Gift Worthy!

We've all gifted handmade items to people who didn't appreciate them, leaving us feeling that we had wasted a whole lot of time. My daughter, however, is a very knit-worthy young woman. She not only liked the mittens and hat I knit for her, but she even sent me a photo! (If you look behind her, you can see the cat quilt I made for her.)

The holidays sure aren't the same without Rachel and Seth. Keith and I rang in 2020 in Phoenix, along with my mom. Tonight will not be half as fun.

I've been knitting my Habitation Throw whenever I watch TV or socialize on Zoom, so it's coming along. It looks way better in person than in this photo, I'm happy to say.

In the last month, I got around to learning a jewelry-making skill I've long wanted to master: using brick stitch to attach beads to a metal ring. It's rewarding because it goes pretty fast.

I used free tutorials on YouTube to figure out the technique. It amazes me how generous people are with sharing their skills. I'm sure many of them are offering the tutorials in conjunction with a business, but it's still really nice. I thought about buying a tutorial on Etsy, but I figured that I know enough about beading to figure it out with a little help.

Keith has a strong preference for the fan-shaped earrings, but I like the the full circles just as well. What do you think?

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Eve. We'll be binging on The Mandalorian. Keith likes it more than I do, but I am the advisor for the Star Wars Club at school, so I like to be on top of it.

Winter Break!

Winter break is here! And it feels great, even though it will be busy. I am frantically baking cookies and working on decluttering. Keith and I have looked at two houses in the past couple weeks, and they are selling very fast. So we need to get our house in order!

I finished the mitts I designed in Isaac's honor, and I need to write a note and drop them off for his mom. Writing that note will be the hardest thing I do during break

I do have some good news. My mom is recovering from Covid. It is a slow recovery, but 4 weeks after she got sick she is able to go to the grocery store. She is very tired and has some other symptoms, but it looks like she'll be OK.

I finished Rachel's mittens. They are simple, but very squishy and warm.

With the leftover yarn, I was able to make a matching hat.

We have been having pretty mild winter weather with high's in the 30s, so at least I can get out and walk with my buddies. Keith was able to bike 26 miles last week, which brings his yearly total to 7,000 miles. Impressive, huh? And it is cold enough for me to wear my hand-knits:

The cats are definitely in winter break mode:

Like all sane people, we are planning on a quiet Christmas with just the two of us. I will deliver plates of cookies on the 24th, but that's as close as I'll get to family and friends. It's a small price to pay for staying alive!

Some Happy Things

  As winter hovers, we Midwesterners are eking out every outdoor activity we can. My Urban Sketching group met at the UW Arboretum on Sunday. My sketch is the ugly one. I can't seem to get the hang of trees.

I'll sure miss seeing these folks over the winter.

I finished a project that is making me happy. 

Of course, it is: It's a coffee-themed mini quilt. The background is from cotton scraps left on my cutting board from a throw I'm quilting. The cup is felted wool, and the "steam" is made from beads.

I am also happy with these mitts that will be making their way to my daughter in Denver.

The pattern is Align Mitts. It's free and well-written. I zipped through these with a Madtosh speckled yarn.

And there are some good things about working from home. Sometimes I have company while I'm teaching:

She slept all through a Biology class!

Fun Summer Project

Every summer I swear that I'm going to declutter my craft room; it hasn't happened yet. 

However, I did empty one bin by doing a fun and easy project that has been languishing for close to a decade.

I've been collecting Altoid Tins and all those little do-dads for years -- on clearance, of course!

The first step was sorting out all the do-dads. As you might guess, I sorted them by color. Also, you'll want to cut off the button shacks with a wire-cutter. Cover the button with your hand so the shank doesn't fly into your eye.

It's a bit messy, but very easy. In a small container, you mix gel medium (I use Golden, but I don't think brand matters) with cheapo acrylic paint. You don't need a lot of paint to tint the medium. I stirred it with a popsicle stick. Then you spread a thick layer on the lid of the tin.

Now the fun begins: Start sticking stuff down. Sometimes I started in the middle; other times I started in a corner. Either way, it went fine.

They need to dry for at least 24 hours. I gave mine more than three days -- just to be sure.

Most of my nieces and nephews are in their teens and 20s, so I'm going to give them cash in one of these cute little boxes. That takes care of a lot of my holiday "shopping"!

One bin down; 30 (at least) more to go!

Unraveled Wednesday

Joining with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday. 

I loved my Kate's Poncho so much that I decided to make one in gray for Rachel. After all, she's moving to Denver after 6 years in Miami. 

It's coming along so quickly that I think I'll make one for Clara, too. That's Seth's girlfriend.  This will require ordering yarn, though -- so sad! 

I love this gray wool. It is Shepherd's Wool Yarn from Stonehedge Mill. For a 100% wool it is quite soft and it knits up beautifully. I'm sure I'll be using more of it. 

Another Week Flew By

... and I still haven't started the Epic Knit. I can't even blame Hanukkah, as we won't really do much until Rachel gets home for winter break.

I did receive some hand-made pendants from my talented SIL Mary. Isn't this just SO cool?

She has an Etsy store here, just in case you need a gift for someone special -- or yourself!

While procrastinating on the epic cast-on, I finished my Dewberry, and I can wholeheartedly recommend this pattern. It's fast and easy, and looks great. Like Kathy, now I want to make a larger size.  I have a feeling I'll be giving out a few of these as gifts a year from now.

I'm almost done with finishing on a quilt. You can't tell from the photo, but I managed to miter the corners on the binding, which I am exceedingly proud of!

I know the flash photography does not do it justice, but the days here are short. I'm making a few more in this crazy/Kantha style. They are intuitive and relaxing. 

And relaxation is much needed. High school students get crazy this close to Christmas. Quite a few students I know are having trouble in the community -- and that never helps their academic performance. Still, the students are my favorite part of the job (along with the special ed team in my building). My husband and a few physicians strongly feel that I should retire. I go back and forth. I hate the paperwork, but there are still parts of the job that I truly love.

If you're retired, I have a question: How did you know when the time was right?

Stash-Diving

I did a stash dive this past weekend, looking for some sock yarn that had a decent amount of purple in it. A purple-loving friend dropped a strong hint that she'd like some handmade socks for her upcoming 60th birthday. Since I usually grab onto any excuse to hit a LYS, I am feeling quite proud of myself.

I'm knitting up a skein of Regia that I bought a long time ago; the ball band is long gone. I"m knitting it up in my new favorite sock pattern, Blueberry Waffle.

I picked up Savage Girl because it got a good review from the New York Times and it's about a topic that just fascinates me: feral children, the kind allegedly raised by wolves (or some other animal). It is very, very slow to start. I'm on page 80 and the plot is just beginning to take off.

I'll be joining Ginny today for Yarn Along.

More Gift Knitting

The problem with family gatherings is that you can't knit holiday gifts while you're hanging out. For example, I had to keep these hidden away since my brother was around:

I don't think I've had a photo of these for a while. These Blueberry Waffle Socks are supposed to be done in time for my brother's mid-December birthday. I think I can do it.

Over the holiday weekend, I gave the Green Bay Packer socks to my other brother, and he was thrilled.  Even though he lives in Washington, D.C., he has remained loyal to the Green and Gold. The stockinette socks were boring to knit, but it was all worth to see how much he liked them.

It's odd to think that tomorrow morning the alarm will go off at 5:30 and I'll head back into reality. Oh well, at least it was a great weekend!

A Weekend of Gifts

Gifts come in all sorts of forms, don't they? I spent a lot of time organized and wrapping gifts for the upcoming holiday season this weekend. Hanukkah is frightfully early this year, so I focused on them. It doesn't help that my brothers, some of their children, and my own children all have birthdays in November and December.

I am still making gifts, of course! I can't imagine having everything ready to wrap by mid-November. I suppose someone out there has everything under control by now, but that will never be me! One of the projects I've been working on are these button-covered Altoid tins. I think they are perfect for giving gift cards or money. I have quite a few giftees in their teens and 20s, so I'll be putting these to good use.

I'm not sure I can get the Green Bay Packer socks done in time for Hanukkah. My brother will be at my house for almost a full week for Thanksgiving, so that is a whole week I can't work on them. I'm going to have to see how much I can get done this week. There is a chance that these will be gifts for 2016.

I also received a few gifts this weekend. I went to a holiday art show with my mom and her sister, who is visiting from Seattle and my mom bought me this beautiful yarn bowl:

And I had the pleasure of spending time with my Aunt Natalie. On Saturday night, we all went out to dinner -- and my son took time out of his busy studies to join us. This evening, my aunt came to our house for dinner and I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash Soup, which turned out to be fabulous.

The weather was mild; I make jewelry with my friend Tsela; and did some meal-planning for Thanksgiving. All in all, it was a lovely weekend.

How was yours?

'Tis the Seasons

What do you get when you combine the upcoming holidays and fall?

Yes, I am hard at work on my Green Bay Packer socks. I hope the color comes through on screens because Jaala of Knit Circus really got the colors right. I think they will be a perfect gift. And work has been intense, so mindless knitting is much appreciated!

I"ve also had an itch to get back to embroidery, so I opted for an iron-on design and a dishtowel. Eventually this will be a gift, too, but first it is going to serve as a sample for some classes I'm proposing at my parents' retirement community.

 I'm also thinking dishtowels would be a good project for my Gift Club at school. I have to find inexpensive crafts because I pay for all the materials! It's sad that there is no money because my students are mostly on free/reduced lunch and they jump at the opportunity to make gifts for their families. Such is the state of education in America.

My reading is all about work, too.

Crossover is a young-adult novel told in poetry. The writing jumps off the page, which is appropriate for a book about basketball. However, I am not a sports fan, so I am forcing myself through it. I think it will be a great read-aloud for my crew this year.

Between the World and Me is writer Ta-Nehisi Coates book-length letter to his 15-year-old son that addresses living in the United States as a black man. It is very good and very intense. Painful, at times. I'm hoping to find passages I can share with my students.

After these two reads, though, I'm picking something that is just for me!

Joining up with Keep Calm and Yarn Along. Hope to see you there!

The Guest Speaker That Wasn't

Every month I swear I won't buy anything at the monthly Madison Knitting Guild ... some months I do better than others.

But before I get to that, I want to talk about the guest speaker that wasn't. This is how it was explained in our newsletter:

It is with great regret that we were forced to cancel the April visit and Icelandic Knitting classes with Hélène Magnusson. Our request for a visa to bring Hélène to the U.S. and pay her for her services was denied. Although we requested the visa in December, we did not receive a written decision until March 21. Homeland Security did not agree that MKG provides an ongoing program that qualifies as a cultural exchange. We appealed the decision, but there is no guarantee of success and we cannot take that risk. We are gravely disappointed in this outcome as we found Hélène to be an absolutely delightful person who we know would have delivered an extraordinary program. 

 
Is that crazy or what? I think Homeland Security may be worrying about the wrong people here! We had a lovely talk by the curator of a local textiles collection and we are greatful she was willing to pitch-hit -- but it wasn't the same as an expert Icelandic knitter!

I decided I could buy yarn for gifts only, so here is what I purchased from Ogle Design, an indie dyer and designer in suburban Milwaukee. I chose:

On the right are two small skeins of 100% Superwash Merino to make mitts. The larger skein is 100% Merino and will become a hat. Can anyone guess why I grabbed this colorway?

FO Friday: Happy Feet

I have finished the first pair of slippers:

Are they adorable or what. Not that I take credit for the adorableness. The folks at Knitting Pure and Simple get credit for that.

The design is ingenious and the directions are crystal clear.  It's a fairly simple pattern. The overcast stitch used to sew up the bottom and back of the heel is very easy, even for a terrible seamstress like me. My only complaint is about the yarn; and you can read about that here if you missed it.

As I hinted above, there will be more Mukluk Slippers. I just think they will be great gifts.

Summer: Already?

We literally had three days of spring here in Wisconsin, and now it's summer. At least, it's a pleasant summer day -- 87 degrees, but not too humid. It was a perfect day for a long walk with a friend and then a bike ride on my own. Some friends invited me to go on a long bike ride, but I haven't built up my fitness level after last year's broken leg. I've got to get out on the bike more and build up some strength!

Slippers are not a very summery knit, but I feel good about working on holiday knits. Pretty soon I'm going to have to figure out how to seam these up:

Madison is a beautiful place in the summer. I snapped this photo of our state Capitol this morning. I biked downtown and actually did some work while sipping an iced coffee at a cafe that had an outdoor area. If only summer could always be this pleasant!

A Rare Event: Stash-Busting

If you've been following my holiday knitting saga, you are no doubt dying of boredom. I am now on my 5th Turn-a-Square Hat by Jared Flood. It's a great pattern, but even I need a little diversion.

Since I SHOULD be holiday knitting, I decided that it would be OK for me to do some stash-busting.

I wanted something quick but useful, something that could be a gift or for myself. Seeing as fingerless mitts seem to be quite the fashion item this season, I went in search of a simple, comfy pattern. I found one that I love: Peekaboo Mitts.

This pattern is so simple, but is exactly what I was looking for. Often, mitts are too short in either the cuff or the hand (or both) for my taste. These are 9 inches long -- which is downright luxurious. I am thinking that it would be nice to turn out a few of these for gifts!

What are your last-minute gift knits?

FO Friday!

It has been a long time since I posted an FO, but here, at last, is the Turn a Square Hat.

Since none of my male relatives read my blog, I guess I can say that I'm churning these babies out like nobody's business because this they are all getting one for Hanukkah. Or Christmas. Between them, they celebrate in a variety of ways.

I've made four of these, but would like to knit a couple more. Or not. It would be fun to do something else! Still, I am happy with the way the hats turned out. The colors of the Noro really stand out against the solid stripes (Cascade 220). I knit the hat per the directions, except I did a longtail cast-on, which seems to be plenty stretchy. The pattern calls for a tubular cast-on, but I'm devoted to the longtail. It's always worked for me.

How are you doing on your holiday knitting?

Loving that Noro

(It is tempting to start out by apologizing for my gap in blogging, but that is SO boring that I'll assume that you assume that I am indeed sorry.)

There has been some knitting, but not much to say about it. I am still churning out gifts. This is my third Turn a Square Hat by Jared Flood. The colors in the photo seem to have a purplish tint; in reality, the solid yarn is black and the variegated is gray and blue. I do love watching the color changes in the Noro.

It took me a long time to understand what anyone saw in this scratchy yarn -- but now I do. It's a good thing the yarn is too scratchy for me to wear against my skin or I'd be tempted to invest a fortune in Noro yarns.

I should have taken some photos last weekend when my daughter was visiting from Washington, D.C. It's so amazing to watch her turn into a fabulous adult person who I would want as my friend. She and her brother are applying for grad school next fall, so it's going to be a long winter of waiting to hear where they will end up!

Same Hat, Different Color

Yikes! I did not blog at all last week. Just one of those weeks. Lots of work. Spent time with family. Who knows where the hours go?

There was some knitting, though.

This is yet another Turn a Square Hat by Jared Flood. Again I'm using the yarns called for in the pattern: Cascade 220 (black in this case) and Noro Silk Garden in a gray/blue colorway. At this point, I am not at all tired of knitting this pattern, so maybe I really will be able to knit four more!

However, I have enough gift projects that I'm going to need some tv/videos. A friend keeps encouraging me to watch Breaking Bad. A long time ago, I watched the first episode and it was just too dark for me. My friend says it's worth it. Have you seen Breaking Bad? What did you think?

More Gift Knitting

I am almost done with this scarf. I love to wear scarves, and I love to give them as gifts. I feel like they are likely to be worn by the giftee. Fingering-weight scarves have always appealed to me. They are so pretty and light-weight enough to wear comfortably. But, few things are as tedious as a fingering-weight scarf!

I'm nearing the finish line with this, and I will be glad to cast-off! But I still think it's pretty and I know the exact person to appreciate it!

Gift knitting

No selfish knitting for this girl!

There are so many things I want to knit for myself, but I decided a while ago that I was going to give knitted gifts to all the guys on my list. Hanukkah falls really early this year, so I don't really have time to change my mind.

So, hat number 1 is almost done:

It's  the Turn A Square Hat by the ever-popular Jared Flood, who blogs at Brooklyn Tweed.

It's a great pattern, fast but a truly lovely finished hat. I'm using the yarns he calls for: Cascade 220 for the solids and Noro Silk Garden for the stripes. Noro is SO expensive, so it's nice to use it as one yarn in a project. I think I can get at least two hats out of one skein of each yarn.

Am I the only one thinking of the holidays?

One Done & One Begun

I finished this last night:

I thought that weaving in all the ends would be tedious but it was not, thanks to my current Netflix obsession. I have been watching Arrested Development from the start and I am really liking it. It is quirky so it might not be for everyone, but it has grown on me.

I immediately jumped into another baby blanket using the same yarn, Lion Brand Jiffy.

I need some variety so I am going to do muttered squares - even though that will leave me with a lot of ends to weave. Thank goodness for Netflix!