Back at It in May!

Oh, the ambitions of April! My three goals had been to finish all three WIPs (Anna vest, Kate Davies cardigan, and the ladyfriend's sweater), sell the two bikes we have in the shed, and make a plan for all the things I want to make this year and particularly this summer.

Hmm, how did it go? Well, I finished this -

It's the Brae Cove tunic, which is a Squam KAL. There was some endless knitting, on size 4 needles no less, but I couldn't be happier with the result. The length is perfect; I can wear it as a dress or over something, and I used yarn from my stash to make it. It's the beginning of May, which means Me Made May, and this is how I chose to start it. This is also my second finished item from my Make Nine list.

Here are the updates on April's goals - sad but true:
I fixed the Anna vest issue and now have to stitch it together, so I didn't finish it.
The Kate Davies cardigan remains unfinished.
The ladyfriend's sweater is one sleeve shy of being sewn together. My new goal for that is to finish it before we go to Nova Scotia.

So while I finished one WIP, it wasn't on the list. I also started another sweater. What can I say? I'm incorrigable.

One of the bikes has been taken; the other still needs to go up on Kijiji.

My making plan? Well, I've been working on it, but not on paper, so let's do that here!

I'm already deep into my Afghani Nomad Dress. I'm hoping that will be done Wednesday or Thursday.

I'd originally wanted to make one of the three possible pants for Fringe Association's Summer of Basics challenge, but Needlework, my local fabric store, is running a class on the Lander pant this month so I decided to take that opportunity. I'll be making these in white canvans. Whoo-hoo!

June will be for the Liv cardigan; I'll be picking up the yarn in early June and starting it while at Squam, which is what I tried last year, but then I realized I didn't have enough yarn. Looking forward to adding this cardigan to my wardrobe. It is one of my Summer of Basics projects.

One of my issues with the Summer of Making is that I'll be in Nova Scotia for most of it. I have a sewing machine there, but not necessarily all my tools. That said, I think I will try to make Paxson. I actually bought fabric for it last year, but then they revised the pattern, and then well, I went onto other things.

And because the pieces made for the Summer of Basics are meant to fill a hole in one's wardrobe (I know, how could there be a hole in a wardrobe of my size?), I'm making the decision right here and now to make Pants No. 1 as well. Paxson and Pants No. 1 will be July/August projects.

That brings me up to 7 of my Make Nine. I'll work on Azami (8) over the summer; it feels like a good cottage knit, and then I'll make Erica (9) in the fall. Of course I have other things I plan to make as well, but this is the core.

So, what are my May goals?

1. Project to Finish (WIP): I need to finish a Frank Lloyd Wright cross stitch.

2. Fix/Remake/or Let Go: Time to revisit the floor lamp.

3. Get Started On: My veggie garden.

Hope the weather in your area is good; we're having some beautiful days right now.

Hey Poppy!

Yesterday two; today four.

How many tomorrow?

(

(There's something vaguely bodysnatcher/day of the triffids about the poppies before they bloom...)

Neglect as a Gardening Method

It is the method I most often employ, but look...

...roses on steroids!  No deadheading, no cutting back, no fertilizer, just letting them do their thing.

Working through the setbacks...

I'm really hoping the disappointment of yet another rejection (literary) dissipates before I start teaching in, oh, five minutes.  I don't know why I get my hopes up, but I still do.  I guess that's why I'm still in the game.
    Maybe tomorrow's gardening with my dad will give me a sense of accomplishment and completion.
    It all just makes me tired.  Anyone?

Dateline DC

I mentioned picking peas from one of my father's community garden plots (he has two) in my post of a few days ago.  Well, that same garden is being considered for a Marine Corps expansion, and the story was in the Washington Post today.  My dad has become quite active in this cause and told me that a lot of the problems have been caused by a private developer whose original plans for his land fell through.  Now he's trying to cut a deal that puts the garden at risk.  I'm glad that my father is engaged in this cause, and the garden is lucky to have him on their side.  Go activist dad, go!
     One of the bonuses of driving back to Canada (besides control over transportation and smaller carbon footprint than a plane) is being able to bring a case of beer back.  And the bonus of having my dad with me, besides the fact that he's with me, is that we get to bring TWO cases of beer back.  My joy is hardly containable.  I'll be bringing home some Sierra Nevada, Flying Dog, Dogfish Head, Red Hook, Magic Hat, and Honkers (a new one to me), and I'll probably be hoarding it.  I feel most secure when I have a case of microbrew sitting in the cellar.

Feel the love

We finally broke down and bought a new refrigerator, and I'm surprised at how much pleasure it's giving me. (Ever have a boy/girlfriend you could say that about?  Uh huh, don't even pretend you haven't.)  But just like that boy/girlfriend, you often find yourself immediately making concessions or overlooking their idiosyncracies, like film in the fridge.

Yes, the first thing in our new fridge was film.  It's true - art is everywhere!

(The fridge will probably never look that good again.)
    I would love to be able to curate and arrange the contents of my refrigerator a la J. Morgan Puett, but I don't see that happening.  However, it would be magical.

 (photos from www.jmorganpuett.com/food.html)

   Instead, I'm trying to just stay ahead of dead stuff in the fridge.  That's my current art project.

 (Film never dies...)

    And just because I can, I'm including two photos of my cat who has been amazing me with his choice of hangouts.  This is from where he oversaw gardening operations yesterday.

    Clearly he's not amused by half-hearted gardening attempts.

Game On!

Serious gardening day, even though it was unintentional.  Stopped at Whole Foods to buy some seedlings (okay, we had to get off the highway because the traffic was awful) and when we got home proceeded to get totally immersed in weeding, pruning, and planting.  It's great.  We finally got rid of the giant white soil bag on our front lawn.  (Our neighbors must love us.)
   I'm trying to be a little more realistic about gardening this year.  Rather than try to grow everything, I'm focusing on fewer, more essential items like tomatoes.  I've tried to grow things from seed, and have had modest success in the past, but for some reason often can't get them past the early seedling phase.   I put in a few seeds today, just to be optimistic, along with the seedlings (three types of tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, and some herbs) we bought.  My goal is to give them consistent attention.
   Watched the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals.  Let's Go Blackhawks!  By the way, anyone see the Chris Pronger/Eddie Haskell connection?

Swingin'

This morning I felt as though I'd punched through the clouds.  It was really just the result of a few small things like acknowledging that I wasn't ready to run a half marathon on Sunday and that I could just focus on my training for the Nike Women's Marathon in October and finishing a small project.
   For Christmas, my parents gave me a serger and a gift certificate for the Serger Essentials class at the workroom where we bought the serger and I've taken a class before.  I really like the workroom.  Karyn's done a great job creating a crafting space that has a really relaxed vibe and cool stuff (make something is her blog).  If I lived in Toronto, I'd probably be there a lot.
   Anyway, fast forward six months, and I finally find a class that works with my schedule (the serger is still in the box - please see yesterday's post for root issue). In the class I made some dinner napkins.  It was just really nice to have a project started and completed within a few hours.  Liss likes them so much she wants to send them as a birthday gift.  I want to create an entire outfit to go with them - matching skirt and kerchief. (C'mon, I know you can totally see it.)

    So this morning, I was feeling a little mellower, cutting myself some slack.  Then I go to give blood.  I feel very strongly about giving blood (I'm a registered bone marrow donor as well), and the last time I went to give, my hemoglobin was too low (not too low in health matters, but to give).  It was the same story today.  Would you be surprised that I was practically in tears because I was so disappointed and frustrated? (Note:  I am not premenstrual, but thanks for asking.)
   I chat with the nurse - all about what to do to get my iron up.  I already do those things, and my doctor has told me that my iron levels are fine.  Then I find out that the whole thing is totally SEXIST.  The hemoglobin level required of all blood donors is EXACTLY THE SAME REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY'RE A MAN OR A WOMAN.  125 is the benchmark number - for women, that's pretty strong (even my 118 today is good); for a man, that's low - but still okay to donate.  Wow.  Are men just that much more able to withstand a lowering, from already low levels, of their hemoglobin.  Do tell.   The nurse bristled when I suggested sexism.  I'm going to write to Canadian Blood Services about this, and if they think that physiologically men and women are the same (oh, give me a break!) then this may cause me to reconsider supporting them because they're already homophobic.  (See their policy on gay men here.)
   It's difficult because I know that donating blood is important (and if you don't do it yet, and you can - physically and psychologically - you should), but I'm tired of the rejection and the cause of it (policy, not necessarily hemoglobin).  Just to ice the anti-woman cake - if you've ever been pregnant (delivered or not), you can't give platelets - ever.
   (Did I not warn you that this could get messy?)
   So I walk, rejected, to Home Depot to meet Liss and stop in their garden center.  I'm really behind this season and need to just put in some seedlings or there will be no produce in August.  Keep in mind that I'm still in a mood at this point.  I see their veggies, under the moniker "garden fresh."  Their SKU tags say "eco" something, so I'm curious.  Are these plants free from GMOs?  I ask one of the garden center workers who, guess what, has no idea.  I don't even know that she knew what GMOs were and probably didn't understand what I meant when I said something like "Are they GMO free or is the eco tag just another example of greenwashing?"  Like I said, I was in a mood.
    I'm in a better mood know.  On my way home last night I was envying Karyn.  From this side it seems like owning your own shop where you could craft away would be great.  Of course I realize that it's a lot of work and probably stressful as well (keeping a business afloat can't be a constant picnic).  I also realized that I actually have it pretty good myself.  I'm just in my own way sometimes.  I often cause myself unnecessary stress.  I need to remind myself of this, but it's okay.  It just continues to confirm my belief that I make my own life (in general), and I need to accept responsibility for it. 
    My name is Claudia, and I'm an existentialist.