Happy Tuesday

I'm trying to be happy and think positive thoughts.

I am knitting on a sweater.
Several years ago I had started a sweater with a pretty variegated yarn. I never finished it, probably because, while the colors are pretty, they just aren't MY colors.

Then I saw a sweater being worn by a co-worker that was made with variegated and gray yarn. I liked how the gray sort of broke up the variegated colors. I decided to try it with my yarn.
My first attempt was with a medium gray heather yarn. It is a nice color, but I felt it wasn't dark enough. Here is my second attempt with a darker gray. I like it, but now am hoping it doesn't look to masculine.

A kind of fun, sneaky thing I am doing is knitting off of the first sweater, unraveling it a little at a time as needed. The reason for this? My husband gets a little panicked when I unravel something. I have explained it is better to take apart something that doesn't turn out quiet right and use it for something else, but it really bothers him when I do it.


The last two days have been warmer and sunny. Great for outside recess. The grassy area is still wet, but we have a pretty large gravel area that is big enough and has swings, slides, seesaws and other fun equipment to play on. It is great to get outside to play.

Even with the warmer weather, or maybe because of it, the students are not on their best behavior. In fact, I find that this time of year behavior starts to regress for some students. I am a little frustrated by that and am thankful when the end of the school day arrives.

But then I got a call from my son just as I was pulling in the drive. He was letting me know that he had just called to get TV/Internet prices. There is a really big reason why they should not be doing this right now. MONEY. They have none. I sat in my car for 5 more minutes listening to him before telling him that he didn't really want to hear what I had to say about any of it because I was really frustrated that they were not being more careful with their spending. I still have access to his checking account since he opened it when he was a minor and had just looked at on-line last night. Not pretty. He was disappointed with my response to his call, I am sure.

Just moments before that I had a very bad emotional moment. I saw a guy on a motorcycle. I lost it. Doesn't take much. My brother was riding his motorcycle when he was hit and killed by another driver.  I know there will be more and more riders out as the weather warms up and I hope that my reaction today is not what will happen every time a see a motorcycle. So, you see, some days it is just really hard for me to keep a happy, positive attitude. Tomorrow is another day. A fresh start. Tomorrow will be a better day, I hope.

A Sunny Sunday

Finally a sunny day.

We have had a lot of rain! The slightly wet spot across the road used to be much bigger and the ditches were full. I am not complaining. I have co-workers in nearby towns who are dealing with basements full of water and flooded streets or roads. Some are unable to leave their houses or their towns. We had water coming in the basement and the sump pump ran continually for several days, but nothing is ruined. I am lucky.

My son was home recently for an annual appointment to update his medical information. 

He is required to do this to continue to receive his necessary medical supplies. 

This is extremely frustrating to me. 

He was BORN with Spina Bifida and all the medical/physical issues that go along with that 

WILL NOT BE GOING AWAY. 

He will deal with these issues the rest of his life. He has to 'prove' every few years that he still has spina bifida and that he still needs the medical supplies. 

I am thankful that he is able to get the supplies. Without them his life would be miserable.

I am also thankful he has his dog, Pokie.

His dog is so patient. He waited quietly by the door every morning while my son got his boots and coat on, then the leash on the dog. This process takes almost 10 minutes from the time he gets out of bed, locates everything and puts it on. Bless that dog!

My son says if Pokie thinks one of his people might be leaving he will lay on their coat.

My son was getting ready for an evening out with friends.

I don't know how the dog knew that, but he laid on my son's coat!

He also liked my chair and would get in it every time I left it.

A boy and his dog. They are good for each other.

I haven't gotten much sewing done in the last month. My son was here for several days, then I took him back which takes a full day what with the unpacking what he took back, shopping for groceries and putting it all away. And, then my husband and I have both been feeling a little under the weather. Him more than me. I just don't have the energy or ambition to do much.

I made a bag holder for my son's apartment. Sorry, no picture.

Last weekend I stitched up the Quilt Exchange house blocks for February.

These are my blocks.

These are all of Wanda's blocks made so far. 

Our meeting was yesterday.

Today I stitched up the blocks for next month. I usually try to get them finished right away in case some unforeseen event happens that prevents me from sewing.

These are my blocks.

These are all of Linda's blocks made so far. 

Linda decided on a night time village with solid colored houses. 

I love that even though we are all using the same patterns our house are 

so different because of our fabric choices.

When my son was home we had a Fog Day from school. It started out as a 2 hour delay, but the fog continued to get worse so we ended up having a whole day off. So, I made him go through some of his stuff and decide what he wanted to take back, keep here or throw away. And, while he didn't get through all of it some progress was made. I still can't set up the permanent bed in there and there are still more boxes of things to go through, but I did start moving some of my sewing things in there.

I am hoping to continue working on this a little at a time. I have decided not to paint for now. I want to put an area rug in there and new curtains. I plan to move the wardrobe from the far corner over to the wall on the left and use it to store some quilting/sewing things in, but that will have to wait a little longer. I am thinking I will put the double bed in that corner where the wardrobe is now.
Slowly but surely it is getting there.

My happy thought for this time are:

- thankful for sunny days

- thankful the flooding did not affect us as badly as it did other areas

- thankful the get even a little sewing done

- thankful for a space to move some of my sewing/quilting things to but still allow room for visitors

- thankful for a day off to get some things done

See what other quilters are up to at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to finish '18 in 2018'. Check it out.

Happy Thoughts

 Frozen Fog is so beautiful.

 

I meant to include these pics in my earlier post, but couldn't find them.

Three Happy Thoughts here - 1) finding something that was thought to be lost feels great!, 2) frozen fog is beautiful, and 3) even though it was very foggy and roads where slick in some areas we did not have a snow day (meaning school will not be extended another day in June).

 

 

See what other quilters are up to at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to finish '18 in 2018'. Check it out.

Saturday

So... it seems I am having trouble posting every day like I thought I would.

It also seems I am having trouble keeping up my positive thinking. Part of the reason is problems with the computer - partly bad internet, partly Windows 10, partly who knows.

 

It has been kind of a tough week. 

The students are restless. The staff is a little restless and frustrated.

 I am sure this cold, snowy weather has something to do with it. 

We can't go outside for recess. My experience is that inside recess, while we are moving, 

just isn't the same as getting outside in the fresh air and MOVING.

 

Here is a picture of my area where I supervise restroom breaks. 

It is the front entry to our building so it can get chilly and noisy as people come and go. 

The picture is taken from the cafeteria door; the gym is just to the left of the cafeteria door. The restrooms are to the right and drinking fountains are under the numbers and words. 

You can see descriptive words - Up/Down, Over/Under, etc above the windows. Next to those are pictures with the letter the picture starts with. On the wall that you can't see by the rocking chair is pictures of a crayon box and individual crayons with the color word on each one with a picture of something that is that color - Orange is an orange, pink is a flamingo, red is an apple, etc. The wall that the chair is facing has sight words taped on it. More are added every quarter as they are added to the curriculum.

 

 

I do different things during this time, which is 20 minutes for each class. 

I recently found 'Would You Rather' questions. We are having fun with those. Some are though provoking (Would you rather live in a busy city with loud neighbors or the quiet countryside with no neighbors), some are gross (Would you rather kiss a jellyfish or step on a crab) and some are just silly (Would you rather wake up with an elephant trunk or a squirrel tail?). I read books and then ask comprehension questions. We play Bingo games - shapes, letters and sounds, sight words, numbers 0-10, 0-20, 11-30 and 'real' Bingo as the year progresses.

 

This week I read the book Charlie Needs a Cloak. 

In this story, Charlie is a shepherd. His cloak is tattered so he makes a new one. 

He begins by shearing the sheep and washing the wool. 

He then dyes it, spins it into yarn, weaves it into cloth, cuts, pins and sews it into a new cloak. 

Many years ago I had some sheep and tried to learn to spin. I still have raw and washed wool and a small amount of yarn I spun. I have carders and the spindle from the spinning wheel. 

I used store bought yarn to weave a small piece. I also have a cloak.

We talked about each step Charlie took to make his cloak as I showed the items I had and we discussed the part each item played in the story.

The kids seemed really interested and some thanked me for sharing my things.

Happy Thought - they were interested and asked lots of questions.

I have so many partially finished projects. I bought this multi-colored yarn a few years ago with the intention of making a sweater. At my school we have 'Jeans Day'. For $2.00, which gets donated to a different charity every month, we can wear jeans on Thursday. We used to pick a color each month for the top that could be worn with the jeans - red in February, green in May, etc. My thought was a sweater made with lots of colors would take care of several months. The back is finished, the front is mostly finished. I don't like these colors for me. So now I am trying to figure out what to do. A co-worker wore a sweater they other day with lots of colors similar to this yarn, but with a thin stripe of gray every few rows. I like the look of that so I might try that out. Meanwhile, I am knitting a scarf for my sister-in-law who loves these colors.

 

The pattern is The Unicorn Pegasus Rainbow Scarf. 

The pattern calls for 2 different colorways of Nory Kureyon, but I am only using one 

of I Love This Yarn in Hot Stripe. I got it at Hobby Lobby. It has been discontinued.

I ran into a little problem with one of the skeins - the one I chose to start knitting the scarf with.

I hadn't gotten very far when I found this knot. 

 

 

The colors aren't even closely matched up. 

 

 

And, the knot fell right on the edge. So frustrating. Then, after I took that picture I noticed another knot in the same skein. Double frustrating.

 

I ripped back and started over with another skein. I am almost finished with that skein and have not encountered a knot yet. Insert Happy Thought - no knots!

 

See what other quilters are up to at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to finish '18 in 2018'. Check it out.

Happy Thought on a Snowy Sunday

This is what it looks like outside my windows today.

To the south, that is the neighbors house. You can see it now. A while ago, you could not.

To the north, the other neighbor but all you can see is that clump of trees.

The wind is coming from the north and blowing snow into the window screen.

I am happy we got our Sunday morning errands taken care of early. It had snowed during the night, but the roads were mostly clear. While we were shopping a wintery mix began with rain, sleet, snow. It got worse after we got home. I am happy to be home in my warm house.

So, what to do on a winters day?

I am going through the binders that I store patterns and ideas in.
I have 2 big ones for knitting projects, 1 big one and starting more for quilt projects,
and 2 smaller ones for other craft projects.

I have consolidated the tub shown above into binders.
I am removing patterns that I am no longer interested in or have made and will not make again.

I am categorizing by type. For example: knits: Hats/Scarves/Cowls/Mittens & Gloves is a category. Another category is Baby, another is Sweaters with categories for Cardigans, Pull Overs, Short Sleeve, etc.I try filing all the hats together, all the scarves together, etc.

It gets a little harder for the quilt patterns. I am using categories for Applique, Paper Piecing,
English Paper Piecing, Pieced, but then am sub-categorizing.
For example: Paper Piecing: 4 inch blocks, 6 inch blocks.
Piecing: Scrappy, Patriotic, Snowman, by Seasons/Holidays.

How do you organize your patterns?

See what other quilters are up to at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to finish '18 in 2018'. Check it out.

Happy Thoughts All At Once

Oops...I knew I had not posted for a while, but didn't realize it had been that long. However, I did continue to THINK Happy Thoughts every day, even if I didn't get them on 'paper'. 

I have been a little busy.

On the Saturday, Jan 20 we took a ramp to my son so he would have better access to his new apartment. He has to maneuver so many steps. From the parking area there are 2 steps from the city sidewalk to the main sidewalk that goes between the duplexes. Then another step up to his porch. Then another step up into the apartment. He is able to bypass the steps from the city sidewalk by going through the yard to the main sidewalk. That is kind of messy in snowy or wet weather. The ramp works nicely for the step up to the porch (insert Happy here). In fact it worked so well and the porch is wide enough that we have ordered another one for the step up into the apartment.

This is NOT my son's apartment. This is a picture from the Sportaid website.

We have, however, had a little trouble getting these ramps. We ordered the longest one - 5 feet. Customer service called me the day the order was placed to let me know they had a lightly used one they could sell for a lesser price if we were interested. We said, "Yes, please!". Happy Thought - Yay for good customer service. Tracking showed they ramp had been shipped and was at the UPS facility near us. And, it showed that was were it was for the next 2 weeks. We had some bad weather so at first I wasn't too concerned. But, then the weather was better and roads were cleared and still no activity on the ramp. I emailed UPS, they responded that they would check into it, but to also contact the shipper. The shipper said there would be better results from UPS is they contacted them and they would let me know as soon as they knew anything. Again - Yay for good customer service. The ramp arrived 2 days later. It had been sent two states away and was never scanned again. Next time I won't wait so long, I told myself. So then we ordered the second ramp. Sportaid was confused because they thought I was ordering a replacement. I explained that my son needed another and we liked the first one so much we wanted a second. Great. But, we still don't have it. It was ordered on Jan. 25. So, I called. This is a small company and the person in charge of getting the ramp shipped has been sick with the flu. I understand that! So many of the students at my school have been sick. And, they are out for days. The guy is back to work and they assure me the ramp will arrive by Thursday when my son is here for a visit. He can take it back with him. 

Things have been busy at school. Lots of learning going on. Two of my students have progressed so well that they have transitioned back into the classroom. Three more are very close. More Happy Thoughts - getting extra help from me is helping these students succeed.

My son's girlfriend loves cows. He asked me to knit her a cow hat.

Here it is...

The pattern can be found for sell at TwoOfWandsShop.
It is knit with bulky yarn and worked up pretty quickly.

My quilt group retreat was Jan. 25 - 28. I love this group! 

Happy Thoughts - every day! I got lots done, too.

On Day 1 I got the borders added to this top...

It is a free pattern from moda. The pattern makes a square quilt. 

I wanted it a little longer so I added an extra border at the top and bottom.

Next I pieced this 12 inch block...

Remember the snowflakes I embroidered in December? I had taken them to retreat to show and someone suggested that one of them might look nice in the center of this block. I had used white and very light pink for this snowflake and it looks pretty good. I am going to try embroidering it onto black fabric to see what that effect looks better than appliquing one on.

Next up was this BOM from Quilt Doodle Designs...

This is the January block. February is posted now.

This is one of the UFOs I listed for What a Hoot 18 in 2018.

On Day 2 I finished this...

This was a kit purchased several years ago from Keepsake Quilting. 

I looked on their website, but can't find it.
Also one of the UFOs I listed for What a Hoot 18 in 2018.

The rest of my time was spent on this...

I got the center pieced!
Also, one of the UFOs I listed for What a Hoot 18 in 2018.

This past week has been interesting. The students have been a little more wound up every day. I am sure that Super Blue Blood moon had nothing to do with it! Ha! I was really glad to see Friday afternoon. But, honestly, the kids have grown so much this year - physically and academically. Some more than others. That is why my job is so rewarding.

And, today is Saturday and I have been spending my time with laundry (it never ends!), organizing my projects and fabric a little better, and moving things around in my son's room so they can inflate the bed when they come visit this week. Yay! After that I am going to work really hard at getting some of my sewing/quilting things moved in there. 

See what other quilters are up to at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

What a Hoot Quilts is challenging quilters to finish '18 in 2018'. Check it out.