WHOOSH!

That's the sound spring break made as it flew by. I tried to dig in my heels to slow time down, but no luck. There were even a couple of snowy days during which I could've sat at my computer to post, but I just couldn't do it. I was busy holding a baby and knitting a little and stitching a little and family stuff and ... well, I don't know!

Please forgive some more grandmotherly picture-bragging, but here's a little of my knitting with Keagan (yes, in my here's-my-new-grandson post, I didn't realize the actual spelling was different from my version ... bad, bad grandma). I knitted this Baby Pea Pod (available on Ravelry) in no time a couple of weeks ago. It was super easy and he loves it. Nikki took the pic with her cell phone, so it's awful, but you get the idea. He's just as cute as he was last time.

In other knitty news, I've been working on a pillow from the book One Skein, and when I checked out the photo I took on the monitor screen, it was incredibly out of focus. What I was thinking when I took the pic, I have no idea. Chalk it up to old-lady vision. Anyway, I branched out with the pattern, using different-than-called-for alpaca yarn (oooh, pretty and soft) and larger-than-called-for needles to make a larger pillow (yes, it seems I'm a knitting experimentalist), and it's turning out just the right size. I know! Who knew I could wing it? I know enough to realize that one day this knitty thrill-seeking will bite me right in the butt. Until then, look out. I also knitted a felted bowl from the same book (a great book), but I haven't felted it yet. Pictures of the pillow-in-progress and bowl will magically appear in the next post ... whenever that is. Oh, I almost forgot. I also finished a felted bag for Nikki and another one for me. No pictures because I figured you've got to be bored with the bags. So I really have been doing something with my time.

Then there's Miss Sarah Esh. I've been working on her, but work is a little slow. My goal is to finish this week. Uh huh, dream on. Goals are a good thing, right? So sorry for another awful photo.

That pretty much brings us up to date. I'm hustling through this post to get to my purple chair before my eyes close. Keagan and his mom and dad are doing great, school is as it is, and home is a nice place to be. Make some fun.

Look What the Stork Brought!

Our little stranger arrived Saturday night, March 20, at 11:29. His name is Keegan. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, was almost 20 inches long, and he's a healthy little guy. Here he is in the arms of his dad, Grady, during his first hour ...

Isn't he a cutie? Nikki is doing very well, and the whole family is headed home today. Since they were still at the hospital yesterday, I had to go hold him again. He was awake for a little while ...

It's unanimous. We'll keep him! I can't think of a good word to describe what it was like to watch my new grandson being born. I was pretty sure I'd wimp out, but I made it through the whole thing. What a way to start spring break.

I'm pathetically behind on blog reading, commenting and posting, but I have some things to do here at home. Hopefully, I'll return tomorrow with some knitting and stitching pics. It's been a while. Make some fun.

On a Happier Note ...

How about a happier post to cancel out the cranky part of yesterday's post? Good idea! I appreciate all of your comments, and I think it's time to lighten up a little. You're not here to listen to whining and complaining, after all, and I don't really enjoy doing it.

A while back, I promised pictures of Nikki's shower. Warning: the location had some very tricky lighting, so beware of my truly amateur photos. Here's Nikki with her cute mother-in-law. I'm not sure what Nik's looking at, but since she's looking down, there isn't much to see but her tummy! Someone (maybe her mom?) must've made some smartassy remark about her delicate condition.

Here's Nikki and her wonderful friend, Maribel, who hosted the shower. That sweet little guy is Alec, my new best friend. You've never seen anyone as goofy around babies as I am, and I'm happy to report that I got him to laughing pretty hard. A baby laugh is the very best sound in the world. Look at those smiles!

Oh, and the giant bruise on Nikki's arm is the result of an ugly slip down some icy steps, not domestic violence. I'm afraid she got her graceful manner from her mom. I could go on and on, but those are just a couple of pics to show you my happily pregnant daughter. It still doesn't seem possible that she's gonna be a mom. Everyone says this, but how do they grow up so quickly? One minute they're learning to walk and talk, and the next minute they want your car keys.

To show that I really am accomplishing a little something, here's a picture of Nikki's knitting bag in progress. I started it for me, but she loves the colors as much as I do, so as soon as it's felted, it's hers. Another bag for me can wait.

In between bags, because I'm feeling brave, I think I'll give washcloths a try. Something new to sink my needles into. Don't worry, I'm not feeling cocky. A knitting friend assures me that washcloths are a great way to get in some practice and try to become more consistent. We have a plan. I wanna knit socks so badly that I can taste it! Practice, practice, practice.

It's conference week, so today was the first of three 11-hour work days. Our reward is part of Thursday and all of Friday off. Ah ... Friday morning is mine to stitch away. What a treat! For now, my pillow calls. Make some fun.

Is It March Yet?

Well, another 12 days has passed between posts. It's been a very long couple of months. I've been stitching and knitting a little, but I'm incredibly distracted by life and work. I have quite a plateful right now. You know about Nikki and her son's birth within the next few weeks, and you know about my mom. I've pretty much stopped telling you about my job. It goes back to what my mom said: If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

My job will change in a huge way next year. In my former teaching life, I spent 13 years as a classroom teacher in third through sixth grades, with one very interesting year in middle school. Bekah was born in 1991, and I figured out some at-home jobs (data entry and charting needlework for designers) in order to stay home with the kiddos. In 1996, Bekah died and I got divorced, so I returned to teaching in 1997. During that time, I've worked with small groups of kids who need help learning to read, but I haven't had my own classroom.

Because of our district's enormous budget shortfall, all of that's gonna change. My job has been eliminated and I must be "absorbed" into the school I was unhappily assigned to last year. That means that my only option was to accept the offer that my principal made to me. So, after 19 years out of the classroom, I'll be returning next year as a teacher in first grade (gasp!). I know! How scary! How fun!

I love first-graders, so that's not a problem. I'll be able to catch up with all of the math stuff, so that's not a problem. My teammates are very nice, and I've known them for years, so that's not a problem. My only problem is that I work for an ass. A boob. He's an immature, bird-brained, former high school administrator with negligible leadership skills who knows absolutely nothing about literacy and has no intention of learning. In fact, he never passes up an opportunity to display his ignorance or his lack of integrity. He's the only issue I have with the daunting prospect of enormous change. Unfortunately, it's a very large issue.

So now I'm gonna shop around the district to see if I can find a better spot. Because of the budget, there's not much movement in and out of positions, but there are bound to be one or two. We'll see if anyone is silly enough to hire an old lady who hasn't been in a classroom position for 19 years. It can't hurt to try, and I've heard from several former coworkers (displaced by our school's closure last spring) who want to help me get into their schools. I'm updating and polishing up my 13-year-old resume, and thinking about interviews This could be interesting, huh? Things to remember: it's not life or death, only my job; it's good to be employed.

Thank you for allowing me to whine a little bit. OK, a lot. The stress knot under my shoulder blade feels better already. I wanted to explain my distractibility, because my stitching and knitting progress has been so lame lately. Sarah Esh has been occupying my lap (along with Merlin) while in the purple chair. I love, love the Olympics (another distraction), and Sarah's been watching with me. Once in a while I actually put a stitch in. I'm not completely satisfied with my choice of natural linen, but it's growing on me.

My house is largely back to its former self, minus the ugly beige carpet. At home, life is very good. I'm still allowing myself to engage in some slide therapy after school. Whatever helps, right? So here are some pics for you. The teeny tiny kitchen (note the Cedar Hill kitty on the wall and the bag o' magnets on the counter) ...

The living area (sorry about the glaring sun, and the speaker will move to a less conspicuous spot later on) ...

The small dining area with my piano, my parents' dining set from the 50's (I love it), and the crocheted tablecloth I found in a Rhode Island antique store for $35 (I know!) ...

Home is a happy place to be! Too bad I can't retire and spend more time here, huh? Next, after some recovery time, will be the removal of ugly beige carpet and cheap-ass vinyl in the upstairs bathrooms. Ah, something to look forward to.

I leave you today with a very late look at my TUSAL jar. I took the picture on time a few weeks ago but couldn't remember to post it (duh). I like the look of yarn in there.

Make some fun!

More Fobulous February

Look! I made it back almost as soon as I thought I might. This past week I finished a fob that was started who-knows-how-long ago. It has to be at least seven years, but there's no way to be certain unless I can attach it to another event. Apparently, I can't. You know how things seem to hide once they find their way to a WIP drawer. Or maybe you don't! That thought makes me feel rather lonely.

Anyway, this is a fob from a Sheepish Designs leaflet called Bee Keeper. I stitched it on 36-count natural linen, so it's a little small. Putting it together was harder than I thought it would be. It looked like it'd be easy, and then it surprised me. Note to self: never think finish finishing will be easy. Please don't examine my work too closely. It could be disappointing. And I promise that I'll run right upstairs and tweeze out the little tiny hairs I can see. Ew.

Yes, those little flower clusters are done with silk ribbon. It's been at least a decade since I've tried that, but it wasn't too, too bad. The little bee skep fob is attached to a pair of scissors (I treated myself!) from Yuko. I'm on the lookout for a little brass bee or two to stitch up toward the top. Hopefully, they'll be at my LNS soon.

Slowly but surely, I've been trying to put my house back in order. It's a wonderful feeling to be getting things back to normal (whatever that is), but I want it done now. Here's a pic I took this morning from the top stair. It kind of looks like doll furniture, doesn't it? My eyes think I could just reach in there with my fingers and move a few things around.

I still need to decide which plants (yes, I'm plant-crazed) will go back downstairs, and there are a few more items to be placed, but you get the idea. I have lots of baseboard painting to do, but that will be done here and there over time. The big summer project will be to paint the walls, so stay tuned for more shenanigans. I'll show pics of the dining area (complete with piano) and kitchen on my next post, along with another view of the living area.

My daughter Nikki had a baby shower on Saturday, thrown by her friend Maribel. We had a great time. As soon as I get her approval on some pictures, I'll share one or two with you. There'll be a new baby boy in the family in about a month. Maybe less! I've informed Nikki that it'd be most convenient for me if he could be born before March 19 so I could have my entire spring break (and maybe more) for some serious baby-holding time. As Doris Day would say, "Que sera, sera."

Make some fun.

F Words: Fob and Floor

Every time I post here, I whine about not getting to the computer to post. Nothing's really changed! It's my own fault. I'm just not using my time in this direction. My sister and I are both having difficulty with stitching motivation. We want to stitch, but we're having a hard time deciding what to do. It'll pass, right?

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I finished my Shepherd's Bush 2009 scissor fob. I showed you the fob stitched on 30-count over two and finished as a pin cushion. Here's the same fob stitched over one and finished as a fob.

I used the ribbon from the kit to trim the pin cushion, and then I found some WDW perle cotton to trim the fob. The front was pretty much stitched as charted.

While stitching the back, I found that those backstitched letters just weren't gonna work. I worked it out with a pencil and a piece of graph paper and charted the letters and numbers to work over one. There was just a little rearranging involved. I'm pretty happy with the result.

Of course, all was NOT fine in 2009, but I'll go along with the sentiment. In Mom's words, if you don't have anything nice to say ... I've been working sporadically on another fob, Sarah Esh, Women of the Mayflower, and some knitting, so maybe there'll be something else to show in the near future. Uh huh, sure.

I can't blame all of the non-stitching time on my mood. Part of the problem involves a big ass project on the main floor of my little townhouse. I've been suffering from beige carpet syndrome (I'm pretty sure it's a real syndrome) since I moved here seven years ago. You know how beige carpet picks up every little bit of dirt and mud and cat puke and clings to it with Superman-type strength? After a few years, it really puts the "UG" in ugly. Well, I've been sick of it for a long, long time. So the carpet left my home about a week ago.

In its place now lies some pretty cool mill run maple. It's got beautiful grains and knots and a mixture of colors from very light to medium dark. I'm loving it! I come home every day and slide on it. My son came over and slid on it. My neighbor came over and slid on it. Simple minds, simply entertained, huh? Can you say "dance floor"?

As you can see, there are no baseboards on yet. Hopefully, all will be completed by Friday, and Dylan will come to help me move the furniture back in from the garage and up from the basement on Saturday (after a little sliding session). Being displaced (willingly, of course) has been disorienting. I like order. I'll take some more pics when work is done. Truth be told, I'm so damned excited about this that I can hardly stand myself. It's nice to have something positive going on. Ya'll are probably thinking, "What? That's it? That's the big deal going on at Doris's house? BFD!" What can I say? We've already established that I'm easily entertained!

I'm nursing another annoying cold, so I'm off to bed. Hope everyone in Snowland is staying warm and dry and enjoying those snow days. There's nothing like a snow day! Make some fun.

Knitty, Knit, Knit

So much time has passed! I had such good intentions of returning sooner to show you all the knitting that's been going on. It'll be my luck that what they say about good intentions and the road to hell is true. As you can see, Merlin is less than enthusiastic about my new-found habit. He thinks there isn't enough room on my lap for him and my knitting. Actually, for him and anything. He wants me to focus my entire being on holding and petting. Just so I'd really know how he feels, here's what I found after I laid out the bag and went to get my camera.

Merlin knows how to put those knitted items to good use! Below are said items without the furry beast on them. Do you see any long, black, old-man cat hairs?
The pics are especially crappy because I can't seem to get home before dark. After days of trying, I finally gave it up and took the ugly pics so I could get on with the felting. I couldn't wait!
The most interesting and confusing part of this whole adventure is trying to predict how big you have to knit the bag to get the felted bag the size you want. All of this experimentation is getting kind of expensive. Do you think that'll stop me? NFW!! I'll just have to foist my unwanted creations onto unsuspecting friends and family. That'll teach 'em.

The purple bag was 13 x 16 before felting and 10 x 13 after ... about the size of a small purse or a big lunch bag. I knitted so tightly that my knitty teacher was teasing me that I'd end up with a change purse. The teal, cream, taupe bag was 22 x 16 before and 19 x 11 after. I stepped up a needle size and used the teacher-written directions for a bigger bag. It would be pretty close to the size I want if it were a little taller, but it's a pretty great knitting bag. As you can probably guess, I'm going for it again (yes, I am a glutton for punishment). I'm gonna knit the larger bag and make it taller. And I'm gonna do it in the purple colors. I'm in love with those colors. Besides, I need the larger (than stitching) therapy. I'll keep you posted. You were afraid I'd say that, weren't you?

I've been stitching a little also, but there were so many pictures and so little time that I decided to save the stitchy stuff for next time. There's something else interesting going on here, and if the stars are aligned and I make my way to the keyboard for more than a few minutes, I'll fill you in soon. Until then, make some fun.