Christmas Knitting

I got the Christmas knitting bug last week and have been going through the stash, making cowls. I finished the Darkside Cowl,

and immediately started a Wish I Was Weaving This Cowl, using some gorgeous Dragonfly Fiber yarn, but I don't like the way it looks.

I was surprised to notice that I'm on a green kick at the moment, since I rarely use that color!

 

Don't you hate it when you have a lovely pattern and beautiful yarn but they don't seem to work together well? Even though I'm over two-thirds done, I think I'm going to rip it out. The yarn is simply too pretty to waste on a project that makes it look meh. I think I may make a pair of hand mitts with it instead. Until I decide for sure, I'm putting it on hold. Meanwhile, I'm going to cast on for a Gap-tastic cowl, using some Malabrigo Yarn Chunky that I bought last year to make a Decibella Cowl, but never used. Since I have two colors, I plan on striping the cowl, but I can't decide if I should make two large bands of color or if I should stripe the two in smaller widths. Any opinions?

 

Speaking of Christmas gifting, I'm really cutting back on the spending this year too. I'm going for the thought, rather than the dollar amount. I've never really felt like I was a big spender anyway, but as my family has grown, it really added up. I've also always leaned toward giving handmade gifts, but this year I'm making sure to keep that my focus. If it's not handmade by me, then I'm trying to buy handmade, with the exception of a book or two, and a few gift cards for my nieces. I bought an ebook last year called the Family Apothecary, and it has some great recipes for bath salts and fizzy bath "bombs" in it. I plan on making a batch or two of those and hope to pair them with knit washcloths for a few people on my list. For the Starbucks gift cards, I think I'll make a couple of cute, knitted card holders as well, but I'm not going to stress about it. (Especially since I can't seem to find the pattern for them right now!)

 

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying the gorgeous sunrises we've been having. I took this one when I was leaving for work one day last week.

And speaking of work, I finally took some pictures of my classroom. I had to remove anything that had English content in it a few weeks ago due to SOL testing, so when I went to rehang everything, I decided to use motivational posters. This way, even if they use my room again, I don't have to go through the removal process again.

I also hung up some thrifted window toppers, to soften the industrial look, and used the parasol for a punch of color.

The only exception is this "Parts of Speech" wall.

Nothing too exciting really, but I do like to have a record of my classrooms and how they change from year to year. I really enjoy hanging seasonal flags up for a splash of color; one would think sophomores would be too old to appreciate it, but they're not. I'm fifty-three and I definitely enjoy color. And Snoopy.

Finally, a picture of Gracie, doing what she does best: keeping a close eye on me while I knit or read or watch television.

She always looks slightly peeved, doesn't she?

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