a bit of catch up

It's hard to know what to even write about these days. Everything in the news is either so sad, or so infuriating. I was listening to the press conference on in the car this morning, the part where the lawyer spelled out all the unethical things they're doing and tried to spin it as ethical. It made me want to break something.

I know the best thing I can do is focus on what is possible for me in my place in the world. I'm a musician by trade. I play and teach piano. It's not exactly an innovative career. Still, I believe that music is profoundly important in people's lives, often in ways they're not even fully aware of, and I like to think that my work contributes to the good in the world, whether I'm coaching a 12-year-old kid on his first contest piece or collaborating on a masters recital or teaching college students how to find middle C on their keyboards. 

I'm also raising kids and volunteering at their school and growing kale in my front yard. That all has to count for something, too.

I will also continue to write and share here about what I'm doing and making because it's important to me. This isn't escapism for me, though. I don't make things to forget about the news. I do it to cope.

All that said, I want to share some photos of a few projects I finished last month.

Remember the BBB pants and cross-stitched onesies for the little squirt in Denver? I discovered better photos on the memory card in the camera when I was uploading other stuff. I think they're cute enough for a recap!

Navy corduroy, thick flannel, and a navy peace sign.

Lightweight charcoal denim, giant (1") gingham, and a gray peace sign.

A view of the cuffs!

I hope my cousin sends pictures before he grows out of these! 

Next, something for Anya. Her birthday is in mid-December, and for part of her present, I made her some clothes. There was a pair of yoga pants with a giant waistband that had to be fastened with a  safety pin so they didn't fall down (oops), so I didn't even bother to photograph those. But I also made her a dark gray hooded t-shirt and I think it's her favorite now.

The pattern is the Rowan Tee by Titchy Threads and it's a good one. I love the Flashback Skinny Tee as well and have made well over a dozen by now, but the Rowan Tee comes with a hood option. (There are also options for nifty little contrasting stripes on the shoulders and sleeves.) It's fully lined, so the hood can be a little heavy and pull the shirt, but it doesn't seem to bother her.

Anya likes her clothes pretty plain (as you can see), and it's kind of killing me that she doesn't even want a bit of stripage or polka dottage inside the hood or on the shoulder. Nope. Just plain gray or navy blue. I guess if your 9yo kid likes wearing what you make, you keep making what she likes, amiright?

See those Christmas lights behind her? We took the tree down a while ago now. That's how long I've been sitting on these  photos.

The last thing (for today) is a pair of socks I finished soon after Christmas. I intended for them to be socks for Daniel, but well into the first one it was clear they would be a little snug for him. Rather than rip back, I started something else for him and decided to finish these for Anya. 

The green is pretty accurate in this photo.

I used Leading Men Fiber Arts (available locally, which is thrilling) in the colors "Darkest Hour" and "Alien Invasion." I don't really have to tell you which is the green and which is the gray, do I? The idea was to mimic the colors of a creeper from Minecraft, so I used the contrast gray for cuffs, heels and toes for a kind of color block effect.

I didn't really use a pattern. I just cast on 68 stitches (the yarn is on the finer side of fingering weight, really lovely), did a 2x2 cuff, a short row heel, and decreased the toes down to 8 stitches so I could pull the yarn through instead of Kitchenering them. 

I really need to make socks for Daniel now. His feet are the same size as mine (waaaaah when did that happen?!!) so I suppose as long as they fit me, they should fit him. He has a birthday coming up, too, in a few weeks. I could certainly make him creeper socks with the leftovers, perhaps switching the main and contrast colors. 

Next post I'll show you some more Christmas knits. I was only late with about half of them!