Trying to Finish a Few Things

 It's a good day. To begin with, it's Saturday so the entire weekend lies ahead of me. Second, yesterday our superintendent announced that my district will start third quarter virtually. I hope that means he won't reopen until teachers are vaccinated. Third, we've been having freezing fog, with leaves the trees with a gorgeous icy coating.

I have far too many UFOs lying around the house, so I've chosen two to focus on. The first is the gorgeous shawl kit that I got from Bridget during her Christmas in July giveaway. I'm playing around with it to make it longer, but it could not be more beautiful. Thank you, Bridget!

The second one is a an embroidery pattern that I designed to get some practice with filling stitches. This one is going to take a while. For some reason, it is very hard on my fingers, even using a thread puller. I used a stabilizer under the muslin, so I'm wondering if that is the problem.

Still, if I do a little bit every day, it will eventually be an FO. Then I'll make it into a small quilt.

Of course, I can't shake off my shock at this past week's sedition at the U.S. Capital. Three Wisconsin legislators voted against counting all the votes even after the Capital was breached. Shameful. I so embarrassed by them. At least Twitter pulled the plug on our cowardly leader.

Enjoy your weekend!

Procrastination!

The title of this post is to be sung to the tune of "Anticipation" by Carly Simon -- at least by those of us who remember that 1970s hit!

I have finished two shawl/scarves, Brickless and Perhaps, Perhaps, and now I need to do some serious blocking. Actually, I finished them both last weekend, but haven't begun to block.

Brickless in Wowza by Miss Babs

Am I the only one who hates blocking? At least these two projects don't need to be pinned or strung on wires. Both of these have lace or netting, so I know that I will be pleased with the results. Still, there is something tedious about blocking.

Perhaps, Perhaps, in gray and black from MadTosh and green from Sun Valley

Both of these are going to be gifts. Go me! Two holiday gifts done before March 1.  I now have a hankering for some selfish knitting.

And speaking of procrastination, I am not keeping up on the embroidery piece I'm calling "My Grandfather," which I'm doing as part of the Jewish Artists Lab. I like my idea, and I like some of the execution. But the embroidery is not fun for me to do.

See all those lines? They all have to be embroidered. And they are all in browns and black. I am a color girl. I love bright, rich, deep colors. This is the last time I'll lock myself into such a brown color scheme.  I know that all my knitting pals out there will understand. Isn't color part of what we love about yarn?

I am still feeling under the weather, and I'm finding that many others have had colds/flus that last for weeks. So tedious! I did see two movies this weekend. On Friday night another teacher and I went to see Rock Dog with two students. It was quite entertaining, and I'd highly recommend it as a family film.

Keith and I saw Moonlight last night. Mistake! It's almost as depressing as Manchester-by-the-Sea. Both are beautifully written and acted -- but SO sad. I think I'm going to get serious about avoiding depressing movies. Life in Trump's America is sad enough!

I read on Mere's blog that some Republicans want to make cuts to the school lunch program. What??? If they had to face these kids every day, they'd see it differently. There are two kids who I feed every day -- and others that I feed from time to time.  You have to have a very low income to qualify for free hot lunch; these are genuinely hungry kids! And hungry kids can't learn, which will make it harder for them to become functioning adults.

These are hard times for many Americans. Working with many poor students and immigrant students helps me realize how lucky I am.

Still In Shock

I didn't think this could happen. I didn't think there were so many Americans who would vote for a man who denigrates people of color, LGBT people, disabled people, women, and Jews. I am lucky to teach in a very diverse high school, and the passion of the students about this situation was heartening.

All students wanted to do yesterday was process the election results. They were insightful and respectful.  They cried. They reached out to one another. They demonstrated unity across racial and gender and economic divides. They gave me hope.

I know people want change. I want change, too. But change can be good or bad.

Another ray of positivity: Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. He is only president because of a dated and labyrinthine system. A majority of Americans voted against bigotry. Let us continue to move in that direction.