project 52: week 28

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.

What's New?
I spent three days in Portland for a tech conference. I learned so many things that I'm very excited to try out in my classroom. I also shopped at Powell's for the first time, ate at the Deschutes Brewery, bought Voodoo Donuts, explored Mississippi Avenue, rode the Max, and just generally enjoyed the spring-like weather.

Currently Reading
I finished The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo this week. I'm motivated to go through her suggested steps to pare down my possessions. I've always been a bit of a hoarder, but I've found a sense of relief every time I drop off donations at Goodwill. I started slowly working on eliminating excess stuff last year, but I think it's time to ramp it up. Spring break will likely turn into 'sort and donate all the stuff' week. I'm ready.

On the Needles
I finished the fourth section of my geology shawl while at the Portland tech conference. I didn't have nearly as much time available for knitting as I thought, which actually means that the conference was very engaging. Not a bad problem to have.

Looking Forward To

1. baking sourdough bread
2. knitting at the coffee shop

project 52: week 26

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.

What's New?
Spring is here! Not officially, but practically. Flowers are blooming, temperatures are rising, and the local mountains are bereft of snow. Last week I enjoyed a very different kind of walk with my friend Kristi. Usually we follow a predictable path but last week we decided to do something different. We walked around her neighborhood instead of mine, stopping at open houses to check out the local real estate market. Since this is Seattle, pretty much all walking routes involve hills, so I feel that we got an equal workout while enjoying different scenery.

Currently Reading

• The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
• The Winter Pony by Iain Lawrence
• Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds by Lyanda Lynn Haupt

On the Needles
I picked up my Geology Shawl again, after many months of neglect. I worried that I wouldn't be able to figure out where I left off, but thankfully my notes were clear enough that it wasn't a problem. I'm trying to finish up some works in progress to clear out my queue and reclaim that energizing feeling of accomplishment - sort of a spring cleaning for knitting projects.

Looking Forward To

1. indoor rock climbing

gardening in 2014

One entire wall of my classroom is composed of windows. It happens to be the south-facing wall. My coworker and I took full advantage of that fact this spring and started seeds on the window sills.

I took my seedlings home for spring break, thinking that they needed to get into the ground. Also, I wouldn't be around school to water them. It seemed like a good plan. But life got in the way and I wasn't able to plant them for awhile.

Today I finally finished putting everything into the ground. My tomato starts went into pots so that I can drag them around this summer to take full advantage of the sunlight.

Last year I did strict square-foot gardening. This year I am experimenting. One bed still follows square-foot gardening rules, to a point. The other bed doesn't have the guides in place and is a bit of a hodge-podge.

Last year I planted a pumpkin plant that sprawled all over the side yard. All of the pumpkins rotted before they were big enough to harvest. I saw a photo online that involved using tomato cages with squash plants. I'll give it a try this year.

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:

 

April goals

My goals for 2014 are pretty simple: go outside, simplify inside, and celebrate the seasons.

In January I wanted to take a walk each week, clean out the ottoman, and finish our snowflake project. I cleaned out the ottoman the first week, and Joe and I together finished cutting and gluing the snowflake project. We still need to buy some inexpensive frames for the snowflakes.

In February I wanted to reacquaint myself with yoga, clean off the top of both dressers, and finish Mason's long-overdue quilt. I finished Mason's quilt, and Joe & I cleaned out the top shelves of two closets instead of the dressers. I didn't do any yoga, but I went skiing twice.

In March I wanted to do yoga at least once each week, clean out and organize the dresser drawers & the bedroom closet, and dye spring eggs. I did some yoga and went on long walks, organized my side of the closet, and dyed eggs.

In April I hope to:

• continue my weekly walks
• 4/6 - 3 mile walk with Kristi
• 4/13 - 4 mile walk with Kristi

• clean out and organize storage

• start an embroidery project
• working on a modified fox using this pattern from Urban Threads

spring 2014

In the spirit of this post (and this one), I've made a list of things I hope to squeeze in before Summer begins:

Inside
*dye eggs
*finish my Leaflet cardigan
*make spring potstickers

Outside
*plant my garden
*go on a hike
*enjoy the sunshine whenever I can

My Spring list is much shorter than I'd like, but the reality is that this time of year teaching gets really tough, and the weeks feel endless. I'm often going to bed early and still waking up exhausted. I know that Summer will be here before I know it, but right now it seems a world away.

potstickers & teaching

What's New?
While I've been away from this space, I've been experimenting with making dumplings. I started with Smitten Kitchen's Spring Vegetable Potstickers and I've branched out to more traditional pork & cabbage stuffed wontons. I like how quickly they come together, and how quickly they cook. It's made weeknight meals so much easier.

The other news is that school is almost out! Next week is a 4-day week, with Thursday being the last day of school. I know I say this all the time, but I really don't know where April and May went. I swear March was just a few days ago. Part of that, I know, is that I've had a student-teacher the past couple months. The other part of that is how busy life gets in the Spring, especially when you're a teacher.

Currently Reading

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
Why is Milk White? & 200 Other Curious Chemistry Questions by Alexa Coelho & Simon Field

On the Needles
I started a green Leaflet cardigan with my new birthday yarn (Thanks Marya & Alex!). Even though I try to do smaller projects, I just love knitting cardigans. I'm using Berroco Ultra Alpaca Tonal yarn, which is not single-ply (I'm swearing off single-ply yarn - it just doesn't show stitches as well). The Leaflet pattern is another by Cecily Glowik MacDonald, who is quickly becoming my favorite cardigan designer.

Looking Forward To

1. finishing up this school year
2. cleaning and organizing my classroom for next year

Memorial Day Weekend

Joe and I headed out to the peninsula for a weekend getaway in sunny Sequim, WA. It ended up as a cloudy and rainy weekend, but we still had a good time. Besides exploring the sleepy town of Sequim, we stayed in a converted caboose and hiked along the Dungeness Sand Spit. The sand spit is a 5 mile hike from the base to the lighthouse at the tip. The terrain is an uneven sand/rock mixture that makes it truly a hike. We made it about halfway before realizing we'd need to turn around so that we'd make the trip back. Joe longingly held out hope that if we made it all the way to the lighthouse there would be a shuttle back. There is no shuttle.

keep on keeping on

What's New?
This may sound a little silly, but hear me out. I had to go shopping this past weekend for 'work' pants. Pants shopping is usually a multiple-hour ordeal that often leaves me in tears without finding a single pair that fit. So you can imagine my level of excitement over the prospect of looking for new pants.

I wanted some basic, inexpensive Docker-type pants. I'm a science teacher, after all. I'm not about to buy expensive pants that will surely get some chemical or another spilled on them the first day I wear them. Murphy's Law, and all that.

So I went to JCPenny, since I already had some store credit from a return I'd done a million years ago (I hate shopping for clothes, so I pretty much only do it once a year). No Docker-type pants to be found. Bummer.

Then I went to Sears (my other two options were Macy's and Nordstroms), hoping they'd have Docker-type pants. When I walked in I remembered that they have a Lands End section. I went straight to that section, found their Docker-type pants and took them into the fitting room. I'd grabbed two sizes (remember, I only shop once a year, so who knows what size I wear), and tried them on. One of them fit perfectly! No giant waist, no tight thighs. They were also on sale. I couldn't believe my luck! I left the store with two pairs of those pants, happy as a clam, feeling like I won the cosmic pants-shopping lottery.

Currently Reading

• Truth Like the Sun by Jim Lynch - I read his book The Highest Tide earlier this year and loved it. This one also takes place in Western Washington, although it's a different subject-matter.
• Second Nature: a Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan

On the Needles
I've made an executive decision to shelve my purple striped sweater for now and start something new. My heart is just not in it right now. I imagine I'll pick it up again in the fall when the weather starts to turn cold again. For now I'll use up some of my scraps to make some hats or something else small while I dream up my next big project.

Looking Forward To

1. weekend lunch with two dear friends
2. Spring Break!

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

science & sunshine

What's New?
This past week has been one of those weeks. A doozy. A week that thankfully went by quickly, but also wore me out. The highlight of my week was taking a group of girls to the Expanding Your Horizons conference at the local community college. It's so refreshing to see so many young girls excited about science and math. On top of that, it turned out to be a beautiful day, full of rare Seattle sunshine.

Speaking of weather...we've had such cold and inconsistent weather that I am nervous about planting my seedlings outside. They are growing quite well in their little newspaper pots, but some are getting a little leggy. I hope to take some photos of them this weekend, as I decide whether or not they are ready for the raised beds.

Currently Reading

• I finished The American Way of Eating early this week. I was so impressed with the amount that I learned from that book, and I'm certain I will not think of food the same way again. I highly recommend this book.
• I've picked up Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent after setting it down for awhile, and I'm enjoying learning more than I ever have about Darwin's voyage, his strengths and weaknesses, and his transformation from a staunch creationist to the architect of the major foundation of modern biology.

On the Needles

Did I mention that this week has been a doozy? I don't think I've picked up my sweater once. I'm just where I left off at the end of last week: halfway through with the first sleeve. I'm on the homestretch, though, and should finish soon.

Looking Forward To:

1. using my new EMP/Sci-Fi Museum membership

How's March treating you?

better late...

What's New?

I've decided to take on a student-teacher for the spring quarter. This will be my first time as a mentor teacher in my seven years of teaching, and I hope I do a good job. One thing that has kept me very busy this week, on top of my already busy schedule, has been cleaning and re-arranging. I've worked very hard to make my classroom a more inviting space for both my students and my student-teacher. I cleaned up a few "junk piles" and made room for another teacher desk. I swapped out an awkward table for a better model that now holds my document camera and laptop. I think my room looks pretty awesome now. I didn't take many before pictures, so you'll have to settle for these.

Before:

After: 

Currently Reading

• The American Way of Eating: Undercover at Walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields and the Dinner Table by Tracie McMillan

On the Needles
My striped Idlewood sweater is now getting sleeves! The body is off the needles, I've tried it on, and I'm working hard on the sleeves. I think I'll have enough yarn to do full-length sleeves, but we'll see.

Looking Forward To

1. the beginning of Spring
2. Joe's new job

What are you looking forward to?

week two

What's New?
I started seeds this week! I made seed pots out of newspaper for the first time, which was much easier than I had previously thought. I re-purposed an old under-bed storage bin and used strips of cardboard to keep the newspaper pots upright. My bin ended up holding 8 rows of 6, so I've got quite a few starts. Now I just need to keep the cats away until they are hardy enough to be transplanted outside. Oh, and clean out the raised beds (something I should have done last autumn, and I'm now kicking myself).

My nephew and I have become pen-pals. He's 5, lives across the country, and is a great reader and writer. He also loves checking the mail. So I've decided that in 2013 I'm sending him something in the mail once a month. In January I attempted to send him a box of books from an online retailer, but the box got lost in the mail. In February he got a Valentine. Now that it's March I'm sending him the Bob Books I tried to send him in January, and hopefully some St. Patrick's Day goodies, although I've been rather disappointed in the selection this year.

Currently Reading

• Pilgrim on the Great Bird Continent by Lyanda Lynn Haupt (local West Seattle author!)
• The American Way of Eating by Tracie McMillan

On the Needles
Still working on my purple and grey striped Idlewood sweater. I'm currently working on the bottom ribbed hem. When that's finished it's time for sleeves, although I'm a little worried I'll run out of purple for the sleeves. Maybe they will be solid grey? We'll see. I hope to be finished by next week.

Looking Forward To

1. bridesmaid dress shopping with friends
2. meeting a prospective student-teacher

What's new in your life?

where have I been?

It seems I've taken a very long break from this space. My last post was in January, and it's already the latter-half of July! So what have I been up to (besides spending time with these adorable sisters?)?

I experimented with natural dyes for my spring eggs. Red cabbage is still my favorite (it makes blue).

Joe and I sometimes eat hard-boiled eggs as part of our breakfast. Since I love the look of dyed eggs, I decided to start dying my hard-boiled eggs all the time. Now I know when I reach into the fridge that the blue eggs are hard-boiled, while the white ones are not. It's especially helpful when I'm still half-asleep.

I went strawberry-picking with these three dear friends of mine. Along the way we found this old giant at a rest-stop along Interstate 5.

After many years of sewing, I finally organized my fabrics!

Now that my sewing space is more organized, I find myself sewing more often. This skirt, for example, used to be pants that had seen better days.

My local public library has seen quite a bit of me lately. I love the old brick building and its half-mile proximity to my apartment.

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Virginia where I visited with family. I love the first glimpse of the Cascade Mountains on the flight back. Seeing those snow-capped peaks reminds me how much I love living in the Pacific Northwest.

And while I love my whole family, this little man melts my heart.

this moment

From my walk last weekend.


Starting to sprout.

spring planting (finally)

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. =)

two sweaters

Last month I started knitting two sweaters. I know what you're thinking. Isn't knitting one sweater hard enough? But the sweaters are so very different, and let me exercise different parts of my knitting brain. So some days I work more on my February Lady Sweater, and others I work more on Joe's tree sweater. And some days I don't pick up either sweater.

The February Lady Sweater is knit from the top down. The top portion is rather plain, but taught me how to do raglan shaping. I'm now on the bottom part, which is a 4-row repeat of the gull lace pattern. My Ravelry notes here.



Joe's tree sweater is a seamless hybrid sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears book. The tree part of his tree sweater is an intricate, cabled tree that I am attempting on the front of his sweater. His sweater is knit from the bottom up, so I am currently working on the roots section of the tree.



I hope to have the February Lady Sweater finished by summer, since it'll be a light and airy sweater. Joe's sweater will hopefully be complete by his birthday in September. Although, they both very well might take me a good deal longer. I've been known to stretch a project out for years.

What crafts are keeping you busy this Spring?