... but the lovely thing about vacation is that it doesn't really matter all that much. I have this wild idea that January is a quiet month, school-wise, so I'm going to knit mittens for NaKniMitMo and participate in the Red Sox Traveling Scarf event.
And I'm mulling over another project for a friend, but the implications are so sad that I can't really wrap my mind around it. Given my upbringing, I can't call what I want to make a prayer shawl, really, but I want it to express what I think those items are designed to convey in terms of friendship and caring and what my Quaker friends call "holding you in the light". One of my friends is having a bone marrow transplant tomorrow, and she's so far away that I haven't and won't be able to visit. So I've been a bit of a frenzy of wanting to fix it, not wanting to bug her husband for news, and not really knowing what to do. I'm not sure why it took me so long to think of knitting. I'm a little slow sometimes. She does live in a very hot place but hospitals can be chilly and I suspect she'll be seeing a lot of those for some time to come. I don't think it ought to be so complex that it takes a long time to knit, but I want it to be beautiful.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
Taking a Deep Breath
Above, photos, most taken by D#1, from a gift of a trip --
and below, the contents of an amazing package from Carolynn -- look at that amazing Peace Fleece, and the stitch markers she made!
I might be back. How are you all doing? Hope everyone's had a great start to the holiday season.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Whew
Two more classes, one holiday assembly, a department lunch and a tutoring session to go. One stack of final papers. Bags to pack and a flight to catch. Snowstorm to avoid ...
Which is all to say that I have managed to stagger my way to winter break. This semester has been eventful in many ways, and mind-bogglingly busy; I have knit furiously to keep sane and for the most part it has worked. Some long-back-burnered projects have worked their way to the front of the line (D#2's sweater, finishing the River Rapids socks, the skull scarf, and a PIF or two) and I am looking forward to having a little time to enjoy them.
Here's some of my holiday reading list:
George Bowering Baseball Love
Henning Mankell, The Pyramid
Arnaldur Indridason Jar City
Michael Kodas, High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed
Robert Muchamore, The Dealer
Mason-Dixon Knitting 2.0, Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner
Which is all to say that I have managed to stagger my way to winter break. This semester has been eventful in many ways, and mind-bogglingly busy; I have knit furiously to keep sane and for the most part it has worked. Some long-back-burnered projects have worked their way to the front of the line (D#2's sweater, finishing the River Rapids socks, the skull scarf, and a PIF or two) and I am looking forward to having a little time to enjoy them.
Here's some of my holiday reading list:
George Bowering Baseball Love
Henning Mankell, The Pyramid
Arnaldur Indridason Jar City
Michael Kodas, High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed
Robert Muchamore, The Dealer
Mason-Dixon Knitting 2.0, Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Note to Self
The weekend before winter break really isn't the moment to take this kind of quiz.
It's what I get for visiting Rabbitch's blog, I guess,
| Which creature of the night are you? Your Result: Incubus/Succubus It's all about feeding, isn't it? You pay them back from their energy, though. You give them something (your drama) that will keep them distracted from life, which you consider a terrible joke. | |
| Werewolf | |
| Sorceror | |
| Vampire | |
| Cthulu Spawn | |
| Demon | |
| Ghost | |
| Which creature of the night are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz | |
It's what I get for visiting Rabbitch's blog, I guess,
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Another Day, Another Swim Meet
Today the girls and I went to see some of my students and advisees swim in a meet against a local girls' school. My own swimmer was quite pleased to see that some of her times stack up pretty well against high school kids, even though neither program is particularly high-powered. And my superstar student lapped everyone (a couple of the girls twice) in the 500 free.
It was 60 degrees out and rainy today. Monday, it was bitterly cold. My spouse saw gasoline for $1.57 a gallon. What on earth is going on?
Two more questions.
1. For you spinners out there, can I knit with what I spun on my drop spindle or does it need to be plied first or have something else done to it?
2. Read the recipe for Nanaimo Bars below, and then tell me --do you think I can substitute dried cranberries for the coconut? Note that I can't use the almonds at all (nut allergies galore around here).
(recipe courtesy of one of my colleagues, via the parent of a Canadian advisee)
It was 60 degrees out and rainy today. Monday, it was bitterly cold. My spouse saw gasoline for $1.57 a gallon. What on earth is going on?
Two more questions.
1. For you spinners out there, can I knit with what I spun on my drop spindle or does it need to be plied first or have something else done to it?
2. Read the recipe for Nanaimo Bars below, and then tell me --do you think I can substitute dried cranberries for the coconut? Note that I can't use the almonds at all (nut allergies galore around here).
(recipe courtesy of one of my colleagues, via the parent of a Canadian advisee)
For the Bottom Layer, use:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup of sugar, 5 tablespoons of cocoa, 1 beaten egg, 1 and 3/4 cups of graham wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup of finely chopped almonds and 1 cup of coconut.
Melt the butter, with sugar and cocoa, in the top of a double boiler. Add the egg, and stir to cook and thicken. Remove this mixture from the heat, and stir in the crumbs, coconut and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.
For the Second Layer, use:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons of cream, 2 tablespoons of vanilla custard powder, and 2 cups of icing sugar.
Cream the butter, cream, custard powder and icing sugar together, beating until light. Spread the results over the bottom layer.
For the Third Layer, use:
4 one oz squares of semisweet chocolate, and two tablespoons of unsalted butter.
Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, and then cool. When the mixture has cooled, but is still liquid, pour it over the second layer, and chill the pan in the refrigerator.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Photos from Sunday
Sunday, December 7, 2008
As Promised
And now it is Sunday. Eleven days until break. I am bone tired.
We had a little snow this morning and then it turned quite cold, but I don't know that the weather entirely explains the paltry numbers who came through the doors of the craft fair this afternoon. Don't get me wrong, we didn't have a terrible time -- but it was disappointing to those of us who'd reserved tables and to my friend who had put a lot of time and effort into organizing and advertising the event. The constituency with the best turnout was far and away swim team parents. The school where the fair was held has over 600 students, and only about a tenth of those families turned out. The principal of the school didn't come and the PTO heads (this fair was in part to benefit the PTO) came late, spent under $30 total, and never spoke to the organizers.
What else -- I sold a couple of pairs of fingerless gloves and a scarf, but not much else. I was asked a number of times for non-wool items, which surprised me -- I wonder if that was just this audience or whether it is a trend to which I should attend if I ever do another one of these. Now, though, I can focus on finishing some of my own projects, and possibly even tackling the sweater D#2 chose at Ladybug Knitting (pattern and yarn) when we were on the Cape this summer.
I have some pictures of our table and will post them tomorrow. Right now I am on duty, far from my camera cable.
Tomorrow evening --D#1's class play. Tuesday evening: residential staff meeting. Wednesday: can't even remember what. Thursday: final meeting of my evening class (which means that their final papers are coming in ...). Friday: on duty til Sunday midnight.
The perfect song comes to mind:
I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.
Thanks guys, as always -- that's just right.
ETA: D#2 spent most of the afternoon in the dorm with one of my advisees, and then stuck around to have takeout dinner and go to Sunday chapel (I knew the gospel choir was on tonight and thought she'd like it). So after the group (a real mix of the 4 grades plus a couple of faculty) sang some rockin' spirituals and we'd headed back out into the cold I asked her if she'd enjoyed herself. "Oh yes," she said, "the music was nice, but Mommy the women's outfits and their SHOES ..." Attagirl.
We had a little snow this morning and then it turned quite cold, but I don't know that the weather entirely explains the paltry numbers who came through the doors of the craft fair this afternoon. Don't get me wrong, we didn't have a terrible time -- but it was disappointing to those of us who'd reserved tables and to my friend who had put a lot of time and effort into organizing and advertising the event. The constituency with the best turnout was far and away swim team parents. The school where the fair was held has over 600 students, and only about a tenth of those families turned out. The principal of the school didn't come and the PTO heads (this fair was in part to benefit the PTO) came late, spent under $30 total, and never spoke to the organizers.
What else -- I sold a couple of pairs of fingerless gloves and a scarf, but not much else. I was asked a number of times for non-wool items, which surprised me -- I wonder if that was just this audience or whether it is a trend to which I should attend if I ever do another one of these. Now, though, I can focus on finishing some of my own projects, and possibly even tackling the sweater D#2 chose at Ladybug Knitting (pattern and yarn) when we were on the Cape this summer.
I have some pictures of our table and will post them tomorrow. Right now I am on duty, far from my camera cable.
Tomorrow evening --D#1's class play. Tuesday evening: residential staff meeting. Wednesday: can't even remember what. Thursday: final meeting of my evening class (which means that their final papers are coming in ...). Friday: on duty til Sunday midnight.
The perfect song comes to mind:
I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.
Thanks guys, as always -- that's just right.
ETA: D#2 spent most of the afternoon in the dorm with one of my advisees, and then stuck around to have takeout dinner and go to Sunday chapel (I knew the gospel choir was on tonight and thought she'd like it). So after the group (a real mix of the 4 grades plus a couple of faculty) sang some rockin' spirituals and we'd headed back out into the cold I asked her if she'd enjoyed herself. "Oh yes," she said, "the music was nice, but Mommy the women's outfits and their SHOES ..." Attagirl.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Oops, it's December
Sorry about that. It's been a little busy around here.
Our Thanksgiving was very nice --food and company -- and now there are vats of turkey broth in the freezer to remind us. Even the cats behaved; Dobby and Sirius tolerated a lot of attention, and Fleur gracefully absented herself from the mayhem. The only untoward incident was the dishwasher vomiting water all over the floor Thursday night, but even that thoughtful appliance waited to have its issues 'til it was on the third load of the evening so the clean up wasn't so bad.
Lots of knitting -- craft-fair-related (baby hats) and secret knitting on the skull scarf. I wish I could see the design developing, as I'm nervous about the pattern. It's one of those scenarios where the directions don't make sense and you knit along slavishly following them anyway and hoping it'll all work out okay. I have noticed that this does tend to happen to me with a certain kind of pattern chart, and if I knew more educational theory I might be able to discern something useful about myself as a learner. The best I've been able to do is force myself to remember that in most instances, when I do exactly what the pattern says, no matter whether it makes sense to me or not, it ususally works out. We won't discuss the exceptions.
As far as the fair knitting is concerned, I think I *have* achieved a good balance of knitting up stash yarn and buying some colors that ought to go well at this time of year (Cascade 220 in "Christmas Red" from Stitch House, forsooth). One of my fellow swim parents bought some fingerless gloves practically off my needles the other day, so I hope that's a good sign.
Twelve school days until winter break. Two more meetings of my evening class. Craft fair Sunday.
I'll be back --but it might not be 'til Sunday night.
Our Thanksgiving was very nice --food and company -- and now there are vats of turkey broth in the freezer to remind us. Even the cats behaved; Dobby and Sirius tolerated a lot of attention, and Fleur gracefully absented herself from the mayhem. The only untoward incident was the dishwasher vomiting water all over the floor Thursday night, but even that thoughtful appliance waited to have its issues 'til it was on the third load of the evening so the clean up wasn't so bad.
Lots of knitting -- craft-fair-related (baby hats) and secret knitting on the skull scarf. I wish I could see the design developing, as I'm nervous about the pattern. It's one of those scenarios where the directions don't make sense and you knit along slavishly following them anyway and hoping it'll all work out okay. I have noticed that this does tend to happen to me with a certain kind of pattern chart, and if I knew more educational theory I might be able to discern something useful about myself as a learner. The best I've been able to do is force myself to remember that in most instances, when I do exactly what the pattern says, no matter whether it makes sense to me or not, it ususally works out. We won't discuss the exceptions.
As far as the fair knitting is concerned, I think I *have* achieved a good balance of knitting up stash yarn and buying some colors that ought to go well at this time of year (Cascade 220 in "Christmas Red" from Stitch House, forsooth). One of my fellow swim parents bought some fingerless gloves practically off my needles the other day, so I hope that's a good sign.
Twelve school days until winter break. Two more meetings of my evening class. Craft fair Sunday.
I'll be back --but it might not be 'til Sunday night.
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