Saturday, December 31, 2016

Stash Acquistion Saturday: Last One

So I have one lovely skein to add...my last yarn purchase of the year (I do still have a few clubs)...anyway this is my Favorite Colors by Knitmona...and it is my favorite colors...and a self stripe!!!



Today I am doing some cleaning up of the yarnz room...and some organizing of yarnz and projects for the new year....was going to the movies, but didn't fall asleep until about three and have a wicked headache this morning, so that was a no go....

Hope you all have a wonderful new year's eve...I'm usually in bed by that time....See you next year!!!

Throwing this up if anyone wants to play along...


Friday, December 30, 2016

Wrap-Up Friday!!!! Last One of 2016

Good morning!  Although this one linkup has not been as successful as Wednesdays...I will continue it in 2017....

Although my crafting mojo went away...I did finish a few things...

I didn't take pictures, but I made each of my students either a bell necklace or a pair of bell earrings....I also made some earrings for a friend of mine and a couple pair for myself...
I made my friend a pair of green Christmas ones not in the picture....I've worn the gold sparkly on top and the green and gold....The bell earrings in this picture are fancier than the 8 pairs I made students...they only had the one smaller bell with beads on them...I have to make another 2 pair...because two girls got necklaces and really wanted earrings...I had tried to get a count of which girls had pierced ears...but I missed a few...

I completed my Pussyhat...not sure if I showed it

 By request I made a couple of mug cozies...
 Then yesterday I decided maybe some crochet would kickstart my mojo...and started on this...kind of looked like an Ood for awhile....
 But, nope...I made a Princess Leia...because it had to be done...the backdrop is the last birthday card I received from my dad...it used to play the Imperial March, but I think the battery died...

She was my first sci-fi female icon.....and then her Mom, Debbie Reynolds passed and I was named for a character Debbie Reynolds played.....yes, I am a puddle of emotions!

How was your holiday week of crafting?  Anything wrapped up before the New Year????





Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Stitch Along Wednesday: Week 52

Welcome to the last one of the year!  I hope you have had fun playing along!  I will be continuing into the next year...I'm going to change the picture...and maybe add a thing or two to the posts, we'll see....

So although I have put in a row or two here and there....I've really had no creative mojo for the past week or so...I WANT to work on things, but don't know WHAT I want to work on...bored by all my WIPs, but don't want to start anything new because of so many WIPs!  I've wound some yarn, but haven't done anything with it yet...sigh.....

I did do a Christmas Eve cast on, but the yarn took a LONG time to wind.....
The yarn is Mothy and the Squid in Candy Cane

I cast this on, the first night of The Walking Dead season and forgot about it....This is a Wurm hat...

 Today I go to my rheumatologist for my three month check-in, yesterday I had three cavities filled and Friday I have an eye doctor appointment....such a fun "vacation" week! 

How was everyone's holiday?  I didn't get any crafting goodness, but did get a gift certificate for my LYS.....

I will have a Finished Objects Friday post up this week....see you then!


Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Stitch Along Wednesday: Week 50

I'm not playing this week...but you all go ahead...I'll catch up in a few days...



Saturday, December 17, 2016

Stash Acquisition Saturday

Good morning!  It is a snowy, very cold morning here in Connecticut!  This may be my last stash post off the year, or not....I just did some shopping on etsy yesterday, so I think I may have a few more skeins come in before the end of the year.  I don't plan on going anywhere shopping, but who knows?  But looking around my stash room...I'm pretty full up at the moment and need to use some of the stash I have....

So I posted this one the other day
My two MadColor clubs this month were two of my favorite female characters...Charlie from The Road So Far club (Supernatural) and Black Widow

I don't think I ever posted the yarn I bought on Black Friday in NYC...It wasn't too much...
I got the 21 Color Slouch Kit from Woolyn in Brooklyn

Knitted Wit in Glacier on Targhee Shimmer DK....This will be a hat...
Into the Whirled Meriadoc on Pakokku Sock because greys and purples..

That was it!  I did buy a few more things, but they were gifts....
The Girl Power bag is mine...but the skein in the middle is a Molly Girl I gifted in Instagram's "Getyouryarnwishesgranted...it glows in blacklight!  Pretty cool!

So on Small Shop Saturday, I went to my LYS up the street....the four basic colors are for me to make some gifts...the green and red skein of Done Roving in Christmas Cactus was gifted....although I just finished using my own skein yesterday!   I shared previously the little lamb skein/hat combo I bought...
Changing Channels from The Road So Far Supernatural club


Roald Dahl club Frogscottie Juice by Mother of Purl


 Roald Dahl club Whizpop by Handmade by Kate


 Jessica Jones from BAMF club from MadColor


LLamicorns by Slipped Stitch Studios


 Snow and Christmas mini set by Mothy and the Squid


 Candy Cane Gum by Mothy and the Squid


 The Dragonfly-inspired Gilmore Girls by Quaere Fibre


 Lane-inspired Gilmore Girls by Quaere Fibre


 Have Yourself a Tweedy Christmas by Groovy Hues


 I Just Like Smilin' Smilin' is My Favorite! by Groovy Hues
Bueller, Bueller, Bueller Random Fandom by Nerd Girl


I think that is it...at least, it's all the new yarn pictures on my camera....I have a headache and it's time for breakfast....share if you have some nice new stash!




















Friday, December 16, 2016

Wrap Up Friday

So I finished my Pussyhat yesterday.  I figured I'd get a lot of crafting done, since I'm home per doctor's orders...yeah that didn't happen...the medicine I'm on makes it kind of hard....anyway, going to work on some more things today...so we'll see how it goes...

Not the best lighting...we don't have great lighting in this apartment, which is why I take the majority of the pictures outside...it's too freakin' cold to go outside!

You can see my parrot, Baloo, trying to figure out what I am doing!  He is a white-capped Pionus and he is about twenty years old!

How about you?  Any finishes?





Thursday, December 15, 2016

GILMORE GIRLS GIVEAWAY

Well I am home for the next two days...doctor's orders....I started wheezing with the coughing, which has NEVER happened before!  I'm on a pump medication that makes me
I have to take it every four hours....and with the extreme cold coming in and the fact that my students are "germ factories" (my doctor's words) I am home.  I went back to school and spent two hours doing lesson plans for two days....it's more work to be out than to be in school sick...I was out Tuesday because of a bad sore throat and my students made some VERY poor choices....since I really couldn't talk yesterday.....I couldn't yell at them...but told them, quietly, how disappointed and ashamed I was of them...and that it made me want to cry....I think it got the point across...fingers crossed....

So I'm up, reading Instagram and catching up on blogs....Instagram is great for giveaways....so I found an Gilmore Girls Giveaway...you can read about it on Very Shannon's blog, but the giveaway is on her Instagram page. 

I may add more to this post...if I find more giveaways....


Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Stitch Along Wednesday: Week "I Have No Idea"

Sorry I didn't post the link last week...I forgot....this week not much to post...I did start a hat, but haven't worked on it the past couple of days...been hurting and with the cold coming in, it's not going to get any better...it is what it is....I'm grateful when I'm feeling well....and I'm also back on antibiotics for sinus/ear infections and was home today sick...I slept pretty much all day...oh also bought some LuLaRoe leggings...but that was it...

This may not be for everyone...but it's a "pussyhat" from the PussyHatProject.  No I don't use that word, yes there is a good reason they use it...you can read about it on their page...the pattern is cute and I believe in the cause...

My leggings! Robots!
Yarn from my two MadColor clubs arrived yesterday...Two of my FAVORITE BadA$$ ladies!!!!!

I also spent some time winding yarn for three projects...these are the first four colors of the 21 Color Slouch from Blue Sky Fibers.  I bought the kit on Black Friday in NYC....

Sp what are you up to? Ferocious gift making?  I thought I'd make some things this year..but may not happen...







Thursday, December 1, 2016

Wrap Up Friday

Good evening folks!  Posting on Thursday for a Wrap Up Friday....

I only have one finish...a pair of thumbless mitts for little Lucy....I bought the kit at a farm stand during the Fiber Festival of New England....the yarn was from a sheep called Henry...
I hope you had a great week and a wonderful weekend....

I was on my way to school this morning and my knee started getting shooting pains through it...so bad I started to cry...so I called in for a substitute...I was almost there, so I kept going to set my classroom up for a sub....by the time I got there I was having an emotional breakdown...I couldn't stop crying...it's the first time I cried since getting the diagnosis, and I know it is not as bad as getting a different type of diagnosis...but the reality is this is my life from now on...I'm only 48 and in constant pain...it sucks...I'm better now...came home, watched the rest of season 1 of The Crown, took a nap....but my hands are affected, so that is gong to slow down my crafting....I did order some compression gloves today...I'm hoping those will help...

Okay...BIG SIGH....I'm done....does anyone have something to link up this week?



Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Stitch Along: Week 48

Hello there!  Not much to report here....I finished the little thumbless mitts, so I'll post those on Friday...other than that, really haven't worked on much, just a few rows here and there.  We have rain today and for the next couple of days, woke up feeling no pain...first time in months...didn't last long...tonight I ache everywhere...we'll see how tomorrow is....

So do you have anything to post...link on up...



Monday, November 28, 2016

A Nazi Legacy: What Our Fathers Did

So I have Netflix for at least a month...I signed up for the free trial so I could watch Gilmore Girls....but I have been searching around for other things to watch...watched Stranger Things, caught up on seasons 4 and 5 of Longmire, among a few movies.  Tonight I was hunting for Poldark (so not easy to find certain shows, if you have any hints on that)  Never found Poldark, but ran across this documentary.

I have read and watched a lot of things about the Holocaust, mainly from the Jewish point of view.  I have no family connection to it, that I know of (although my grandfather did fight).  It's just a part of history that has always interested me.

This documentary was fascinating.  Three men are involved:  Philippe Sands, a British human rights lawyer of Jewish descent, who lost the majority of his family to the Holocaust, Niklas Frank, the son of "The Butcher of Poland," and Horst von Wachter, the son of another high ranking German official.

Obviously, Mr. Sands is very emotional, at times...especially at the site of the massacre of his family and the ruins of the family's synagogue.  Mr. Frank wrote a book denouncing his father that caused some controversy in Germany.  Mr. von Wachter, on the other hand, refuses to link his father to the thousands of murders that happened under his leadership.

I felt sorry for Mr. von Wachter, the other two kept trying to push him to acknowledge who his father really was, but he resisted.  Mr. Frank went so far as to say that he thinks Horst is a Nazi and that this was the end of their friendship.  These men are in the 70's and have known each other since they were children.

Mr. Frank, although saying at one point he had a happy childhood, was very bitter towards both of his parents.  He didn't seem to have had any sort of happy, healthy relationship with them and credits his nurse with anything that is good within him....

Mr. von Wachter had a happy childhood.  His parents loved each other and their children.  It is hard for him to reconcile who he knew as his father and who is the monster in history.  Plus his father is still considered to be a hero in some circles (some Ukrainians and present-day Nazis)

Mr. Frank's father was caught and tried at Nuremberg and hanged.  Mr. von Wachter's was not...he went into hiding and died in 1949.  This gives Horst the excuse that he was never found guilty. 

When they were at the burnt out synogague, Horst stated that he refuses to get stuck in the past and saw the synogague as what it could become in the future.  I understand why it is so hard for him to admit who his father was, but that denial can also be dangerous. 

So interesting to see how our personal experiences (their childhoods) can influence how we see things, watch it if you can...



Sunday, November 27, 2016

A Year of Projects: Week 48

I have to really thank ReneeAnne at Confessions of a Yarn Addict, because I'd never know what week I was on without her!  I skipped a week again! I don't remember why...maybe because I really had nothing new to report....This week I have finished another hat...I posted about it on Friday.  Today, I think I'm going to work on those tiny mittens for my friend's daughter...also bought another one of these...I have the puppy, the giraffe, the bear and now the lamb!

I went into NYC on Friday...my district provides a bus every year..we just have to donate an unwrapped toy....for the second year I took my yarny BFF with me...she wanted to go to Brooklyn General Store, as she follows them on Instagram.  I had been there a couple years ago....I didn't buy anything there (but it was where I bought my first Zauberball on the previous visit).  It's a great store with some awesome yarn and the atmosphere is fun, very rustic...but I just kept looking and then putting the yarn back, as I had something like it at home!  She bought a book.  But we did visit Woolyn, also in Brooklyn and I did purchase several things there, as they carried lots of local yarn and they had a kit I was looking to buy.....I'll post them on Saturday...I didn't take any pictures!  But it was a great store!  They've only been open for three months.

I also visited my local yarn shop for Small Business Saturday...and did some shopping!

Completed Projects:
The Dork Socks (technically 2015) 12/31/15
Screw You Rainbows socks (1/6/16)
Quick Pink cowl (1/7/16)
Yoda (1/10/16)
Bulky Cowl (1/19/16)
Jacinta Capelet (2/28/16)        

Turtleneck Capelet #2 (3/31/16)      
Fortune's Shawlette (7/12/16) 
Irish Oak (6/19//16)    
 2 baby hats (7/27/16)  
Baby Rattle (8/4/16)   
Edgy Carol (8/7/16)
Plastic Bag Holder (8/14/16)  

Quick Cowl (10/2/16)  
Stopover (10/10/16)  
Raspberry Beret (10/14/16)
Glenn Lives (10/16/16)
Quick Pumpkin Hat (10/22/16)  
Reyna (10/23/16)  
Fun Circuits (11/8/16)
Skyping Beanie (11/11/16)
Christmas Skying (11/24/16)

Works In Progress:         
WIPS: Crochet:
Round Ripple: (Started 2006 (?) Aiden)
Around the World Afghan: (April 2010): about ¼ done
Sunrise Sunset Afghan: this has been hibernating awhile, 6 squares done.
Tis the Season (11/10/13)
Tabard Tunic (NW Diss 2/1/14)
 
Knit:
Learn to Knit Afghan: (started 2010): 3 squares done
Shark in the Woods (11/27/14)    

Vanilla fingerless mitts (12/25/15)    
Zombie Vixen mitts (10/17/15)
Garter Path Shawlette (5/30/16)
Swinging with Winkle (6/4/16)    
Meandering Top (5/20/16)
Multnomah (8/21/16)
Warm Neck (8/2/16) 

Lucy Mitts 
Bulky Cowl
 
Socks:
Kai-Mei: (April 2012)
Johnny's Socks (Jan 2013)  
Carlos and Arne socks (July 3 2015)
Espalier Socks (Jan 10, 2016)
Live Long and Prosper (4/14/16)
Spring is in the Air (2/16/16)
Autumn Zombie  

Vermont Zaubers

Scarves/Shawls:
Splashy Flowers: (May 2011)
Larry Stashbuster Scarf (2012)
Light in Shadows (1/14/14) 
Willow Fields (9/6/14) - ran out of yarn
My Shelly Valentine (2/10/16)

Bags:
Beach Bag: (started May 2010)  Just needs lining sewn in 

 KAL/CALs:
Fire and Blood (5/4/14)  
Outlander MKAL (8/8/14)  
Downton Abbey (1/4/15)
 
Misc:
Sunflower: (August 2012) Need a back and to felt 
 
Projects In Mind: Gifts/Charity: 
Hats for friend's babies (ongoing)
Hats for students (ongoing)
Kimberly Skye's tunic
Two Elsa doll/blanket things

Sweaters:
Test Pattern Sweater (in magazine)
Car Coat (in magazine)
Cowl Vest
 
Shawls/Scarves/Cowls 
Rockefeller
Wholehearted
West End Scarf  
Gathering Leaves
Alhambra
Petal Edge Scarf
Filippi Scarf 
Firefly Scarf 
Fraxinus 
Danube Cowl
Simple City
Fire and Ice
Leylines 
Holden Shawlette
Daybreak
Trellis Shawl
Bedford Springs Shawl
Brush Creek Cowlette  
Watershed  
Waterkant
The Brownstitch gradient
Leftie
Bigger on the Inside
Oeste  
Out of Gas  
Sweet Potato Twist  
Nefertem  
Falling Bobbins 
Danielle Shawl  
The Doodler
 
Hats and Mitts
Lace Kelly (soakbox)
Isabeau Mitts 
Hermione Hearts Ron
Nehalm Hat
Felicity
Stellar
Cabled Headband
Fetching  
Cayunga Hat and Mitts set
Preposterous
Ruffled hat and mitts
Evergreen Gloves
Sheepy Cuffs
Twisted Rib Mitts and Hat   
Transitional Color Mitts
Almond Comfit
Lady Violet's Dinner Gauntlets  
Wurm  
Autumn in Garrison
Baa-ble Hat

Socks:
Memento Mori
Rubus
Siren Socks
Savory Lace Socks
Autumn Flame
Firebird
Rescue Me, Chin Boy and Show Me the Stars
Twin peaks
Wizard of Oz socks
Black Widow's Socks
August Pocus
Waterkant 
Watermelon 
Monkey
Dalekamium 
Knit From Stash patterns
Dr. Who socks  
 
Bags:
Sarape Shopper

Friday, November 25, 2016

Black Friday Finishes

So I have two finishes this week, both hats, both the same pattern...

I made this hat for my nephew for school, in his school colors...
The red is actually much brighter....the pattern is Skyping Beanie by Halldora.  It's a free pattern...

I made his with a chunky yarn from WEBS called Valley Yarns....

Then I made this for me...
Same pattern, DK weight in "Oh Christmas Tree" from Andi's Pandies....I bought the pom pom at a store in Mass...I love this pattern!  So adaptable!

I'll be wearing this today in NYC, so if you want to pop onto my instagram feed, it'll pop up...we plan on hitting two yarn stores in Brooklyn....

Any other finishes out there?




Thursday, November 24, 2016

Happy Thanksgiving

It made me laugh....I know there are controversies around this holiday...and especially this year with everything going on in North Dakota and the pipeline....it's not a big holiday in our house...it's just the Hubs and me...he does the cooking, I usually craft.....sometimes we go out to his parents for a bit, sometimes not....my Mom is in Florida, my brother and sisters do their own thing with their families and in-laws....

I'm not feeling well...not only am I still achey, putting those craft plans in jeopardy, but I've also had an upset stomach since yesterday afternoon...

But I do want to wish everyone a happy day...and I hope you are surrounded with lots of family, friends and food....

I have written this on Facebook and on Instagram this morning and I'll re-post it here:

"I am grateful for my students. Days can be long and frustrating, but never boring! I am grateful for the morning hug I receive from HB and her concern for my health. I am grateful for the afternoon hugs I receive from CR and HM. I am grateful that these three girls are from three different cultures, all speak two languages, with two of them learning a third. I am grateful that these students are our future. They are wonderful and kind and care about others. I am grateful that I get to teach to these remarkable little people and share in their growth."

I was feeling a lot of love for my students this morning....