Bread

It snowed here this weekend.  Sure it was all but gone by Sunday afternoon but the return of white after every indication that spring had begun send a message to my belly. Soup. And soup requires bread.

I finally tried the Dutch Oven No-Knead Bread that had popped up in weblogs all over the better part of the last two years. It never ceases to amaze me how this

becomes this

I made a few mistakes. I a)let it rise too long since it said 12-18 hours - I think I left it 20-22; b) had my oven too hot - my independent thermometer was not on the oven rack as usual so 475 degrees was probably closer to 500 and the bottom got a little scorched; and c) I forgot to slash the top. I meant to, but when I flipped the dough into the pan, flour went everywhere, and I got distracted. I had a little flour up my nose. But the mistakes weren't a huge deal and it won't stop me from making it again.

It was the perfect, dense, chewy loaf for my chunky potato soup.  And the day after with leftover soup, it was even better.

***

I cannot for the life of me manage to get a good photo or two of my new sweater which I have worn twice already.  Oh the tumults of lighting and needing someone else's hands... I'll try again tomorrow.

I'm also dealing with a sore shoulder from too much knitting.  The first week of playoffs have meant over 42000 stitches for my scrappy afghan.  I have yarn burn on my throwing finger. Probably looking at a suspension, though there was no intent to injure so it's unlikely I'll be putting down my sticks for more than a game or two. :-) I tried to find a better pair of needles today but no one had 3.25mm circs in a length longer than 12". Amazingly, I walked into a hockey discussion at the knitting shop. The unprecedented circus of violence that has been the first round makes for a interesting debate amongst the lace weight and chunky skeins...

Tokens

Now that everyone has let me know they've arrived safely, I can tell you a little bit about the tokens of appreciation I sent out for the lovely and generous contributions to the Teacher Identity Project.

I had knit and felted a large square of oatmeal-coloured wool ages ago and it had lingered in my fabric stash just waiting for the right thing. I grabbed some floss, felted wool sheets, and rescued ribbon and went to town...

Lavender, pussywillows, sweet peas, hydrangeas, and tulips.  They were delightfully fun to make. Nothing fancy - just tokens. You can read more about them here and here.

Thanks again, ladies!

***

I imagine the craftiness will slow down a bit around here for a while.  Hockey playoffs have started so I've returned to my straight stockingnette stitch scrap afghan as it's simple enough I can do without watching my hands constantly.  The first round has been really intense so far; a patterned project would be dangerous. I learned this one the hard way two years ago with my lace medallion coverup and an olympic mitten that was ripped back into oblivion after it proved to be beyond pathetic when I tried to stripe it. [Shakes head with memory of the ill-conceived notion...]

Still here...

Things have been busy.

I wrote a final today, the last of my degree, and have a paper due Thursday morning.  Then that about does it.  I'll have a new batch of letters to add behind my name.  On my first day of classes back in '97, I went to the campus pub with some friends and had a beer.  On my last day of classes last week, I did the same, bookending my educational journey so far. The pub is extremely different now. I suppose I am, too.

I manage to get a few things done in the last little while that weren't school-related.  Blue Skies is basted.

My spiderweb quilt was laid out, sewn together, freed from its paper backings, and basted. My sweater finished, though I don't have pictures yet.

Thank you gifts made and sent, with more on that later. A resolution to be more social this summer was made and has so far been acted upon.  It's been a whirlwind.

I'm tired. LOL. I've applied for my certification and am readying my applications for jobs. I'll have to pick up something for the summer, too. I'll get to that, just not immediately. Working doesn't bother me but I dislike job-hunting. It ranks right up there with funerals and infomercials for me. I think I'll take a little breather first, tackle some of the things on the unfinished list. I figure I've earned it.

Finished Quilt: Myself, as a Teacher (photo-heavy, epically long post)

It was finished on Tuesday afternoon so it would be ready to show after class on Wednesday.  I roped a couple of the tallest boys on the Education Students' Society council into helping hold it outside in the building.  It was sunny so there are shadows. We were in a hurry.

The one on the left is Kyle.  We had the following conversation:

        Kyle:  Am I going to be in this photo?

        Me: No.

        Kyle:  Then I'm not doing it.

        Me: Oh. Ok.  You can be in the photo if you want.

        Kyle:  Will I be tagged?

        Me: No.

        Kyle:  Then I'm not doing it. 

I love my friends.  Jon, by the way, didn't really care if he was featured or not. (Thanks for your help, gents!)

I've discussed part of the symbolism of the quilt in past posts, all tagged with Teacher Identity Project, but I'll go into detail here.  The quilt represents who I am as an antiracist, anti-oppressive educator. Why did I pick a quilt? Well, for starters, like teaching, quilting is something I love doing. There's also a rich history of quilting bringing people together. It represents community, sharing of knowledge and skill, collectiveness.  Quilts are practical, keeping people warm, and beautiful, showing craft and art. I hope that my work as a teacher keeps my students warm and empowers them to keep themselves and others warm with what we learn together.  Quilts are also used for activism.  I remember the profound experience of viewing the AIDS quilt when I was in high school.  I am inspired by the Quilt of Belonging which represents all the different peoples of Canada.  So much hope and togetherness. And above all, love.

Blitzkrieg & Basting

SO.  I was quiet on the internet this weekend.  Didn't touch it.  I was absorbed in many things but most importantly, I was working on the Teacher Identity Project Quilt.

I received a bundle of scraps (and by scraps, I mean huge chunks of fabric) from Cafe Jabbaccino.  I was giddy beyond giddy and couldn't wait to get sewing.

My living room looked like an episode of Fabric Hoarders for much of the weekend and most of the activity had to be strategically set-up and coordinated so that I didn't burn the house down with the iron, cut myself with the rotary trimmer, or trip on any of the many cords running across the floor.  I may have lost the remote once or twice as well but I did manage to watch (sorta) a number of films I hadn't seen before and eagerly awaited the new season premiere of MadMen (during which NO SEWING happened.  Don Draper needs my full attention.)

Confetti made from scrap crumbs

I managed to finish the top and back (both pieced within an inch of their lives) before the sun meant pictures were out of the question. Here's a sneak peek:

The quilt is basted now.  I tried a new method of layering the sandwich to which I am now married, I love it so much.  I forget where I saw the idea (send up a flag if it was from your blog, please!) but it's sweet.  It sounds like it would take longer but it saves a ton of hassle.  You spread out your batting and then smooth out your top on it.  When every wrinkle is gone, trim the batting around your top to a couple inches larger and roll the whole thing up. Then you tape down your backing, centre your roll and roll it out, smoothing as you go.  If it's off-centre or going wonky, easy fix to roll it back up.  Trim the backing to your batting edge and pin like the wind.  I saved myself about twenty minutes doing it this way and I had to fight much less with the masking tape, the pins and wrinkles.  Awesome.

I began free-motion quilting an actual quilt for the first time last night.  This has been the perfect project to try new things and since it's definitely not a "decor" project, perfection isn't expected or part of the end goal.

The living room is mostly returned to its former glory.  I'll need to hit it with the vacuum when I'm finished.  I can't wait to show you the binding I made....

Plague

As in, I have it.  Just in time to wreak havoc with assignment due dates, I contracted the plague.  I've been silent on the web this week and literally silent at home the last few days as my voice completely left me.  I'm hacking and coughing, handed in three major assignments and did a group presentation between naps and fevers. On the plus side, I think my abs are benefitting from the non-stop cough riot.

So much for my sewing rampage planned for this weekend.  However, a back-ordered Christmas gift of yarn arrived last Friday, before due dates, a phenomenon known as Murray's Law:  Something you want to do will beckon with ferocity the second you need to buckle down on what you have to do.  Now that I have a bit of a school breather, though not literally breathing all that well, I can knit for a bit guilt-free. Between that and laundering every scrap of bedding and contaminated clothing, my weekend's been quite full.

I've also sewn some hexes and part hexes together for the Teacher Identity Project.  Funny how they don't always go together like you think they will. And how the second you take the foundations out, the middles go all wrinkly.  There are deep life metaphors in the oddest of places...

Blue Skies

Okay, so no sewing again this week.  But I still have a thing or two to share from my rampage sewing weekend last month.

Dresden wedges before sewing. I take a photo to check placement as I go. Yes, the lighting is abysmal...

I was experimenting with improv piecing.  I'd actually started this project before Christmas but set it aside in the chaos and hadn't come back to it yet.  It started off with a delighting over Kona solid fat quarters at my local and an idea to use the dresden wedge rulers I'd picked up ages ago and hadn't touched yet.  I wanted to see if I could use different wedge shapes and lengths and still end up with something not entirely ugly.  Then I grab a bunch of blues as well and went to town.

I started with strips in various widths, sewing random strips together.  Then I cut those strips in various widths, and started making blocks.  Once I had most of the pieces in large chunks, I started fitting them all together and using leftovers to fill the gaps.  I placed them around a plain square where I thought my dresden would go. Who wants to cover up all that piecing?? Not this guy, though she occasionally rethinks her choices.*

Eventually, I had a squarish wall-hanging-sized top and I appliquéd my sun to it.  This is how it looks so far.

I am planning to free-quilt the heck out of it with all kinds of thread and embellishment so that the sun doesn't look like a bunch of solids sewn together all crazy-like. It's going to take some nerve-building to get to that point.  I'm a little nervous that what I envision in my head won't translate to the fabric. You probably won't see it for a while but I thought I'd share it anyway. Another work in progress for the pile, which I'm totally going to tackle.  And soon.  Just not today. :-)

Have a great weekend!

*I almost wish I'd done it all in batiks but I'm not about to tear it apart.  Plus, sometimes the all-batik quilts get a patina of boring over them.  Not all, but some.  I think it's a "too much of a good thing" issue.  They are lovely to sew with though, even if the odd batik causes me to wrinkle my nose with an 'ew' for colour and pattern..