Back from the Fairies.

As always, appropriate masks, although I took them down when not around crowds.

“Let us do something, while we have
the chance! **** Let us make the most
of it, before it is too late!"

--< Samuel Beckett, "Waiting for Godot

March 8th - International Women's Day

It was a good weekend, not too many photos, mostly video as I livestreamed a song from the bands performing at the stage we were near.  Storms on Saturday almost turned the Fun Run into a dogpaddle, but a break allowed the runners (except a couple who decided the 15+(F)-degree temperature drop after the first wave of storm was too much to tolerate) to head out.

Some of the other volunteers - nice to have them, for once! - with my crocheting on the table at the bottom left.  End result is cute (photo in next post) but why I wanted to do fine work in black??!!!

It's Trad

Off today for the North Texas Irish Festival.  Weather is supposed to be warm and rainy, although now Sunday may be sunny.  Better than the icy years!

Mom is worried because of terrorists and flying in storms and because it's the first time I've traveled away from her since Dad died.  We'll see how we manage.

I've packed a small bag, but overfull of items, including a green WFMT sweatshirt (because the buildings are always chilly) that I forgot to include in this photo:

Three days, three yarn projects - right?  One a hat I am designing to go with the Carolina Fiber Fest Crochet Craft-Along scarf; one the CFF Knit-Along pattern (and I just saw they've posted a second option); and one the Shamrock Cowl from Kelbourne Woolens, because that seems appropriate.

As always in March

At the beginning of the week, FitBit gave me another badge, which made me feel a little less like a lump.  I've struggled a couple of days to meet the 10,000 steps challenged, and to move each hour.

At the end of the week, I headed to Dallas:

Once again, as a manager in Performer Products, although if the other manager had been able to attend, I would have shifted to being a swing volunteer and supported many other areas.  I did volunteer for the Fun Run - not as a runner, of course (although they offer a "Zero-K" option for people who just want swag) but handing out packets and personning the bag check.

This year I also received a medal.

So these are photos of the masks I wore during the trip, since mostly I take and post videos that allow my mother and others to experience the event.

I also wore appropriate socks, such as these on Friday for the opening of NTIF:

Fiberuary - Week 4

 

Day 22 - On The Road

My mother had surgery on Friday, and I went to pick her up on Thursday.  That's my current "car scarf", a simple item (sometimes a "car hat") that I can work on while waiting, or taking into a location in case there is a queue.  The one shown is now finished and I have started another.  I didn't notice until looking at the photo later that the house flag is nicely framed above my knitting.

Day 23 - Self Care

I wanted to have a photo of one of my favourite shawls, but didn't take one before going to my parents' house (I stayed through the weekend to help them while my mother recovered) so had to make do.  It's crocheting and knitting and a wee bottle of a really nicely scented hand lotion, which is the "self care" part, especially as the yarn I am knitting is a scratchy wool.

Day 24 - Memories

Top right is an afghan crocheted by the great-grandmother I never knew, and which I repaired many years ago.  It's very heavy, single-crocheted wool in panels with a lacy connecting stitch.  Bottom right is the aran-style blanket my grandmother knitted.  At left is the last gift I made for her, a lap blanket that I gave to my grandmother on her final birthday.

Day 25 - Handmade Gift

Technically, many gifts - I have a friend who loves to knit socks, and for many years she gave me a pair each year.  These are not all the ones she made for me, just the ones I could grab most quickly when I had a few minutes today to take the photo.

Day 26 - Where in the World

Some of my yarny souvenirs from travels - Argentina, Austria, France, Germany.  Possibly others, I would need to check notes from past trips.  I couldn't quickly locate yarn from New Zealand, and I didn't buy any in Thailand (although I did knit a scarf on that trip that I treasure as a memory), and there are some other yarns that became items I did not include.

Day 27 - Sip and Stitch

Too late I realized I should have taken a photo of my knitting with the drink (tonic water) I was sipping on my flight to Dallas.  Sip & Stitch at 37,000-ish feet up!  This was after I landed, and settled in "my" room at the friends' house where I usually stay when visiting.  They stock Diet Dr. Pepper® for me.

Day 28 - Gratitude

Two friends donated lots of yarn of all kinds to the Urchin Street area at North Texas Irish Festival, with the only requirement that none of it returns home.  The ladies in charge were delighted to receive it and to pose for a photo that I posted so my friends (who could not attend this year) could experience their gratitude.

That concludes my Fiberuary for 2025.  Will I do it next year?  Maybe.  It was a nice distraction this year.  But it's also a challenge - I know, that's the idea - to find a subject each day.

'Scaping

I love garlic scapes.

When I can obtain them in the spring, I often use them as a vegetable in various things: stir-fries, simmered with meat or vegetables or rice, roasted, and anything else that appeals.  I know you can make pesto with them, but often eat the scapes before I can accomplish it.

A friend of mine posted about making garlic scapes pesto in early June, and I decided that if I could find enough of them, I would make some this year.  His 'recipe' is:  "Basic proportions/ingredients: One bunch of garlic scapes, two cups of shelled pistachios, two cups of fresh Parmesan cheese, 1.5 cup olive oil, basil, parsley, lemon juice, salt & pepper to taste."  I tasted some of his while visiting, and decided that I wanted less cheese (or a milder cheese) and parsley instead of basil.

I used the following:  About 1.5 bunches of garlic scapes, Cheese Bros. Fratello, less than a cup of olive oil then canola oil to get the consistency I wanted, half a large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, a cup of pistachios (because the store didn't have pre-shelled and I got tired of shelling), and I forgot lemon juice.

The pesto is about what I wanted, but very garlicky.  Which I like, but I have to remember to tone it down for others, or if I am going out within a few hours and don't want to have too offensive breath.😩💨

In other news, I made a hat before going on a very fast trip to Dallas:

   

Yarn is Up North Yarns DK in "Love from Peter Max".

The trip was to cash in my winnings at the Dallas Winds Star Spangled Spectacular, getting to sit onstage during the first half, and set off some of the streamer cannon during the finale.

Everybody was very sweet and it was a lot of fun, and being onstage was an entirely different level of surroundsound.

They had holiday-appropriate foods available pre-concert.  I split the cupcake with a friend, who had his own hot dog.

Another year of music.

Yes, I went to help at the North Texas Irish Festival this past weekend.  When I arrived Tuesday night it was cold and rainy, but quickly warmed up on Friday and was sunny all weekend - perfect festival weather.  I did my usual working and running errands and repeat all weekend, with a little bit of shopping at a local soap supplier:

Bath bombs (they also had some with gnomes
or shamrocks or hats), lip balms, and soaps.

I also helped with check-in at the annual 5K Fun Run, and while they ran out of the medal-cum-bottleopener (in addition to runners/walkers they had a "0K" version where you could just sign up to get the T-shirt and goody bag) I was given a T-shirt:

There is a cidery in Deep Ellum that provided this year's beverage (in addition to breweries and the inevitable Guinness) and it is very tasty.  I would be drinking it regularly if I lived there.

Once again I stayed at the main hotel and it was crazier than usual because the National Cheerleader Championships were in town and they shared the hotel.  Quite a mixture of high-energy people!  This also meant that both of my flights were about 2/3 full of cheerleaders and their parents and coaches.

Hurrah for earplugs.

Of course I wore masks all weekend, with Saturday's noting the March 2, 1836 founding of the Republic of Texas.

#OnThisDay in 1562 was chartered the entity
that would become Trinity College, Dublin.

I worked a bit for my real job on Friday, and then Saturday morning before going to help at the Fun Run, and Sunday evening.  Then I took off Monday morning to help set-build for the Plague Mask Players' show, "Taming of the Shrew".

As we were loading in the set pieces and getting organized.

I didn't do a lot, especially as I had to leave noonish for my return flight (I could have taken a later connection, but direct flights are preferable especially during work hours), but it was good to be back doing the kind of stage stuff I love.

'Bootleg' Girl Scout Cookies

Middle of last week, somebody posted that his granddaughter would be at the North Texas Irish Festival's Volunteer meeting on Sunday, selling Girl Scout Cookies.  I generally send a few boxes to the troops, or whatever is the group's local charity (some donate to soup kitchens or shelters), and the friends with whom I was staying asked for a box of Thin Mints®.

However, when I got to the ballroom at the hotel where the meeting was occurring, the cookies were being packed up and removed.  I was disappointed, thinking I missed the timeslot when the girl could be there, or sales weren't allowed during the meeting proper.  No, it turned out the hotel didn't want the sales onsite.  So, her grandfather announced at the start of the meeting, they would take orders during the meeting, and you could pick up from the vehicle in the parking lot after the meeting.  Yup, in the best Irish manner, a workaround was created, and we all joked about our bootleg Girl Scout cookies for the rest of the morning.

The rest of the weekend was fun:  Two plays, a new pizza place, tacos (different meal), visiting with friends.  I got some rest, and decided to skip the Yoga Boot Camp on Monday because it began at 5:00am locally and I am not that dedicated.

I did get knitting done, of course:

The scarf on the right was knitted on Saturday, and a bit at the meeting on Sunday.  It's just garter stitch of a handdyed acrylic skein I bought at the last DFW Fiber Fest.  The other is the Ghost Ranch Cowl done in Whimzee Stitches DK Deluxe "Maxed Dallas", their 2022 show colourway.  Very yummy yarn, and I won't keep it because there's more pink in the colourway than I like, but somebody should enjoy it.  I made a hat from the yarn and will re-do it in the same stitch pattern.  In the photo I was still working on the (remainder of the) first skein, and now I am well into the second, and it's moving nicely.

There and There and Back Again.

I made it to DFW Fiber Fest last Sunday, and delivered all my donations, plus a donations form with photos of all the items (the ones left previously and the ones that I carried) on the back.  The volunteer who accepted my bag grinned hugely when he saw it, as it makes their work very much easier!  I had time on Saturday while traveling, and in the evening, to make two more blanket pieces out of scraps:

Yes, the one on the left looks a bit wonky, but it measured evenly.

The class I took was on Dragon Boat Decorations and I am fascinated and we all started making many with different designs and colours and I think if they'd let us we would have been there until the event closed.  Mine are the three in the lower lefthand corner:

I finished with a volunteer shift for closing, packing away yarnbombing items and helping vendors pack and move out of the vendor hall.

Then I flew out to San Diego and spent three days at a conference, which was small but meant for learning and networking:

Back to Dallas, since it's very difficult to get flights across the country unless you live in New York or Washington, DC, and then home the next day.  While at the conference and traveling to Dallas I knit a hat, and then I made another one:

In a sense I knit three hats, because the one on the left came out too tight on the first go, so I knit it again with an additional repeat's worth of stitches, and this is a better size.  Both are destined for sale in a holiday crafts show in November, and if they don't sell they are going to charity.

I've read two books, one finishing "The Time Machine" which was an assignment in my class on the origins of science fiction, and the other "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" which was written for young adults but I found it very interesting.  When I recorded them I saw my last books read were finished in June, so it's been a gap of time when I didn't have the mojo, it seems.  I did reading but mostly magazines, and also books on cybersecurity and the like while I participated in a drafting workshop related to the CISSP exam.

I got home just ahead of Tropical Storm/Cyclone Ophelia, which gave us a very windy and wet Friday evening and most of Saturday.  She departed just in time for my parents and me to go to the season opener for the North Carolina Symphony, which was just marvellous.

Now it's almost time for Yom Kippur, the most solemn of Jewish observances, a day of reflection and repentance.  In addition to the thoughts at the top of this post, I wish to share the following, which my best friend shared to me.  The Vidui is a recital we make several times in the next 24 hours, and the one used in services is an acknowledgement of failings, both individually and collectively.  This one is the other side, an acknowledgement of accomplishments, and a reminder of what to continute to do:

To all who observe, may you have an easy fast and be written for a healthy and happy 5784.

A Texas Tribute

Have I mentioned lately that one benefit of the pandemic is that so many arts events have moved online, or now to a hybrid presentation, that I can attend them even when far away?  I love the Dallas Winds and was only rarely lucky to be in town on performance night since I moved from the area.  This year, I've been able to enjoy a number of concerts, including tonight's extra-special one:

An additional bonus of the livestream is that you get to re-listen (or rewatch) for a day or a few days or a week, so if you really liked something, you get to hear it again.  Which I will be doing tomorrow.

Mini-Resolutions for October

I am making progress on current projects, not on UFOs.  On the KnitTalk list this is "Aftober" nicknamed after a woman who started a number of years ago to encourage people to finish their UFOs before holiday projects take over.  Maybe I'll get the second sock finished before it gets cold enough to wear the pair.

I am continuing to read books, and this being Banned Books Week I looked for a title to read from the most recent list.  It's amazing how many classics appear there:  The Bluest Eye, To Kill A Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and of course The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  I found an article and video addressing the last one that you might want to view.  And when you're done, go read a banned or challenged book, preferably one you haven't read before.  Or one you haven't read in a long time, if you'd rather shop your shelves or if your local library still has limited access.

The longest short month

This February has certainly seemed that way.  It's been almost a year since I traveled - the last trip I went on included the North Texas Irish Festival, which will be virtual next weekend.  I remember my mother being worried and I joked that Chinese people didn't tend to come to Irish music festivals.  One woman at the festival wore a mask with "ALLERGIES" written across it, but most of us didn't wear masks.  We did avoid getting too close, although I didn't resist a hug from a friend of mine who came to the festival using a free ticket I had and enjoyed himself immensely.  The festival is dog-friendly and he has a friendly dog, and we were planning to repeat this year.  Well, we'll do it next year.

Work is incredibly busy.  I had a 16:45 hour day last week, according to my work tracker.  It involved some midnight work with people in China and Japan, including my having to fill out a form that was mostly in Japanese.  I was pleased that I made only one mistake, which they corrected on the other end.  I've worked part of each weekend day this weekend, and last one, and it's likely to continue through March.  My boss approved for me to take time off in April.  I haven't had a vacation since April 2019; last year's was cancelled due to the pandemic, and I didn't do a staycation.  I can think of only one day I've taken that wasn't a national holiday, and I've worked on some of those as well.  I guess I'm a workaholic, but between the weather and the pandemic, I don't have much else to do.

Except cleaning and sorting stuff, recycling, donating to the thrift store, etc.  According to my records, I donated 836 items to the thrift store this month.  They ranged from small items such as a card of buttons to large ones such as the carryon that had seen quite a few flights and road miles before travel stopped.  Books, clothing, housewares I wasn't using, or which I hadn't taken out of their packages.  And so on.  I'm not a hoarder, not the kind you see on television or read about, but I am definitely acquisitive.  Now that I've been around my stuff so much, it's clear what I really need, what I want, and what has no further purpose, at least not for me.

If I'd been doing the Minimalism Game I would have donated 406 items, so I am well ahead.  Yes, it's really a thirty-day challenge and February has only twenty-eight days, but if you add the additional 59 items it's 465, well under the 836 I donated.  I call it good.

I do find items that I'd forgotten, such as this guy:

  

Many years ago the Yarn Harlot wrote about learning to make a monkey out of leftover sock yarn at a retreat.  I thought it looked cute and based upon the photos, made one.  I showed it to her at an event and she was very dismissive.  He does look a little crazed, due to the yarn and my embroider-on-knitting skills.  He's still cute.

I missed the monthly cooking club, also due to work running over, but I emailed a photo of my meal:

The assignment was to cook something from the Pioneer Woman's blog and I chose the Crash Potatoes because I could do them with things I had already.  I changed from cheese on top to slices of lemon, which I needed to use up and I thought it went better with the glazed delicata squash and eggs.  Not a food-blogger-pretty plate of food, but it was very tasty.

Overall, it feels like an incredibly long time, and it's hard to believe that February is the shortest month.  Maybe because work has been so overwhelming, or because I was able to do two trips to the thrift store, or just because the days blur because I am not traveling or even going to local events.  Some cinemas are open, with limited attendance, but I haven't felt like going.  There aren't concerts or other performances in person, not to speak of, and there's still too much snow for me to get in a walk.  The rare time I have the opportunity during daylight it's too cold, or raining.  Yes, tons of excuses.

It's also been over a year since I've seen any of my family, except for a couple of Zoom calls.  I speak to them, and email, but it's not the same.  I haven't seen a lot of my friends in at least that long, except for the ones I saw at NTIF last year.  We keep up via email and social media and a very rare Zoom call, but again - not the same.  I really miss seeing people for more than a distant front-stoop chat, or the routine of post office and weekly CSA or farmstand shopping, or the less frequent food delivery.  It will be nice to sit across a table with somebody and share a meal.  It will be fantastic to hug my family again.

Mini-Resolutions Status

I finally started the second sock, although I haven't gotten far.  I'm well on the way with the BLUE hat for my KnitTalk Make-Along challenge:

The multi has some blue in it that may be too close to the solid, but from a distance it looks better than it does when I am knitting.  I didn't do the deep ribbing the pattern has so I am leaving off one of the rounds of the full-sized dots to compensate.

I haven't finished any of my UFOs, nor a single book.  I am behind on the reading, as I would have to finish an average of one book every two months.  Maybe I need to choose a different book.