ALMOST CHRISTMAS

Semester has come and gone, need to get grades done in the next few days. Now I know what teacher friends have grumbled about for years... One of the best things about this semester was getting a small charity knitting group going at school. Want to do a lot more with it now that teaching is over for the academic year. It's amazing how quickly some of the students pick it up.

Cindy and I saw Pam in her new office today. Whooo Hooo.

OTN: Jacket in Cherry Hill glitz
Horseshoe lace scarf
Big Wool sweater for Noah
Thanksgiving shawl

UFOs (4th step)
Prism cardi
Philosopher's Wool cardi for Emily
Dune cardi (frog?)
Green Lavold sweater (stuck on the cables)
Red and black Norwegian pullover (begun at Stitches when they were in Cherry Hill)
Quiviut pullover (begun in mid-90s)

Recently FO's
first lace - beloved scarf in berry pattern
second lace - feather and fan shawl
lacy baby blanket for andrea's silent auction
Cam's hoodie
Girl from Aussie poncho sweater
Booga bag

September

Back online. Largely because I promised Cindy and Laura I'd get back on and give them something to read. Since last posting, summer has come and almost gone (hot here today). Lots got finished: Girlfromauntie poncho sweater in heavy red boucle/chenille-y yarn (just needs a fancy button, but I can wear it); orange pullover; hat for Afghanistan; first piece of finshed lace -- scarf with yarn from Lowell; Emily's school quilt (hand quilted); 3 little bags out of bamboo; many washcloths for gifts (out of Mason Dixon knitting). Also largely through a second piece of lace - feather and fan shawl out of string like cotton I bought many years ago (first hand dyed I ever bought), I love the colors, but the yarn is pretty frail. Seems like there's more but I can't think of it now. Frogged an Einstein coat that never worked out, and another hand-dyed piece from Maine.

Meanwhile, it's back to school for massage and for teaching. Did some knitting with the kids for Sept. 11 and may start a weekly Afghans for Afghans knitting group at school.

OTN: the above lace; Lavish lace scarf; little sweater probably for charity ("Rosemary's little sweater" from Green Mountain Spinnery book) -- nice pattern; Lavold green that's been on for a while; and red jacket from Stitches two years ago. Planned: brown lace pullover; clapotis with artyarn gifted to me; Arctic Lace knitalong with leftover quiviuk.

Labels etc.

First day of the rest of my life -- again. yesterday was "graduation" from MTI, in quotes because I still have to redo a course I dropped (got too far behind) but I think I can get licensed to Boston, so I should be able to start working this summer in a small way. hip hip hooray!

As I was doing the business plan for the business course at school, I came across a reference to a book about organizing self and stuff that's really helped. It has the premise that we carry too many little pieces of concern and need-to-get-done in our brains and need to have a relliable way to get them out of our brain and somewhere we know we can find them when we need them. It involves a label-maker -- the world's greatest toy. If you want details, emal me. Anyway, that's helping me get a handle on lots of things, including stash and projects.

Here's the kitty blanket from stash acrylic for Basil and Abner's Critter Charity Drive 2006. First attempt to get picture on blog, photo and technical consulting by EAO.

Well, school is over (both MTI and Newbury), and sabbatical coverage job is also over, so it's time to sort things out in my office/sewing room/knitting supply room. Huge pile of UFO's to go through and consign to "finish" or be frogged for scarves.

Almost finished with burnt orange top down raglan pullover (no seams, what a joy!) which will then get felted. It does seem big enough to be able to survive felting, which I was worried about. I look forward to reported on stash movement.

Yesterday I found another possible addiction at http://theiff.org/oexhibits/05b.html -- called extreme kntting by some clueless reporter but actually crocheting -- hyperbolic shapes. amazing cool stuff. gotta try it.

This is Cindy's plant picture: Her name is Petrocosmea - the symmetry is a foretaste of things to come.....

Now it's June/busting out....

I'm still alive and well. School is almost over - a few more days this semester and then one course in the fall. And church jobs are at the moment just Sunday morning supply gigs. This gives me time to organize my life and to finish UFO's and organize my stash and figure out where to go from here. It does not give me any money to buy yarn! So I commit to the universe (via cyberspace) that I really am on a yarn diet. OTN: Cabin Fever sweater for felting (that's the exciting part) in Black Abbey worsted; cable socks (still); Prism evening sweater from a kit from Stitches a couple of years ago. When I finish the first I'll begin a lace shawl project. Maybe with the gorgeous magical Helen's Lace I bought with a gift certificate from my massage buddies Pam and Cindy; maybe a trial run with other lace yarn (of which there's a lot in my stash for someone who's never made lace). Next major major challenge is getting photos (1) on the digital camera; (2) from the camera to the computer; (3) from the computer to the blog. Before that there are a couple of papers and a ton of paperwork.

For those who may be following this: I am still alive and well. I got stalled back in December because I couldn't figure out how to get photos onto my computer, never mind on to a blog. However, Emily is home from college, so there is hope...

Trying to get through my stash, in the midst of lots of other activities. Knitwise, since December I've finished and gotten a lot of wear out of Hanna Falkenberg Pagode in black, gray, orange, blue and natural colorway; one or two gargantuan but very simple shawls -- no lace yet; a mobius scarf and two other mobius drapes of some kind; an Einstein coat (Olympic knitting); the poncho sweater from girlfromaussie.com in a wonderful hand dyed coral chenille thick and thin; at least one pair of socks; and a Booga bag that's waiting for its straps and to be felted. That's actually pretty impressive given that I have two part time jobs and am in school half-time. On the other hand, housekeeping is not my forte! I'm working on a short jacket/sweater in Dune from a Trendsetter pattern -- nice sweater but terrible instructions. How do they get away with it?

Just broke down and bought the second mobius book. Someone at work fell down the rabbithole of mobius baskets and I'm about to follow her. I figure it's a good use of stash. Also find my mind going often to the Stahlman book on Faroese shawls and my collection of natural fingering yarn. maybe i'll investigate tonight.

OTN: Dune sweater
first scarf from Lavish Lace
socks with mini cable