Just Another Day in Paradise

Day 2 of my renewed effort to blog regularly. It was 80 blooming degrees today! Again! On the 24th of September! It is the warmest September on record here, and today was absolutely gorgeous weather. It was a nice day at school. So very different (in a good way) from being in the mainstream classroom. Partner and I prepared for a presentation we will be giving to staff tomorrow, I made some really cute Bingo games using Dolch words, and we taught everything except Kindergarten. It was relaxing and enjoyable due to it being "Game Day", and all in all a good one.

I gave a fellow teacher and her kids a ride after school because their van battery was dead. Cute kids and they loved riding in my new Ruby. I really didn't mind a short drive on a beautiful afternoon.

Bob's jury duty is extending into at least one added day, although there is danger it will run over into Monday. Monday is the day he is supposed to be having his first go-round with that test they give you when you are over 50. You know, the one that is unpleasant, but doesn't seem so bad after you've gone through a day of preparing for the test. Personally, I think he'd be willing to fillibuster the jury deliberations just to postpone the test, and I really don't blame him.

A fellow teacher brought me a felted bag she made for her daughter. She isn't happy with the way it turned out and would like us to add leather handles and maybe a lining. I'm not sure what I can do for the bag or her satisfaction level. The design of the bag is one problem, the yarn she chose is another, the way it felted is a problem, and on and on. I'll give it a try, but I'm not sure that we can really help it.

Today I am grateful: for a peaceful day at work, the beautiful weather, a newly bathed new car, my daughter's seemingly okay health, and a tasty grilled salmon dinner. Life is good.

Back at it

The first month of the 2009-2010 school year is drawing to a close. It has been an (ahem) interesting start to this new year, my 28th of being a teacher. Our school start was delayed due to ongoing construction within the building. I changed to a new teaching assignment in which I share a classroom with another teacher. Both of my children have been ill and hospitalized this month. There have been times this month when I have thought about starting a new anonymous blog where I could rant to my heart's content. It's not like I have that many readers to this blog, but there are times when I have wanted to blow off steam without anyone knowing.

Let me say this. Although there have been many worries and stresses in the past month, I am noticeably less stressed than I would have been had I had a regular classroom and group of 27 students to call my own. The new job assignment, although chaotic, has been very much what I expected and tried so hard to secure. My new partner and I are getting to know each other and finding our way toward sharing a space for 8 hours a day. And my children seem to be improving and their health is always a source of gratitude for me.

My puppets have really gone by-the-by since July, when the craft show was cancelled and we took our trip to Yellowstone. I have sold 4 which are ready for delivery. This is a source of disappointment to me. I believe I have a great idea and a good product. I find that once the show was postponed, putting the kits together have become a source of stress for me, and that is not what I wanted. Once again, I enjoy the process of making the items, but once the pressure of "business" arrives, the fun goes away. I need to remember this and adjust my artsy time accordingly. I am an idea person. I love creative thinking, problem solving and the challenge of developing new ideas and projects. I do not like the pressure of sales and/or deadlines. This is an important lesson for me, which I need to remember.

My basement studio has been at a standstill for many months now. I still love the concept of having all my creative bits and pieces in one place. It is a true fantasy for me to think about having spaces for my yarn, clay, paints, fabric, sewing machine all ready to go in one big workspace. I don't know if the basement will ever be finished, but if it is, it will be a dream come true.

As always, I have many, many more ideas than I have energy to pursue. I am seeing myself changing and looking at life differently. I feel as though I am still in a mid-life transition which has been going on for the past 5 years. I've been doing some research about this transition, in which physical changes occur in the processing centers of the brain. There is some indication that the maturing brain blends tasks across hemispheres. The left and right, which are so distinctly separated in the young brain, join forces to problem solve and view life in the senior years. I would love it if I could access and open the creative centers of my right brain without the fear of the "realist" in the left brain jumping in with common sense, practicality, and cost figures. I am becoming more patient with myself, and content to see where the transition leads. I actually passed up a challenging job opportunity this summer, and I'm glad I did. Could it be that I am mellowing in my middle age? I suspect those around me would say NOT!, but I feel that I may be finding a way to being more content and relaxed in who I am and how I spend my time. Does that make me less ambitious or just wiser about life? I'm not sure it does either, but I think I am headed in the proper direction. Will I reach a point where I can just choose to be still, live in the moment, and enjoy relaxing? Hmmmm, that seems a quantum leap, but I would like to move down that path.

Vacation 2009

Bob and I are back from a camping vacation to the Black Hills, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Badlands, and Teddy Roosevelt National Parks. As noted in the previous post, in a moment of weakness, I agreed to this 11 day CAMPING adventure. Great news! We both survived, and had a pretty darned good time, most of the time. We ended up spending three nights in motels, and seven nights in the tent. After setting up and tearing down the tent four times on the trip, I have to say that we have the process pretty much down to a science. I am learning a lot about camping, and my husband's affinity to require the camping gear to be cleaned, stored and used in very specific ways. He has a "system" in his mind, and it takes a bit of getting-used-to. For me, this trip was all about the scenery and the animals we saw. Aside from the animals we see routinely back home, we saw: bison, elk, mule deer, prairie dogs, herons, pelicans, osprey, wild horses, pronghorn antelope, ground squirrels, and one each grizzly and black bear. We heard an elk bugle one night, and saw one fight between two bull bison. The only animals I wished we had seen (but didn't) were bighorn sheep.

The scenery is just as beautiful as I remembered it from our last trip out there seven years ago. It is impossible to take a bad picture if you remember to remove the lens cap and hold the camera relatively still. This is my favorite spot in the Grand Tetons, and my favorite picture from the trip if I must be made to choose. Yellowstone is a much larger park, and there is certainly a greater variety of interesting things to see there. But for sheer beauty, I don't know of anyplace in the world that has more of an impact on me. It truly is my "happy place" and I never get tired of the view.

I hope we will return to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It is a place of unsurpassed beauty, forever changing landscape, remarkable wildlife, and for us, treasured memories.

Kids Getting Hitched, and Preparing for Departure

Last weekend was fantastic! We had 12 twentysomethings, plus three dogs, plus two weddings going on. It was the type of weekend we used to have regularly when the kids were home. Our yard was a tent city, lots of cooking, laughing, and business. I loved it. Every minute of it. I miss having the hustle and bustle around the household all the time. I miss these twentysomethings calling me "mom" and wanting to share their lives with me. It was wonderful.

Now that it has quieted down again, today is packing day. THE packing day. THE only day to prepare for our 10 day camping trip to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. "The List" is in progress, the dishwasher is changed out, the dryer is running, medications ordered, doctor appointments are rescheduled, and Bob has called to see how things are going here. I love the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, I really do. But the camping portion of the trip has me feeling a bit indifferent and worried. I believe we are going to have a great time, but I'm having trouble getting excited about leaving tomorrow. The day before any trip is usually a day of nerves, and not wanting to forget anything, and finding stuff I rarely use. This time seems to be no exception. I am hoping that I will be able to blog a bit while we are on the trip, but we will have to see where we can find wifi service and power. In the meantime, I'm off to change out the dryer again.

One of those days....

You've had 'em, you know you have. Today is one of those days when it is important, very important, to just keep feeding me as much refined sugar and salt as you can possibly find. Just keep it coming and we may make it through this day unscathed. It would be wise to permit, make that encourage, me to nap in between fixes of sugar and/or salt. I've eaten a Hershey bar, pretzels, and "caramel" toast. I washed 'em down with a Diet Coke....caffeinated, thankyouverymuch. These are things I don't eat when I have my wits about me.

I've warned Bob. He knows what he should do when he gets home. Sometimes he likes to live on the edge, today might be one of those moments. I've even explained that there are times in a woman's life when biological factors swing in one way or another and it is best to just don the protective gear and hide. Don't be a hero, Bob; just pass me some Ho-ho's using a long stick.

In my altered state, I have agreed to go on a 10 day camping trip to Yellowstone. Now, it really isn't surprising that I am going to Yellowstone. I love it there, really I do. As for the Grand Tetons, I would gladly live there just to get up every morning and gaze upon their beauty. The key word in that topic sentence was camping. Yes, camping. Tent camping, even. Now, some of you know the story of the one, exactly one, time my family went camping when I was a child. My maternal grandparents LOVED camping, but my parents decidedly did NOT. The horrors of camping have been reiterated on a quarterly basis throughout my life.

Other "accomplishments" of the day include: showering, but not fixing my hair; wrapping wedding gifts, with new wrapping paper that somehow ended up being too big for the boxes yet pieced together at the ends; buying desired concert tickets on the radio auction; and throwing in certificates for three fast-food places just for good measure; and thawing porkchops, but so far I've not managed to cook them.

Ahhh, I love vacation. A million things on my to-do list, and exactly nothing accomplished. I think I'll just chalk it up to hormones and see if I can whip up some chocolate-covered potato chips.

Felted Bag Lining Tutorial--Part Deux

Here we are again, back at looking at lining felted bags. This time, I will show some pictures of a flat bottomed bag that has a magnetic closure.This is a very simple rectangular bag made out of Noro Kuyreon. The Kuyreon does all the striping work for me, and I love the colors. Noro is tough to felt, but if you have patience, it will create a lovely felted fabric. I didn't go with any embelishment on this bag, except the black leather fobs and silver rings which attach the hand-tooled and custom dyed leather handle. The fobs are sewn to the felted bag before I start the lining. I took this picture with the snap open so that I could show where I position the magnetic snap.
Here we are, looking inside the bag. This is drapery fabric which is much heavier than basic cotton gingham. I love the country look of gingham. Notice how the light color makes it easy to see inside the bag. This lining has two large pockets and a flat reinforced bottom. Let's turn it inside out and give the lining a better look.

Because this bag has a flat bottom, it stands up easily. Here we can see the magnetic snap and the size of the pockets. Notice again how I hide my stitches at the top of the lining by using a blind stitch.

I've laid the bag down so you can see the corners on the bottom of the lining. This bag bottom is reinforced with plastic canvas cut to fit and sewn to the felt bag bottom. It gives more support than interfacing. The plastic canvas is sandwiched between the felt and the lining fabric.

This is a close up of the square corner. It is made by folding the corner of the lining and sewing a diagonal which matches the width of the bottom. I trim away the extra triangle of fabric to reduce bulk in the corner. This also shows the tiny stitches I take to fasten the bottom of the lining to keep it securely in place while the bag is being used.

I hope you have enjoyed this little two part tutorial of how I add lining to finish my felted bags!

A Tutorial for Lining a Felted Bag -- Part One

A few folks have asked me how I line my felted bags. Please understand that I am not a "sewer" by any stretch of the imagination. This is just how I go about lining my bags. First, I choose a remnant of either upholstery or drapery fabric. I go with something fun, but also lighter colored. Dark linings make it difficult to see inside the bag. Once the bag has been felted and is dry, I double my fabric with right sides facing and lay the bag on top. I use the bag itself as a "pattern" and just cut around it leaving maybe a 1/2" seam allowance. If the bag has a flat bottom (let's say 2") I cut the lining about 2 1/2 " longer than the height of the bag. That extra 2 1/2" will become the bottom of the lining.

I almost always put 1 or 2 pockets in my linings. In very small bags, I stick with 1 pocket, because 2 would take up the whole inside of the bag. In medium or large bags, I put in two pockets. I cut two rectangles of fabric, about an inch bigger than I want my finished pockets. I turn the raw edges under and press. Next, I bring my little squares to my sewing machine (an inheritance from my Grandma) and sew a hem on the top of the pockets which will be the open side. I try to position my pockets in the same place on both sides of the lining and pin and sew. It only takes me a couple of minutes to do this, but I think pockets inside the bag are well worth the effort.

Place the right sides of the lining pieces together and sew the side and bottom seams. Test fit the lining in the felted bag. I like my linings to be just a tad bigger than the felted bags. Felt will stretch a bit with wear, and I like to plan ahead so my linings will still fit. If I need to take a little tuck in the top of the lining, it doesn't show much, and the lining will fit properly for a longer period of time.

I really try to make my bags so that they will survive years of hard use. I use double worsted weight yarn to make my felt thick and heavier fabrics for my linings. The heavier lining will withstand car keys and pens poking it.

The next step is to deal with the bottom of the bag. If the bag has a flat bottom, I like to reinforce that shape somehow. Over the years, I've used various materials to do this: 1/4" plywood, cut to fit; plastic canvas sewed to the felt; heavyweight interfacing sewn in place. The plastic canvas or interfacing are my favorite materials. Continuing with a flat bottomed bag, I measure up from the bottom corners of the lining and sew diagonally to make a square bottom in the lining which matches the bottom of the bag. The interfacing or plastic canvas is sandwiched between the felt and the lining.

If I am using a magnetic snap closure, I put it into the lining at this point. I always reinforce the back of the snap with either extra pieces of lining material, interfacing, or even leather. Make sure both halves of your snaps line up so that the lining closes to a smooth finish. If I am using a zipper, I like to hand-sew that in place with a secure backstitch and heavy thread. I then fold the lining and press so that when it is sewn in place it will cover my backstitching on the zipper.

I press the top of the lining before I start to sew it in place. I use a blind stitch and regular weight thread which is doubled. I try to keep the stitches as hidden as possible.

Let's take a look at a couple of examples. I just grabbed a couple of my finished bags, one with a round bottom and one with a square bottom. Let's look at the round bottomed one first.

Here is a basic round bottomed bag. It's a bit hard to tell, but I carried a royal blue and a navy blue yarn, so it is a rich blue color with a bit of depth to the color. There is a tab with a handmade embelishment. Basic felted I-cord handles.
Here's a closeup of the handmade pin I added to the tab. I make all sorts of embelishments out of driftwood, leather, glass beads, etc. That is my business card next to it, so you can get an idea of the size.

This bag is closed with a zipper. This picture shows the top with the zipper closed.

Now I've turned the bag inside out so you can see the lining. This is a light blue floral drapery fabric. There are two large pockets, one on each side. Because the bag is inside out and the tab and handles are pulling it, the shape looks a bit wonky, but it is symmetrical. I like to tell the folks who purchase my bags that they look as good inside out as right side out. I hope that the effort I put into my linings will speak to the care and quality I try to instill.

This shot shows the round bottom. I take a couple of small stitches which hold the bottom of the lining to the bottom of the felt bag. I think this helps to keep the lining in place when someone is rummaging through the bag.

This last shot shows the blind stitching I do at the top of the lining to hide the handsewing that I used to put in the zipper. I try to keep the stitches as hidden as possible. I will post this part of the tutorial now (because I get paranoid about losing a long posting) and post pictures of a flat bottomed bag that has a magnetic closure.

Finally Finis!

Finally, finally, after four years, and knitting Katie's lace sweater nearly two complete times; it is finished. I worked on it every day of this past week, my Spring Break. Sometimes for as much as 12 hours in a day. I broke one of my fabulous Harmony knitting needles under the sheer strain of the 550+ stitches in the border ribbing. Since I started the sweater for the second time back in June of 2008, Katie has converted to vegetarianism and lost about 45 pounds. Consequently, the sweater is big for ner now, but she says it is "comfy." I hope she will wear it and enjoy it. For my part, I am very, very glad it is done! Love you, Katie!

Stash Management

Ah, where does the time go? So long since I've blogged, the time taken by school and the resulting exhaustion. I have finished a couple of sweaters for myself this winter, a pair of socks for Bob, a scarf, and a few hats. I have been productive, but not good at taking pics and posting them.

I am currently working on the Shimmer shrug from www.knitty.com for Audrey. She gets chilly at work and thought this might be useful. I'm making it in a deep brown color called Espresso. I started Friday night and have almost one sleeve complete. The sleeves are easy, the back looks a bit challenging in a lozenge lace pattern. The trick seems to be the raglan sleeve shaping while holding onto the lace pattern, according to the notes posted by those who have knit this. I am always happy to be knitting for family, and this is no exception.

A couple of weekends ago, when we were in the midst of a snowstorm, I started making an excel spreadsheet of my current yarn stash. What a project this has turned out to be! Bob helped me haul everything into the living room. I am currently over 300 skeins catalogued, with more to go. I do think that this will be a helpful point of reference for me, and may keep me from buying yarn when I already have it at home. When my home studio is complete, it will be nice to have all the yarn in one place and easy to find. Until then, the spreadsheet should help. Ultimately, I would like to post photos of the stash on my ravelry.com page and perhaps trade or sell some of the stash that seems lonely.

School has been terribly stressful. Not from the children, but from other political issues. Somehow I always seem to be drawn into these situations, and my colleagues want to make me a leader. I will be happy when this dispute has passed. I believe that we are fighting for a cause that would make our schools and community better, yet it is still a difficult circumstance. Only three months to go and a student teacher starting in three weeks! I think if I squint I may see a light at the end of this tunnel...

A New Year's Purge to Refresh the Psyche

So, like many people, I have an area which is my collect all, throw it there for now, out of sight-out of mind, I'll get that in a minute. That place is our bedroom. While I am moderately successful at keeping our main living area minutes away from respectable, the bedroom gets frankly out-of-control. Normally, during the summer months, I give the bedroom a thorough cleaning and it looks and feels great, until about October. Once I get back into school, we begin that clutter-spiral that ends up as a major stressor. Last summer, I taught into July with the college gig, then my nephew came for a couple of weeks, and then I was back into the school routine. The room, which was bringing me to tears by last spring did not receive its customary, and necessary, summer cleaning.

With the coming of the new year, I can no longer bear the clutter and dust. Today began The Purge. As I am just coming off a two week backache resulting in an impressive Quasimoto impression, I am taking The Purge in stages. Thusfar in Stage One, I have hauled out a bag of old magazines and gone through two bookshelves. I've taken several bags of books to the basement. I love books, and have way too many. I never want to part with any of them, so they are in the basement awaiting shelves and a permanent home. A stack of sweaters has been refolded and placed in the newly finished cedar chest that Bob made me for the end of our bed. All of the yarn that had been on shelves in the bedroom has been brought downstairs and is awaiting sorting by colors to go into Ryan's old dresser.

At this point, my back has reminded me that this will only be Stage One; and so I am sitting blogging. I am feeling a bit better about the state of our room, but it will be a great relief when the room and closet are all clean. There is nothing like a clean room to begin a new year.

Happy New Year!

Recently, I have been reading a book entitled The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women by Gail McMeekin. In this book, the author lists “Personal Positive Priorities” exhibited by creative women. She stresses that creative people need to find the correct abundance formula that works for them. I would like to try to focus on bringing many of these into my life this year. Let's consider them my New Year's goals:

1. Time for creative exploration.
2. Fulfilling work.
3. Encouraging partners, friends, and community.
4. Personal growth experiences.
5. Good health, including nutrition, meditation, and exercise.
6. Nurturing living spaces.
7. Continued learning opportunities.
8. Self-protection from negativity and toxic people.
9. Reflective time such as vacations, health spas, and retreats.
10. Spriritual practices and beliefs that support your practice.
11. Independence in action and thought.
12. Solitude as needed.
13. Inner security and centeredness.
14. Connection with nature and the arts.
15. Activities that stimulate inspiration.
16. Balance

What I've Been Up To...

Alas, my blogging has suffered while my eleven-year-old nephew visited us from Phoenix. While this blog has been woefully empty of posts, I have been helping Michael blog his Minnesota vacation. If you'd like to see what we've been doing, visit his blog at: http://michaelsminnesotaadventure.blogspot.com
Here is a picture of Michael and me. We were out on the ATV's on this day. It was his first time driving, and he did a great job!

It will be obvious if you visit Michael's blog that we have been extremely busy, without much time for knitting. I am approximately halfway done with the lace portion of Katie's sweater. I have signed up for the Olympic competition hosted on Ravelry.com in which I am knitting for two teams. The requirements of the Olympics are that I need to cast on a new project during the opening ceremony, so Katie's sweater will take a bit of a back seat for a couple of weeks.

I am planning on knitting a fair isle cardigan for my Olympic project. This cardigan has a steek up the front. For the non-knitting reader, a steek is when you completely knit your sweater, and then take scissors and cut the darned thing right up the middle. One would think that cutting knitting would lead to a complete unraveling of said sweater. Under normal circumstances, cutting is not recommended. The gist is that you knit a pattern in which cutting in a straight line is assisted, and you sew with thread on either side before the cut is made. In spite of all precautions before cutting, I am a bit nervous about this, but also looking forward to making my first steeked sweater. Thanks to good friend, Doreen, for helping me pick out the colors for this project. I will have to knit like the wind to finish a complete sweater for myself in 17 days.

Independence Days 2008

The Fourth has come and gone for this summer. Since the 4th was on a Friday, and it was more of a three day holiday, I'm calling it Independence Days. It was our first summer in which we had no children at home. It really didn't feel much like the Fourth of July without the kids around. We followed Bob's family's 4th of July traditions, and didn't do any of the things I used to do when my kids were at home. We had a nice weekend, but it wasn't the same.

We spent Friday, the 4th out at the lake. There was the usual pontoon ride, water skiing, sauna, barbecue and fireworks. A good time was had by all. I enjoyed our nieces, Sam and Sarah, and nephew, Spencer.

Bob worked part of the day on Saturday. After he was done with work, we took a drive into Wisconsin and Michigan. We were searching for waterfalls for me to photograph. Here is a picture of Kimball Falls in Wisconsin. We had Jack and Hunter with us and they enjoyed romping through the woods all day. We saw lots of trees that looked like this. We are reminded, on hot humid days such as this, of why we tolerate our bitterly cold, snowy winter days. We learned that dogs are not allowed on the trails of Wisconsin State Parks, so off we headed to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.Our next stop was the Conglomerate Falls on the Black River. Bob had brought his kids here when they were little. It was a 3/4 mile hike DOWN to get to the falls. They were very beautiful, with lots of green algae growing on the red rocks under the falls.
The trip back UP from the falls was not too much fun for either Jack or myself. Nothing like reminding oneself of how painfully out-of-shape a body can be. Both Jack and I needed several rest stops and a cool-down period once we made it back to the truck. Bob had Jack short-leashed (his seat belt) in the back of the truck when Jack decided he needed to get out of the truck. The result was he tumbled, and split his lip in his fall. It was fine after a few minutes, but he scared us almost as much as he scared himself!We went back out to the lake on Sunday for more pontooning, skiing, barbecue, and visiting. My mother-in-law has an amazing green thumb, of which I am very envious. She grows orchids like nobody's business. Here are the orchids she has blooming on her picnic table. She also has lemons and limes growing on their deck.... in northern Minnesota..... I am in awe.
I have been doing more reading than knitting. Here is the progress on Katie's sweater:

The waist shaping on the back is complete on the back, but it is a slow go. This pattern makes me want to put my knitting away. 1-2-3, 1-2-3 drives me insane. The girls in the knitting group assure me that it will look nice if I ever finish the bloody thing. Here is a close up of the lace pattern, just in case anyone ever wants to count to three about ten thousand times.

In my reading endeavors, I am on the 4th book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. This book is called Drums of Autumn, and begins with our heroes in Charleston, SC in the late 1700's. I'm loving the start, as we were just in Charleston over Spring Break. I've also been doing some reading about job burnout, designing a web site, and "artful" blogging.
If you are one of my faithful readers of this blog, please comment and let me know how I'm doing. My intent is to make my blog more interesting and visually appealing. I will close with my favorite picture from our weekend. In the midst of the traffic, company, bangs and booms of the holiday weekend, sometimes the quietest, simplest things are overlooked. Take a moment to reflect on a quiet gem from your weekend.

The Saga of Katie's Sweater

So, about three years ago, my youngest child, Katie, was headed off to college. Now, this was (and still is) not an easy thing for me. I don't think I'm a helicopter parent, but I still have a hard time having my kids living away. It isn't that I want to have a hand in their lives, or have a problem of control; it is just that I miss them terribly.

When Katie was preparing to go to college, I told her to pick out a sweater pattern for me to make for her. It seemed that picking up the old knitting needles again would be a good thing to do with my time now that my responsibilities of caring for kids was going away. As a knitting Mom, I knit for my kids to give them a warm hug, wrap them in comfort when I can't be there. These seemed good reasons to knit a sweater for Katie as she ventured away from home into the big, bad world. Katie picked this pattern.Okay, I thought. My first foray into lace. I looked over the pattern, not too bad. It is very easy lace. Just count 1-2-3 as you knit or purl three times into each stitch. Katie looked at yarn samples and picked out wool and mohair. Fabulous! The mohair will give the lace strength, durability, and a fuzzy halo. We ordered the yarn.

I must have tried to make gauge on the sweater, as I had adjusted my needle size. The pattern says to cast on "very loosely." I doubled my needles and cast on. No problem. We're off. I knit, 1-2-3; and I purled 1-2-3 like crazy. As I was about six inches up the back, I started wondering about my cast on. It looked like it needed to be a LOT looser, as this lace is super stretchy. But I continued on, 1-2-3, 1-2-3. Katie asked frequently, "How's my sweater coming, Mom?"

By the time I got to the sleeves, I was still wondering about my gauge and my cast on. I also noticed a spot where I had been hypnotized by the 1-2-3 and accidentally put in a 1-2-3-4 on one stitch. No worries, I told myself, I can just take a little piece of thread and tie that extra stitch in the back. Nobody will ever know. I knew. And it bugged me. It was the first place my eye went every time I picked up the sweater. Still, I plowed on 1-2-3, 1-2-3.... I hate counting to three! Katie says, "You know all the stuff you make is nice, Mom, but WHERE'S MY SWEATER?"

I made the hole for the neck and split the two front halves, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3... three years gone by. Katie has finished her junior year and has now stopped asking about the sweater. The sweater has been languishing in a bag hibernating. Katie says, "You know, Mom, you aren't going to have that sweater done until it is out-of-style." She's right. It is two thirds done, and I hate it. I know I've learned a lot since I started knitting this sweater. I need to rip it out and start over. The wool is very nice, the same stuff of the super expensive Dale of Norway ski sweaters.

Won't Katie be surprised if I actually finish the bloody sweater? She's given up all hope.

Yesterday, I pulled it out. Mohair is NOT fun to rip out. It makes super strength Velcro look slippery. It has this fuzz that tangles and is evidently made out of plutonium. At 8:30 a.m., after my toast and tea, the sweater came off the needles and I began ripping. I ripped, and I pulled, and I broke apart virtually every stitch. I untangled, and I wound, and I cursed... a lot.

At 1:00 I made myself a couple of turkey hot dogs for lunch. My fingers were red, swollen, and throbbing.

At 3:00, a wise friend called. I told her what I was doing. She gently asked if I would be soaking the wool to get the kinks out. In a quavering voice, I said, "I just want to get this done!" I knew she was right, I should take the kinks out of the wool, IF I ever got the damn thing taken apart. I checked fairly often to make sure my fingers weren't bleeding at this point. I didn't want to stain the wool.

At 6:30 I informed Bob that there would be no dinner, and if he wished to eat, he should go to Subway and get us a couple of subs. He complied. He is learning when not to question, just do.

At 9:00 the Twins game came on TV. I was still ripping. I was still swearing. I had a headache, I was hot, I was covered in barbed-wire mohair fragments, my fingers would no longer open all the way. I kept going. Bob said, "You don't have to do the whole thing today." I gave him "the look" and kept going.

Bob went to bed a little after 10:00, I was ripping.

At 11:30 p.m., I wound the last of the sweater into it's little wool and mohair balls.

This morning, I got up at 8:00, skeined the wool, soaked it for two hours, spun it in the washer and hung it outside to dry. I took a separate skein of wool and a ball of mohair (it is too stubborn and hateful to kink like the cooperative, gentle, submissive wool) and started a new gauge swatch, one needle size smaller.

Still too big, I dropped down another needle size and swatched again. Still too big. I dropped down another size and swatched again. Three needle sizes? What WAS I thinking the first time I did this????? The third needle drop seemed to do the trick.... gauge, or at least very close to it.

I cast on LOOSELY with a different method and started knitting. 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3... I'm back at it. I am much happier with the three inches of new sweater on my needles. I am determined to finish this sweater 1-2-3, 1-2-3, although I still hate the repetition of this pattern. I'm going to do it... for Katie.

I'm Baaaaack!

Rumor has it that there are a few folks who actually read this blog. (You know who you are...) I've heard the complaints, and now that school is out of the way, I am available to blog away. So, it's summer, and for that I am very grateful. The end of the school year was difficult (aren't they all?) and the class at Scholastica took more time than I was anticipating. I thought I could just reteach the course again, but no, I had to go and redesign some classes because I was inspired by the interests of the students. Silly me.

Somebody asked me yesterday what I would be doing with my summer. I started listing things off like: teaching a spinning class, knitting, painting exterior door frames, putting in a retaining wall, you get the idea. She wrote back to me that I really should just do "the things that make my heart happy." Ahhhh.... if I did only that, a number of county and state health officials would soon be descending upon my humble abode in hazmat suits.

I have received a letter from the Junior League who sponsors the craft show I did last December. It is time to make a decision whether or not I will be participating in their show in 2008. As I see it, the real decision for me is whether or not I will be crafting or teaching at CSS this fall. With the Grade 2 job, I fail to see how I could possibly do both. IF I do the craft thing, I should concentrate my efforts on lower priced merchandise and bring the remaining higher priced bags left from last year. The college gig most certainly pays more, and is a sure paycheck, AND has the remote possibility of leading to something full time. The crafting is something I truly enjoy, is relaxing and rejuvenating for me, the booth is ready to go, and I loved doing the show last year. Decisions, decisions...

Speaking of knitting, the Brea bag from Berocco is knit, and I am going to block it today so I can begin to finish it. The Bramble bag from Berocco is about half knit. I shall try to take some photos today. A blog is much more interesting with photos, is it not?

The weather is actually NICE today. It has been such a cold, wet spring that the blue sky, birds singing, and windows open are such a relief. I need to put the gifts for my swap partner into a box and get them mailed today. I am going to try to set up a spinning class at Fabric Works in Superior. There is a woman coming in from Georgia on Thursday who wants me to teach her how to spin, and she's only here for a couple of weeks. There is a new yarn shop in Ashland which I have never visited, and is calling my name. Time to get moving on my day!

Back from vacation

We are back from our vacation to Charleston, SC to visit Christy and Bob. It was a LONG drive, but an excellent trip. It was wonderful to see the kids. They look great and we are so proud of them. They have a nice home, both are gainfully employed, they have a wonderfully neurotic dog, and have their own lives now. They are all grown up and finding their way through life. We saw many of the sights that make Charleston unique, but the very best part of the trip was the time we spent with Bob and Chris.



The weather was cool for some of our time in Charleston, but precipitation free. We were able to visit the historic downtown several times, which was fantastic. Christy's friend, Carrie, is a professional tour guide and gave us a private tour. It still amazes me how much the tour guides there need to remember. We jumped on a tour of the ghost-ridden old jail, which is creepy and fascinating at the same time. We took Carrie's carriage tour of the Battery section of the city. Magnolia Plantation was absolutely gorgeous. I have to find a Camilla to try as a house plant. I bought gifts for the Minnesota kids at the open-air market downtown and at the River Dogs stadium. We visited Fort Moultrie and saw the weaponry from the Revolution through WWII. We ate seafood at restaurants and Bobby's seafood boil. The honey baked ham for Easter was to die for, encrusted with a honey-brown sugar crust that made it seem more like dessert than the main course. The ocean and beach are, well, amazing and pure relaxation at the same time.
Bob and I got home late last night, and we are both having a lazy day trying to recoup. Looking back at our trip, I am so grateful for all of it. Bob (although he loves to drive, and I'd prefer to fly) does a great job of finding our way, navigating traffic, driving forever, AND catering to taking care of me. How he is so patient through it all is a mystery to me. I am grateful for the warm greeting that the kids extended to me. I feel especially thankful for Christy's welcome. I don't feel that Chris and I ever got much of a chance to know each other before she headed south, and I hopefully sense that she is giving me a chance to be in her life. What more could anyone ask? I'm not sure I would be as gracious as she, if I'd been in her position. At least from my perspective, it seemed that 7 years ago I bulldozed in, married her dad and then she felt she had to go packing. Her life, as she knew it, was completely disrupted. Yet, she greets me with a smile and a hug. How forgiving and kind-hearted can she be? Bobby and I had a bit more time together, yet I am appreciative of his acceptance, as well. Stepping into a family and becoming the step-parent is not an easy thing to do. I'm not sure that I stepped all that gracefully, and I cannot thank Christy and Bob enough for their resilience, patience, and care. Anyway, it was a special vacation, and I have Bob, Chris, and Bob to thank for it.

Trying a dream

A month has gone by since my last posting, but what a month it has been! Since I left my television job and went back into the elementary classroom, I've been missing teaching adults. My dream was to teach education students at the college level. This spring has brought me that opportunity. I've been teaching a graduate level education course for the College of St. Scholastica, my undergraduate alma mater. This adjunct instructor position came as an unexpected surprise, a phone call out of the blue. I'm teaching Science methods, one of my favorite things to teach. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try my dream on for size, to see if I really liked it. Since I have a student teacher in my classroom (a coincidence that he is in the exactly same program) to help out, I would have the time and energy available to add teaching this course to my schedule.

I won't lie, it has been tough; but rewarding. I am having to travel to St. Paul to teach this course, but only have 6 students. It has been a challenge to learn the online component of the course, but I am feeling more comfortable using the software. My first eight hours (2 classes) of in-class instruction have been rewarding, interesting, invigorating, and exhausting all at the same time. Driving to St. Paul, setting up labs, teaching, tearing down, and driving home have made for a couple of very long days. My students have been so encouraging, telling me how much they enjoy my class and how valuable they feel it's been. As I expected, teaching in this way refreshes my own enthusiasm for teaching and makes me evaluate myself as a teacher.

Now, I have accepted the challenge to teach this course again next quarter, but in Duluth. My student teacher will have completed his time in my classroom, but I feel that I will have the course mostly set up by that time, so it should be less overall work the second time through. I am anticipating more students (maybe as many as 30) but I should be more comfortable and confident of my abilities by that time. I will finish out the school year working both jobs. I am hoping I will survive this schedule, and also have a better understanding of what I would like to be doing with the remainder of my teaching career.

Knitting and spinning, it seems have taken a back seat to the teaching for the past month. I have restarted the beta test sweater for Annie Modesitt a couple of times and it's just not doing it for me. I like the pattern, but as I'm knitting it, I'm thinking I'll never wear this sweater. It's just not me. I love the lace and cable, but I can just envision the sweater pulling up whatever I'm wearing underneath. I'm seeing myself pulling on things and constantly fighting it. So, the sweater is probably going to be frogged. Bob drove me to St. Paul to teach yesterday, so I started knitting a bag that will have fall oak leaves needle felted on it. The bag is about half done already, and it felt good to pick up the needles again.

We are off to South Carolina to see Christy and Bob this week. I'm starting to feel excited about the trip (especially now that I know we have my pay from St. Scholastica to fund the trip.) We have rented a small cottage just a couple blocks from the beach. The kids are excited about our visit, and have many things planned for us. I need the break, and I'm looking forward to knitting on the drive to and fro.

Knit Out a MOA and other stuff

Unbelievable! Almost a month has gone by since my last post! Life has been busy, which is very good for me at this time of year. I just don't "do" cold the way I used to. The bitterly cold days and nights leave my joints screaming, and the gray days make me, well, gray. I attended the Knit Out at the Mall of America yesterday. It was the second annual. I have learned that I will approach Knit Out differently next year. Rather than spending three hours in line waiting for patterns and yarn which I will probably not use, I will instead spend most of my time attending the demonstrations and activities on the stage. It is always wonderful to spend time amongst the hundreds of knitters who share the same love of fiber that has me engrossed. I met some new friends in line, and Ryan was beyond patient with me. All in all, a nice but tiring day.
This is a pic of me and Steven, The Glitter Knitter. He is so much fun!! We are all looking forward to his visit to our Northern Lights affiliate of the Minnesota Knitters Guild in May. Although you can't tell from this blurry picture, his sweater was knit with some sort of chain in it. Awesome!


I have agreed to teach a graduate level course for the College of St. Scholastica's St. Paul campus. It is an eight week course in Elementary Science Methods. This is something I have wanted to do for about 25 years, so I'm sort of fulfilling a long-time dream. Naturally, I'm a bit nervous about how it's going to go. I'm spending today and tomorrow (President's Day) getting my head wrapped around the syllabus and text and starting my planning. I truly think this is the best opportunity for me to find out if I LIKE teaching at the college level. My student teacher will be starting on the same day I begin teaching, so I'll have an extra pair of hands in the classroom to help take the pressure off. I am excited and anxious and overwhelmed, but happy to be given this opportunity.

Occupational Hazzard

One would think, that after all these years of teaching young children, that I would have built immunity to virtually any virus that could possibly rear its ugly head. But no, evidently not. I've been sick for 6 days now. I've missed the last two days of work, which is decidedly NOT good. What started as a head cold seems to have morphed into some flu-like monster. I'm tired of being sick. I must be close to using up my sick leave for this school year. I've been feeling so rotten that I've barely been able to knit. I used up a couple of partial balls of cotton and made a dishrag, and that was all I had in me.

Bob and I have been looking at rentals for our Spring Break trip to Charleston. Christy has been a great help sending information. We are looking for something on the beach. Chris and Bob are putting together a schedule of things to see that should keep us all very busy.

Time to get more drugs and head back to bed. Sniff....

Custom order completed

Last week, I completed a custom ordered bag. The bag was supposed to be a duplicate of a bag I made about a year ago. I learned several things from this process. (A) I don't make bags to be duplicated. (B) You can't always match colors of hand painted yarn--especially difficult if you don't keep track of color numbers or names. (C) It causes me stress to try to duplicate something which I had no intention of ever duplicating. I ended up purchasing a couple hundred dollars worth of Malibrigo trying to match the colors of the original bag, which I could only remember from photographs which may or may not have been accurately representing the colors. Not that I am all that upset about adding Malibrigo to my stash, but I was never able to perfectly match the colors. The duplicate bag was most obviously darker in colors, but did turn out to be similar in size, style, and had a matching button. Lesson learned: do NOT promise to duplicate bags in the future!