Crafting Over the Break

The break was not totally about going and seeing. There was some crafting going on.

Dumbo had another hat-ectomy. His hat attachment system (snap tape) was removed and replaced with buttons. Each new hat (made by Squidette) had two holes-worth of button elastic sewn into the bottom. They are not easy to put on but it does, indeed, work.

Then there were my experiments with HotSnapz wear.
First was the ear-flap hat. Double knit, it includes earlaps that are open on one side to allow the insertion of activated HotSnapz.
With the HotSnapz in place they act more as cheek warmers but were, apparently, a huge help as we crossed the Manhattan Bridge in below freezing temperatures.

Then there are the Footwarmer Slippers. Also double knit (after the cuff), they include a pocket for a HotSnapZ.
The one on the right has a HatSnapZ in it. (Please ignore the hairy legs.)
As you can see, they have the Little Squid seal of approval.
Yes, I ran out of green near the second toe.

Last on tap, my shopping bag. Initially I took out the sewing machine to go over all of the seams on our grocery bags. After a close examination, they all got a bit smaller as I worked my repair magic. Knowing that eventually they will be too small to be worth using, I grabbed some stash fabric (I have a small fabric stash) and, copying the bags that we love so much, set out to make one.
I even made an attached stuff sack but the thicker cotton does not fit in the bag. This bag is larger then the ones we have but it is doing a good job so far.

There was some more crafting, including attaching a border of squares to the woven blanket and some dye sampling. Mike has finally settled on a pattern for his next sweater so it is up to me to dye, spin and knit it.

Tomorrow ... back to work.

A Blanket, Some Mittens and Some Rambling

I've been a busy girl, as is evident from my lack of posting.

Last Saturday night we went to the Opera (The Queen of Spades) and on Sunday Little Squid got his post opera migraine. Which continued into Monday, netting me a half day off of work. When I returned home with Little Squid (he was at work with me until I realized that this migraine was not going away), I decided to tackle the woven squares I'd worked up over the years.

I organized and placed and sorted and, with Little Squid's final approval, started sewing them together. The status as of this post is:

It still needs a final border of the brown blocks -- need to weave 24 more of them -- and several yards more of the jewel green tape. Little Squid is weaving the tape on his inkle loom. For the time being, however, it is serving it's intended purpose as a second couch blanket. One blanket doesn't cut it when you are snuggling with a large child in the middle of a cold winter night.

Then there are the mittens. Knit over the holiday weekend to replace Little Squid's battered bumble bee stripe mittens. They are double knit and, when same color out, the elephants are supposed to be on the back of the hands.

There's been other stuff going on. And all of it takes the form of fantastic blog posts. In my head. As I ride home from work. Yup. Still riding. Managed 2.5 days (5 trips) last week. and 8 trips the week before.

Tomorrow the temperature at 6:30 a.m. is supposed to be 18 degrees.

I might drive.

***

My comforter has been back on my bed for a few weeks now and I must say, snuggling under it after getting throughly chilled at work and on the ride home (can you say "double period yard duty?") has been a wonderful experience. My bedroom is finally a haven again, except for the occasional nasty dream about my former "room mates."

***

Have I mentioned that I love my job again? My staff is fantastic, as are most of the kids. At my old school the goal really seemed to be to take a good school and make it better. Here ... well let's just say that we're not on anyone's top ten list. There's good, honest work to be done and people who can envision the end result. Kids are knitting and crocheting all over the school and that is only making our job easier. Thank you to all who have made this possible!!!

Double Knit

Roughly 10 days ago I got bit by the double knitting bug. I just HAD to do it. I also needed a hat. My new job has me outside with the kids a few times a week and since I've been riding my bike to work, I am not dressed appropriately for standing in the cold. So, I am now keeping a second set of outer wear at work. But, I needed a second hat.

So ... after one aborted attempt that was about 4 inches long before I realized that it was also 4 inches too wide ...
we have a double knit hat. The bicycle is from Lucy Neatby's bicycle socks (sadly still uncompleted) with the execution entirely my own.
Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash left over from Squidette's blanket. (Expect to see lots of yellow hats and mittens this winter ...) Size 5 circular Addi Turbo needles using "magic loop."

Danish Tie-Shawl

Finished: 11/13/08 Started: Somewhere around 11/1/08 for the knitting. Handspun, Blue faced Leicester from Blue Moon Fibers.

Yarn is roughly sport weight, Navajo plied. Pattern is from the Spring 2008 Spin Off. I liked it and might make it again if it lives up to its promise of being easy to wear. I really like shawls, they make for easy on / off in a school where heat is an all or none proposition -- mostly all -- and temps are regulated by how open one's window is and how briskly the wind is blowing.

It needs to be blocked but I am saving that for Saturday night, after I return from a work "retreat."

Still Alive and Kicking

I compose brilliant blog posts. Full of details about New York, my kids and my school fill these posts. The posts themselves, however, are composed while I bike to or from school and never make it into the computer. By the time I arrive home, most evenings, I have barely enough time to change out of my biking gear before dinner is served. Then talking to the kids and Mike and general unwinding take priority. And before you know it, it's bed time.

I used to post in the mornings, before going to work. These days, however, I am leaving the house around 6:30 a.m. and am only awake for a mere hour before climbing on my trusty bike and pedaling into the sunrise.

All that is a long winded way of saying I'm sorry and I'll try to post more often.

Today I give you a catch-up post in pictures.

A couple of weeks ago there was apple picking with this lovely specimen. We put pants on it to emphasize the resemblance to a part of our anatomy.

Then there was a rather important bit of elephant surgery. We called it a hat-ectomy. Dumbo's original hat was in tatters so Little Squid crafted a new one and I added snaps to Dumbo's head so we could change hats if we so desire.

There has been some weaving. This one is making me really happy! it is my first real excursion into color and pattern play. It is not coming out as I envisioned it from the draft but this is a good thing as it is coming out even better!

Then there is my shawl. It is the Danish Tie-Shawl from Spin-off Spring 2008. The yarn is home, spindle-spun from Blue Moon roving purchased at Rhienbeck two or three years ago. The yarn has been aging in the stash until just the right pattern came along.
The edging will take a little bit of time to finish ...

There has been more. I finally did my back to school shopping and, thanks to mom, netted four, yup FOUR, long sleeve white shirts. Please don't faint. I had ... wait for it ... zero long sleeve white shirts. One short sleeve, one three-quarter sleeve but no long sleeve white shirts. Now I have four. Until I spill something on them.

Upcoming events include a work "retreat" this weekend. I might be able to finish Little Squid's latest pair of socks since someone else is driving. Squidette still has school interviews and auditions in two weeks but seems to be less stressed then she was before the SHSAT. Little Squid is practicing 3 instruments right now, two in preparation for a camp audition several weeks away.

And there you go, all caught up.

Prettiful Blanket

Need I say more?

(Yarn: Cascade 220, In progress for roughly 6 months.)

Shameless Begging

As you know, I recently started at a new (to me) school. This is a school with a whole lot of potential and ... no knitting club.

A few of the girls are knitting -- one of the nearby after school programs is teaching it -- which has set the stage. More want to learn. One of our teachers approached me about starting up a knitting club and I'm all ready to jump right in. Except ...

When I left my old school, I donated all of the supplies to the middle school in the same building. I had no place to store them over the summer and it was the only solution at the time. And it was a good one since I had no way to know where I would wind up and, if I would be able to start another club. The school that receive the supplies had an active knitting club and will use the materials well.

Well, here I am in a new place and the need for this kind of club is acute. The kids want a creative outlet and we can provide it -- it a little bit of help.

I plan on doing some shopping this weekend -- inexpensive needles and the cheapest yarn I can find. The teacher who approached me is doing some corporate level begging while I am doing it the "old fashioned" way. Reaching out to you, my readers.

If you have yarn that is looking for a new home or needles that you have set aside in favor of flashier ones ... we can provide a good place for them.

If you can help, please contact me via the email address in the sidebar and I will provide mailing information.

For all of your help in the past, and for anything that comes in now, I thank you!

***

As a general rule, I try to keep work out of the blog. Since this is not an anonymous endeavor, I have to be careful. My identity is out there -- as is the identity of my new school and the old one. There will be no stories of the kids -- I can't go there -- except to share things that make the news anyway (and only in a positive way).

Projects, Projects, Projects

I've been a busy girl this week.

I finally procured the yarn that I need to finish the work on Squidette's blanket ... and am actually working on it.

I added a few inches to the fabric on the loom ...


And I did some dying.I was trying to go for a gradient from violet to burgundy with some black dyed for contrast but did not really succeed. Now I'm thinking that the burgundy and the black will make for a nice log cabin weave pattern ... after I finish all the merino pieces I have planed for the loom.

And there you have it. I do still knit and weave ... and duplicate stitch.

Empty Needles

See those shiny things on top of the big yellow blob?


Yup, empty needles on top of completed knitting.

What? You want to see the knitting?

Be patient. There are still many ends to hide and much highlighting to be done.

Give me another month or so!

How do You Manage ...

... to be a mother, work away from home, ride your bike, maintain a home and still knit? This question was posed by a loyal reader the other day and I thought I would share my answer with you.

Simply put, I don't cook and I don't clean. Except the kitchen after dinner. I pay someone else to clean my apartment (she does a much better job then I do) and Mike does most of the cooking. I do laundry once a week (usually, this week is an exception) and knit or spin while it is drying.

I bring simple knitting with me everywhere and use it to fill in wait time. Today I started turning a heel while waiting on line at Staples after gathering yet another load of school supplies for Little Squid. I finished it while waiting for Squidette to finish her Bat Mitzvah rehearsal.

That said, I did absolutely no knitting Friday, Saturday or Sunday this past week. Not a stitch. But I did finish warping my loom and wove a few inches. I also spent considerable time preparing for Sunday's bike ride and then spent all day riding on Sunday.

There you have it. Somehow it all gets done but you can see where my priorities lie.

Squid on Wheels -- High Bridge and the Croton Aqueduct

Our intention was to ride at least 40 miles this weekend in preparation for next week. (Don't ask, you'll just call the wrath of Huricane Hannah down on us.) You know what they say about the best laid plans, don't you ... let it sufficce to say that Little Squid got a migraine just before we were supposed to leave on Sunday.

The day was spent, instead, experimenting with headache relieving pressure points (verdict: they kind of work, if only to distract the sufferer for a while) and then shopping for (Mama and Squidette) and then assembling some furniture for Little Squid's room. I also hid the ends on Squidette's shrug. We decided that blocking was a futile endeavor.

Monday dawned bright and sunny and we set out to log at least 20 miles (note, we only achieved 19 due to various frustrations including a water bottle bent on suicide and a flat tire).

We did, however, finally get to High Bridge Park and introduced the kids to the High Bridge water tower and the Croton Aqueduct / High Bridge. The links do a much better job of explaining the important history of this site than I can. To sum it up, the High Bridge / Croton Aqueduct was built in 1848 (making it the oldest surviving bridge in New York City). It had a most important function, destined as it was to carry fresh drinking water into a city plagued with fires and disease. Cholera was a big one back then. The path to the bridge has been renovated and the bridge is now undergoing repair. It is supposed to open, once again, to pedestrian and bike traffic in two or three years. One will then be able to walk / ride the length of the entire Croton trail from the lowest reservoir (42nd Street and 6th Avenue) to the highest (Croton, NY).

High Bridge as seen from the plaza by the water tower.


High Bridge as seen through the hole in the gate that blocks access.


Structure preventing access to the bridge.


The High Bridge Water Tower as seen from the entry to High Bridge.

Mike -- stuck between and rock and ... yup, you guessed it ... a hard place.

Icarus

After carefully examining the suggested patterns, I decided to go with Icarus, as suggested by Cookie. It is reasonably solid and hence chaste enough to do what I need it to do in synagogue. I'll secure it with a hair stick, most likely so I am not futzing with it during services. One of the drawbacks of being the parent of the Bat Mitzvah girl is that I have to sit facing the congregation -- so everyone will see if I fidget.It is a small rendition of Icarus, only 36 inches on the diagonal and about 32 inches from center back to tip. Yarn is Artyarns Regal Silk, roughly a DK weight, in color 131. I bought 8 skeins and used 3 and a smidge. It took me a month to complete -- mainly because I had to rip it out from a much bigger place and then messed up picking up the stitches ... so I had to go back to the very beginning and restart.

Now I'm debating returning or weaving the rest. If I weave it at 8 epi then I can easily get a 20 inch wide shawl that is 5 feet long ... tempting. But first I have to hide the ends on and block Squidette's shrug. That'll occupy my loom space for a day or two.

Blog Vacation

We interrupt this blog vacation to bring you this.

We Squid would also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Lil' Bro, Josh. It's a little belated but I did call ... Josh, from all of us here in the Squid home, may this year be as wonderful as the last and may your new home suit you and Jaye to a T. Love you!

We now resume this blog vacation.

TdF: Final Intermediate Sprint

"Hills like this were never really to my liking." (Paul Sherwin whenever asked about a mountain stage by Phil Liggett)

A few days ago I realized that I was not enjoying the pressure of "having" to finish my TdF project. So, with that in mind, I took out my wheel yesterday and went for a nice long spin. Then I balled up the first skein of Tilli Thomas Rock Star Bridgetown Brown (100% spun silk with glass beads) and started in on this shrug for Squidette.Her Bat Mitzvah dress is less modest then it should be so this shrug, designed to cover a halter top, is just what is needed. I've been resisting starting it, knowing that I have to finish my socks, but last night I just dug in and started.

During the Tour I also finished these socks for my only sockless sibling -- but they were "purse" knitting and don't count as interfering in the TdF sock progress.The real hindrance to knitting was the fact that life just took over during the daylight hours and with Little Squid in camp for 1.5 hours less then last year, and with us riding our bikes there most days, there was just less time.

Last, I was working on another project, which will be finished and revealed in all of it's glory tomorrow. parts of it have been worked on in secret from the recipient so no peaks until they see it first.
The second sock. Oh, and did I mention that I lost my squid graph and have to reconstruct it from the first sock ...

And so, I concede the race. no green jersey for me. Oh well, there is always next year.

Woven or Knit?

This is the dress.

It needs a shawl (for synagogue).

Now add the yarn (ArtYarns silk)...

Woven (plain weave) or knit? And if knit, what pattern? (Should be fairly solid)

I have 8 skeins -- about 1300 yds

Chugging up the Mountains: Tour de France Knit Along

I managed to cross the first mountain peek while Mark Cavendish was winning his third stage and started down hill while he was winning his fourth. Hey if he keeps this up, I might just finish the socks!
The second sock is looking much neater then the first. I've taken a different strategy for eliminating the blue/purple from the mix which involves actually cutting the yarn and throwing the shorter pieces in where I only need a short stretch of yarn. I've also taken to hiding some of the ends as I go. Not all, but some. Hey, every little bit counts, right?

The Inside

One of the colors in my contrast yarn is so close to the main color that it disappears. So, for the top of the sock I took it out.Yes, I have lots of ends to hide.

For those of you who guessed, yes the new graph is of a squid. If I remember, I will reverse the direction on the other foot. I'm now past that and just working the chain pattern for the rest of the foot. Provided that there are no complications in my life, I should make some good progress toward the toe while watching the Tour tonight.

Last summer saw Mike and I watching the Tour as it was broadcast live during the day and catching the highlights during the rebroadcast after dinner. This year, however, Squidette is hooked so we are waiting to watch it during the rebroadcast so that we all get the results together. This has the added benefit of keeping Mike from listening to sports on the car radio should we be in the car in that inbetween time.

Scarf of the Sixth

And on the sixth day of vacation, I finished a gift scarf.Once again it was an icky sort of day here so we mostly stayed inside. Squidette and I took a walk to get some trendy teen-type clothing (for her) but then returned to the less humid environment of our apartment.

Back at home we were greeted with this sight.And this one. Pretty much how they looked all day as they played with electronics. Little Squid is working his way through an introductory book and managed to light up an LED. He also managed to blow up two LEDs, much to his delight.We ended the day watching the end of the Tour de France rebroadcast and I made some progress on my TdF Knit along project.

Finis on the Fifth

Rainy day here in New York City so no riding for the Squid. Instead, a trip to Costco for new glasses for the squidlings; to Ikea for lunch; to Fairway for more groceries and then home for the day.

Once home, we tuned into to the Tour de France and I got busy on my Green Jersey project. During the last two kilometers I had to pause to concentrate on the finish line, but returned to my project during a viewing of The Inspector General.

Not forgetting my promise to finish stuff, I cut the yarn ends off of these socks (yup, that was all that was needed)and worked with Mike and Squidette on this project. Most of this one is done and ready for the mail. Just need a few more addresses and a final check with my folks.

Which brings me to this question: If you invite someone, who you know will probably not come, to an occasion, is it interpreted as "hey, I'd really love to have you there," or as "send a gift?"

Please chirp in here because there are a number of people with whom I am on the fence because I do not want to seem to be gift fishing.