Spring. Yeahhhh.

It’s been beautiful here lately. Bright sunshine, temperatures veering wildly from the 70s to the 30s and back again. Snow one week, drought and fires the next. Oh, spring. You schizophrenic mistress, how I love and fear you.

I’ve been doing some knitting here and there. This is finally finished:

(click to biggify)

Yes, it’s the Sewanee I’ve been working on…all this past summer, fall and winter. Some projects have gotten in the way (hello Giftmas – I see you there) as well as things going on here. But it’s done. Sewanee is a beautiful shawlette pattern by a talented fiber artist. I’d definitely make it again, maybe with a slightly finer yarn. This is almost the last of the black alpaca I spun last year. Despite being ripped out, ripped off the needles more than once, and reknitted many times, the yarn’s held up well. I’m happy with it.

I’ve also started another toy, a knitted one this time. I tend to make more crocheted toys and more knitted garments, but this looks like a great pattern. I’ll show you when there’s more to show.

Dad Goth is away again; another multi-week business trip, another couple thousand frequent flyer miles. Plus a much more sane, stable mom…

Snowpocalypse: or how you know it’s spring in CO

Since there’s nothing to show this time, how about a little summer?

In a possibly futile effort to become more organized/save what little is left of my marriage and family, I’ve been making to-do lists for the weekdays. It worked pretty well last week while Dad Goth was away. The jury’s still out on this week – even though almost all the list got done, including a blog post (ahem).

We were supposed to have a family (well, Baby Bat’s family anyway) visit this weekend. Unfortunately, there was a Snowpocalypse predicted for our area, and everything to do with school events was called off for Saturday. Baby Bat had a DI tournament scheduled, and her original mother and grandmother were supposed to come. Everything was postponed for another weekend, the snow never really materialized (sorry, but 8”=/= 24”, no matter who’s doing the predicting), and we had another exciting weekend.

I’ve been doing some embroidery in addition to knitting this week. Most of what I’m working on isn’t quite ready, and cross-stitch can be boring or confusing if it’s not ready. At least that’s my story. I’ve made a little progress on my Sewanee shawl. Fingers crossed that Annabel Lee doesn’t try to “help” any more – it would make the 5th time I’ve had to rip back to the beginning of the lace pattern. I’m happy with how my alpaca is holding up, but I’d rather not test its limits.

Birthday Time

Last week was Baby Bat’s birthday. We went out to dinner at her favorite Chinese restaurant in the snow that night and missed a couple of phone calls. Various family members, including BB’s mother. First mother/birthmother/mother. Like that.

It’s a big deal whenever she calls, especially on birthdays for obvious reasons. We finally got to talk to her last night, which was pretty great. She and her mother are coming up here for a visit next weekend – we’ll see how it goes. It’s Baby Bat’s Destination Imagination tournament, so things will be a little…hectic. Yeah.

Her party was this past weekend. Our local indoor Putt-putt, pizza, movies, ice cream cake – the works. Most of the people invited were kids she almost never gets to see. So many around here are leaving for charter schools and “academies”, and they all seem to be Baby Bat’s friends. Anyway, the girls seemed to have a good time and didn’t destroy most of the house. And now…there’s an 11 year old in the house. Send help, or absinthe.

I have done a little knitting lately:

They’re Zombie Socks (Ravelry link), and they’re allegedly for Baby Bat. She’s not a big sock wearer, so we’ll see.

Happy Damn January

Oh, January. Your near lack of any holidays (save the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, and I find that more of a somber remembrance than a WooHoo Holiday thing), ramping up of work/school responsibilities and freakish damn weather have been a constant disappointment for the past 13 years.

Some people use January as the start of new habits: exercising, eating better, things like that. For the past few years, I’ve been using January as the start of new learning opportunities. I talked about it a little on this post, and I’ve started some things. For example, I’ve finally unearthed my Russian textbook from ages ago, and have been using that with the Russian podcast to help things along.

I’ve been doing some of this, too:

The top one is a cross-stitch chart that I made with Photostitch. The bottom is from an Urban Threads pattern. Neither one is finished, but I’m still slogging away on them.

I’m also restarting Burtonesque with some different yarn. Since nobody was interested in the red 3-ply, I’m using at least one skein for it along with the black alpaca I’d already planned on using. I’m almost up to the end of the ribbing again…

Monsters That Take Away Fear

I like monsters. Especially the cute and cuddly kind. My sister and I grew up on the Sesame Street/Muppet monsters, my daughter just adores the Monsters, Inc. monsters, and I cannot pass by the Ugly Dolls at our favorite record store. I really like them.

Last month, a horrific tragedy happened in Newtown, CT. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare – your child goes to school in the morning and never comes home. The outpouring of love and support over the past few weeks since has been nice to see.

Not long ago, a group began on Ravelry to make monsters for the children who survived this tragedy. It’s really taken off; this morning, it even made the front page of Craftzine. Not the scary kind, like the asshole who turned the lives of everyone in that small town upside down and backwards. This kind:

Meet Penelope. She was created by Rebecca Danger as Penelope, the Empathetic Monster. Penelope is awesome, and incredibly quick to make even for me. She’s already winging off to her penultimate destination. I hope that the person who receives her gets love and cuddles from her, and that she keeps the real monsters from invading their dreams.

Howdy, 2013

This year, I’ve got a couple of goals in mind. Those will last roughly…a month, six weeks if I’m lucky. But this is my equivalent of putting my shoes and running jacket on and heading out of the house.

This year, I’d really like to try something new with my spinning.
Like core spinning. There’s a bag full of some lovely hand-dyed mohair curls that I bought at Taos ages ago. The only thing that’s been stopping me from trying it is fear I’ll fsck up those lovely curls and have nothing when I’m done.

On the other hand, it’s not going to get any easier the longer the bag sits in my stash.

I’d also like to be a little more…disciplined in my projects.
Disciplined = finishing what I start, in a reasonable time frame. 2+ years on a sweater, for example – probably not a reasonable time frame. I would never have something unfinished for that long myself. /walks away, whistling innocently

I would also like to learn a new craft/skill this year.
For example, another language. I’ve been wanting to learn Russian or Lithuanian for my own personal reasons, so I’ve downloaded some podcasts and want to give this a fair shot. Once upon a time, I audited a beginning Russian class at the college where my dad taught, but that was a very, very long time ago.

Also, possibly work a little harder on my electronics skills. It would be fun to make a jacket or bag with blinky things or a solar charger. But it would also be hella fun to realize my long-held dream of building a decent audio amplifier and/or receiver. Maybe even fix my granddad’s old tube radio into working order, and not just a pretty shell that holds a “proper” radio.

And finally, there’s this.
Bobdammit, but Neil Gaiman always manages to make me tear up whenever I read his New Year’s Wishes. And this one seems so foreign and daunting to me. But what the hell.

And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it’s joy we’re looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.”

Maybe.

Good riddance, 2012

This year, the good was fairly heavily overshadowed by the bad.

Baby Bat’s best friend moved away this spring, roughly seven weeks before the end of school. Abruptly. She and her BFF were pretty heartbroken. Her family also made the decision not to allow sleepovers – at least not with Baby Bat.

On a related front, I’m both cautiously optimistic and a little concerned about having her at her school next year. I’ve started the application process for a STEM charter school next year – Baby Bat loves math and is becoming interested in engineering.

My family has always been a little older than most. Mom is an only child, and there are only a few of her relatives left. One of them has had a series of strokes; she can’t read any more, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for her to live alone. For somebody who spent her life as a music teacher and school librarian, it’s a tough way to go.

Then there’s the whole trying to hold onto the shreds of my marriage thing, which I won’t go into any more. Not until things are resolved one way or another.

Enough about all that…I’ve been doing some Giftmas knitting.

This year, we went to MN for Thanksgiving. Baby Bat had a whole week off this year, and it’s been quite a while since all three of us were there. BB had a blast with her cousins; they’re 5 months older than her, but they’re all in the same grade at school and get along pretty well. I brought a pair of my favorite socks along. One of my nieces fell in love with them and had to have a pair too. Here they are.
(click to embiggen)

Yes, it’s another pair of Hwaet! socks. I did this pair a lot more quickly than the first pair – but not enough to get them out by Xmas. My family is used to their presents not being there on time unless it’s a gift card. I really do like this pattern. My favorite thing about it is the heel and gusset – it’s small and doesn’t break up the lines of text. Plus it’s quick to do, for a heel.

I also made a pair for her other cousin (they’re twins, but not identical in any way). They’re Horse Socks. (click to embiggen)

A loves horses. Loves them. And pink. I got those done in roughly a week, including an overnight blocking. Still not in time for Xmas, but they are done. I still have an Irish Hiking Scarf to go, but that’s going to wait. Got something else to work on first, and I’m pretty sure my sister will understand.

One more day of 2012 to go after today. I won’t miss it.