Let the madness begin!

Today was my second day back at work full time. So far so good, except reading policy and bioethics papers for 4 hours in a row starts to make your eyes go blurry. The biggest bonus was finding out that the center closes for two weeks over the holidays. Enforced vacation time and no more worries about juggling the kids being out of school, priceless. Crazy evenings trying to catch up with kids, make dinner or walk the dog (Juan and I switch off), supervise homework, then violin practice , make the next days lunches etc. etc. not so much. A balance will be found!

I can finally post a picture of my latest finished object, the last swap in an almost year long swap with the members of my former knit and spin group in Illinois. This hat has Sarah written all over it!

Sofia looks pretty cute in it too, although the light could be better. I spun the yarn and then knit the hat and felted it. The red flower is from a sweater Sarah gave me long ago and the black velvet button was taken from a 1940's coat dress I no longer wear.

I've been sewing quite a bit and have everything to make this (I was the happy recipient of the one pictured, my last swap gift from Dorie. Ironically I bought Lotta Jansdotter's book the day before I got the bag, I now plan to make one for my mom.) and this. Both of them holiday gifts. Sofia made a place mat for herself from the Lotta Jansdotter book and I made this backpack.


My plan was to show it on my back, but it makes me look like a linebacker. Note to self: much longer straps next time. This backpack will go to some lucky kid.

Dog days

We got back just in time for the real dog days of summer. We also got a real dog, a true boon for sweating it out on our twice daily walks. I think this is probably the best non-prescription anti-depressant. My mood since getting her, no matter hundred degree temps and plus 80 percent humidity, is 100 percent better than before we left for the East Coast. My walking partner is pretty cute too.

Gracie

While away I finished Picovoli I took pictures of me in it, however, Mica, who has been lobbying for me to give it to her won out as the public model. This was decided after the kids both said, after looking at the pics I took of myself, "You look SO much better in person!"

Picovoli

Other finished items include a skein I spun up for my friend Drew. I neglected to take pictures of it, but you can find him documenting its transformation here.

If you're a weather news junkie you undoubtably heard about our tropical storm, downgraded to depression. Nonetheless one of the entrances to my neighborhood yesterday was completely underwater. There were a lot of leaves in the pool this morning.

A Texas kind of day....

My first outing today was to pick up my meat order from Paidom. I saw Staci there waiting for her box.

What would you decide to do if you were in Texas on a day where the heat index is over 100? Go to a State Park, of course. This guy was not shy...

Immature Black Crowned Night Heron

These were sharing the same bush. Dewberries are another Texas treat I didn't know I was missing. They are a bit smaller than blackberries and I think sweeter.

I finished Veronik Avery's Prairie Tunic last night it just needs to be blocked. I'm also in the middle of helping Sofia make a doll for a swap. I'm amazed at how adept she is with scissors and she draws very well. We'll see how the construction comes together. I'm not worried about her sewing, she is very good on the machine...my construction skills are the concern!

I also finally finished spinning up almost 500yds of incredibly soft merino superwash for the ubiquitous Clapotis. I just need to dye it first. Last night I cast on for the Bella Blouse. Kudos to all my knitting compatriots who enjoy lace, but I HATE it. What was I thinking when I decided to buy yarn to make this top? It is possible that I may turn the border into something cabled. I have done hats before with a cabled border that is then picked up. Maybe I just need to get through something I don't really want to...isn't that supposed to be character building?

Gotta fly!

Coopcopia

Every Wednesday I spend the first 6 hours of my day at my co-op job. Then I come home with a box full of beautiful produce and start dreaming up all the wonderful things I will make with the bounty. Not pictured are the Portobellos that I sauteed with spinach and topped with mozzarella, parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil for dinner.

Some of my earliest memories are of co-ops; Glut and Beautiful Day, in Maryland, to be exact. It was the early 70s and my mom even started her very own produce co-op with some other women she knew. As a kid I sometimes found the co-op funky; all the bulk food came out of barrels (sometimes complete with weevils), the cheese was bulk cut and sometimes moldy and there was just a smell, a very special co-op smell that existed nowhere else. That smell means home to me now. When I first walked into the building of my previous co-op home the smell took me back to my childhood! The funny thing is my parents were not even remotely considered hippies food was just very important to my mother and she certainly passed that on to me.

My new co-op is very different from the last, but there is still a real sense of community and generosity of knowledge about all kinds of things; community resources, gardening, cooking, health....If I need to know something about anything chances are someone there has the answer or at least the map to more information. I'm going to be taking on some more hours there coordinating and organizing volunteers starting next week. I talked to my mom on the phone tonight and she told me that she never hears me happier than when I am cooking, baking or talking about food. I think she is right.

Something else that makes me happy is my new wheel and its bobbin capacity. This is my first spun up skein all 309 yards of it! The wool itself is nothing special I didn't want to practice on a new wheel with luxe wool, but I am very happy with how it turned out.

Now I'm awaiting 5 pounds of Merino superwash from my friend Halyna's farm in NY.

My Knitpicks package arrived today with the yarn for this:

Veronik Avery's Prairie Tunic from Interweave Knits Spring 2006

My friend E. will be 40 in June and I promised her this for her birthday. I just may have to make another for myself. Veronik Avery is probably my very favorite knitwear designer.

Here and now...

Things have been a little rough lately. I'm job hunting, again. This time I'm holding out until I can find something that I really want to do. Difficult since I put off my own work experience over myriad moves (5 times in 11 years) and hence my resume doesn't look so consistent. In the meantime I'm keeping busy and working one day a week at my co-op as cashier. There's no glory there, but it is an excellent way to meet like minded people.

The view from here? The Cedar Waxwings came back today. We counted over one hundred. Perfect timing as this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count.



Micaela had a birthday party to go to this afternoon. I made this messenger bag for the birthday girl. Started it last night and finished it a half an hour before the party started.



We got lucky in a way with this move. Juan's cousin and family moved here the same week we did. Ali and the kids came over this afternoon and I gifted her with this Everest Vest I finished this week (from Interweave Knits). It fit her perfectly.



Tomorrow we're going to see Bridge to Terabithia. I read it to the kids this week and cried just as hard as I did when I first read it in fourth grade. I had the honor of interviewing the author, Katherine Paterson, while in elementary school. Some friends and I started a school paper and she generously agreed to let me interview her by phone so I could print it in our fledgling paper. I still remember how she treated me like a true journalist and not just some kid.

Around the dinner table last night talk turned to death and what happens to people's bodies. Morbid dinner conversation, true, but I am glad to have death out there in the open as it is part of life and too often, in my opinion, glossed over in our society. I think that Paterson's book, published in 1977, helped bring topics previously considered not kid friendly into children's literature and that is a good thing.