I tried out my pop tart maker, and was pleased with the results. It's actually a really good system. You cut out the top and bottom with the one part, then you put the crimper inside the cutter and seal the ham inside, so your edges end up nice and neat.

I tried, and found that the results were even toaster safe!

I made a raisin pie for the time ever; pretty good!

And I made pirogi's for the first time ever. Verdict--easy, but fiddly. Worth the effort though!

So, that's life in the bush this week!