Rainy Sunday

Luckily, I have already been social and productive this weekend, as today is inviting nothing more than sitting around in my flannel pjs with my laptop to keep me warm and entertained.

Friday was for fun:
Lena and Ferguson are in town for Bumbershoot, so we had a BBQ that was mostly not rained out. Rounding out the mob: Rebecca, Jenn, Erin and Erik.

Saturday was for doing:
Although there is much organizing left to be done, the office is coming together. I think it is my favorite room in the house, owing to the bright green walls, my purple files, and the bulletin boards I made yesterday. (Glued 4 cork squares each to oak craft boards, then covered in heavy oxford fabric I had in the stash.) I'm pretty pleased with how the room is shaping up.

If the rain lets up, we may do a little Bumbershoot tomorrow. Time will tell.

Usual end of the quarter update

Not much to update, but it's the end of the quarter, and I typically manage a new post about this often.

This was actually a pretty smooth quarter. Busy as all get-out, but not too bad, overall. No major student issues, crises, or health trauma. The big class at Big State U was characteristically impersonal, while the small class at Community was wonderful. I had a great group of students this quarter, and I will miss them dearly. It actually felt as though we had some fun - imagine that!

In other news, there isn't much other news. Just a dull few winter months here in Seattle.

I've been working (slowly) on a baby surprise jacket for a friend who is due in a few months.

I'm knitting it from my own handspun, in pinks and oranges. I hope the color scheme appeals to someone else besides me!

I've had no time for spinning this quarter, and Fresh Yarns hasn't been updated in an age and a half. I even got hand-carders for Christmas, and haven't found the time to use them yet. I am a very bad crafter! Hopefully spring will bring a few more hours for crafting!

Speaking of things I should be spending time on, E (sister) and I have registered for this summer's Danskin Triathlon. It will be her first and my second, though the first in 3 years for me. I've got so much training to do - it's unreal. There is a commercial currently playing on tv where a character says "I'm not fat, I'm just unfit!" - and I identify completely! So very unfit! But we've got a few months to train, and this is certainly the motivation I need to get myself back into fighting shape. I'm sure there will be much whining to come.

Stay tuned!

Where is my assistant?

Seriously, where has that twit run off to? Doesn't she know I've got a stack of papers to grade, lectures to prepare, a wedding shower to cobble together, an apartment to straighten up and man, I could really use a pedicure!

The quarter is going quite splendidly, to be honest. My students seem to be rather pleasant, bright, and self-sufficient. For those of you who don't spend time with the college population, this is nothing short of miraculous! This weekend's requisite busy-ness is just making me cranky. I've already graded exams for one class... delaying the article summaries that need to be graded for the other one. If only I could trick someone else into grading them!

*E, don't read this!*

I have to be the absolute worst matron of honor in the history of the world. E's shower is less than 2 months away now, and I don't have a venue for it. Oh, there was a venue chosen and about to be scheduled... with a chocolate fountain and all... but the MoB (that would be the Mother of the Bride, who is my own mother as well, but is being foisted upon others for the time-being until I get over being annoyed with her) didn't like the location. Why, oh why, did I capitulate? All of this nonsense could have been done and taken care of months ago. But no, the whining won and the original locale was scrapped. And now I'm desperately looking for a place to host a fancy shower for my darling sister who deserves the world - not my crap-ass attempts at planning a party from 3000 miles away. Seriously... if anyone out there is just dying to help plan a bridal shower in the Lake George, NY area, do let me know!

/end wedding whining.

In other news, H got a new tattoo last weekend. For those not familiar, it's a line from Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Vonnegut passed away on Wednesday, apparently satisfied that someone had tattooed his words into their flesh. RIP K.V.!

You may have noticed that for a blog supposedly about being crafty with fiber-stuffs, I haven't been very prolific in that department. Yes, that's another thing that brings me shame and sadness. I just haven't been very inspired to knit or spin lately. I'm working on a pair of socks, and have been spinning a bit... but I just haven't had the heart for it lately. Hopefully this ennui will be on its way out soon.

I did finish a necklace: The pendant is from gNeebo on etsy.com. (She has great pendants!)

Alas... back to work now.

The big update!

Happy day after Christmas all!

As promised, I have tons of crafty goodness to post, now that it has been gifted. But first, the exciting news: Nikol's book is out, and my knitting is in it!!

As you can see here the tank and the owl that I knitted made an appearance in the book. I'm so excited (and unreasonably proud)!

Ok, onto more recent creations...

I finally got around to making a Clapotis.
This was a Christmas gift for my sister. I knit it from my own handpainted sock yarn, using the pattern from Knitty.com, modified to make a scarf.
Also for my sister - a pair of pearl and crystal earrings. For my sister-in-law, I made this jasper and leaf necklace. I hope she likes it!

I found this awesome pendant from gNeebo on etsy.com and made this necklace for a good friend of mine.




And finally, I present the project that I was most excited about: The R2D2 hat that I designed/knit for my brother-in-law! He is a huge Star Wars fan, and asked if I could make him a hat like this ages ago. I finally got to it, and am fairly pleased with the results. (Now I have to hope George Lucas won't sue me for some sort of copyright infringement.)

In addition to the glory of having lots of obligatory crafting out of the way, Christmas was grand. We spent the afternoon with my sister and BIL, ate tons of yummies, played games, and generally vegged out. It was a very nice, low-key day. I was gifted with many wonderful things - too many to list, for fear of leaving something out. I surprised H with a beer-brewing kit. We'll see how that goes... hopefully we won't have to sustain too many errors before he gets the hang of it.Happy Holidays!!

Halfway through November already?!

It's been a busy several weeks, without a ton to report.

In addition to the biopsych class I was planning to teach, I've also been asked to teach a developmental psych class next quarter. Against my better judgement, I agreed, and am currently prepping 2 brand new classes that I've never taught before. Awesome-o!

I've been a bit behind in the crafty department, but have been able to make a bit of yarn and a few baby gifts, as shown below. (The blue blanket in the upper left hand corner, and the yellow bonnet on the left, middle.)
Other than that, we're just looking forward to having a full house on Thanksgiving. Family + friends + wine + pie = FUN!