Care-taking & Finishes

 I don't feel bad about not posting, but I hate falling behind on reading your posts. However, it was quite a week. Keith had cataract surgery on Tuesday (and it was very successful). Then my mom fell and broke her arm on Thursday. She has severely torn rotator cuffs, so I've been helping her with dressing, meals, even bathrooming. I hope to have help hired tomorrow.

I've only been able to finish up some simple UFOs. First was a pair of fingerless mitts for Keith. He chose to go with this color rather than have me buy more yarn. Go figure. The pattern is Maize by Tin Can Knits. If I make it again, I'd flip the knit and purl stitches so it would have more knits.

This hat needed decreases, so it went quickly. The yarn is Eco Duo, which I loved knitting with. Must make a sweater with this! So soft.

And I finished up the drawing of my living room wall. 

I hope to have time this week to catch up with all of you!

Three Months of Stress to Go

 Three months from now, I will be on my 2nd day of retirement. I cannot express how happy that thought makes me! For one thing. our school district is going to remove seniority as a priority for shifting schools and for layoffs. As if that's not enough, I went on a safety tour of my school Friday -- and it is a mess. Hardly anyone has their own classroom because the school is so small (but has 200 staff and 2,200 students), so there is nowhere safe to eat lunch. 

Even vaccinated, I'm not sure it's safe. People are dying after being fully vaccinated. My employer acts like vaccination removes all risk -- but it doesn't! Even though the CDC recommends that vaccinated people should avoid crowds of any size and restaurants, we are opening high schools. And what about all those unvaccinated teens?

So onto something cheerful:

Here's our little retirement house. We had the inside painted white. The painters finished Friday, so we have spent much of the weekend moving in the smaller furniture. My sweet husband moved all the furniture for my craft room so I could get that set up ASAP. The movers come on March 30, so we have time to get our current house cleaned up.

The neighbors are super friendly. There's a darling 4-year-old girl next door who I'm going to adopt as a foster grandchild -- seeing as I don't have any grandchildren on the way

That safety tour lasted 1.5 hours, which is way too long for me to be on my feet. In between taking loads of stuff to the house, I've been hand-quilting using my lap quilting hoop:

I love the tear-away paper. I can't do circles or spirals freehand.

And I finished another hat:

It even matches the Navajo rug that my MIL made!

We back to school on April 13, and I am very stressed out about that. I am having so much trouble with foot pain (club feet) that I don't know how I'm going to survive. For me, virtual teaching has been a blessing. I have asked for accommodations, but my district has denied every accommodation I've requested in the past, so I am worried.

Still, it will all be good in three months. I can do this!

Chugging Along

 We closed on our house without incident last week.  We've moved in a few things, but we can't move in too much until the painters finish. The sellers painted the walls themselves before they put the house on the market. Not only did they do a sloppy job, but they chose colors better suited for a state mental institution.

We have movers scheduled for the end of the month, so we hope to have all the small stuff moved by then.

I still need some crafting time to keep my sanity. This next photo will look like a repeat but it's not. I am now calling Porto the "Forever Sweater." It will get done. Eventually

I've been quilting the Hook, Line & Tinker embroidery designs, and I think it enhances the images.

Thursday, Keith and I drove 45 minutes to the Walgreens in Fort Atkinson. Why? So I could get my first Covid vaccine! Seeing as my district is starting in-person instruction with K-2, I was feeling pressure to be vaccinated before the high schools open.

I wanted a quick, easy, stash-busting project for the drive, so I pulled together materials for a Banff. It's a Tin Can Knits pattern, and I have never been disappointed by one of their patterns. This was fun, fast, and very relaxing. Just what I needed. I've already started a second one.

I expect my posts and comments will be sporadic over this coming month, but I will be trying to read and keep up with you!

Loving Winter Break

I am happy as a clam to be on break. School was just crazy that last week. I don't think I have ever needed a break quite so much.

The break started out with a birthday dinner for Rachel. My ex-husband actually suggested a photo of three generations: Rachel, me, and my mom:

So far, I have mostly hung out with Rachel and Keith, cooked and crafted. Does it get any better? Rachel always has work to do (that's life in grad school), so she's fine with me sharing the couch -- her on her laptop and me knitting.

While I continue to procrastinate on the Epic Knit, I have been enjoying the Antler hat:

And I'm enjoying my quilting/embroidery project. I've named this technique "Crazy Kantha."

It is Christmas Day, so we will soon be off to Keith's parents' house for dinner. Rachel is at her dad's for a few days, but she'll be back soon.

I'm a Meme and Other News

We had the Special Ed Department Holiday Party Friday night, and I won some pretty awful stuff in the White Elephant exchange, including a really awful hat. I was goofing around in it and one of my colleagues turned me into a meme:

This afternoon I went drawing with my friend Tsela, who included me in one of her sketches.

 Tsela is much faster than I am and she completed two sketches in the time it took me to do one. We always think it's fun when we draw the same thing. The results are always quite different (mine is on the right):

We were drawing at Madison Chocolate Company (highly recommended!) and saw a celebrity there. I know he's shy so I settled for taking a photo of the back of children's author Kevin Henkes. 

I started a hat with some Cascade 220 from my stash. The Antler Hat pattern is free from Tin Can Knits. I have never been disappointed in a Tin Can project. This is a very easy cabled pattern, and it's going quickly.

I am making a recipe from my new cookbook for dinner tonight: Lemon-Fennel Chicken in a pot.

I love Dorie Greenspan's baking recipes. I swear by her pie crust. She is the co-author of Julia Child's baking book; I can't imagine a better credential! I also made one of her chocolate cake recipes for dessert. I hope things come out well because my mother is coming for dinner!

It's About Time

I have finally started a Tin Can Knits project. So many bloggers have raved about Tin Can projects that I've wanted to try one for myself for some time now. A friend who loves purple hinted that she'd love some handknit socks, so here is Winding Way:

I just love the lace portion. It's geometric with very clean, modern lines. I have always struggled with knitting dark yarn, so I'm trying to work on this when I can use sunlight. Even our pale winter light is better than artificial lights.

And remember this messy picture from a recent post? This is how it turned out. Here is my stash in a much more presentable form.

Now, I want to point out that most of these crates are not full. I just like to organize my yarn by weight. The bag on top of the crate in back is filled with yarn that is going to school with me. Next year I may have two boys who knit! And the bin is filled with yarn that is going to be sold at our next yard sale!

That's progress. If only the rest of my house was so orderly!