Still here

I recently got an email asking me if someone could monetize my blog and post homesteading articles.  Obviously time to get back to writing on the blog!  (and --just no-- unless you consider twins and a dog on a city street homesteading?  Huh?)  

So where have I been?  I've been supervising kids' summer time play while I spin and knit.  This is destined to be a kid sweater made out of plotulopi yarn from Icelandic.  Lightweight, warm, but a little delicate to knit.  Ideal for sitting still and knitting, but not for carrying around too much, in my experience.

Kids went back to school this past week and I was tasked with making more exciting, new masks.  Unicorn, horse, octopus, and soda pop patterns seem to be a hit...we have plenty of masks, of course, but these are the fancy new "back to school" ones.  We're grateful for the mask mandate but since our kids aren't old enough yet to be vaccinated, a bit wary about how long this 'in-school' stuff will last.  Delta variant is real. Making a masks is a good way to cope with the mom worry!  

I've also been busy putting up food.  Plum apple chutney, apple chips for school lunches, applesauce, and more. Having food on the shelf in the winter is great, but I don't think it makes me a homesteader?  (Please, give me more land for gardening and some sheep, as well as access to take out food options...that would be a heck of a farm.)

I've also continued to work as I can.  Part of the reason why there have been fewer blog posts is that I decided this past year to narrow my focus.  It was very important but also a lot to manage, having my kids home to do remote schooling/home learning for 11 months.

I optimized my time...I kept writing a regular column for this Vancouver paper.  I also have had occasional pieces run in other publications.  All my knitting patterns (around 80!) are still available on Ravelry, Lovecrafts.com and Payhip.  

However, I realized that if a gig wasn't paying much, or might take a lot of time or risk exposing kids to COVID?  It just wasn't worth it. I'm considering my options now about what work will look like for me in the future. I miss the teaching I used to do, and the collegiality of editing for someone on a daily basis, too...but for now, I want to find ways to ensure I'm both available if kids need me and earning something for my writing, editing, designing and teaching.  People talk about work being satisfying (and that's important to me!) but work is also valuable.  My experience, skills and time should be worth something, too. 

In the meanwhile, we'll be exploring outside while the weather holds and eating lots of delicious stuff as we cruise through the fall holidays. That's an apple cinnamon challah I made.  It was a hit!

September happenings

We're slammed with produce in Manitoba in August.  In July, it's a little berry jam warm up, but then by the beginning of September, there may even be frost.  So, this year has been something of a canning frenzy.  I've been canning for sharing, so my shelves are full now.  Some of it is mundane: apple sauce, chutney, cucumber pickles...and some is a surprise.  My kids found these (extremely long in the tooth) okra in a neighbourhood schoolyard garden.  They'd never seen okra before! (haha, I have eaten so much okra during my time in Kentucky and North Carolina...) So, I quickly shoved it into a jar and soon we'll try some refrigerator pickles. 

Meanwhile, I continue to write at night and whenever I can fit it in.  Here's an opinion piece I wrote for the CBC-Manitoba website.

It's fair to say that Manitoba's back to school options have left me very stressed.  We have been offered a "go back to school in person with some safety protocols" or a "withdraw your children and homeschool them."  This isn't a fair choice--we pay for our children's public education and kids with challenges can only get special needs support in school here.  It's hard to find privately and expensive.  There's no remote schooling option.  While I used to teach and hold a Master's in Education, I know when I do not have the training to meet some of my kids' needs.  So, today we sent them back.  I've been doing a lot of cooking to comfort myself.

Stuffed grape leaves from a friend's grape arbor... and pie.  Lots of apple pie from apples we picked at a neighbour's house.

Also, the hundred year old house next door has been demolished and there is excavation taking place for a new house.  There was no architectural salvage done, the shaking has been affecting our house, and the noise and motion have worn me out.  This photo taken from our dining room window is cock-eyed, but it sort of represents how I feel.  (Yes, that digger was 18" from the window.  Maybe 2 feet.  No kidding.)  This just makes me sad.

It's noisy and dusty and dangerous to sit around outside...but this is what Sadie the dog was doing before the demolition hit.  It has made me realize how much the out of doors helped us all this summer...and now who knows how long we'll be unable to use our yard again.

In an attempt to brighten up the inside, I wove this rag mat for Sadie's water bowl.  Making things makes me feel better....and keeps the stress level down.  Perhaps that's why I've been canning, knitting, weaving, baking and more...at this frenetic pace.

Stay well!  Happy and healthy new year to all who are getting ready to celebrate 5781!

A quick sale!

You may have noticed that I am now on Instagram.  It is definitely a new thing for me!  Please follow me over there @yrnspinner!

A year ago, this month, I published Freestyle Super.  It has been an absolute favorite around here, and it's a true workhorse.  It went off to Grade 3 this morning on a kid's back...because it was 17F(-8C) when we got up.  Yes, that cold.  And in October.

I am still learning how it works, but here is what I posted over there (hint, it's about a sale! Enjoy!  Happy quick winter knitting!):

Gee Mom, it is scary how much you like this Instagram thing now! (Sweater featured is #freestylesuper. It went off to Grade 3 on a kid this morning!) To celebrate this fun I am having, here is a sale on all my Ravelry knitting patterns. 

#linkinbio #knittersofinstagram #knittersofravelry #knittingpatternsale #knitting 

20% off all my patterns until Nov. 1 at midnight, CT (US& Canada) with coupon code: Halloween

Kindergarten, summer's end, new and old projects

We're still playing outside every chance we get...it is still warm enough, too.  While the twins are at the same school for starting kindergarten, they have been absolutely worn out by the start of school.  In fact, we've already had our first virus, which involved one fever, a lot of nose blowing, some coughing, and use of our new plaid handkerchiefs (a gift from Daddy, the Professor).

As the temperature cools, we will have to start going through all our very special treasures.  These involve "dinosaur bones," shells, rocks, and more, all piled up on the windowsill of the porch.  Pretty soon, we'll be either taking in the most special ones, or redistributing the ones that need to find some rock friends in the garden somewhere.

It would be a bad idea to leave these on our porch (near the glass window) in the wintertime.  The winds are big, and nobody wants to sort through rocks to play when it is -20 or colder anyhow!

  We also migrate in our plastic animals:
We do a lot of categorizing, sorting, playing and reorganizing our animals.  It is amazing how interesting this is to one of our twins:  Do you think his dad is a PhD in Zoology who spent a lot of his grad. school time sorting fruit flies?

I have been knitting (forever!) it seems on a ribbed cardigan.  This is a design I did for Knit Picks in 2006 or so.  The copyright long ago returned to me, and I decided to reknit and republish the design in a different yarn: Berroco Remix, a recycled yarn that is really interesting.

However, the design, while not complicated, has been hard to do while chasing boys this summer.  It has shaping, and a stitch pattern, and button bands.  The short version is that I have already knit THREE button bands because one was just not up to par.  Turns out that in August, supervising twins at the wading pool-- is a hard place to make a really precise and tidy button band.

Keep your eyes out for the design --coming soon! --though its release has been slower than I'd hoped. It's called "Plum Ribbed Cardigan."  It is, indeed, plum in color, but the joke is that I meant it as a Southern phrase...it's full of ribbing. (plum ribbed)

After all that purple, you might just see a pair of small socks, worked up in Patons Kroy sock yarn.  These guys travelled around in my purse for months, and I'd knit a row or two when I had a moment.  It's always good to work ahead on the little boy wool sock front...because winter's always coming around here. :)  Might as well cherish this late summer/early fall sunshine as long as I can!

DIY Winnipeg?

Here's my latest article (note: I do not choose the titles!):
DIY Winnipeg: coming together to fix the city's problems

I'm really proud to have an opinion piece up at the CBC!  It was posted online late Friday afternoon, so not many people saw it before it just became part of another news cycle.  What I meant about gaining grassroots involvement in Winnipeg is not that everybody go out and fix the potholes themselves. However, my hope is that educated and intelligent people try to help fix city problems by offering city officials suggestions, help and expertise rather than throw up their hands after electing these folks to political office.

(We've got a long winter ahead--so maybe we can use the time to come up with better ways to fix infrastructure?!)

Stay warm...it's woolly weather now.  For all my knitting, weaving, spinning,crocheting (etc) readers, check out this cool website, Wovember, for more warmth and fibery goodness this month. 

Last but not least, if you're feeling cold now that frost has settled in here in Manitoba, remember, you can always knit yourself a sweater! :)

Apples, cider and beyond

In past years, I have rhapsodized about fall and apples....my first real date with the professor was to go apple picking in upstate New York.  We make a habit of trying to pick apples every fall.  For the last three years, that has involved helping pick a neighbor's tree.  She lives a block away, and the first year after the boys were born, I raced back and forth between two car seats, popping one boy into a sling to nurse, and then the other.  We're now, at age three, up to the point where they can sometimes pick low hanging fruit themselves, but mostly spend their time chasing windfalls and testing apples with one bite out of several apples...each!

So, apple picking is not quite as romantic as it used to be.  We are visiting family in Virginia for a few days, and the professor surprised me with two lovely gifts.One was Apples of Uncommon Character: Heirlooms, Modern Classics, and Little-Known Wonders, a gorgeous copy of a book that is like a love song to apples.  The other was a 6 pack of hard cider, locally made.  I was able to bring some of that cider to share with a friend...and saved one bottle of it, so I got to drink peacefully by myself, as I read this fabulous new book.  Well worth the purchase of a hardcover, just to enjoy a cider while looking at the luscious full page photos.

Happy fall!  I am really enjoying the warmth of a sunny fall holiday at "home" in Virginia.  Back to Winnipeg, and cooler temperatures, soon enough!

Transitions

(thanks to Didi and Bop, grandparents, for this photo...)

We're in the midst of a big transition over here.At the beginning of September, our three year olds started to go to preschool for a much longer time...nearly matching a regular school day.  It has been both wonderful and exhausting for us.  On one hand, I will never forget the Wednesday after Labor Day this year.  It was the longest time I'd been by myself, in my own house, without the boys, since they were born.  It was both a huge relief...and a shock.  I almost didn't know what to do with myself!

Maybe that's a lie.  I've been working myself into a frenzy, trying to clean up 3 years of messes...both in the household and in my work life, which has mostly been on "pause" for a long time.  It is both exhilarating and hard!  I've submitted a grant application, articles and ideas and even sent off my resume to one (very long shot) editor job.  It's been exciting. 

Part of that blitz was re-issuing this pattern for sale: Wrap-Around Cardigan 

 

I'm excited to say it is now again available!  It was briefly a Knit Picks exclusive pattern, but copyright returned to me...many moons ago. 

 

The other hand--going back to the metaphor above--is the hard part.  We are all still very tired out here.  It's hard to learn to nap at school (and my boys are not great sleepers still, being exhausted during the day doesn't mean we sleep through the night!).  When the dudes come home, they are exhausted and fussy, and I don't blame them.  I too am out of sorts, trying to juggle some sort of new/old work life, the household, and two three year olds in transition.  In a sense, we're all navigating one of those overgrown late summer/fall gardens.  The flowers are over our heads.  We're trying to find our way....and the bees are busy, the flowers fragrant (all good things) but we're a bit lost still.

 

On that note, I wanted to make sure to wish my readers a happy Rosh Hashanah--happy 5775!  Happy New Year.  May it be a sweet, productive, happy, healthy and fulfilling one.

Wishing you all good things,

Joanne

Transformation

We're in the midst of a  very slow slide into colder weather.  The boys are wearing shoes instead of crocs most days, and we're getting ready for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend.

We're also getting used to having a really good preschool experience.  The boys started going to school in the mornings a few weeks ago, and it seems to be working out.  This is huge.  It means I consistently have 4 hours off.  This is mostly spent on making dinner ahead of time, cleaning up, and trying to regain order in our lives.

I am also finding small bits of time for special household projects...like this one, where I reorganized a corner of the living room, moved bookshelves, and filled up these fabric blocks with toys for play time.  It is sometimes nice to make order in our chaos. :)

Finally, I have small amounts of quiet time to think about writing again.  So far, I find that nobody really wants to publish essays about twin induced sleep deprivation or dealing with illness or how to rebuild supportive real face to face communities in our busy, screen-focused world.  These are some of the topics on my mind lately.  It is hard to banish these "less than perfect worlds" and create chirpy or cheerful things.

This is not to say I am unhappy--I am thrilled by this quiet time for reflection and seeing the boys are happy and stimulated at school.  However, I am still facing some health issues. (we all had a bad stomach virus in May and I am still not better! Everyone else recovered...)  I am still "fixing" this and it is hard to know what to share online.  In the meanwhile though, I am knitting when I get a chance, cooking warming fall meals, chasing two year olds, and looking forward to writing more someday soon.

Happy leaves, happy fall, and to all the Canadians out there, Happy Thanksgiving.

Ice in the puddles

We've had a pretty warm fall here. As a result, the birds hung around later than usual. Winnipeg is in the middle of the continent, so you can see all sorts of interesting bird migrations. A spinner friend of mine in Kentucky (who is also a biologist) asked me about the migrations, and although I'd always looked casually, this caused me to pay more attention. Now I'm a fan of the late summer and fall sky activity.

For weeks before actually migrating, I watch the Canadian geese in particular. They do these funny practice runs, getting ready to migrate. There wouldn't be a full V of lined up birds or even a sort of haphazard one. There's maybe a basic "back slash" in the sky.
(I have to spell this out because this blogspot software thinks I'm doing coding and deletes the post when I really use a sideways V or backslash...)
Then I end up imagining the coaching sessions, complete with what the honking means:
--Guys! Guys! Let's get started! Pull to the Right! Go on! You can DO IT!

--Joe?? Where's Joe? Joe, come back here. Get yourself in line. Where are you....JOE??

(Joe drops lower, lower, lower until he falls beyond the other geese, beyond the horizon, likely taking a rest in some schoolyard...he's skipping practice again. How will he EVER do in the big game?)

In the back of line, maybe those honks were two geese (Eloise and Mildred? Albert and Stan?) who were catching everybody else's air. Maybe they were cruising along and gossiping about things. You know, like the next place they'd rest, some sports game they saw from the air, or maybe the excellent tail feathers of the goose just up ahead. I could come up with a whole imaginary community life story for these geese...except--

Usually I'm walking the dogs while I do this, so I have to pay attention to things like street corners, cars, and other excitement...other dogs, cats, and bunnies. (Bunnies can really cause a serious yank on the end of the leash, along with a hound-y, beagle-y, bird dog sound that is like no other...but I was talking about geese. Right?)

The professor went off to Fort Whyte recently with some friends to see the sunset and take photos of the birds. The photos here are his. I asked particularly after Canadian geese and Snow geese but he said there were also a lot of sea gulls in the mix, but that it was worth seeing.

I should note here that I too was invited to go off to see the geese. I am still feeling a bit under the weather, so I enjoyed the warmth of the couch and the company of Harry and Sally, the dogs, while he had a night out.

Today, for the very first time this fall, there was ice in the puddles I saw as I walked the dogs. A change in season is upon us! I am actually quite excited. Part of my health issues have been some bad allergies/asthma--and frost kills the leaf molds with which I appear to struggle. Bring on the frost! (Breathing is fun! Breathing is fundamental!)

Thought you'd enjoy the professor's lovely images as you imagine fall weather up here in Manitoba. Oh, and when you see the geese farther on their way south? Say hi from me. I'll miss their conversations while I'm on the daily dog walk.