Friday Felines

 I'm missing this cat, who lives with my daughter in Denver:

Vashti is a very sweet, mellow cat. She'd like to be more friendly, but Rachel's first cat, Delilah, hasn't gotten over not being an only cat.

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!

Tiny Needle Tuesday

The main project I worked on in Colorado was this folk art embroidery based on a drawing I made.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I used mostly DMC size 5 perl cotton, but I added some details with size 8.

Now I just have to decide if I'm going to finish it by stapling it around an 8x8 frame or making the center panel in an art quilt. So many decisions!

Still settling in!

 I am still getting our new house in order. I know, we moved back in March, but between school and traveling,  I haven't been able to get the kitchen or my crafts properly organized. However, at least the living room looks good, now that have our new sectional!

The house isn't the only thing that doesn't feel settled. I haven't figured out what my retirement life is going to look like. This is the time when I'd be easing back into teaching, but now the days are wide open. That is not a complaint! I just need some time to figure out how to structure my life. 

Between the transition and my travels, my knitting has been pretty basic this summer. For my travel knitting, I worked on fingerless mitts using Kristen Kapur's recipe. The color of this first pair is more of a pumpkin tone, and they are super soft because the yarn is MadTosh.

Pair No. 2 is a Knit Circus impressionist colorway, so they also feel very good on the hands. Both pairs are knit with fingering weight and are helping me do some stash-busting.

Now I've moved on to another completely mindless cowl: Kaleen, a Berroco pattern. I'm using the recommended yarn, Berroco Millefiori, so it's working out very predictably. 

You can see which yarn is the main color. The accent color is used every four rounds. Although the colors look different in the balls, they actually are blending together a bit too well. (Note: I wound the yarn into balls because the skeins they come in quickly turn into a tangled mess.)

The cowl is almost done, and I hope to start something more interesting this week. Or pick up the Forever Sweater, but that's for another post!

Yes, I'm Still Here

 Or, more accurately, I'm back after a flurry of travel to see loved ones. I am not a globe trotter, and I found doing three trips in 6 weeks overwhelming. But, with a new wave of Covid-19 cases already upon us and the new Delta variant, I am glad I made these trips because I the travel window is closing for me.

So, here is a very short tour of where I've been....

Keith and I started with a trip to Chicago to see our cousins, Eli and Mary, and my son, Seth. Usually a bourbon kind of guy, Seth reported that his masculinity was dented by this mixed drink:

Then I flew out to a family reunion in San Diego, where my mom rented us a house that was across a street from the Pacific! We loved the outdoor living room.

One of the fun things we did was go on a tour at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Here is Rachel with a giraffe close by:

Lucky me! I was then able to spend a week in Denver with Rachel. She moved there last August, so this was my first visit. I really enjoyed Denver, and she showed me all the best bakeries and coffee shops. Do I have a great daughter or what?

I was amazed by a Native American exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. This is a costume from an opera.

Then my friend Joni flew in from Berkeley, and the two of us took a road trip to Durango, a gorgeous little city in southwestern Colorado. I haven't been to the Rockies since 1964 and, wow, are they big!

We always get matching clothes when we're together, and this year was no exception.

We got very dorky when we found a pajama store:

Yes, I am retired. Special ed teachers in my district go back to work tomorrow -- while regular ed teachers don't go back until Aug. 25. I have mixed feelings about retiring, but I don't regret getting August back!

I will be back in a few days to share knitting and other crafts! 

One Great Weekend

 I have wanted to take a class from quilter Heidi Parkes for years. But either she was teaching when I was working or she was teaching far away. She's based in Milwaukee, so I was looking for a local opportunity.

And I got one this past weekend. Heidi did a two-day workshop in Cedarburg, an adorable little town north of Milwaukee -- less than 2 hours from my house.

First, Heidi is an amazing teacher. As you can see, her quilts are very freeform and unique.

I love discovering indie coffee shops when I travel -- and Cedarburg has two. Sunday morning I had a lovely latte while I furiously embroidered so I'd be ready for the day. The coffee cup embroidery is from a photo of a latte in Riga. I don't call myself Caffeine Girl for nothing.

Heidi's class was quite challenging, and I really struggled. She pointed out that I chose a difficult palette. I haven't sewn any of the blocks together, so I may have to make some major changes.

It was the friendliest group I've ever taken a class with. Everyone shared supplies and tools. There were no cliques. We are going to try to get together in the fall to hang out in Cedarburg and show our finished quilts.

It felt like the beginning of retirement, even though I have 5 more work days.

xx

Getting Closer

After today, I'll have six days left in my career as a teacher. This year seemed endless for so many reasons, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

I'm working to finish three of these -- for three of my students who love to fish. I'll have to model one for you before I give them away. They look pretty funny when worn as a hat.

The closing on our old house went very smoothly on Tuesday. The title company was next door to the furniture store where we ordered a sectional. We ordered it in February and they predicted it would arrive by the end of June -- and that may work out. They checked for us, and our sectional is in a shipping container in the United States. They told us that we are lucky because people ordering now will have to wait seven months or more for their furniture.

Now we can really settle into our new house. 

 

This week we are enjoying our peony bush. Peony's are among my favorite flowers. I'm glad one came with the house because these bushes are pricey!

And Now for Something Complete Different

 I have been knitting -- especially because I've been binging on WandaVision on Disney -- but that isn't all. I've been embroidering this:

This embroidery is based on the book pictured below.  It was published in 1918, so it is no longer under copyright. As a child, I read constantly. When I saw this book at a flea market, I just had to buy it, knowing someday it would be an embroidery. Besides, I suffer from a nostalgia for all things 20th century -- before 1980, that is.

There were 27 Grace Harlowe books, which follow her from high school, through service in France in WWI, and onto other adventures. I'm trying to read this book, but it is pretty dull from today's point of view.

I've encountered quite a learning curve as I've converted this into an embroidery. Going from black/white to full color has been harder than I expected.  And there are no words to describe the tedium of embroidering the book's title with tiny stitches. And I am terrified I'll ruin the entire thing when I stitch the face.

I chose the passage of text as being representative of the tone of the book. Those small words aren't too difficult to stitch.

This will take me a while to finish -- good thing I'm retiring! -- but I already have the next book cover picked out!

P.S. The police arrested the person who threatened gun violence against my school. The press is describing the person as a "child," and that's all we know.

Good News, Weird News & Knitting

 My husband and I woke up to a great text this morning: All the conditions have been removed from the offer on our house and we are closing on June 1! It will be nice to own only one house.

Weird news: Threats of a shooting at my high school have been posted on Snapchat. Really? As if this school hasn't been hard enough! The worst thing is that Snapchat doesn't seem to know who posted the threatening posts. We definitely need to regulate social media.

And finally .... knitting!

I finished the first Petty Harbour sock. I was worried about running out of yarn, so I only did a 5-inch leg. Big mistake! I didn't get to the final color. Oh well. I'm not redoing the sock!

I am a huge fan of Casapinka. She writes amazing patterns, and I love ponchos. So how could I resist casting on Noncho? The red and gray yarns are from my stash, but I honestly didn't have a third color. Local dyer and store Knit Circus had just reopened, so that gorgeous hand-paint is from there. We much support every LYS, right?

I have 19 more school days before retirement. It still feels like a long time. But I will get there!

Endings and Beginnings

 It has been a sad week, with the loss of Theresa Kasner. Her warmth and grace reached across the miles. The unexpected nature of the loss makes it harder to grasp. Although death seems sudden no matter what. 

On Saturday, my friend Michael passed away from ALS. He has been declining for a year, so it should not have been a surprise. On Tuesday, hospice said he had less than a week. Still, when I got the call, it hit me hard. Michael was a world famous breast-cancer researcher at UW-Madison, and he was so kind and helpful when my mom had breast cancer. I've been friends with his wife (and thus him) for more than 30 years. 

So, there are two endings.

Of course I am thinking a lot about Michael. The enduring image I come up with is Michael walking into a party, always a few minutes late and always exuding positive energy. I am quite sure I never heard a complaint from him. He loved his family and his job. He used to say, "I don't know why they pay me. I'd do my job for free!"

Me, on the other hand, I'm kvetcher. I can complain with the best of them. But as I approach my new beginning (retirement), I have decided that I need to take a page out of Michael's book. I need to stop complaining. Full stop. I have a roof over my head, two great children, and an amazing husband. I have nothing to complain about!

And don't let me forget about my two darling cats!

I have begun thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life. I'll have more time for my mom, more time for art, and some time to volunteer. I am very lucky to retire before my 62nd birthday.