Still Winter Here

I might just finish my Einstein Coat while it's still cold enough to wear it. I'm seaming it now, but it looks like a big cream blob so I'm not going to post a photo.

I did finish my little folk embroideries. They are very cute, but I'm not sure what to do with them. Ideas? (They are 8 x 8).

And while the calendar says it's March 10, my yard is blanketed with snow. My brother is visiting from Virginia and, to my surprise, he walked with me this morning when the temperature was 5 degrees (with wind chill).

I did get a little trip to the tropics Sunday evening. I have a friend who is an exceptionally avid gardener. She grows dozens of elephant ears outdoors in the warm weather. In the winter, she and her husband dig them up and bring them inside, where they place the plants in pots and horse troughs. No, I am not making this up.

As you can see, it's pretty amazing.

Sometimes Things Work Out

 My newest knitting project did not start out well. The Piquant Mix Scarf is made with three balls of Ella Rae Cozy Soft Prints. As soon as I started knitting, the balls began to fall apart. Since you knit with all three, this quickly devolved into a mess.

I had no choice but to frog, roll all three skeins into balls, and start all over. Thankfully it was worth it. It's very pretty -- not my colors, though -- and will be a gift for one of my nieces.

I had been planning to have my friends over for dinner on our deck, but my neck injury made that plan too ambitious. Instead, I made brownies and offered up brownie sundaes.

My wonderful friend Richard made two huge bowls of cold soup: watermelon curry and watermelon gazpacho. So, it was dinner after all!

Kola says: "Thank goodness it's cooled off around here." 

And I wholeheartedly agree with her!

Tiny Needle Tuesday Plus My Weekend

 This is what my tiny needle has. been up to:

It's a small piece of a project that I finished on Sunday-- just in time to submit it to a challenge from Quilting Arts Magazine. The challenge was to make a scroll measuring no more than 40".  I had to cut a panel so that I didn't go over 40".

Here's the finished project:

It's bits and pieces from my trip to Colorado. It will seem very random to the viewer, but my new-to-me fiber group -- the Memory Cloth Circle -- liked it. I'm not sure it was worth the time, but it was kind of fun.

My weekend also included having friends over for dinner on Saturday. I invited my favorite co-teacher, John, and his wife Michele, who is a special ed teacher. Not team-teaching with John is one of the things I'm going to miss the most this fall. We practically had a comedy act going in a long-running debate over which decade had the best music, the 1970s (my choice) or the 1980s (his choice). I hope we'll stay in touch.

Michele is the chairperson of the Union's Subcommittee on Special Ed, so we have quite a bit of history, too.

And Michele made me the best mask ever:

For those of you who aren't massive fans of The Office: The mask features Dwight Schrute, one of the main characters. I gave John a vintage Chewbacca mug, seeing as he is a Star Wars fanatic.

Madison Urban Sketchers met Saturday at a local park, where we all drew the beautiful bathroom structure -- built by the CCC during the Depression. It was a small but talented group. Mine is on the top right:

Last, but not least, I went kayaking on Sunday with my friend Tracey. What is it about water that is so soothing? When my ankle heals, I am going to beg Kathy for a paddle-boarding lesson.

It was a busy weekend for me -- but now I have all week to relax!

The Best and the Worst of Winter Break

 We got snow! And not just a dusting. There was enough snow for the city to groom the golf course. I love cross country skiing, so this was a huge treat! Skiing with friends was extra special this winter.

From left: Tsela, Judith, Lisa, Me, Debbie, Mimi

I skied for three days in a row, one of which was my friend Tsela's birthday.

I don't have much time to exercise when school is in session, so I am pretty out of shape. By the third day, I had to shorten my route. I was tired; my arms and legs were aching -- best feeling ever!

And I designed and sewed a needle book. I had bought a little one for $5 in summer 2019, but I wanted something bigger and with pockets. It was a surprising success.

I even embroidered each page to show what kind of needles it holds.

That was the best stuff. That and talking to both my kids this week.

The worst? Break ends tomorrow and it's back to virtual school. I think I would be enjoying it more if I wasn't worried about the district forcing us to come back before we are vaccinated. Cross your fingers that my district supports teachers' right to live!

Where have I been?

It has been a long and eventful 10 months since I last. blogged. I have done some lurking on your blogs, but until today, could not find my blogging mojo. But if this isn't a time for virtual friendships, what is? So, here is a whirlwind tour of the last 10 months:

It was a rough school year. A week before school  began, my dear friends and long-time colleague Jim McCoy died suddenly during cross country practice. The incredibly healthy 61-year old just collapsed and never regained consciousness. Some kind of cardiac event. Denise, another friend and colleague, and I were at the hospital and able to say farewell to him with his family. Jim and I had worked together for a decade. 

Me, Jim, and Denise, at an American Players Shakespeare performance in August  2018.

Needless to say, working without Jim was devastating. I miss him every day. But we carried on. 

One of the times I most missed talking to Jim was when two teens we both know from middle school were accused of murdering a beloved Madison physician and her husband. It's a tragic story. If you want to know more: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/dane-county-judge-sends-suspects-in-arboretum-double-homicide-to-trial/article_e8a80174-7e0c-56db-b282-cd0399c7fed2.html

Over winter break, Keith, I, and my mom flew to Phoenix to visit Seth and his girlfriend, Clara. Rachel flew in from Miami, so we were all together and it was glorious!

Clara, Seth and Rachel on New Year's Eve.

Clara is going to transfer to a medical school in Chicago, so she and Seth will be closer to us! 

Of course there was knitting. I mastered the (not-so-hard) Latvian Braid for this hat, which was a prize in a membership drive for my teachers' union.

Then came Covid-19. While the workload lessened for some of my colleagues, it skyrocketed for special education. I cannot tell you how tired I am of teaching via Zoom. And who knows how much more of it I have in my future? I need to work at least one more year.

Like everyone, I had to cancel some exciting summer plans. My mom and I had booked a trip to Scandinavia. Even worse, the University of Miami had to cancel graduation so I didn't get to celebrate Rachel being awarded her Ph.D. Nor will I be able to help her get settled this summer in Denver. Still I am very pleased that she has a tenure-track position at the University of Denver in these difficult times.

So, now I'm hanging out a lot with these guys:

I feel lucky. So far everyone I love is healthy. I have a lovely home and yard to shelter in. I have friends and family to talk to. And now I have all of you to check in with!

Too Much Weekend

The truth, my friends, is that there is such a thing as too much weekend. I am an introvert and I crave quiet, creative time. But sometimes I do everything offered in a weekend and end up satisfied, but tired.

That would describe this weekend. Saturday morning Madison Urban Sketchers met at the student union on the UW-Madison campus. It's an amazing building with a German beer hall called Der Rathskeller. I love this place because it's very cozy and because I worked there all through my undergraduate years.

Then Saturday afternoon, I was busy baking Oatmeal Scotchies in honor of the Scottish poet Robert Burns.

Werth reads some Burns in her excellent brogue.

My friends have an annual party to mark this, replete with faux haggis and Banoffee Pie (which turns out to be English not Scottish, but I'm not complaining); readings of Burns' poetry in a Scottish brogue; and the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

Percy made up three types of haggis: venison, poultry, and vegetarian. No one would eat the authentic stuff. It has lamb brains, I think.

This afternoon I went to a play with my mom and her friend. It was interesting, about a school that was being closed down. For me, this is full weekend!

I did find time to cast off one sock and cast on the for next before I run out of inspiration.

The first Vintage Fairy Lights sock.

I hope your weekend was lovely and you are headed into a good week!

Tinkering Around the House

Winter cold has finally arrived here -- although no snow to speak of -- so it has been a good weekend to haul out my beloved ponchos and stay warm and cozy. 

I'm slowly cleaning up my craft room. This weekend, I decided to clear off my workspace -- a task in desperate need of completion -- so I finished a few jewelry projects and took apart others.

The necklace above is a beautiful design, but those bright blue beads do not match its elegance. The white beads are rather expensive, so I determined to rip it apart. That's the easy part. Sorting the beads, however, took much longer than I expected.

I finished the Shawheid hat by Kate Davies. In an earlier post, I said I was knitting it out of the discontinued Telemark yarn. I was wrong. It's knit out of the recommended Jamieson & Smith. My carried threads on the back were a bit tight, but a good soaking and blocking corrected for me.

I did get out of the house a few times. A friend and I went to see the movie Ladybird. It has lots of cute and authentic moments, but the mother character wasn't believable, which kind of undermines the whole story. Afterward, she fed me some delicious lentil soup at her house. And this morning I treated myself to a latte at a local coffeeshop.

Today will be busier. I have a number of errands that have to get done. It's just as well. I need to adjust to winter weather!

Hope your weekend is relaxing and refreshing.

Just Another Weekend

 With Thanksgiving coming up, I should be doing more cooking and cleaning. But other things are so much more fun -- not to mention relaxing! Keith and I are now watching The Roosevelts on Netflix, which is perfect for easy sweater knitting. I'm making the Windchill Cardigan for my daughter. I think it's a pretty easy pattern, but I'm worried about size with her in Miami and me knitting in Wisconsin. She'll be home for T-giving and Winter Break, so I'm hoping to be able to make any adjustments.

On Saturday, I joined some friends for the Wisconsin Book Festival. Much to my surprise, I was hooked by the author of The Storm Before the Storm. Mike Duncan, the author, created the podcast The History of Rome. As much as I love history, ancient history has never interested me that much, but this guy is good! I'm going to listen to the podcast -- all 189 episodes -- one of these days.

It turns out that he is a Madison resident and his book just debuted on the NYT's Best-Seller list at No. 8. 

And I'm still loving this cross stitch. Kathy wanted to know how to get a hold of it. The company is Satsuma Street, and the Etsy store is here.

Some of the patterns are digital downloads, but others are also available as printed copies, which I prefer. I bought the hard copy of this one, which is called Happinest.

I hope you had a lovely weekend, too!

The Quiet Before the Storm

Students start at my school tomorrow, so I've enjoyed three days of quiet.  I've done quite a bit of work on this project:

I'm beginning to pick up some speed with my bead embroidery, thank goodness! I wasn't sure I'd finish this on time. It's part of a larger art quilt, which will be on display this winter, and I think I'll be done in plenty of time.

Of course, I am enjoying time with our new cat. Kola enchants us all of the time, even when she's sleeping!

See that afghan on the couch? It was crocheted by Keith's grandmother. I can see that she had great skill, but she made it out of that old acrylic yarn, and it is not exactly soft! It reminds me that good wool is worth the cost.

I've had a few outings: coffee and knitting with a friend; a good walk with a newly retired teacher friend; the Labor Day lunch at my parents' community; and dinner a friend's house, which included her new grandson:

Is that cute or what? 

Crafting is More Fun with Friends

I have a large collection of rubber stamps from my scrapbooking days. I've tried to sell them without success (but I'm open to ideas of how to do so!).  Given the prices of greeting cards, I've been wanting to sit down and make a huge number of cards -- for free, as I paid for all the supplies years ago.

I finally did it this week. Given how many supplies I have, I invited friends to join me. Four friends came over, including Ilana and her new baby, Tal. I was too busy teaching techniques and holding Tal to take photos of the gathering, but I do have photos of some of my cards.

They are very basic by today's standards. I don't have a Cricut or any cutting system beyond scissors. I don't have the patience to do a whole lot of cutting. But I do have some nice cards, sparkly watercolors, papers, and brads.

I made 32 cards over a 24-hour period. If you assume a modest card costs $4, that's $128-worth of cards. I would have made more, but we really needed our dining table back!

I got a lot more making done when I was alone, but it was a lot more fun when my friends were here.

A Week of Crafting

Joni and did lots of different crafts during her visit last week. We took a great class at Bare Knuckle Arts, where we made paste paper and marbled paper.

We found white shirts on sale at Anthropologie and decided to dye them with red cabbage.  We did a ton of research and tracked down alum and cream of Tartar to prepare the cloth. We added ammonia to the dye to make it more blue, and look at the gorgeous color we got:

Sadly, the color almost completely washed out! Now we have off-white shirts. Is there some way to fix the color?

Joni decorated a store-bought frame with some of my polymer clay tiles:

While she did that, I painted some handmade polymer clay pendants that I made a while ago.

I'm lucky that I have some art/craft friends here in Madison. After Joni left, Tsela and I went painting at the Memorial Union at UW-Madison. Here is mine:

And here is hers:

Art/craft and friends are a pretty amazing combination!

Friends Rock

The upside to having surgery is that I've been overwhelmed by how many people have given me support. All the comments on my blog have meant so much to me. They truly helped me through this, especially those first few weeks.

And I have to give a special thanks to Rose of Sand in My Yarn, who sent me this bundle of knitting goodies:

I am so touched by all the thought she put into this. Inside the great mesh bag I found two darling tea strainers, fragrant Pumpkin Spice soap, darling crocheted Lantern Moon Stitch markers ...

... repositionable markers, washi tape, knitters gift tags that are adorable beyond belief, and sweet nail files that fit in any purse! Thank you so much, Rose! You really cheered me up at a tough time.

Another friend who went beyond and above is my childhood best friend, Joni. We were supposed to meet in Seattle, but my doctor said I could not fly this summer. Instead, she flew from Berkeley, Calif., to spend time with her post-surgical friend.

We had lots of craftsy adventures. But thats another post!

P.S. Now that she has headed back home, I'll be catching up on all your blogs.

Getting Out A Bit

I have been able to do a few outings since my surgery. The most fun was a visit to Studio You with my friends Marsha and Tsela.

I decided to paint some dessert plates as a wedding gift. It didn't occur to me to take a photo of the first one before it was taken away to be fired, but here is the second one:

As you can see, I'll have to go back to finish this one.

Both Marsha and Tsela are talented artists. Here's Tsela with the vase she painted. I reminded her when my birthday is.

Marsha had knee surgery a few weeks ago, so we both very much appreciate Tsela ferrying us around and putting up with our very slow walking pace.

For the most part, though, I'm just hanging around the house and trying to heal, welcoming visitors, knitting, reading and spending time with Nagi. He's very cute, but not much on conversation, as you can see.

Hope your weekend is relaxing and fun.