Ugh

I am approximately twenty rows away from finishing the final chart of my shawl .... and I'm freaking out because I think I have read the chart wrong. I know in my heart that lace on the needles looks like crap and I shouldn't expect it to resemble the beautiful blocked versions on Ravelry but I may have to put aside all of my grading and all of my project folders to finish this & get it off the needles so I can block it. Then I'll either be thrilled/relieved/proud or I'll be doing something drastic to bemoan my knitting hubris in taking on this project in the first place.

Happy Alaska Day

Alaska was admitted as the 49th state on this date. No, I didn't know that off the top of my head, but I was looking for a non-Happy New Year title for the blog post and this is what you get. Not, of course, that I don't wish everyone a happy new year, because I do, but it's the 3rd of the month and that just seemed a little too late.

We're back in school today after a break that didn't really feel like one. R's father died on the 15th of December. It was not unexpected and it was a blessing to have him go peacefully, but that sort of life change definitely causes rearranging of the personal universe for everyone even remotely connected to the person. The next day we learned that an 8th grader at my school had died very suddenly and mysteriously. Elder daughter knew her, but not well -- however. More universe shifting and several sleepless nights for me. We had a nice jaunt to southwest Florida with my family but the rest of the break felt oddly disconnected. We did a family movie marathon and watched ALL of the Harry Potter movies, in order -- that's an accomplishment, right?

I've decided, on the crafting front, to try to power through the bum elbow thing and just knit as much as I want. If I can't straighten my arm afterward, so be it. I finished another Ishbel shawl, this time in BMFA Woobu, which just feels WONDERFUL. I'm going to have a hard time giving this one away. It isn't blocked yet, but I still think "yum" every time I see it or pet it ....

I also made a pair of mittens for my nephew (I hope they fit him):

and several monsters (I'll have to add these photos later, as they're still on my phone).

On the needles now, as part of a swap challenge,Vermillion, in Madelinetosh sock in the Lichen colorway, along with several other unfinished items ... my crafting goal for the next month is to deal with those UFOs.

As for New Year's resolutions -- how's "treasure every second"?

An unexpected moment of silence

I have been running around like crazy since school started in September. While I love everything I've been doing, I just had sixty seconds of sitting still and being quiet... and I am so filled with relief that I might start crying any second. Even lying on the chiropractor's table it is my wont to make lists. I don't know how I just achieved that complete brain silence (maybe it's actually dementia or something and I should not be so excited about it?) but it felt great.

Today I've made pumpkin bread pudding ( a purely indulgent act, since I'm the only one who likes it), sourdough bread, and nanaimo bars. I've been to Michaels, with Younger Daughter (which means that I spent twice as much as I intended going in). I've been to the supermarket to get some things I forgot yesterday when I was at Whole Foods. I took the girls out to breakfast, since my school celebrates the beginning of every break by reminding the residential faculty that this isn't really home (in other words, testing the fire alarms early in the morning). And now I have had a moment of quiet.

Time to give thanks!

Long Division

I've been sitting with younger daughter for the past half hour while she works doggedly at her math homework. As a math teacher, I'm both pleased and horrified at the work she has to do.

The Good:

• Someone has taught her to use big 0.5 inch graph paper to line up the problem
• She has amazing notes from class on why you need to know division, and its relationship to multiplication
• She has five steps to follow

The Bad:

• She has twenty problems to do, along with all of her other homework
• She's just finding quotients, and the remainders can apparently go hang
• she doesn't really understand what she's doing

This is a child who is doing her level best to produce what her teachers want. She doesn't really understand what the process is about, or what is happening with the numbers, or what she's actually accomplishing, other than completing her homework and checking that task off the list.

How is this learning? Or, where is the benefit to my child? It isn't intellectual growth as I understand it, but I don't teach middle school. What am I missing?

That being said, I'm really pleased with her school today. Over the weekend she and her best/only friend had a playdate-gone-awry with lots of quarreling and misunderstanding. Younger daughter wrote a long e-mail to the adjustment counselor, who made time to write her back, meet with her today, call me, and to offer to sit down with both girls later in the week to help them find ways to disagree productively.

Two Years Later

And all of a sudden I'm thinking about blogging again. For a while, all my online downtime was going to Ravelry, then to Facebook (how many Words with Friends games can one person play at once?), with detours to HBOgo and Hulu (Game of Thrones, True Blood, Modern Family) .... and now that I am faced with a horrific Nov 21st deadline (of my own making, I freely admit) all of a sudden I found myself returning to the blog, and imagining new pictures here, and ... true, all of my former connections have no doubt moved on, but the question of whether anyone's listening doesn't seem to be enough to stop me from tentatively putting my toe back in these waters.

BMFA bliss and Clasica Coat

STR medium weight, in the Scottish Highlands colorway

Woobu, in the Stormy Weather colorway

Seduction, in the Thraven colorway

And my Clasica Coat [Ravelry link], in process ... Cascade Eco Wool in Espresso (I think) purchased at Stitch House Dorchester. The back is finished -- this is the left front, with a few more inches to go on the hood extension.

Life is crazy busy. But Thanksgiving's in sight!

In a Hurry But

while I'm not doing anything as complex as conducting a search for the perfect mitten pattern, I am eager to hear feedback from those who've used Blue Moon STR in its various different weights ... because my fabulous parents gave me a BMFA gift certificate for my birthday (it's in October, don't even ask) which I can't wait to use and the more user info I have the better. I don't know what I want to make, and it's going to be hard to get me off of the Raven clan colorways since I've been lusting after these for a long time (as Jocelyn knows full well) ... but, yes. Especially curious about the medium or heavyweight ...

Okay, now I'd really better go prepare for classes & meetings tomorrow .... and figure out what I'm going to wear to chapel (I'm on duty Sunday nights this fall and that means going to chapel. Dressed Up -- but not in stilettos like the girls in the dorm. No. )

ETA: my eco yarn cam for the clasica coat and I love it --more on that next time