Baseball and Opera and Books.

I love libraries.  I may have gotten my library card before my driving license during the latest move, and if not, it was close.  I've used many services over the years, taken out (and returned!) many books, and with the online options I attend events and watch videos and I'm borrowing an e-book (because my library doesn't have hardcopy) of a book to read before my next overseas trip.  So I'm always up for celebrating National Library Week, and hope that you support your local libraries also.

Last week was busy.  In addition to work (and the madness of our fiscal year ending on March 31st, which meant that the next days were catch-up on the carryover work plus anything that wasn't urgent and got postponed until after April 1st) it was NC Opera weekend, and my parents were hosting the guest speaker.  So in addition to two operas (I skipped the dress rehearsal because of my library's Science Fiction Book Club meeting) and the Sunday afterparty, I went to a ballgame on Thursday evening, and did other activities with parents and guest on Saturday, when not participating in the Knit For Food A Thon.

Sadly, the Durham Bulls lost to the Sugarland Space Cowboys,
but we had fun, weather was perfect, and they didn't get shut
out thanks to their designated hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning.

I started a hat during the ball game (which meant I had to restart it several times, even though it's a basic and easy pattern, because I kept getting off-count on the first row - stitch markers to the rescue!) and I finished a scarf that had been too big to take to the game.

I picked up some library swag at the game:

I asked if I needed to show my library card (of course it was with me) to get a sticker, and the library staff said no, and let me take one of everything that was still there.  I didn't need info about their Library Fest activities - I'm already signed up for ones I can do, and wish I could do more!

It's been two years.

I still need to unpack books:

And do a few other things.  This summer's project is bookshelves.

I went again.

I wanted to pick up the glass piece I created a couple weeks ago, and since the teacher is going on a bit of vacation, Wednesday night was my opportunity.  Although work is crazy-busy this week because of the end of our fiscal year, I didn't want to go all that way and just pick up the previous piece so I signed up for that evening's class; the teacher lets returning students use it as open studio time.  I let him know that I would be arriving late due to work, and the basic instructions were still in progress when I arrived.  I wasn't the only returning student, but a group of high school friends were the majority of the class - and they did amazing things.

This is by one of the college-age students.

More by the college-age students.
You can see mine on the middle left.

These are by the other two returning students.

For some reason, the ideas I had were not really gelling, maybe because there were so many people because in addition to our class, the space contained a resin class.  So we were at each other's elbows.  The teachers, at one point, had us all walk anti-clockwise around the table to see each other's work.

(Now I want to take the resin class, also!)

I had ideas going in, but found a piece of translucent aqua blue glass that had been cut out, and a shard of yellow-and-blue, and some other bits that just looked pretty, so made a very abstract thing:

This is the piece before it is fused.  The iridescence on the 
green in the middle doesn't show very well from this angle.

The teacher sent this photo of the piece post-fuse.  I think I should have
used finer yellow frit as I don't know if I like the chunky look. 
Teacher asked if I want to slump it into a dish, and I think I want to
try creating a votive candle or light holder, so we'll work on it later.

My mother asked if I will make a small dish for her, and I don't want to do it from this piece because I think the translucence and transparency of the glass will look very pretty with light behind it.  But I want it to be something other than a suncatcher like the first piece I made.

Those of us who are returning students don't have to start with the small clear squares, but can chose a larger piece from the teacher's stash.  I went to rummage, having an idea in my head for something, then I spotted a piece with yellow and green and instantly was inspired:

The swirls made me think of a swamp, so I cut some pieces to look like lilypads and stylized fish (OK, koi may not live in swamps), and then scattered a few sticks of glass and some thin bits to look like hyacinth or some other flowers, or spanish moss, or a combination, dripping down into the water.  I may do some more after the first firing, when I see how it looks.

It's the end of our fiscal year so I haven't had much time for creativity,  I still need to finish the next book for the Science Fiction Book Club before our meeting on Wednesday.  I've gotten partway into it, and the author manages to give each one in the series a very different perspective.

I did work up these samples for a class I am giving at a local group in April:

Not finished.  The original pattern is crochet; I wanted to
try creating a knit version in case somebody only knits.

They take very little time, and I may make a couple more before the class.  A friend taught me how to make them and gave permission for me to distribute her handout, which is very kind.

Both packages I mailed on Monday arrived - the wee sweater, and the box of thank-yous that a friend distributes to sailors through a program she supports.  I realized I haven't written any more of the cards since I mailed the package, although one of my Lenten commitments was to do so every day, so I am going to try to do some catching-up and continue the momentum.

Small accomplishments.

This has been a week for finishing projects.  First, the wee green cardigan for a friend's cleaning lady:

When my friend noticed the lady is pregnant, she offered (through an interpreter, because my friend does not speak Spanish, despite being a native Texan and Dallasite!) to knit something, and the lady asked for a sweater, which my friend does not do.  So my friend offered a blanket and booties.  When I heard this, I thought that I'd knit a sweater, especially to try a pattern.  The teddy bear buttons make it supercute.  The cleaning lady chose the colour because she doesn't know if it is a boy or girl.  They don't know it's coming - the sweater, I mean!

This is the Yoked Cardigan and I may knit an adult size for me.

Next, my current carry-around hat, a simple 3x3 rib in leftover chunky superwash yarns:

I knit the first row when I changed colours, to
smooth out the transitions.  3 rows each.

And the second strip for an afghan, probably a donation to Warm Up, America!

That may not look like a small thing, but there wasn't much left to finish on the second strip.

I started the shawl I am planning to wear in Paris in May:

It's the Tour Eiffel Shawl out of a miniskeins pack from Destination Yarns of their multicoloured "Paris" colourways.  There isn't enough yarn for the full shawl, so I will do as much as I can.  Maybe in Paris I will buy enough yarn for the whole shawl.  The pattern requires attention so it's not something I can carry around, at least not yet.  I'll see once I get past the startup section.

Not so cocky.

I ended up entering four items in the Carolina Fiber Fest competitions, and only one received a ribbon - third place for the Camellia Cardigan.

    

Brown Sheep Sunflower pattern.

   

Above is the bamboo sunhat I crocheted for myself while on the trip last summer.  Handy because it stuffs into a pocket but covers my face and neck well.

Mittens of Knitting Buddha handspun yarn.

  

No feedback on any of the items so I don't know why the others didn't place, or why the cardigan scored so low.  Now I don't know if I'll try entering it into the State Fair in the fall.  I guess I was too used to scooping up ribbons on everything I entered in the Berlin Fair in Connecticut, and last year getting a Second Place ribbon on the item I quickly crocheted to have something to enter.

I looked at most of the other items, although only with eyes.  These I thought interesting:

My Niece #2 and I wandered around to look at everything; she achieved much inspiration but no yarn.  She surprise purchased a t-shirt for me, and I purchased some cute stitch markers for her.  She did some more wandering while I helped to staff the guild table:

Jane at the booth.  Items made by Guild members.

In addition we celebrated my mother's birthday and after the festival closed my parents and I went to the North Carolina Opera's 15th Anniversary Gala.  Today was much quieter overall, just the cinema class and online fiber groups, since we had waves of storms wash through, complete with thunder and tornado warnings.

Mustard Museum Memory

In 2015-2016 I lived in Middleton, Wisconsin for a time.  I enjoyed being there but as often happens in my life, work had other ideas.  One of the things I enjoyed, too briefly, was the National Mustard Museum.

I still have this - he is a much better option than most candidates!

As a mustard lover, I eagerly volunteered to be one of their tasters for the annual championships, held on on this date in 2016.  They asked what we preferred, and because I tolerate hot and spicy well, those were some of the options provided to me:

The samples of HOT PEPPER mustards came with
cups of yoghurt to cool the palate.

Most of the mustards came with water and pretzels to cleanse the palate, except for the HOT pepper ones shown above, and two others:  the dressings arrived with celery sticks and the deli mustard came with small pieces of rye bread and corned beef.  I did not get to sample those, but I did get one bite of leftover rye bread and corned beef.

They also had samples of foods made with mustard, and recipe cards to take home:

Because I am allergic to chocolate I didn't try the brownies, although others said they were surprisingly good.  (Who knew there is chocolate mustard?)  I definitely love the jalapeño deviled eggs.  [As a side note, a friend posted a photo of deviled eggs with the caption: "It's called 'deviled eggs' because the voices whisper & make you eat 25 of them."]

I visited the rest of the museum, and its shop, although it was too crowded for many good pictures.  I ended up with just a bad one:

There are several cabinets displaying mustards from all over
the world - Japan, Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand, etc.

The museum included a number of items of punny decoration:

A peek at spring.

I was finally able to take a proper walk - between weather, travel, and work, I haven't had much time to do so.  I did walk over 14,000 steps more last week than in previous weeks, no surprise given the walking I did at the North Texas Irish Fest!

Spring is starting to appear hereabouts:

Yesterday I took a class to learn how to make fused glass items.  It is in a local gallery and there are many items for sale, and the teacher said that some of their students have graduated to being artists in the gallery.  In this class, after learning how to cut the glass, and the different types of glass to use, we were set free to make our own designs:

My initial setup.  I took a photo before moving the items off the
base glass, because everything has to be cleaned before you can
stick it together for the firing, and I wasn't sure I would remember
the way I envisioned the pieces working together.

These are all the pieces students made, plus one by
a student from a previous class who wanted it fused
further.  You can "tack" which leaves texture, or you
can "full fuse" which melts anything into a smooth
piece.  I chose full fuse for my piece.

The final piece going into the kiln.  My vision is sun and sky;
we'll see how much it resembles this after it is fired.

I will go back in two weeks to pick up my piece, and I probably will sign up for open studio sessions to make more.  The instructor is there on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons for classes or open studio time.  Since my parents don't need quite as much of my time, now that the main part of the books have been cleared (Mom delivered eight or nine cartons of books in German and about Germany to a university programme this week), I can pop out for a session once or twice a month, and still keep Sundays free for my own activities.

Today that involved a lot of cleaning and organizing, some vacuuming, un-gunking a drain, and putting out the trash and recycling bins.  So exiting!  I also watched my congregation's Purim Spiel online, and have been working on the hat I am trying to finish so I can enter it at the Carolina Fiber Fest.  Deadline to register something is Tuesday and they have to be delivered Thursday night or Friday morning; it will have to be the former, given my work schedule right now.