project 52: week 21

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.

Bright light on the city.

My new favorite sunset spot.

Taken just a little bit to the right of the picture above.

What's New?
Recently my walking-buddy and I stumbled upon another great sunset view on our weekly walk. There are many great viewpoints in Seattle, due to all of the hills that make up this city. We've been walking pretty regularly for months, but we usually stick to the same couple routes. Last Sunday we ventured off the regular path a bit and discovered a great viewpoint just as the sun was setting - we couldn't have timed it better if we tried. This weekend we're heading back to that spot with the hopes of another stunning view.

Currently Reading

• The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
• Water by Virginia Bergin

On the Needles
Since I didn't have the mental energy to start a new project, or to work on the complicated Geology shawl, I picked up my Hue Shift Afghan (which I began in late 2013) again and brought it to last week's knitting group. It's a simple, mindless knit. The blanket is a series of mitered squares knit up into four panels which will then be sewn together and finished with a boarder. The beauty of it is that each panel, while consisting of 25 individual squares, is knit up together in one piece. Basically after a square you keep stitches on the needle, pick up new stitches, and continue knitting. So the only seaming will be the four large panels. I have one panel complete, and I'm almost finished with the second.

Looking Forward To

1. Submitting my ProCert tonight
2. Astronomy meet & greet

project 52: week 13

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.

Winter gifts for my niece and nephews.

Afternoon sunlight in my science classroom (we're learning how to make microscope slides).

What's New?
This past week has been rough. I've been burning the candle at both ends - spending too much time at work (both with meetings and general prepping), along with an increasing sense of frustration at the terrible events happening around the country. Amid all the negative, unproductive, victim-blaming, and generally unhelpful dialogue on the internet I came across this article that deals with the science of how our brains perceive race. The scientist in me finds it fascinating, of course, but more importantly the article sheds light on what to do about unintentional racism in our brains. I'm willing to admit that I have unintentional racism (I think we all do, to be quite honest), as long as there exists strategies to combat it. Otherwise it's just too depressing and overwhelming.

With all that's been going on, I'm especially looking forward to spending time with dear friends today at the Urban Craft Uprising. We're meeting for brunch and then spending some time browsing for gifts. I love seeing what creative people come up with, and using my few precious dollars to support crafty individuals instead of mega-corporations. It'll be a great time, I'm sure.

Currently Reading
Still working my way through Anne Rice's The Witching Hour. The only time I have for reading is right before bed, so it's taking me much longer than usual.

On the Needles
Working on hat #3 out of 4. My goal is to get them packaged and shipped (with the pj pants) by next weekend. Last year I waited much too long to send gifts and I ran into predictably long lines and higher prices at the post office.

Looking Forward To

1. my friends' yearly Swedish Christmas party

project 52: week 4

What is Project 52? It's a little like Project 365, but instead of the goal of posting a photo each day, I'll post a photo or two each week along with a short update. Really I just need a little push to post something every week. Since I like to keep this space positive, posting every week forces me to look back and find something shiny to talk about (ten points if you get that reference). Some weeks that's a piece of cake. Other weeks it's more of a challenge, and those weeks give this task true meaning.
 

Sit-spot at Green Lake.

Friday morning's sunrise. Sometimes running late has it's pleasures.

What's New?
Last weekend was rather similar to the one before, in that it entailed spending tons of quality time in the kitchen. I picked up eleventy-billion pounds of apples (granny smith and honeycrisp) from my favorite farmer for super cheap since they were 'seconds,' I turned them into a batch of applesauce, a batch of apple butter, and some apple pectin stock for next year's jams. I also made baked potato soup. Monday morning, as I dragged myself into the kitchen to make breakfast, I found myself admiring how well I cleaned up the kitchen after all that mess.

Work this past week, however, was quite opposite. There were many extra meeting this week, both before school and after school. Our evening parent night was this week, which always makes for a super long day for teachers. There were multiple interruptions and schedule changes. It was hectic and stressful, to say the least. The bright spot of my work-week was taking my two 6th grade classes outside on a short walking field trip to nearby Green Lake for a sit-spot. Thursday and Friday were beautiful days and the kids really enjoyed being outside, noticing nature as they made observations in their notebooks.

Currently Reading

• The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk
• The Midwife's Tale by Sam Thomas
• Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds by Lyanda Lynn Haupt
• The Origin of Satan: How Christians Demonized Jews, Pagans and Heretics by Elaine Pagels

On the Needles
Realizing that in 2 weeks I'll spend a week at camp with my students (including two nights of actual camping in tents), I quickly cast on for some simple legwarmers. I set aside my Wood Hollow Vest and learned how to use the magic loop method to knit both legwarmers at once. The pattern is designed to use every last scrap of a skein of Cascade 220, so knitting them at once seemed wise. I've only knit about 5 inches so far (they'll be about 14 inches long when finished), but I'm making steady progress.

Looking Forward To

1. the Northwest Tea Festival
2. Joe's birthday brunch at Endolyne Joe's

my Monday

This Monday threatened to swallow me whole, but I managed to make it through and find some sunshine at the end of my day.

On the drive home:

In my long-neglected garden:

 

a totem

 

What's New?

Joe and I have recently become members of the EMP/Sci-Fi museum. This past weekend we went to check out their Icons of Science Fiction exhibit, and were treated to a beautiful, sunny Spring day. Outside the EMP building I noticed this totem, which I hadn't seen before. Now, I don't visit the Seattle Center very often, so it was entirely possible that I had overlooked it, but I had a feeling it was new. Sure enough, it is the  totem memorial to a local native wood-carver who was tragically killed a couple years ago. It was installed a little over a year ago (which tells you how often I visit the Seattle Center). Here is a picture of it standing in front of the bizarre EMP building.

Currently Reading

• Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
• Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan

On the Needles
Sleeves, sleeves, sleeves. My purple and grey striped sweater still needs sleeves. This has just not been a good week for knitting. Also, the sun has been out much more than usual, the temperature is slowly rising, and so I'm not feeling the push to finish a long-sleeved wool sweater that I won't wear until Autumn.

Looking Forward To

1. more sunny, Spring days
2. taking a week off for Spring Break

beautiful sunny Seattle day

There wasn't a cloud in the sky.


It's been so chilly that many of the trees were still pretty bare.


A closer look at the trunk showed plenty of green.


Things were very green, and warm, in the PSC butterfly house.


We checked out the new Star Wars exhibit, of course. I'll leave you with a few images. And yes, I am sporting a Star Wars t-shirt. Cause I'm that kind of nerd. =)

Spring is Here!

The first day of Spring in Seattle was beautiful. I think the mercury reached 68 degrees or so. I spent the Equinox with my husband and some good friends. We started the day off at the University District Farmer's Market. Most of the offerings were still winter-fare, with many root vegetables and squash. That was to be expected. I left the market with a loaf of sourdough bread and a small strawberry plant.

Then we went to Bad Woman Yarn to buy yarn for a sweater project I've been dying to start. My friend and I checked out every ball, skein and shank of yarn in the store before I finally decided on the perfect yarn. More about that later.

The evening was filled with food, friends and games. Our friends brought over Settlers of Catan, a game we had heard much about but hadn't had the chance to play yet. We played two games before my friends had to head home, and then we played another before we went to bed. I had a blast.

I had such a good time that day, in fact, that I completely forgot to take any pictures. And so I leave you with a picture from yesterday of one of my cats enjoying the Spring sunshine in my little nook.

Saturday walk

Saturday in Seattle was just as Spring-like as Friday, so Joe and I headed out for an early afternoon walk down to City People's.



On our walk I saw and heard many birds, but couldn't manage to get one to stay still for long enough to take a picture, until I came across this crow. Ever since reading Lyanda Lynn Haupt's Crow Planet, I've looked at crows in a different light. I've always been fascinated with their shiny plumage, amazing intelligence, and prominence in myths (particularly Huginn and Muninn, since I often see crows in pairs). But now I think of them more as members of my community.



While looking for birds to photograph, Joe pointed out to me how the sunlight catches on the fuzzy parts of this tree's branches, causing it to look like it glows.



Happy weekend everyone.

Magnuson Park

Friday I arrived home from work at 4pm, about an hour earlier than usual. It felt like Spring outside - sunny and warm - so Joe and I decided to take a walk. We live next door to Magnuson Park in Northeastern Seattle. We've only been to the park twice before, so we headed out to explore some more. This time we checked out the human-made ponds, a childrens' garden, and the P-Patch community garden. Along the way we saw some amazing things.

We saw a beautiful blue sky.





We saw mirrors made of still water, perfectly reflecting the sky above.



We saw a man walking his golden retriever.



We saw Canada Geese.



We saw a mosaic on the path.



It looked like a maritime compass.



We saw a whale sculpture built into a little hill.

This is his eye.



And this is his tail.



We saw a little altar at the top of a spiral mound.



We saw an amphitheater.



It was a beautiful walk.

January Sunshine

As last winter was a cold, harsh and excessively snowy winter by Pacific Northwest standards, this winter is it's somewhat strange cousin. In the latter part of 2009 we experienced an arctic cold-snap that had me practically worshiping the moisture-wicking layers I purchased at REI the winter before (with the hopes of "going to the snow", forgetting that the snow was at my doorstep). During a single week we went from highs in the upper 40's to barely reaching 32 degrees, if at all.



Fortunately for my husband and me, that cold-snap disappeared just in time for our move. We've been back to more normal Seattle winter weather since then, filled with overcast days, drizzling rain, and temperatures reaching the high 40's.

But today the sun decided to show its warmth, and my kitties are thoroughly enjoying themselves.

November Sunlight

Yesterday was filled with family, cooking, eating, knitting and good times. Today is quiet, thoughtful, and filled with sunlight.

Today I am thankful for the sunlight.




I am working on a produce bag using this pattern.

watching the sun rise

I am a teacher. I live a hectic life. I often go to work in the dark, and come home in the dark. After the clock shift I have been getting to work in the early morning light, and so I began to notice the sunrise every morning. Depending on the day, sometimes I am still at home, and sometimes I am in the car. The first time it happened I was at home, and I felt so overjoyed that I ran to get the camera. I wasn't going to share those pictures online because, after all, who hasn't seen a beautiful sunrise? But some recent events have caused me to slow down a little, and appreciate the little moments of joy in my day. So I am sharing moments that brought joy to my heart, in the hopes that they bring joy to yours.