Caps, Gowns, and More Caps

May has been a very busy month.  A major event was the daughter's graduation from college.  We are so proud of her.  Her hard work and accomplishments made it easy to look past the challenges involved in organizing her graduation party.  We survived the mixed-nuts-controversy, the panic over parking, and invitation indignation, all with our sense of humor intact.  None of it was actually anything to worry about, and as long as at least two people could keep that in mind at all times, it kept a relative calm over those who prefer to panic.  I stayed so busy keeping things flowing that I hardly had any time to socialize, and I kind of liked it that way.  

The weather jerks kept telling me about the heat, and I was starting to take it personally.  As this attitude was neither positive nor helpful, I decided that I needed to do something.  As I cannot control the weather, (not that it would be a good thing if I could) I figured that a sunhat was what I needed to put myself in a better frame of mind.   

In the past, I have looked at knitted summer hat patterns, never really found the right one, and I often freeze up when I begin to think about the millinery wire and starch.  Anyway, awhile back I thought about sewing a sunhat.  I looked at various patterns, and immediately discarded those sized for "average ladies' heads."  If that worked for me, I would have already bought one from the store.  Then there were the directions for those with more sewing experience wherein the designer throws out some guidelines, and you work out the pattern for yourself.  As my experience and skills are not there yet, my search continued.  Finally, I found a pattern that I liked, and filed it away for future reference.  Fast forward to this week, and I was ready to try.  

The pattern comes from Lorenna Buck, and I love it.  It fits, protects me from the sun, is comfortable, and I want to make more.  Even with my sub-par-sewing-skills and mistakes, it still looks pretty good.  I learned as I sewed, and think my next hat should be even better.  

With the need for air conditioning comes the need for a new hat for Harrison.  I love the pattern and the sizing options mean I could make these for everyone I know.  I seriously doubt that I will do that, but I will probably knit more of them for babies.     



            

I Wish I Liked It

I recently read The Happiness Project:  Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.  It has some interesting parts, and as I read it, I thought about many things.  I could probably blather on about it, but I am not much of a book reviewer, and I feel very wrong recommending a book or not; it feels very naked and weird.  For example, I read We Need to Talk About Kevin, thought that, overall, it was quite a book, but cannot quite urge anyone else to read it because it is not a feel-good read, and, well, other things.  

So, if I am not going to review the book or really talk about it, why did I bring it up in the first place?  Well, this week's Ten on Tuesday topic brought it to mind.  In it, the author writes of her personal truths, commandments, and happiness theories, often in the form of lists. One such list is her Secrets of Adulthood, and these are two that I thought of when I read this week's topic.  

You can choose what you do, but you can't choose what you like to do.  

Just because something is fun for someone else, doesn't mean it's fun for you--and vice versa.  

Anyway, I do have my list of things that I wish I liked, have tried to like, but am not going to torture myself over whether I like them or not.  There are things that are optional, and those that are not, and getting bound up over whether I enjoy them is supremely unhelpful. 

Blueberries
Raw tomatoes
Exercising
Certain People
Sports
Housework
Dancing
Getting Up Early
Olives

Being Neighborly 

What with all of this happiness talk, I felt compelled to knit a little bluebird of happiness (which, by the way, is quite a challenge to photograph).  I hope to keep it perched next to me as a reminder to keep my focus where it belongs, or maybe it will flap its little wings and chase off the drama llamas. 

So Long, SuperMoon!

Perhaps it was the passing of the SuperMoon, maybe it was because a few life bits slowed to a more manageable pace, or it could be that I was just too worn down to fight it, but I finally slept.  In fact, I slept a lot; too much, it seems, as my back began to complain.  That might always be a tough balance for me, but there you go.  

I keep knitting little hats for Harrison, I am reading whenever I can (the ability to check out library books on my Kindle is a wonderful thing!), and even finding time to knit some on my Rata Lace Scarf.  This is very good, as I need this downtime to recharge before I have about 72 hours of extreme busyness.  I am choosing not to think about how close I am to that, but am glad to have done as much as can be done ahead of time already.  

I have been reveling in the good feelings of getting things done, and letting them inspire me to get more things done.  Sometimes that just means finishing a batch of laundry or a sink of dishes.  In other instances, it means getting things off in the mail like a batch of photos for my grandparents and the Kindle cover that I wove.  Of course, there are always more things I need to get in the post, but they will wait.  They have to; I have not made them yet, but I have many ideas.  In fact, I just had another pop into my head as I typed this.  I really ought to write them down before I forget.  

It was a load off my mind to get the Kindle cover in the mail, because I had been paid to make it.  Everything about it turned out better than I thought it would.  I even managed to get my sleeping nephew to show off the finished product.  I like to think that his little smile means that he will always be a joyful and cooperative model for me.                    

Even Auntlier

My auntliness increased by 7lbs, 10ozs and is 20" longer, too!  Harrison Christopher was born Wednesday afternoon.  While his birthday debut started one way, he was not enjoying it, so it was completed via c-section.  My sister is OK, but having a few problems, so she was in the ICU until Friday afternoon.  This was not our favorite thing, but we have done our best to navigate our way through this unexpected and different path.  We were finally able to hold Harrison Thursday, and it was wonderful.  Now I just keep knitting little hats for his precious little head, wait my turn to snuggle him, and take as many photos as possible.    

Wednesday Weaving: Demo Edition

I felt a bit nervous as I made my way to the school where I would be a weaving demonstrator. After all, I was listed as a guest artist on the flyer for the event. Artist seems like such a grand title, and I felt like a fraud. I tried not to think about it, and focused on what I would be weaving. I had my Ashford rigid heddle, my Schacht Cricket, and my Schacht inkle looms set up and ready to go.


The parents were interesting, and had many questions. One asked how much the blanket cost, and when I did not have an answer, told me that I ought to know. She kept circling and I think that maybe she was waiting for me to name a price. A father got very close, watched intently for several minutes, and likened the process to computers with the on/off options. Another parent asked many questions about the fiber arts, had interesting things to say, and hired me to make a case for her Kindle. That was unexpected, but very nice. She did not want to give any suggestions on color, as she just wants me to be inspired and let my creativity lead the process.

It helped that I had Bruce along for moral support. However, that also meant that the kids got to weave on my Cricket a little bit. For the most part, they listened and did well. There were a few almost too shy and nervous to try, and one who was very confident in her abilities and thought that she should be given free rein over all of my looms. The kids were funny, and it seemed like a couple felt a real connection to weaving. One declared, "I am going to ask my parents to get me one of these machines!" At the end of the night, a first grader gave Bruce a hug.

Hoppin' Good

Well, we made it through the full-moon weekend, and it was something else.  Very little went as planned, and it was both too wild and too quiet.  A perfect companion for both the crazy and the nothingness, was making things.  Of course, scattered throughout the weekend were tiny baby bunnies.  They are quick, easy, and fun.  Then I decided to work on a little frog hat that my mom asked me to make for my soon-to-be-here nephew.  None of the patterns I found was really doing it for me, and that is part of why I hadn't made it before now.  In the end, I decided to use the owl hat pattern as a guide, and I think I have something that works.  




Speaking of Rufus, we got good news about him; he turned.  Not only that, but my sister's blood pressure is back where it should be.  We are so very thrilled.  Now that he is headed in the right direction, his birthday is planned for the 18th, or sooner if he gets impatient.  

Wednesday Weaving: Get This Off My Loom Edition

A few weeks back I heard of a search for a weaving demonstrator at a local elementary school as a part of their Youth Art Month celebration. The first thing I did was get the details, because I wanted to be sure that they were looking for something I could do. Since they only needed me to weave and I would not have to give a presentation, it seemed like something I could agree to do without taking on too much. Figuring out what to weave was the next step.

I could have left the current project on my Ashford, but I did not want to do that. I probably never showed this piece when I first started it. The plan was to make a blanket by weaving two panels and sewing them together. I had received a bag of yarns that I might not have bought on my own, and was stumped with how to use them, and this blanket seemed to be the answer. I used the plain, smooth, acrylic yarns for the warp, and then alternated blocks of two different textured yarns for the weft. When I was about 90% done with the first panel, I lost confidence. I worried that it was not going to work out the way I had planned, so I set it aside and could not make myself return to it. The decision to demonstrate weaving was just what I needed to make myself finish the blanket. I figured that if it worked well, I would have one more piece to display my weaving. If it did not, I would know and be done with it.

Now that it is done, I am glad that I stuck it out and finished the blanket. This will probably be a gift, but I have not decided on the recipient just yet. It is nice and soft, and the different textures add to its touchability. My nephew was even able to overlook the fact that it is not in his favorite colors and declare that he wanted to be the first to fall asleep under the blanket.