April and May seem to have gone missing from the blog. Oh, maybe that's because I didn't post at all during those months...how the time seems to have disappeared!
But it's now June, and school has ended for the year. Not that I dislike my job - far from it - but it was definitely time to let the kids go and for me to have some time away from the responsibilities of being a school librarian. This was a tough year in some ways, as I was asked to stretch myself in directions that I didn't think I wanted to go.
And for someone who is now on vacation, there is an awful lot on my calendar! During June, there is only one day (ONE DAY!) that doesn't have something scheduled on it. However, this IS considered vacation, because some of those events don't start until evening, so I can sleep until I'm ready to wake or the dog decides she's tired of being in her crate, whichever comes first.
So, last time I posted, I mentioned that I had a bad case of Startitis. Well, I'm now working my way through MustFinishStuffFirstBeforeIStartSomethingElse-itis. By the way, if you want pictures, look at these previous posts and imagine more of the same in the pictures!
Case in point:
Knitting:
Girl Friday -- back and fronts done, one sleeve almost finished. BUT, after taking a Fit to Flatter class with Amy Herzog, have discovered that I'm making it a size too big. I'm debating whether to pull it completely out and redo it in the smaller size, or if I should just pull it back to the underarm shaping and refigure the numbers to make it smaller just in the upper chest/shoulder area.
Chad -- back done, front cast on and ribbing done, except that I forgot to use a smaller needle for the ribbing. RIIIIIPPPPP! Only 2 inches of 2x2 ribbing, so luckily not too much!
A's mitts for Richard -- done!
Octavia shawl -- done (just not blocked yet)!
Yet another Eco Cloud cowl for a goodbye gift to a coworker who is moving to Buffalo, NY to work on a PhD in medieval literature.
San Francisco Giants mitts -- a commission (which I don't usually do) for a coworker as a gift to his friend who takes Pat to several Giants games each season. My payment -- he will donate to No-blog Rachel's fundraising effort/walk for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer walk in September.
The Lost in Transit scarf is languishing, the Susie coat is just sitting around, as are the plain vanilla socks being made from my hand-dyed yarn.
But I want to start a Daybreak shawl (I may have cast on for this already...don't tell anyone), need to knit socks from my purple handspun and from other yarn in stash, got ideas for altering a completed Spanish Dancer shawl, and.....we could be here forever with the list of "wanna-dos".
Spinning - need to finish projects:
Baby camel/silk blend - about 3/4 done; aiming for a 2-ply laceweight, spinning on my Lendrum.
Abstract Fiber merino/silk blend in Poppies colorway -- just over half done, spinning on the KCL drop spindle. Was originally going to ply the colors togther, but now, I may spin a matching single from a lovely alpaca/silk blend (also Abstract) in Black n'Blue and ply those.
Tri-color BFL (Frabjous Fibers) in Stained Glass colorway -- almost 1/3 done spinning on my Victoria.
The cranberry and gold wool spinning project is currently on hold until I clear up one of the projects already on the wheels.
The mind is bursting with desire to knit and spin and sew (need to sit down and bust out two quick baby quilts that were promised to parents - the babies are now 4 months and 2 months old, respectively).
But the time has gotten away from me and the calendar is filling up with appointments and rehearsals. I've just joined a local gospel choir, Joyful Noise, and we have rehearsals every Tuesday evening, in addition to my normal Thursday evenings at the public library. Then there is the storytelling that I do with my friend Sharon for the public library. We do one story a year for the summer reading program, but have been asked to tell our story in a couple weeks for a Friends of the Library function. We need to get the rehearsal schedule together. Oh, and there are the two presentations that I'm supposed to do at a Teacher Institute next week, one of which will also be presented in Philadelphia at the ISTE conference in two weeks, and the teachers with whom I'm helping find resources for a major curriculum rework in 10 days.
No wonder that Time has been disappearing fast!
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday, July 2, 2010
Summertime, summertime, sum-sum-summertime...
It's taken nearly a month for me to finally feel like I'm on vacation. Usually the first few weeks is spent dealing with all the stuff you've put off "until I have a moment (or several hours) to deal with it". Oil change in the car, hair, dr appts, blood donations, etc. And then you need to get out and pick up that stuff that wasn't quite necessary, but would be nice to get fixed, stock up on, etc. Costco, hardware store, kitchen stuff, etc. Catch up on the emails you've been meaning to send and the websites on the list to explore, the music/books you've been meaning to pick up.
Then there's the retirement parties, graduations, college orientations, and some professional presentations to prep for.
No wonder I'm exhausted from my "vacation"!
There has been knitting during this time, believe it or not.
Proof:
Finally finished the (no-longer-secret) Retirement blanket - each strip was made by a different person. I gave 6 other crocheters/knitters a skein (or two) of yarn and said something along the lines of "choose any stitch pattern you like, and make it about 7 inches wide and as long as the yarn holds out". Turned out that everyone's ended up being about 50 inches long. Mattress stitched the strips together and single crocheted edging, and there is a lot of love stitched into this blanket.
Citron shawl:
1.25 skeins of Dream in Color Baby, 8 repeats
Color: Into the Mystic
Needle: size 6 (4.0 mm)
Started: June 10, 2010
Finished: June 28, 2010
(but not yet blocked or photographed)
Also working still on the Susie Hoodie and my Purple Vanilla Rib socks, but no new pics.
The Dork also finished his first knitting project: the Horizontal Rib scarf (Ravelry link, even though he's not on Ravelry - yet) in Dream in Color Classy in Deep Seaflower.
He is one of the loosest knitters that I know! This was worsted weight yarn that I had to have him work on size 5 needles, and probably should have gone down to 4's. But, it's a finished object and he's already given it away to a friend!
Next up for me: Tour de Fleece. My goal is just to spin each day and see how far I can get into the stash of fiber! I've got at least 3-4 pounds of fiber of all different types & colors that I want to get to. There's Polwarth, Targhee, superwash merino, BFL, merino/tencel, merino/bamboo, various batts of unremembered fiber, etc.
But I'm heading to Southern California this weekend for a little get-together of some high school friends, many of whom I haven't seen in more than 25 years. [Love the House of Mom & Dad, too.] Should I take my wheel, or just my knitting? Hmmm, do I have knitting at the right stage of mindlessness... Oh no, maybe I need to cast on something!
Happy 4th of July to all US readers and Happy belated Canada Day to the Canadians! Happy Friday to everyone and watch out for invading grapevines!
Then there's the retirement parties, graduations, college orientations, and some professional presentations to prep for.
No wonder I'm exhausted from my "vacation"!
There has been knitting during this time, believe it or not.
Proof:
Finally finished the (no-longer-secret) Retirement blanket - each strip was made by a different person. I gave 6 other crocheters/knitters a skein (or two) of yarn and said something along the lines of "choose any stitch pattern you like, and make it about 7 inches wide and as long as the yarn holds out". Turned out that everyone's ended up being about 50 inches long. Mattress stitched the strips together and single crocheted edging, and there is a lot of love stitched into this blanket.
Citron shawl:
1.25 skeins of Dream in Color Baby, 8 repeats
Color: Into the Mystic
Needle: size 6 (4.0 mm)
Started: June 10, 2010
Finished: June 28, 2010
(but not yet blocked or photographed)
Also working still on the Susie Hoodie and my Purple Vanilla Rib socks, but no new pics.
He is one of the loosest knitters that I know! This was worsted weight yarn that I had to have him work on size 5 needles, and probably should have gone down to 4's. But, it's a finished object and he's already given it away to a friend!
Next up for me: Tour de Fleece. My goal is just to spin each day and see how far I can get into the stash of fiber! I've got at least 3-4 pounds of fiber of all different types & colors that I want to get to. There's Polwarth, Targhee, superwash merino, BFL, merino/tencel, merino/bamboo, various batts of unremembered fiber, etc.
But I'm heading to Southern California this weekend for a little get-together of some high school friends, many of whom I haven't seen in more than 25 years. [Love the House of Mom & Dad, too.] Should I take my wheel, or just my knitting? Hmmm, do I have knitting at the right stage of mindlessness... Oh no, maybe I need to cast on something!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July?!
(Warning - picture-heavy post)
Okay, where did June disappear to?! It's been a busy, busy month, with very little down time, even though school ended during the first week.
Let's see, there have been 2 professional presentations, one each at school and the public library. 3 more are coming up - in about the next 10 days. (But 2 of them are reprises of the one on databases I've already done; one is storytelling.)
We also traveled to SoCal for my father-in-law's funeral. He was 82 and had a good life. Raised 2 great kids, enjoyed his grandkids... This picture was taken 4 years ago, and it's one of my favorites of him and the kids.
DH, his mom and sister, the grandkids and 2 of their cousins. I don't think I've ever had them all in the same place for more than a few minutes!
And yes, there has been knitting!
Finished and delivered the shawl to my friend who needed and loves it!
Pattern: Shawl that Jazz
Yarn: Woobu in Nyame
Needle: size 8 US
Started: May 10, 2009
Finished: June 7, 2009
Finished some socks for me!
Pattern: Fleegle toe-up socks on 56 stitches
Yarn: Socks that rock Lightweight in Peaseblossom
Needles: size 1 US
Started: ?? sometime in the last year
Finished: June 12, 2009
Originally I had knit toe-up Monkeys from this yarn last year, but ripped them out. I like the color striping much better this way.
The Sea & Shells stole is coming along. I think I'm about halfway done with it so far.
Other projects on the needles include 2 new pairs of socks, one is Primavera. The other is CookieA's Summer Sox pattern (no pic of that yet).
Was itching to get back to a crochet project, and oh, gee, darn, shucks, if Purlescence didn't just get some DMC Cebelia thread in! I'm almost done with it - should finish it today.
In other news, the garden is going like gangbusters!
This adorable little pumpkin from 2 weeks ago, is quickly becoming a huge pumpkin. As of this morning, it's about 14 inches across!
Tomatoes
Look, a strawberry!
Several quarts of blackberries were picked.
And an abundance of squash.
Clearly, summer is now upon us in the Bay Area.
The dove nest I posted about last time has unfortunately been abandoned. There are no eggs in it, so I don't know what happened. Maybe next year...
Oh yeah -- I also now officially have a College Student Dork boy. He's taking a summer class at one of the local community colleges before his senior year in high school. I think it will be a good experience for him, and give him some good prep before the real thing in the fall of 2010.
Okay, I guess I now know where June went...
Okay, where did June disappear to?! It's been a busy, busy month, with very little down time, even though school ended during the first week.
Let's see, there have been 2 professional presentations, one each at school and the public library. 3 more are coming up - in about the next 10 days. (But 2 of them are reprises of the one on databases I've already done; one is storytelling.)
We also traveled to SoCal for my father-in-law's funeral. He was 82 and had a good life. Raised 2 great kids, enjoyed his grandkids... This picture was taken 4 years ago, and it's one of my favorites of him and the kids.
DH, his mom and sister, the grandkids and 2 of their cousins. I don't think I've ever had them all in the same place for more than a few minutes!And yes, there has been knitting!
Finished and delivered the shawl to my friend who needed and loves it!Pattern: Shawl that Jazz
Yarn: Woobu in Nyame
Needle: size 8 US
Started: May 10, 2009
Finished: June 7, 2009
Finished some socks for me!Pattern: Fleegle toe-up socks on 56 stitches
Yarn: Socks that rock Lightweight in Peaseblossom
Needles: size 1 US
Started: ?? sometime in the last year
Finished: June 12, 2009
Originally I had knit toe-up Monkeys from this yarn last year, but ripped them out. I like the color striping much better this way.
The Sea & Shells stole is coming along. I think I'm about halfway done with it so far.
Other projects on the needles include 2 new pairs of socks, one is Primavera. The other is CookieA's Summer Sox pattern (no pic of that yet).
Was itching to get back to a crochet project, and oh, gee, darn, shucks, if Purlescence didn't just get some DMC Cebelia thread in! I'm almost done with it - should finish it today.In other news, the garden is going like gangbusters!
This adorable little pumpkin from 2 weeks ago, is quickly becoming a huge pumpkin. As of this morning, it's about 14 inches across!
Tomatoes
Look, a strawberry!
Several quarts of blackberries were picked.
And an abundance of squash.Clearly, summer is now upon us in the Bay Area.
The dove nest I posted about last time has unfortunately been abandoned. There are no eggs in it, so I don't know what happened. Maybe next year...
Oh yeah -- I also now officially have a College Student Dork boy. He's taking a summer class at one of the local community colleges before his senior year in high school. I think it will be a good experience for him, and give him some good prep before the real thing in the fall of 2010.
Okay, I guess I now know where June went...
Monday, June 16, 2008
Summertime!
I love summer. Okay, maybe not the heat, but the feeling of freedom. That's what you get when you work at school. 2 months of freedom!
The freedom to not wake up at 5:45 AM every morning.
The freedom of no grading.
The freedom to travel.
The freedom of unstructured time (that is quickly becoming structured)!
So, we've been out of school for the last 10 days. What have I done in that time?
Finished the retirement shawl for my friend Linda, although it's not yet gifted.
Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl
Yarn: Dream in Color Baby (laceweight) in Pansy GoLightly, approx. 1/2 skein
Needles: Size 6 (4.0 mm)
Knit Shakespeare-themed socks (completed 4 out of the 6 that I wanted to do)
Socks that Rock:
Midsummer Night for The Hubby
Korppi for The Dork (couldn't find the right color for him)
Peaseblossom for me (toe-up Monkeys), but I only got to the heel turn by Saturday evening.
Went on vacation to Ashland, Oregon for the OSF Shakespeare Festival. Fabulous! We saw 5 shows (Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Othello, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Clay Cart), all of which were wonderful. This was our 5th year, and we have never failed to be amazed with the quality of the shows. We are lucky enough to have a son who also enjoys watching live theater, especially Shakespeare. He's been a tech theater kid for years, so he looks at staging, lighting, fight choreography, in addition to enjoying the plot and acting.
Let's just say the character of Peaseblossom of Midsummer Night's Dream did not match at all the socks I'm making! Combine the 70s Disco Queen fairies with the 50s Jersey Duke/Hippolyta, Hermia/Lysander and Helena/Demetrius couples, throw in the 60's VW bus with flowers painted on it for the earnest performers of "Pyramus and Thisbe", and the audience was screaming with laughter.
Knit lots during shows - Shepherd Sock in Grumperina colorway. Learned to be careful about trying to pick up dropped stitches in the dark. Spent lots of time in the evenings fixing the mistakes I made, even though this was supposed to be plain ol' stockinette! This sock is almost finished.
Knit during WWKIP day with The Hubby (waiting to see Midsummer)
Ate delicious food! We always stay at a motel just off the downtown area that has a kitchenette. There is a market directly behind the motel, a great place a couple blocks away for freshly made ravioli, and Rogue Creamery about 20 minutes up the road. Smoked chicken and cheese ravoli with gorgonzola cream sauce, swiss chard on the side. But we also ate a great meal here, too! Oh, and don't forget Lillie Belle chocolates either. Darn it (snapping fingers), they opened a retail shop right next to Rogue Creamery, so of course we had to stop in! And ice-cream after the shows at Zoey's Cafe (no website).
Got stuck in stopped traffic on I-5 (not freedom!), due to this tragic event, with a subsequent almost 3 hour delay and detour. We didn't get home until 3 AM, after sitting for an hour, then turning across the center median and using much smaller roads to try and get around the closure. Part of the detour we were directed toward was several miles of unpaved road. Thank goodness they caught the perp about 10 hours after the original incident, but the highway was closed so they could try to find him and the rifle he used.
Need to finish the Montego Bay scarf by Wednesday night so I can block it on Thursday for gifting on Friday! It didn't go to the original recipient, because there was no way to finish it before school let out. So it's going to our head fencing coach who is leaving to work on her PhD out-of-state. Our club has now merged with another one a little further north.
Whew! I've done a lot already...
The freedom to not wake up at 5:45 AM every morning.
The freedom of no grading.
The freedom to travel.
The freedom of unstructured time (that is quickly becoming structured)!
So, we've been out of school for the last 10 days. What have I done in that time?
Finished the retirement shawl for my friend Linda, although it's not yet gifted.Pattern: Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl
Yarn: Dream in Color Baby (laceweight) in Pansy GoLightly, approx. 1/2 skein
Needles: Size 6 (4.0 mm)
Knit Shakespeare-themed socks (completed 4 out of the 6 that I wanted to do)Socks that Rock:
Midsummer Night for The Hubby
Korppi for The Dork (couldn't find the right color for him)
Peaseblossom for me (toe-up Monkeys), but I only got to the heel turn by Saturday evening.
Went on vacation to Ashland, Oregon for the OSF Shakespeare Festival. Fabulous! We saw 5 shows (Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Othello, Midsummer Night's Dream, The Clay Cart), all of which were wonderful. This was our 5th year, and we have never failed to be amazed with the quality of the shows. We are lucky enough to have a son who also enjoys watching live theater, especially Shakespeare. He's been a tech theater kid for years, so he looks at staging, lighting, fight choreography, in addition to enjoying the plot and acting.Let's just say the character of Peaseblossom of Midsummer Night's Dream did not match at all the socks I'm making! Combine the 70s Disco Queen fairies with the 50s Jersey Duke/Hippolyta, Hermia/Lysander and Helena/Demetrius couples, throw in the 60's VW bus with flowers painted on it for the earnest performers of "Pyramus and Thisbe", and the audience was screaming with laughter.
Knit lots during shows - Shepherd Sock in Grumperina colorway. Learned to be careful about trying to pick up dropped stitches in the dark. Spent lots of time in the evenings fixing the mistakes I made, even though this was supposed to be plain ol' stockinette! This sock is almost finished.
Knit during WWKIP day with The Hubby (waiting to see Midsummer)
Ate delicious food! We always stay at a motel just off the downtown area that has a kitchenette. There is a market directly behind the motel, a great place a couple blocks away for freshly made ravioli, and Rogue Creamery about 20 minutes up the road. Smoked chicken and cheese ravoli with gorgonzola cream sauce, swiss chard on the side. But we also ate a great meal here, too! Oh, and don't forget Lillie Belle chocolates either. Darn it (snapping fingers), they opened a retail shop right next to Rogue Creamery, so of course we had to stop in! And ice-cream after the shows at Zoey's Cafe (no website).Got stuck in stopped traffic on I-5 (not freedom!), due to this tragic event, with a subsequent almost 3 hour delay and detour. We didn't get home until 3 AM, after sitting for an hour, then turning across the center median and using much smaller roads to try and get around the closure. Part of the detour we were directed toward was several miles of unpaved road. Thank goodness they caught the perp about 10 hours after the original incident, but the highway was closed so they could try to find him and the rifle he used.
Need to finish the Montego Bay scarf by Wednesday night so I can block it on Thursday for gifting on Friday! It didn't go to the original recipient, because there was no way to finish it before school let out. So it's going to our head fencing coach who is leaving to work on her PhD out-of-state. Our club has now merged with another one a little further north.
Whew! I've done a lot already...
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Sigh!
Summer is officially over for me...sigh! Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that school was out? What do you mean I have to return to full-time work tomorrow?!
What I did on my summer vacation:
Projects:
1. Finished my Kiri shawl. Hmmm. can't find a good picture of it - maybe tomorrow...
2. I was gone this weekend to visit my family because of this new nephew addition (and his big brother and cousins, as well as Mom & Dad). Ian was the one I made the Ribbon blanket for in July.
3. Made a Diversity scarf (scroll down to the Nov. 13 entry)
Details:
Pattern: Diversity scarf (pattern available from Purlescence)
Yarn: Bazic wool
Needles: US size 9 (5.5 mm)
Begun: July 23, 2007
Finished: August 9, 2007
4. Made a Clapotis for my friend L. who loves it!
Details:
Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Ritratto color #64
Needles: US size 8 (5.0 mm)
Begun: June 24, 2007
Finished: August 13, 2007
5. Started this Gemini vest in Bombyx silk (pics later).
6. And the Pretty-in-Pink tank top from "Simply Creative Crochet" (2003). Of course, mine is in purple! (pics later, too)
Other stuff:
Went to Ashland, OR to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Hung out a lot at Purlescence Yarns.
Worked a lot at the public library.
Read all the Harry Potter books (started and finished #7 yesterday).
Drove my son to fencing lessons 3 days/week.
Hmmm, I guess I was busier than I thought. Just think of how much I'd get done without the kids at school! Oh - there is this little thing called a paycheck...
What I did on my summer vacation:
Projects:
1. Finished my Kiri shawl. Hmmm. can't find a good picture of it - maybe tomorrow...
2. I was gone this weekend to visit my family because of this new nephew addition (and his big brother and cousins, as well as Mom & Dad). Ian was the one I made the Ribbon blanket for in July. 
3. Made a Diversity scarf (scroll down to the Nov. 13 entry)Details:
Pattern: Diversity scarf (pattern available from Purlescence)
Yarn: Bazic wool
Needles: US size 9 (5.5 mm)
Begun: July 23, 2007
Finished: August 9, 2007
4. Made a Clapotis for my friend L. who loves it!
Details:
Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Ritratto color #64
Needles: US size 8 (5.0 mm)
Begun: June 24, 2007
Finished: August 13, 2007
5. Started this Gemini vest in Bombyx silk (pics later).
6. And the Pretty-in-Pink tank top from "Simply Creative Crochet" (2003). Of course, mine is in purple! (pics later, too)
Other stuff:
Went to Ashland, OR to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Hung out a lot at Purlescence Yarns.
Worked a lot at the public library.
Read all the Harry Potter books (started and finished #7 yesterday).
Drove my son to fencing lessons 3 days/week.
Hmmm, I guess I was busier than I thought. Just think of how much I'd get done without the kids at school! Oh - there is this little thing called a paycheck...
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