Woolly wash!

 It's suddenly spring-ish, and time to wash our woollies.  I always try to do a wash of our mitts, hats, etc. before tucking them away for the summer.  I love the moment where all of this hard work, these handknits and handspun garments, are clean and dancing in the warm breeze.  A good once-a-year image!

Moths are attracted to dirty wool, so our wool should get cleaned now and then. :)

Here's a close up of two different pairs of Due North Mittens.

These are variations on The Hole Inside Mitts.  The one on the right is all handspun, hand-dyed purple and natural brown finnsheep wool.

Here are the special order handspun mitts  (placed last fall by a twin with a fondness for a special flock of sheep!) with a stripe from Margaret's Shetland gray wool.  These show hardly any wear, but sadly, will likely no longer fit the twin in question in the fall.

What else was on the line?  Handknits/handwovens by Didi (the twins' grandma), Slippy the cowl and some gorgeous green wool scarves from Ireland, used for wrapping up preschoolers' faces when it is -40 out.

Also this week, another new column of mine came out:
Young people are interested in social justice...let's engage them

(Again, definitely not my title.)  The way this is framed, it sounds as though community elders must condescend to younger folks to get them involved.  On the contrary, I believe Gen X, Y and Millennials are already reaching out to make change...their elders need to acknowledge it and make space for them in established institutions.  If you want to meet someplace, why not your place of worship?  If you make it too hard to gain entry into your building, we'll just meet at Starbucks (or wherever) instead...

Suddenly I'm humming..

People get ready, there's a train a-coming...You don't need no baggage, 

You just get on board

A new year

It is time to update the blog and keep up with all the things that are happening.  The professor and I (and twins) are visiting family for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  This is the first time we have managed a high holidays family visit in over 10 years!  It is the beginning of the school year, when professors start teaching (but the professor is not teaching this fall) and, well, the stars aligned and we flew east.  So far, the twins have seen lots of family, gone to a few playgrounds, ridden the DC Metro for the first time, and had several other big adventures.

I am taking a break with family and from trying to juggle everything in Winnipeg: toddlers, running our household and working whenever I can manage but had some things to share.

Learning to ask where our food is from just appeared in the Forward...this is a revision of what I originally wrote, but it is probably a kinder and gentler piece now!  Here's one of the photos I sent; a canning photo with more frills appeared with the piece, but this is what my apricot jam and saskatoon jams looked like this fall. (yes, I have managed some canning this summer, and I am so excited to have a full pantry again, I have not managed to can since 2010 so this is huge!)

A little while ago, this article about "helping hands" appeared in the Forward as well. I am so glad to get a chance to continue talking about the issues of helping new moms and new families--there has been a lot of quiet feedback from women of all ages about my two articles on this topic. More women struggle with these issues than you might imagine; our society needs to step up and help more! Finally, I am so pleased with recent interest in my new pattern, Slippy the cowl. It has been slowly beginning to sell, and I cannot wait to see knitters' versions as they appear on Ravelry and the blogosphere. All this seems like it is worth sharing as we begin 5774, the new year, and a brand new school year.

doing my job

As some of you know, I have really missed having a professional work life since the birth of the twins.  I have been working constantly--sometimes feeding and changing and comforting twins for many more hours a day than seems possible--but it wasn't writing or designing, that's for sure.

Summer is the season of houseguests here (we've had 9 since May, I think, and more on the horizon) and lots of other things going on.

However, on the work front...here are a couple of steps in the right direction:

This was published in the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday:
Garbage Loopholes are Trash
(I didn't choose the title, though it fits!)

....AND, after a long hiatus, I have published a new pattern, Slippy the Cowl.  It's a multi-gauge pattern,which means that you can knit it in any gauge from 3 stitches to the inch to 6 stitches to the inch.  Perfect for using up stash, odd amounts of handspun, or that really expensive cashmere you've been saving for a rainy day.  There's also a special deal on until the beginning of September--knit it in any gauge that hasn't been posted yet on Ravelry, do a couple of other things...and you'll be reimbursed for the pattern.  Check out the details on the Ravelry pattern page.
(Photos courtesy of the Professor and some of his stunning summer research students...Gorgeous, and they study butterfly genetics, too!)

 It's unisex...

 It's a hood, scarf and hat...

It uses roughly 200-600 yards of any yarn from sportweight to bulky weight.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry, if you're interested.  (I hope you will be!)