Well...this was not how I envisioned my spring...

It’s now my fourth week of online teaching, and things are falling into a bit more of a pattern. These last four weeks have been made harder by a family loss that we don’t know when we’ll be able to be together for and a right hand/arm injury that I’m pretty sure is tendinitis. I’ve had to be very, very careful how and how much I use my hand, so I haven’t been able to knit much these last few weeks. However, my hand is slowly healing, the weather is improving, and I’m finding ways to keep myself hopeful and remembering how much I do have more than how much I miss. So, here’s a look at what I’ve been doing, mostly over the last two weeks.

Before my hand got bad and before the end of my ‘real’ spring break, I decided to cast on the brioche cowl I had bought a particularly beautiful skein of Chicken Coop Dyeworks yarn for at the East Texas Fiber Fest last fall. I learned a few things about fixing mistakes in brioche (it’s a PAIN), was able to knit sometimes only two rounds a day on it through the pain, and was getting close to completion when I tried it on-

And then I came to the awful conclusion that the cowl was going to be too big. Now, this was 100% my fault as I had added to it because of my gauge, but I had forgotten to take into account how very stretchy brioche is. So, after putting the project in time out for a few days I ripped the whole thing back, cast on fewer stitches, and I’m trying again. This time the yearn is pooling which it didn’t before—I’ll be interested to see how it behaves once I get to the flat part.

Easter was a bit odd this year, as I suspect it was for you too. One of the things I learned from my time overseas is how powerful traditions are. They are a way to help you look beyond where you are at that moment, and a way to connect you with loved ones far away. They are a way to hope, to remember, and to get outside yourself. So, I dyed a few eggs on Good Friday,

made hot crossed buns,

and knit some covers for blown eggs. The knit egg covers isn’t traditional, but making something—particularly something small and fiddly—for holidays is traditional for me.

I also made myself a nice dinner and ate off my inherited china. Because if this isn’t an occasion to use the good china, I don’t know what is!

I also did a bit of sewing Easter Monday. I’ve been doing some research into mask making, and this is my first one-

I made a few modifications to the original tutorial which can be found HERE such as pipecleaner in the bridge of the nose portion, ties out of random lavender bias tape that a younger me bought for some unknown project, and did a bit of top stitching. I’m pretty happy with it, and pleased that I had enough scraps of both fabric and interfacing.

I've also been spinning a bit. There was about 55g of a brightly colored pencil roving that I got from my mom that has been a very cheerful thing to have in my sore hand and on my wheel. I'm plying it up right now, but here is the single on the wheel-

Lastly, as something to look forward to every weekend, I've been driving out to visit the many historic cemeteries near where I live. I've been to four so far; at least two more to go. Once I've hit the ones labeled on the main road, I'll look up some more. There sure are a lot around here, but seeing as I live in the oldest town in Texas it's perhaps not too surprising. It's so nice to get out into the beautiful spring weather, wander around safely, and I quite like reading the names and dates and piecing together tantalizing bits of the stories left behind. It's also nice to have an 'outing' to look forward to; a safe way to go DO something. As always, even in times of worldwide crisis, it's the little things in life that make so much difference.

Thoughts after visiting local Graveyards

I don't think the dead mind the living's visits;
That which made them themselves is long gone
And only that which is least them is left.
Nothing sinester lurks on this patch of ground
Set aside to recieve our cherished ones
And mark that they once lived and loved.

Though I never met these people gone long before
Or knew their habits or saw their souls,
When I read their names, in that moment they are remembered.
A name on a stone is dead--just a fact preserved;
But spoken by my living mind and pondered over
That thread in the tapestry of human life shines bright again.

In which I sum up

Well, it’s been a hot minute! December and January were rather overwhelming months due to school, the holidays, dealing with my dad’s melanoma (which has been successfully removed—praise the Lord!), my beloved local yarn store closing (I'm not allowed to buy yarn for awhile now...), dealing with my credit union merging (which was a good thing as I now have a local bank again, but a big process), continuing to try to find a church home, joining Planet Fitness (a surprisingly large thing to incorporate into my life), and the arrival of my beautiful niece, Paisley (I’m finally an aunt!). Valentine’s day marked the end of the second trimester, so I have today off to sleep, finish marking the trimester tests, and get myself set up for the last third of the school year. During that time I’ve been knitting, spinning, and reading of course, so here are some highlights of the last three months of creative efforts.

I have had a blast making things for my niece, Paisley, and about a week before she was born I sent off two sweaters, two pairs of booties, and two hats. As Paisley is a dainty little lady I have a bit of time to wait before she can be wrapped in my knitted love, but it's well worth the wait! I have one more item, a little Jedi cardigan to finish for her,

but I got distracted from the million miles of brown garter stitch by...

tinny envelopes! Hunter Hammerson does it yet again, and created a fiddly little pattern I just had to knit. I've got a few ideas of what to do with these...

Another thing I've been working on is the Winterberry hood, something which has been in my queue for quite awhile. I'm using this delightful red from Lazy Cat Studio that I bought at the East Texas Fiber Fest, and I ended up having to rip the whole thing out due to a) a gauge issue and b) a dye lot issue. This picture is from where I blocked one end to confirm the awful truth I suspected--that it was going to be too small. I'm still sort of pondering if I would rather do a hood or a cowl neck, but as I need to finish a Jedi robe soon I have a bit of time to think it through.

Since last writing I also completed two stockings. This stocking is to complete a set I started over a decade ago as a shower gift for a friend's Christmas wedding. I have since made stockings for all three of her kids, so the family set is complete. It was a bit of a challenge to make this with my somewhat limited space and resources, but I thankfully took good pictures of the other stockings and had saved some of the trim, so I was able to make something that was unique but still fit with the other two siblings stockings.

I also knit myself a stocking to have at my place (I spent Christmas with my 'real' stocking at my parents), and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I used wool leftover from my Crazy Stripes sweater, and I love the traditional pattern. It was fun to knit, and I'm almost tempted to make Neko one for next year.

Lastly, for now, I also played around with these delightful tiny trees, also a Hunter Hammerson pattern. I'd like to make some this summer maybe to have on hand as gifts for next year, but we'll see. I'm still working on my summer dreams and plans...

I'm going to try and get back in the habit of blogging, and I'd like to do a post soon about my recipe challenge to myself, but for right now I need to get to bed--it's a school night!

Parting shot: My brother took this picture of Neko at Christmas, and I absolutely LOVE it! What a handsome ginger pants!

Lots of little things

Well, I've been pretty busy lately! Between my classes, accompanying for assemblies and the choir, 'real life' chores and errands, and this and that, it's been two months of school! The first trimester is over and I'm writing report cards, and test week is over (PRAISE the Lord). So, other than work, here's a look at what I've been up to these last few weeks, in no particular order.

I have had this booties pattern around for awhile, and as I've got a niece or nephew on the way I decide to pull it out. I made the first one with some random sock leftovers I had,

and once I had that done I decided to go whole hog and tackle my first two color brioche project. I decided to make the booties Ravenclaw colors, as it's totally going to be brilliant, and found that I rather like two color brioching. So, Ravenclaw booties to join the other items for Lil' Bean!

As I start my new life here in the States, I’ve been thinking about how I want to build new traditions as well as honor the ones I grew up with. I’ll likely be spending Christmas at my parents and using my original stocking there, but I’ve wanted to make myself a knit one—just for decoration (it feels like a new level of lame to fill one’s own stocking!) after I feel in love with a particular colorwork pattern I found. I am using some leftovers from my Crazy Stripes cardigan and a little new yarn in the dark blue. I’ve done a lot of simple knitting since I moved, and I’m enjoying something with a little more challenge. I did have a heartbreaking moment on Sunday when I realized there was an ‘at the same time’ direction that I had blown past, so I had to pull out 10 rows of colorwork, but if it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right, so here we are. In my defense the pattern is not the clearest, and since I was just working from the chart it was understandable that I missed the critical sentence. I shall soon be back where I was though, and hope to be turning the heel by the end of this week!

Most of my first trimester of teaching has been taken up with the Birds of a Feather wrap in the lovely yarn from Chicken Coop Dyeworks. It was a simple knit (which I managed to make mistakes in nonetheless), and the finished wrap is beautiful! I hope to be able to wear it to the fiber festival next weekend, so I can show the dyer what I did with her beautiful yarn.

In non-knitting news, I carved two pumpkins for Halloween, and enjoyed it immensely. The barfing one is still alright, but I had to toss the Star Trek one this weekend as it was full of nasty mold. It's so nice to live where I can do things like this again!

Something else I’ve started working on and have a firm deadline on is the last stocking for a high school friend of mine. Way back when I was a freshman at ETBU, Rebekah had a Christmas wedding, and I gave her a pair of stockings like the ones my family has. She loved them, and when her first child was born I made him one. I had to use a different alphabet, but was able to make it coordinating with the ones I made for Rebekah and her husband. A few years later she had a little girl, so I did my best to make her stocking coordinate by analyzing pictures of her brother’s, and then Rebekah had another little girl last year, so once again I’m pulling out my stocking supplies. I was a little smarter after the second kid’s stocking, and saved a lot of the notions, but I had to re-start the cuff as it would have been a very different size than the other two. The cuffs aren’t fancy, but did require some creative work as the online alphabet pattern generator I had used is no longer available. I was able to piece together the letters I need from random things I saved over a decade ago, and I found something someone else made using that alphabet pattern generator that let me get the tricky lowercase g I needed. I hope to do the actual stocking over Thanksgiving, as I’ll have access to my mother’s tools and embellishments. Not having an ironing board (yet) makes some things quite tricky! Pictures once I've got a bit more done.

I haven't tried too many things in my little kitchen yet, but I did make pumpkin cinnamon rolls for Columbus day,

and stuffed eggplant Parmesan. Both a lot of work, but so good!

Well, that's about enough for now. I'm going to go pull on a pair of handknit socks, make some tea, and finish getting ready for tomorrow. Another cold front blew through--yay!

Parting shot: My crazy pumpkin cat loves socks and shoes, and apparently these pairs are particularly wonderful.

Happy, but teacher tired!

I didn't mean to go so long between posts, but school is taking up a lot of my time and energy right now, and what is leftover is usually more fun to spend on my actual hobbies. I've got a pretty good rhythm going now, and I'm starting to feel like I've got the hang of things (dangerous!), so hopefully I can keep working in more and more bits of 'life.'

To sum up a few of the highlights of the last six weeks or so...

I've spent a lot of time lesson planning

A dear friend came to visit and we went to NASA among other wonderful adventures

I finished the bowl cozy and use it all the time

I'm nearing the end of my Birds of a Feather shawl--I can't wait to wear it!

This is a terrible picture of the not blurry in real life Weehistoric cardigan for my future niece or nephew- squee!

And in addition to a pair of movie socks, I've got these on the go. Loving the chevrons!

I decorated my house for fall, and have been indulging in fall treats like candy corn, apple cider, and of course, pumpkin spice lattes. I'm enjoying my cat, enjoying my apartment, loving my job, and continuing to work through the process of radical life change. God is good, and I'm so glad to be where I am!

Parting shot: I was sorely tempted, but did NOT buy this mug.

And so the next adventure begins!

As of today, I have officially launched my 10th year of teaching! I have learned so much, made so many mistakes, and while there is a part of me that feels terrible for the teacher I as the last three years, I'm also looking forward to this new chapter. A chapter where I will be supported and encouraged to grow as a teacher. A chapter where my educational philosophy lines up so much better with the school I'm working in. A chapter where I will have some margin space. A chapter where almost anything can happen!

In the week leading up to school, my main project was finishing up my Cityscape Tank. I ended up pulling out the whole upper back and half the upper front when I realized I was doing a decrease incorrectly. It doesn't show super well, but see that rather lumpy, messy line in the first picture, compared to the lovely smooth line in the second?

I re-knit the backs and fronts, joined the shoulders, then completed the edgings in time to wash and block in Friday so I could wear it on Saturday. I LOVE this top--I was afraid it wouldn't fit right or would be too narrow in the straps, but I won the gauge gamble! If I do make it again (sorely tempted), I will probably chance the straps just a bit to make them a tad wider, but this is an exciting new addition to my summer wardrobe!

Also, that finish meant that I not only made my 3k goal for Stash Dash, but I exceeded it and reached 5k for the first time ever! Of course that was in large part due to the spinning I did, but STILL! I'm pretty pleased with what I accomplished.

There were a few trunk shows at my delightful LYS Yarnia last week, so I popped in after inservice on Wednesday and Friday to be tempted. I've got serious plans to save up for a project's worth of Round Table Yarns delightful kettle dyed fingering. And yes, the fact that I'm a medieval lit nerd totally adds to the appeal! The dyer I meet on Friday, Chicken Coop Dyeworks was also delightful, and we found out that we had time in Africa in common. Much to my surprise I was gifted a set of her lovely Leghorn yarn so I could make the shawl pattern, Birds of a Feather, that I had discovered and decided I needed to make with my deep stash Kidsilk Haze.

I'm trying to remember how long I've had that Kidsilk Haze; it must be either pre-Zambia or an early trip home as I'm pretty sure I got it when the yarn store in Tyler downsized... This weekend I cast on, and guys, this is such a beautiful, soft, fluffy thing I can hardly wait for it to be finished so I can wrap myself up in it! And, the yarns go together *perfectly*.

Yesterday I started a necessary thing; a crochet bowl cozy. Since I now have a microwave, it makes sense to have one rather than the rather haphazard use of pot holders I have been practicing so far. I found a knit pattern for the same thing, but this is one of those occasions when I think crochet is much better. Also, I was in the mood for something a little different. So here is the double thick base and the first row of the sides done; hopefully it will be a quick job from there. I might need to get some more cotton...

Today was the first day of school, and while it was a half-day, I had some work to do before leaving. Once I got out to my car I found that my battery had died, so a co-worker jump started me and sent me to the Ford dealership where it just so happens one of my student's father's works. I was taken care of quickly, and was so grateful for an easily resolved issue. It was also nice to make a connection with one of our families. So, while it was a frustrating extra expense, everything is taken care of and I'm all set to go. And, since it was the Starbucks first day of fall, I indulged in my first pumpkin spice latte of the season--even though it was over 100 today. Come quickly fall!

Well, I have a bit more to do before turning into a bed, so I'll leave you with this rare picture of Neko on my lap. Notice that he is curled up on my dark Cityscape tank--that seems to be the only way he'll sit with me for a few minutes. Good thing I bought a lint roller... My black trousers have already fallen prey to him!

Meetings, more blue knitting, and a trip.

Last week was pretty dull--if you aren't me. Lots of reading, three meetings to start hammering out science--I'm teaching 7th and 8th grade now, Omnibus, and discuss overlap between my government class and Omnibus III. Lots of reading, the beginnings of my 'battle plans,' continuing to make good use of my Prime trial by enjoying Endeavour in the evenings. I love a good mystery show with a complex protagonist... Some cooking, some recreational reading, errands here and there...pretty boring to write about. This weekend I hit the dividing point--the point where it was time to divide and work the front and back of my Cityscape separately. I'm getting close to finishing the back, and as usual Neko had to come inspect the knitting on the floor.

I got (and used!) my new cast iron skillet in the mail-boy have I missed having one. I made do with the frying pan from my set, but it sure helps to have something larger than 9"!

On Friday I drove 6 hours north to Oklahoma City to meet up with some friends for lunch, and as usual forgot to take any pictures. I spent the night with my sister in Plano, then had a busy Saturday in which I visited Half-Price Book, IKEA where I found this lovely thing (among others),

a yarn store where I picked up this delicious gradient to practice full brioche stitch with,

and visited the kitchen outlet in Terrell as there were some things Wal-mart just doesn't have. I suspected when I saw it that I needed a mini cutting board in my life, and it was a good call-love that thing!

This is my last week before a week of teacher training, so I'm trying to get as far ahead as I can with planning and reading, as I'm not sure how involved next week will be. I'm kind of hoping that I can get my tank top finished up this week so I can start knitting for my new niece or nephew, but we'll have to see how it goes. Having a very much wanted baby in the family makes me want to throw everything to the wind and spend all my money and time in creating baby things so that the Little Bean will be in no doubt as to how loved they are by their crazy aunt. However, I'm doing my best to temper my enthusiasm as expressed through wool, and have been having a lot of fun planning what I will make. Grow safe and strong dear one--you are already so, so loved.

Acres of blue knitting and lots of ancient Greece

Last week I finished reading Herodotus's The Histories; while it was a lot to get through in a short time, I really enjoyed it. He had some hilarious theories about things, and was a wide eyed wonderer in a world where few people traveled. I'm working on Oresteia at the moment for those who are interested in tracking my progress through the Omnibus I curriculum! Agamemnon and Cassandra are dead; I'm waiting to meet the titular character in "The Libation Bearers."

Most of my knitting has been on the Cityscape tank, or the never ending project. You guessed it--I've reached the stage where I want the product! This past week there was the interesting development of the shaping that shrinks the twisted rib section. Despite the perfectly straightforward manner of this shaping, I managed to have to do a quick 'fix' job to get everything back to where it was supposed to be. Hopefully I'll be done next week! Not like I'm going to run out of summer to wear it in, I just want to feel like I can cast something else on.

I finished and blocked my Star Trek vertebrae; it's so cute! I'm glad I was fussy with the ribbing--I think it adds a nice touch. I can't wait to see the baby it was knit for wearing it!

I finished, wove in the ends, and finally put the pom-pom on the hat out of Roundhouse Alpaca Farm fiber. Neko decided while I was photographing it that it was HIS. He is mistaken; seeing as how I made the hat from scratch (except for the pom-pom!), it is definitely MINE. He's adorable though, isn't he?

Neko isn't used to being a knitter's cat, but I also realize that cats are just honor bound to be involved in any blocking process they can reach. Behold my sophisticated efforts to protect the vertebrae from cat hair-

This Sunday I took a rest day, and sat down to try out the corner-to-corner crochet technique I saw in a class at Yarnia. It was an interesting challenge, but I don't like the texture of the surface enough to probably mess with it again. I keep thinking of this brilliant thing called double knitting... What you can't see is the shag carpet of ends on the backside where I was not great at planning ahead with color carrying. Another reason to go with double knitting!

On the cooking front I had the brain wave to make mini meatloafs- future supers + shorter cooking times. I used the keto recipe I found earlier because I liked it, and I also had all the stuff on hand. Bacon and cheese of course don't hurt the taste either!

Well, I have my third school meeting early tomorrow morning, so I'd better sign off. As a parting shot, I've been enjoying this delightful window display downtown; I'm not sure if I want the octopus or the diving helmet more...