Caturday

Ah, the weekend is here!  I've cleared my schedule to make time for some knitting, reading, and baking (and catch-up blog reading).  Thanks to everyone for your sock pattern suggestions!  I think I'm going to try the Spring Forward socks from Knitty for the first pair - I can't resist a lace-patterned sock!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have to squeeze some cat snuggling time into my busy weekend schedule.  But I think I can manage it. 

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A trip to the yarn store is always in order

I made a trip to the yarn store a few days ago  I've been wanting to do some big, involved knitting projects lately and, even though I'm still working on my brother's sweater, I have a few new patterns lined up.  

I snapped this photo on the bike trail.  It looks like I live in the middle of nowhere even though I'm right in Tucson!

I bought enough yarn to make this sweater from an old issue of Interweave Knits.  I'm using a yarn substitution, but both the LYS lady and I thought it would work beautifully.  I really love the color.  

My sister has requested a few pairs of hand knit socks to keep her feet warm through the Colorado winter.  I picked out these two cotton sock yarns, but I'm not sure which patterns to use yet.  If anyone has a favorite sock pattern, I'd love to hear what it is!  Just leave me a comment and I'll check them all out.  

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New mail

Say hello to my new earrings from The Peach Tree's Etsy shop!  They are so pretty and come in the nicest little package!

I love getting mail like this : )

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The heart

My new heart embroidery is finished - I was inspired by a phrase from The Scarlet Letter, which I included on the piece.  Now that it's finished I can get back to knitting my brother's sweater, which is closer to completion every day.  The front and back panels are done and I started on one of the sleeves this morning!

Sorry the photos are a little dark, I took them early this morning when the light isn't exactly the best!

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Taking a walk

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Small project

Another work in progress.  I'll be working more on the heart tonight, hopefully getting most of it finished while watching season one of 30 Rock on DVD - it's my newest TV on DVD obsession!  

  

It's been a busy couple of weeks at school - parent/teacher conferences were last week, I taught a special lesson on Impressionism, and I've been teaching twice-a-week penmanship lessons, too.  It's fun being is first grade again : )

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Heart

I've been having a lovely weekend, starting with the fact that I received my certification in CPR and First Aid yesterday.  That prompted me to think about the anatomy of the heart again, which led me to think about one of the phrases I almost used for the Illuminated Phrase project, which led me to start another project.  

I'm going to incorporate the phrase into the finished piece, I have my idea pretty much sketched out.  I can't wait until it's all put together and I can post the finished product.  

Also, I'd like to share this photo I snapped on my way to work recently - I'm so lucky to be able to bike to work on a pedestrian path that follows the dry river bed.  I've seen a coyote or two down there before, but on this particular day I saw three traveling down the sandy river bottom at a quick trot.  They were weaving in  and out of the brush, almost gliding along.  You can only see one in this photograph, but he/she is pausing to wait for the other two to emerge from the scrubby bushes.  

I see so much wildlife along the path - rabbits, prairie dogs, hawks, even an occasional tarantula - sometimes I forget that I'm still in the city!

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Cold weather knitting in warm weather

I know that it's autumn, but you would never know it here in Tucson - the temperature is still hitting 90 degrees (32 celsius)!  When I start seeing sweaters in stores and pumpkin butter at the grocery, I start wishing for the crisp air and golden sunlight of fall.  And mittens.  That's why I've started making a new pair, knitting all of my cold-weather dreams into each stitch.  

My favorite mitten pattern is from the Knit Knack Kit by Kris Percival - it's a basic, easy pattern that's great if you're knitting your first pair of mittens.  

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Illuminated Phrase

Here is my submission to Smoothpebble's Illuminated Phrase group.  The phrase I chose is "There is more than one good way to drown."  It's from a poem by Sylvia Plath.  I was thinking about different ways of drowning - in the water, in your thoughts, in a book, in happiness, in despair...

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Book :: Love

I went to a wonderful used book store today and picked up some much needed reading material.  It's always an adventure because I never remember to bring my "books I need" list and end up running around remembering-forgetting-remembering again items from the list.  Today I walked out of the shop with Franny and Zooey, The Golden Notebook, The Locked Room, and The Death of Ivan Ilych.  A random assortment to be sure, but I'm going to start reading The Locked Room tonight - I read Auster's Travels in the Scriptorium and am really interested to see what this novel is like.  

Also, I'm almost finished with my Illuminated Phrase project!  I'm planning to complete it tonight, so photos will up soon!  

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My lucky day

This must be my lucky day - or week - because I've sold both of the pieces in the Please Touch Again exhibit and three pieces at Fact and Fancy.  I couldn't be happier!  

And thank you to everyone for your comments on my last post, your kind words mean a lot to me!

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Nest

One of my pieces in the Please Touch Again exhibit was featured on the local news tonight!  The newscaster used it to illustrate the "touchable" theme of the show and talked about the piece's inspiration and construction.  They even mentioned my name!  Yay!

Also, Erin is having a giveaway on her blog - you can enter to win some of her lovely needlework!

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Still Life

My classroom has the most beautiful nature baskets, full of things to spark interest and curiosity in our young students.   I was looking at them yesterday and just had to take some photos - each one was like a perfect little still life!

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Collecting

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Crafty

The craft show was today and I'm really happy with the way my booth turned out!  My sister and I had a lot of fun putting it together and doing a lot of people-watching during the afternoon.  

I have two more small shows coming up, and I'll also be adding some of this merchandise to my Etsy shop as I have time.  The day's big hits were the aprons and booties!

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