Darling Owl Hat

I just had to share this adorable owl hat Trisha finished for her daughter.  Her first try at cables and it turned out splendidly!  Great job Trisha!!  :)

Sadly, the pom pom's didn't last long, little Hannah would prefer playing with them to wearing them.  LOL

PPRH Knit Wits 1st KAL

Our little hospital based group has been growing strong now for 6 months.  Everyone's advancing right along...well almost everyone :0) so we thought it would be fun to tackle a little more challenging project all together, hence the knit a-long (KAL).   So we started our first sock class today.  What fun teaching how to use double points!  Some lovely malabrigo and other assorted sock yarns.  It will be exciting watching how these evolve.  Something to definitely look forward to every Friday.  One of our members even came in while she's off work for an injury.  Now that's dedication.

Stay tuned to watch as the sox emerge.

Masters Program Concluded

A month of lessons went by fast.  Thanks Nikki Parsons for filling in while I was gone and Tricia Sichmeller for helping out also.  Phew!  Couldn't have done it without you ladies.  Thanks to Nana Annie for tirelessly working with the kids each week as well. 

I'm glad I volunteered, it was a good experience to watch the kids intently learn this (in my opinion) one of the best stress relievers of all time.  A couple of the girls talked about making things and selling them online - I love an industrious kid!!!  A few learned purling already too.  When you have a group of 25 eight and nine year olds, it's incredible how different they are socially from one another and how quickly they learn...or not.  All seem genuinely interested and a couple were excited to teach their mothers. 

When they arrived for class, they were nearly vibrating with exciting that this would be the day they'd get to take their yarn, needles and projects home so they could work on them and show their families.  Many wanted to continue learning, which is a good opportunity for a local class (hint hint Nikki). 

Overall, it was an experience for me, glad I did it but don't see it as my life's work.  I just don't have the patience for their exuberant amount of energy.  Yikes.  Bless all the elementary school teachers for they surely have a place reserved in heaven!:)

Statistics

Boy, where's mindfulness when I need it?  Have started the last semester of my doctoral program and it's all about data analysis.  I spent 3 hours reading, studying, listening to podcasts, etc. and felt completely overwhelmed.  Funny thing is, I used this program for a research project I did and did well, even taught fellow case managers how to use it.  HOWEVER...that was 20 years ago!!!  Granted, stats doesn't change, no math does right? But if you don't use it every day, it's gone. At least for me anyway.  Math is not now nor ever has been my strongest quality.  I'm great at keeping track of my money and paying bills, but that's about the extent of it without utilizing a whole lot of brain power. 

It's times like this that I'm sure I have ADD, I'll do almost anything (cleaning toilets) to distract myself from the pain of stats.  So what do I do to get away and clear my mind?  No not knitting, I needed to move, really expend some energy and exhaust my body so I could get my mind to focus.  I went for a 5 mile run.  Worked great.  Lovely, sunny day and it felt good to return to mindfulness.  When I run, I really do have to focus and although my mind is known to wander, it's fleeting thoughts nothing deep and certainly not trying to figure out math in any form, especially statistics! 

I was able to come back and work 5 hours on it and have a little bit better handle on it.  At least don't feel as overwhelmed.   Phew, this is gonna be a L O N G 4 month semester but I'll sure be in great physical shape. :)

Knitting Improves Mental Health

Nice article about how knitting & quilting improve mental health.
https://www.yahoo.com/makers/ditch-the-prozac-take-up-crafting-108671160605.html?soc_src=mags&soc_trk=ma

3rd Graders: A Lesson in Mindfulness!!

Another 3rd grade Masters Class yesterday.  Some are little pros already.  One girl knitted a vest for her stuffed animal already!  I think she's practicing at home!!!!  Adorable.  It's cute to sit back and watch them in their little groups like a bunch of hens just knitting away, chatting about their world.  There's 2 who've lost interest but the rest are going to town.  A small group started learning to purl as they're advancing.  Thank goodness I had my 2 helpers again thanks Tricia and grandma Annie.  Would have been quite a stretch to maintain order by myself.  It's exhausting though I can tell you.  WOW!  But so glad I'm doing it.  One more class next week.

It is sure a lesson in mindfulness as you can't focus on anything else but now.  Even if you try sneaking a peak at your phone, someone will need you to tell them they're doing it right or ... not so much and restart.  I am getting good at picking up dropped stitches thought, thankful for the size 13's, which makes it easy to do with your bare hands  :)

Freia Sweater

This yarn is a dream to work with.  I've got the back finished and love the color gradient.  It's a simple pattern, which I need after struggling with my Knit Swirl jacket (which isn't finished by the way).  I've started on the sleeves as they'll be easy to work on while I travel with a 5 year old.  Mustn't take on any complicated pattern for that. Stockinette all the way, well except the sleeve end but the first one's done and if I get lucky enough to start the second one, it's only a 8 row pattern, can get that done if the child sleeps.  :)