Donations

I put off going to the hair dresser so long that I once again found myself with enough length to donate. I'm excited to contribute hair to organizations who make wigs for children as well as inspire my students to consider doing the same.

I'm also thinking how I am donating my time to other important work outside of teaching. I started clearing some of the invasive honeysuckle again, and hope to find some additional time this weekend. The before and after pictures would be more dramatic if I were closer to the area where the shrubs were removed. Finally, my mind often wanders to all of the people who will be affected if SNAP benefits aren't renewed by tomorrow. I will definitely be giving extra to the food pantries this month. And maybe starting some seeds for winter window lettuce. And donating some of those extra knit hats I have laying around. Sounds like I just made a to-do list for myself! Which is perfect, because I had this thought a few days ago: What if I turn this year around for the last 61 days? How do I optimize my habits so that I can be my best self? Suddenly my mental to-do list is longer yet, so off to bed to prepare for the heavy lifting tomorrow!

It’s Monday. It’s Done.

Another Done by Monday blanket has emerged at precisely the moment where the temperatures dropped below zero (and will remain there for at least a week). Without weaving in the ends Saturday night, I put it between the top sheet and feather blanket, and sleep was ultra cozy. Who doesn’t love laying under an entire sheep’s worth of yarn!?

China Cat Sunflower also has a deep appreciation for the blanket. He kept climbing underneath as I was knitting it and was not bothered when I had to rearrange it at the ends of the rows. His perfect color match makes me think I might keep this blanket… and make the rest of my wardrobe in this shade of gray! 

I used 12.5 skeins of yarn, held double on this pattern, Afghan #11 by JoAnne Turcotte. I wanted a slightly longer blanket for tall people in the family. It will be interesting to see how much the garter ridges will grow when I block it. The yarn was hand processed and hand spun by a woman named Anne Cohee. She taught art in a public school out east and sold her hand spun goods at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Judging by the labels in the box, it’s possible that the sheep lived three decades ago and this yarn was made in the 1990s. I acquired the yarn from a friend of my mom’s, who was friends with Anne. An heirloom to treasure, for sure! 

As this is still early-ish January, I wanted to share a great resolution thought with you. A friend of mine asked her grade school age son what his resolutions are, and he answered: I don’t have any. I like the person I am. The statement stopped me in my tracks! Adopting this mindset, I added for myself that I have the tools to competently complete any goals I choose to take on. 

With that deep thought, I will be publishing this post and work on a goal for today! 

Happy knitting, and stay warm and safe!

 

Progress!

Fall Break was such a great time to refocus on this yarn beast! With relatively little ado I had this project back on track. The final triangle down the middle is nearing completion quickly as the rows are ever getting shorter. 

 I had a moment of terror when I saw how extremely bright the orange yarn is. But my eyes have settled down to enjoy the brilliance. Perhaps I’ll be able to wear it for Thanksgiving… We’ll see!

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 

The Heart Wants What It Wants

Emily Dickenson nailed that quote, I'd say. My life feels like it is in the middle of a big stall. I have plenty to do, many responsibilities to take care of, and time actually does exists to accomplish the tasks at hand. Yet somehow I find myself frittering away the time in the most inconsequential ways. So naturally, it appears that I need to start a new project. Because a striped sweater with remnant yarn from the Painted Bricks Cowl was something I dreamed of for the last year. The Flax sweater has been in my Ravelry queue since last January. But I felt so guilty starting yet another big project when there were so many other things to do, starting with four unfinished knits. 

So I decided to test the theory and lined up my yarn in the order I wanted to knit it, very mindful that I might be trading one time-frittering strategy for another. The colors remind me of a sweater I had on my Sears catalog wish list in the 80's. Retro-chic for the win.  And then Friday night I cast on...

Saturday was spent mostly knitting, and I got a decent chunk of the yoke finished. It is a DELIGHT to sit and churn through these rows! Let's not forget that I like to knit while my husband watches TV that I don't really care about. The pattern offers just enough to keep me interested, but also lets me drift into another sphere of attention if there is a good commercial on. Looks like the heart wanted a sweater, and it is now getting that new sweater. 

And... I have "help"... HAHA! China Cat is mostly interested in sitting on my lap sleeping, but we did enjoy some "recreation" while I was measuring the progress. 

Today I made a concerted effort to knit AND do some of things on the to-do list. But I flipped that list idea. Instead of making a to-do list, I made a DONE list as I was finishing each item. I have two big things to finish this evening/tomorrow morning, but there are 11 items on the DONE list. Listening to my heart may have just broken the spell on my procrastination. I'll keep you posted.

Stay safe, friends! Go do something that your heart wishes you would.  :-)

Spin & Knit 2015: A Resolution

Happy New Year!

I gave up New Year's resolutions a decade or two ago, but I thought I would give this year another try. My title sounds pretty misleading, since I do have one of these spinning beauties, but I'm afraid that I need to spend some time on the (recumbent) stationary bike instead. Must keep in shape for upcoming hiking adventures after all, and knitting seemed like it would be a good pairing with all that peddling. So my goal is to ride and knit 30 minutes on any day that I don't visit the gym or don't have evening orchestra rehearsal.

Looking into the Black Mountain Range at sunset. (Peru)

I gave it a whirl this evening. (See what I did there?! OK, go ahead and groan...) Instead of knitting, I ended up talking on the phone and then writing an email on my phone. So we'll have to see if there will be any additional knit items to blog about. Ready for finishing are a sweater, a hat, a crafty blanket I started as a pre-teen, a jacket, and some fingerless mitts.

I'll keep you posted, but don't hold your breath...

May 2015 be an enjoyable one for you!