As a way to start off the new year, I thought I would make a list of goals for 2009. This way, I can review them at this time next year and perhaps even mark items off as I reach them.
1. Apply to 5 additional area school districts by March. I’ve updated my applications at the three ISD’s I hope to teach in, but I need to expand my horizons.
2. Work at least three days a week as a substitute. With the girls in school I need to stay in school myself.
3. Start and finish at least 10 items for presents for 2009. I’m tired of buying things for Christmas. It’s past time for me to make handmade gifts.
4. Lose 30 pounds. I want to lose more, but if I reach this goal, I will adjust it to show my new goal.
5. Self-publish a short story. My brother gave me a simple request for Christmas to start writing again (and to brush up on my neglected grammar skills). I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a great story line.
Five is a good place to start. I want to add more, but I can go from there.
I hope you are staying warm! We were in the 70s two days ago and had a little bit of freezing rain today, not reaching over 34. Ah, Texas weather!
Sheryl from Yarntopia recommended Malabrigo to me over a year ago on a visit to her LYS before I moved from Houston. I was leary because I did not have much use for wool garments while living on the Gulf Coast. Little did I know the effect of moving 250 miles to the north. While visiting The Knitting Nook, my LYS here in the Fort Worth area, I finally bought a skein of this beautiful colorway. I’m currently making Ilean, a cowl from Patti Simmons I found on Ravelry.
I feel like I’m doing something wrong in the pattern. When you stop and start and aren’t sure what row you’re on when you’re repeating six rows, this happens, I know. It looks beautiful the way it is turning out, so I’m knitting along.
Andy has been requesting a manly hat of his own for the winter months. He’s typically at the bottom of my list that I will make things for because he’s too critical. He’s not allowed to use any of my crocheted afghans because he claims crochet is ugly. I started knitting and he’s not impressed with it either. He does love my Brownie hat pattern, which earned him a few kudos and his own hat design. It’s a simple hat and fits him nicely so far.
Andy's manly hat
I’m thinking about trying out a few textured stitches for the brim so we’ll see how that turns out tonight.
I’ve completed a quick throw for Laura’s American Girl doll, Molly. I used the Maggie Wrap motif from Robyn Chachula’s wonderful book Blueprint Crochet. I’ve done a small throw using six motifs with a simple double crochet edging. It’s fished but I forgot to snap a photo of it on Molly’s bed before dark, so here’s a look at the piece before edging:
Molly's blanket
Speaking of Molly, Laura was gifted with a guitar for Molly for Christmas and the two of them practiced Christmas morning on a new chord from Molly’s chord book. Molly’s miniature chord book is the same book Andy had once (in normal size, of course) when he was learning the guitar.
I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season with family and friends.
We started the day at 5:20 am, thanks to Max, my mom’s border collie puppy needing his morning bathroom break, followed by the girls oogling over their Santa gifts. Everyone had a wonderful day full of tons of food. I made homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, turducken for dinner, and now we’re slowing down for the night by playing Rummikub while the girls train as Jedi warriors with their new Wii glow swords and the Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels game. Andy gifted me with Big Brain Academy, which made my brain hurt. I am apparently not too proficient in the Visual category, but I’m practicing.
I have crocheted projects to share soon, once I stop playing with my new digital camcorder and download photos instead of videos.
I have a few more Brownie hats, scarves, and swiffer covers to make for family members before our New Year’s trip to Shreveport, Louisiana so that they can be delivered. I really should have taken more photos of all of the Brownie hats I’ve made in the last year for family and friends. It has really turned out to be a fun, quick and popular pattern of mine with everyone who sees it.
It’s game on. Andy just took the lead from me so I have strategies to make in order to rummikub.
I’m thinking about handmaking my Christmas cards this year. I think I’ve lost my mind. At least all cards will go out after December 10th, my last day of student teaching.
I am making a more pointed effort to purchase handmade goods for all of the women in my family this year. I won’t torture the men yet with handmade goods, but the time will most likely come next year. Plus, Andy does the guy shopping and I do the girl shopping and I know he would think I’m absolutely crazy to suggest such a thing. He prefers the “buy your brother obscure DVDs and books” option of holiday shopping.
Okay, panic attack setting in so no more talk of this Christmas shopping. I need to decide on something special to make in the next two weeks for my coordinating teacher. She has been an amazing resource over the past three months and I will miss seeing her every day. So………
There’s nothing quite like listening to the sounds of Andy and the girls playing on the Wii Fit from the living room. You hear the instructor saying, “You’re doing great! Tighten those ab muscles,” followed closely by Andy groaning in pain and the girls following up with, “Great job, Dad!” All of this is accompanied by me sniggering in the kitchen.
We started the past weekend by nabbing a babysitter so that Andy and I could catch the new James Bond for my birthday. I love the older Bond movies, but I have a thing for the new style (and Daniel Craig) and cannot wait for the next one in a year or so, hopefully. We did manage to catch the new trailer for Star Trek. I was disappointed to see it was moved back until next May because it was my pick for our annual Christmas Day movie viewing. Saturday started off with Laura’s volleyball game followed by a drive to my grandparents’s house. We met my mom there who brought me my birthday present - a new Schwinn Cruiser!
Isn't it pretty?
We wanted to hurry home on Sunday to go for a nice long bike ride before dark, but there was a neighborhood-wide power outage (someone was digging in their back yard most likely - evil trolls) that morning so we waited to drive back north until we had word from Andy that the power was back on. We settled for a quick bike ride while the sun was setting and the cooler weather returned for the night. Since tonight was our first of two busy nights for the week (dance class and band practice), we’ll take a longer ride tomorrow after school. My dream job for next school year will be at the high school near the girls’ school so that we can ride to school together in the morning instead of driving. I’ll be the kooky history teacher who rides her bike to school, but I don’t care!
Because I missed posting this here when I was really excited. Laura had her first concert a few weeks ago. She was awesome, but I am biased. :)
She’s playing the pink and white guitar, which is a junior sized Hello Kitty Fender/Squire. It’s Mad’s but if she keeps up playing in the band, we might get her one of her own. They’re playing “7 Things” by Miley Cyrus and are currently working on Taylor Swift’s “Picture to Burn.”
The girls and I are off to a Girl Scout camp for the weekend. It’ll be me plus eight girls from our own troop, along with fellow leaders and 155 other girls for a fun pirate-themed event.
I’m teaching a beginning crochet class where the girls will make a flower chain bracelet. I’ll definitely have photos to share when we return (after a nap of course!).
Some evenings, I am actually squeezing in some me time and working on a few crochet projects. I even took pictures today as proof!
Scarf in progress
This is from the Fall 2008 Interweave Crochet, a scarf version of Doris Chan’s Sweet Lorriane Throw. Someone will get this for Christmas, I just haven’t decided yet who might like something soft and white.
I’m also slowly working on finishing my throw that’s been in progress since last fall. I have six more rows to go and hope to get it completed before our first big cold front later this week. (Wishful thinking!)
Here’s a sneak peek of a skirt pattern I’m making for the girls. Once I find my notes, I’ll get back to work on it so that I can complete it and list the pattern at the same time.
What are you working on right now? I’m trying to make it through my Google Reader to get up to date on everyone. Every time I get started, I get called away by the family. I miss my me time!
As has become our family tradition, we went to the Texas State Fair a few weeks ago. I always have to try one of the new fried foods of the year. I couldn’t help but try deep fried s’mores. It was like eating a funnel cake with chocolate and marshmallow gooey goodness in the middle - divine!
Deep fried s
I also came across a few beautiful flowers while walking through the garden exhibits. They looked awfully familiar to me.
Can anyone name the first step on the road to the Revolutionary War? Hopefully, after today’s class, all of my students can. (see the bottom for the answer if you’re curious.) See, my mind has been overwhelmed with thoughts of lessons, teaching certifications, Girl Scouts, band practice, dance class, and now volleyball, that I haven’t picked up a crochet hook or knitting needle in months. Perhaps only a single month, but when you use crochet as a lovely escape from the chaos around you (football/baseball/disasters/kids) and you don’t squeeze in time for something that really helps you deal with a hectic life, you are really left with me right now.
Tonight, I promise to myself to spend time on myself. I will start a new crochet project, which is by far my favorite part of crocheting. Some time between now and Saturday, I will take a picture of this project and post it here. Since I’m curious and seem to have a perpetual 1000+ blogs in Google Reader so I’ll never get caught up. What are you working on???
The answer is: Treaty of Paris, 1763 (ending the French & Indian War or Seven Years War from the European perspective).
Whew! My family pulled through Hurricane Ike with minimal damage, but are preparing for several days without power. We’re now enjoying a cooler, breezy day with the occasional drizzle on the north side of Ft. Worth as Ike passes to the east.
Saturday evening with Ike
If you are in the Houston/Galveston area or have family or friends in that area, my thoughts and best wishes go out to you.
Many thanks to Deneen at Yarns and Musings nominated me for a Brilliant Award.
Like her, I don’t consider my blog to be brilliant, but I do love to find links for the crochet patterns that keep me inspired to pick up my hook. In honor of her, I thought I would post a few new patterns that I’ve come across in the past few days (I’ve been researching just for this post!).
Rook Hat (Ravelry link) by Sophia Kessinger. The pattern is only available as a free download on Ravelry, but check out her blog for amazing knitting posts. There is a coordinating Rook Scarf also.
Driftwood Cap (Ravelry link) by Ellen Gormley (check out her blog). It will be published in the Fall 2008 Interweave Crochet. I cannot wait for this edition to hit the stands. This is one of many patterns that I cannot wait to make from the magazine.
Chicago Swing Jacket by Tammy Hildebrand. I want this to wear to school. The classrooms I’ve been in so far this year are freezing!
Crochet Brimster. I am in a hat making mood when my haircut is the absolute worst for wearing hats.
Mary Jane Slippers(Ravelry link - link to her blog here). I need slippers for walking around on my tile floors. I don’t know what happened to my old ones. They were eaten by the house goblins, I think.
9 Sided Kitchen Mat - I want to make this in a bunch of pretty, bright colors for my kitchen. I’m tired of my neutral/fall colored home. Bleh.
The Munro Bag - I want this bag. I really, really need to get started on one.
Felted Hook Vase (Ravelry link) This one is also available as a free download on Ravelry. I like the idea of using it not only for hooks, but pens and such for my future teacher desk.
Matryoshka Roly-Poly Dolls - I cheated and bought the kit to make these so I would not be tempted to put them off because I didn’t have the right filling or felt materials.
I could keep going, but I’m just getting frustrated again at hard to find crochet patterns for girls. This is why I need to finish Mad’s skirt and Laura’s rocker accessories.
Now to give out my awards! I give Brilliant Awards to:
Sheryl at Hip Cat Hooks, whom I miss now that I’ve moved out of Houston. Not only does she do brillian work with a crochet hook, she has by far, the best yarn shop in the Houston area.
Vera,who inspires me regularly with such beautiful work.
Sara at Crochet all Day. She’s a teacher so doesn’t post as much during the school year, but I still love checking in with her knitting and crochet work.
