Skipping School

I'm skipping school today to spend time with M2, who came home for a very quick visit. This is the week at school that I have an end of the year celebration obligation every night, so I decided the only way I was going to get to see her was if I took a day off. Not exactly a hardship on me though. Right now she and S are still in bed, so I'm puttering around the house enjoying the quiet and catching up on some odds and ends.

M2 really liked the changes I made in her room. I have started to use it as a sewing room, so I put a desk in there and moved a few things around. I didn't want her to feel I was pushing her out of her room but she's rarely here anymore, especially since she isn't going to be home this summer, other than a visit here and there. So I am glad she was okay with it.

I finished the Petal Bib the other day; it was a quick knit, but I'm not sure I'll knit many more as it had fourteen ends to weave in! This doesn't show the true color but it's a pale mint blue/green. I also made another washcloth. Not exciting but my favorite beach projects; small and cotton. I used the same yarn I always use, Plymouth Yarn's Fantasy Naturale, but this color was a departure from my normal color palette. I tried to give it to my mom, but she said she has enough washcloths. How can you ever have enough I wonder? Into the wicker trunk it goes for future gifting.

Actually, I'm thinking that if I knit the petal bib again, I'll use some of this yarn, as I like it better than the Rowan cotton. Maybe because it's mercerized? I'm not sure I know what that means but it must mean something, right?

Hope your Tuesday is a good one!

More Crafting

The 8th grade dance went really well; it's always nice to see the students dressed up and on their best behavior, and this year's group was especially nice.

Steve was sweet enough to go with me so we made it a date night, complete with dinner out and a browsing trip to B&N.

Today was as hot as yesterday, although there was a breeze, even if it was a hot one. Two friends came over and we sat on the beach for a couple of hours but other than that it was a stay-at-home day.

I made another bathmat this evening. I was going to make all the stripes skewed, but Steve requested some straight ones, so the three on the top are for him, and the three on the bottom are for me! I am supposed to topstitch around the edges but it's too thick for my machine. I think the towel I used was a better quality than the first one.

My youngest is coming home tonight for a couple of days. I haven't seen her since March, which is way too long, so I can't wait!! I have end of the year school functions every night this week, so I'm taking Tuesday off to spend some time with her, even though I'll have to work that night.

It's almost summer!

Crafting

Kind of a stressful day yesterday, so I ended up going to bed early and getting about ten hours of sleep. I thought I'd end up awake around 3 a.m. but it didn't happen; guess I needed the rest. I also thought I'd have tons of energy today but I'm feeling pretty low key, and I'm okay with that.

I finished the Juniper Bonnet last night. I can't quite visualize how it'll look on a baby but I did love knitting it. Now I have to find just the right ribbon for the eyelet at the bottom. Rowan's Milk Cotton was a good choice of yarn I think, nice and soft and drapey. This hat also uses a Rowan yarn (I think), the denim one. Or maybe it's not Rowan. At any rate, I love this yarn but I'm not loving the hat. I'm thinking of frogging and using it to make a sturdy bib. Opinions?

But the big crafting success of the day (so far) is the bathmat from SouleMama's Handmade Home. I've been stockpiling sheets and towels from the thrift stores for months now but for some reason was hesitant to start cutting them up. I finally took the plunge this morning.

It provides some much needed color in our bathroom. The store-bought rug I'd been using was white, which not only stayed grungy looking, but didn't add any color contrast to the floor. What I was thinking when I bought it remains a mystery to me.

You can't see it in the photos, but I used a fancy cross-stitch setting on the machine and followed the fake rick-rack design to add stability. The pattern suggests you add strips of towel on top of the cotton, but I didn't want to cover up the sheet pattern. I have some other sheets that are much more washed out looking that I plan to use and I'll do the towel strips on those.

It's a gorgeous day and I was thinking about going to the beach, but it's insanely hot outside. I don't seem to have much energy despite the extra sleep and I have to chaperone the 8th grade dance tonight, so I think I'll just relax in the AC instead. And maybe do some more crafting!

Garden Photos

S took my camera outside last night and got snap happy, so I thought I'd share a few.

This is one of the rosebushes Steve planted last year.

Here is the row of sunflowers. I love how you can watch them turn to face the sun if you pay attention.

Blueberries on the blueberry bush!

Butterfly bush flower.

And my favorite shot, a bee on a stalk of lavender.

Should have titled this post, Busy as a Bee, huh?

Treats

Treats are good. My husband thinks I treat myself a little too often, but I disagree. Here are a few treats I gave myself this week:

• Participating in a pickup faculty kickball game--despite being out of shape and lacking athletic skills, I did it for the fun. And it was. Even though I still ache in places I had forgotten could ache.

• Sitting at Elliot's on Tuesday reading a copy of Poets & Writers that was there and listing authors I want to read. My list includes Douglas Glover, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nicola Keegan, Reif Larsen, Ru Freeman, Ali Sethi, and Joanna Smith Rakoff. I have never heard of any of these authors but like a good treasure map, one never knows what gems one will find. Also on the list are these titles: All the Living, by C. E. Morgan, Atlas of Unknowns, by Tania James, and Men & Dogs, by Katie Crouch.

• Sex and The City 2--didn't think I'd like it but I saw it with a group of women for a birthday get-together and it was fun. Fantasy, but fun.

• Spending my $10 thrift store gift card (frequent flier punchcard). Bought a beat-up wicker trunk and five magazines at bargain prices. Who cares if the Coastal Living magazines are six years old? I sure don't.

• Enjoying mint tea at Elliot's after work on Thursday while waiting to pick up my stepdaughter from her job. And talking with her before heading home to fix our delicious vegetarian dinner.

What did you do to treat yourself this week?

Winding Down and Loving It

I can tell the year is winding down; the school year that is. This year is so much better than last year for a number of reasons, with the result being I have more energy! Now that SOL tests are over, I have my students doing group projects in class, which makes it fun for them and less work for me. My science classes are making ABC books about the topics we studied this year, with each page having a picture and definition. It sounds juvenile, but it is helping them review the material for the final exam. I wish we didn't have to give exams but we do, so review we must. My AVID class just finished up a month of literature circles, which are sort of like having five book clubs going on in one room. I had four groups of four and two groups of five, reading a total of five different books (each group read one). Now that they're done, each group is going to create a culminating product to showcase their book. This will not only help me out this year, but I'll use the products next year when I do booktalks for the new AVID group.



Creativity is showing up at home too. I am knitting on a bunch of different things (don't judge), and the latest is the Juniper bonnet using a skein of rose-colored Rowan Milk Cotton. So pretty and old-fashioned looking and an enjoyable pattern to follow too.



I'm cooking some too. I've pulled out my battered copy of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook and am planning to try at least one recipe a week. Maybe more once school's out. Last week it was the Broccoli & Tofu in Spicy Peanut Sauce (delicious!) and tonight I made the Mushroom Yogurt Pie in a Spinach Crust. It was quiche-like, except it only required one egg and used yogurt instead of cream or milk. Also, very, very goood. I'm hoping the slice left over will make it till morning so I can have it for breakfast.



Other recipes queued up from the book are: Savory Vegetable Cheesecake, Mushroom Mystery Casserole, Pasta w/ Artichoke Hearts, Marinated Pasta Salad, and Moroccan Orange-Walnut Salad.

What are you cooking up this week?

Testy Tuesday

Not to be cranky, but I thought the idea of having a magazine subscription was so you got it earlier than the general public. Mere told me she saw the Summer issue of Interweave Knits at least two weeks ago and I just got mine today! Anyone else have that problem? Or care either way?

Going back to work today after the three day weekend was smoother than I expected. After I got home, I straightened up some of the yarn piles and rearranged my needle jars. I have four categories of needles now: the rooster holds the tall straights, metal and wood alike, the seahorse container holds the shorter straights, again, a mix of metal and wood, a clear green vase holds the longer dpns, and a striped metal pencil box holds the short dpns. It's amazing how much fun I had doing that. I did work on the petal bib from One Skein. Thanks to the miracle of online tutorials, I can now purl 2tog through the back loops, although it was a big pain for me to do so.

Random links:

I really like this idea, both as a way to use some of the piles of fabric (sheets) I've been buying and also as a really cool way to take food to potlucks.



I like these but I doubt I'll make any, although I guess you never know.


Now I'm off to bed so I can get up early for the last SOL test this year. History this time, so no stress for me. I plan to knit another baby hat while proctoring. Our faculty is playing a game of kickball after school as a stress reliever. Fingers crossed that I don't injure myself