Contrary to the Evidence

I am still among the living. I'm on public access at the moment and need to vacate shortly so a quick note...

At long, long, long last I have begun the "Pretty in Pink" blanket from Afghans for All Seasons Book 1 which prompted my first Amazon purchase almost a year and a half ago. In fact, I shared the pattern with Caroline and she has made several (I think it was three at last count)! While mine is not pink it is coming from stash yarn and will be put in a holding pattern for the next boy to come along...

Before that I was bitten by a yarn exchange bug made from gorgeous cashmere yarn recycled from a sweater! It was a scarf in less than 24 hours and has seen quite a bit of use since then. (Thanks Chris) I am a cashmere virgin no more! I am delighted to say that the pattern and yarn were a perfect fit and didn't even require blocking.

On another front, the first year of teaching in block scheduling is officially half over as of yesterday. Finals administered, grades entered, and new classes prepped (well, almost... I have some serious work to do today on one of them). That just leaves about 40 progress reports to write and I'm done (Ha, like the work is ever done...I can dream though, right?) This switching to new classes at mid year feels really weird. It is like going back to August and starting over. Course descriptions, introductions, new students to learn about... Sort of surreal. I think after the mad scramble we have all gone through switching over to the second semester that many of us will be prepping for ALL the classes at the beginning of the year then just squirreling away the photocopies and other materials all ready to go!

Hope you are all well out there in blog land and with luck I'll have some pics of progress soon.

Speaking of Snow

After my talk of snow, I just had to share this. Go read the description. It's priceless!

The Boston French Toast Alert System: More details

A Nice Break

A little holiday trip to see family a bit farther south provided a nice break from the snow. Nary a snowflake in sight. No piles on the ground. Not even ice. Soooo wonderful. Of course I had to pay for my respite. I drove home to more of the white stuff falling from the sky... Ah well, that is winter in NE for you.

Everyone is well and the women had many a new knitted project to show off! Lovely shawls and scarves that I had missed being made. Let it be cold and thoughts immediately turn to yarn for warmth it seems. Every time I turned around, my mother was sporting another scarf she had made that I had never seen before. I was tempted to sneak into her closet to see just how many of the things she has made!

As for me, I am still working on those rectangles:

The current count is 14 rectangles because after taking this pic I made two more. Most need ends woven in, but that goes quickly. I think I've got a few more in me before I send them off. They are great for parties and travel as they do not require me to look down all the time. I can feel the next space with my fingers and double crochet away!

Hope you are all enjoying your holidays.

Free!

As of 1:59pm yesterday, I am officially on Winter Break. Twelve glorious days of freedom. I'm so looking forward to having some time on my hands! What will I do with it?

Reclaim my apartment from the pit into which it has descended. Yes, there is much cleaning in my future. Added to that is a desire to get a handle on the craft supplies. The living room has been tackled but there is still that pesky yarn stash that is taking over my walk in closet and the stacks of card making/rubber stamping supplies hiding behind my bedroom door! I'm thinking some serious podcast listening will be just the thing to keep me motivated.
I'll be donning this duo again tomorrow as I go off to work my part-time retail job. Should be wonderfully hectic. I know you are probably thinking I'm crazy, but I love retail during the holidays. You get to spend all day making people happy. They come in looking for stuff, you help them find it, the stress goes away and they smile. Some are just having such a good time they are a joy to be around from beginning to end. Are there some Crankies? Of course. But they are so few and far between! So, Happy Merry to you all. I hope your shopping is done and you are having fun.

Just saw this...had to share the cleverness!

ALIVE!

Contrary to the rumors...I am still among the living. Between health issues and weirdness with my internet connection, it has been a while. Yet, I have not been idle!

I'm still going round and round. Many kippah designs made and scrapped, a finished baby blanket, and progress on the lace shawl!

My latest addiction? Granny Squares.
Don't all gasp at once. If you have been reading this blog for a while you may remember my aversion to squares. Especially grannies. This has been slowly waining. The death knell occurred with the purchase of the latest Crochet Today. It had an article on basic granny construction. I had a small ball of yarn left over from the baby blanket. I had some gray and purple yarn of the same type staring at me from the stash. Viola, granny squares were born. These will be worked into a snuggle for donation to the local animal shelter. (lower right picture)

The granny again struck when I read this in the Daily Chum. How could I resist? Kids, special needs, and Judaism. I was done for before I got to what they wanted. Squares that are 5x7 inches. Of course grannies would be quick, easy, pretty, and use up some more of that stash yarn. (see center square of mosaic) They specifically want washable acrylic. I went stash diving today and found some more small balls that would be beautiful as little rectangular grannies! So, I'm still going round and round - this time for charity!

Playing Around

So, I've wanted to try making a kippah for a while. I'm too chicken to try it from string, yet. So, I thought I would start with yarn. I tried a traditional one that would be solid, but didn't like the way it was turning out. A switch of gears, some digging through patterns, and adaptation yielded this: Close up...
I was wondering if people think it looks too much like a snow flake? I'd appreciate opinions!



My concern about the "snowflake thing" led me to give this yarn a try...

What do you think? I spotted this yarn and it reminded me of Hanukkah. =-D

In other news, here is the beginning of a scarf that has now traveled to the frog pond. I still think it is a good idea, however, in this yarn the body was too stiff. Since my goal is a scarf for a nine-year-old, I'm on to plan B.
Lastly, as promised a pic of the center of the baby blanket. Haven't worked on the edging since my last post. It will take some uninterrupted time and concentration. It will have to wait for the right moment.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Making Room

So a few of you wanted to know what the yarn was that I plucked from the stash the baby blanket. It is the white Caron Simply Soft that I bought to make my mother a shawl. That was a little over a year ago! If you clicked on all the links you know I eventually gave up and lucked into the perfect pattern a month later.

Want a progress pic on the baby blanket? I'd love to show you one, however, after two days of trying to get Blogger to upload it...I give up! When it cooperates, I promise you'll see. =-D It is looking good. The center and one round of the border are complete. Just cross your fingers for me. I'm doubtful I'll have enough yarn to complete all 7 rounds of the border. I'm hoping that when I run out I'll like the way the edging looks!


Monday, the giving tree went up at school. So, now I have plans for two more skeins of Caron Simply soft in Iris and Grey Heather (scroll down they are side by side) to go with the requested present. I'm envisioning a vertically striped scarf with corkscrew fringe in the same color as each stripe. We'll see if it works...