More Knitting Updates and some animals too...

Here is another picture from the Long Beach aquarium. This is my favorite fish: the Leafy Sea Dragon. A few years ago in Australia, we went diving in search of these little guys. I was disappointed after the first dive when we didn't see any! Back on the surface, the dive guide asked if I got enough pictures. I said I didn't see any! Apparently, they were all over the place, but so well camouflaged that I missed every single one. The next few dives were better and I saw lots and lots. The display at the LB Aquarium is the best I have ever seen. The dragons are in a dimly lit tank with lots of seaweed to hid in.




My friend Todd Shattuck runs the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro, so I called and asked if I could bring my students out for a field trip. He took us on a tour of their facililty, as well as did some short educational activities with the group. The facility is open to the public and free. If you have kids or are interested in seeing some seals and sea lions up close, I urge you to make the trip. They are located in Point Fermin, up at the tip of San Pedro at Fort MacArthur. You can see the rehabilitation techniques used to heal the sick seals and sea lions. When we were there they had over 100 sick animals. Some are abandoned babies, others have domoic acid poisoning from an algae bloom in the ocean. This is a neurotoxin that literally makes them "crazy". They do not eat, they haul out on the beach and starve to death. Todd and his group of amazing volunteers (including college students, veterinarians and other health care professionals) feed and give medicine to these poor guys until they are ready to be re-released. This is a group of sea lions who are still sick enough that they need to be separated from other animals.

ON TO KNITTING NEWS...

Here is how far I am on my second sock as I knit along with the kids. We are all doing the Jaywalker socks. Nice, simple pattern with a tiny bit of pattern thrown in to keep you on your toes. I have more done now, and am approaching the toe decreases, waiting for the kids to catch up to me.



Here is Evelyn C. showing off her version of Jess Hutchinson's Bunny pattern that is free on her blog. Evelyn added a face and buttons down the front. Very cute. We donated this one to Stitches From the Heart in Santa Monica, along with a huge bag of other knitted stuff. Way to go, Evelyn! She was in knitting class last semester as well, but didn't get as advanced as a few of the other girls. What a change I have seen in her knitting recently! She decided to go back and reknit the assingments from last semester because she didn't like how they turned out before. She is on the home stretch of the 5-hour baby sweater then will begin her socks. I am really proud of her effort, and love that she is appreciating the time and dedication that knitting takes. Way to go, Evelyn!

So much to blog about...

Hey everyone, I am writing after a few weeks of hiatus, with a house guest, standardized testing, lesson planning and senior finals happening, I had to set the blogging aside for awhile. But I am back! With 80's hair and glasses! I took my students to the Long Beach Aquarium for a Marine Biology field trip and they talked me into dressing up like I did when in high school. Lucky me!

Here is the life-sized blue whale that hangs in the central room of the aquarium. This is the largest animal ever to live on earth. Wow! Speaking of the LB Aquarium, last Friday night was the senior prom at the aquarium. I was, as always, a chaperone, and had a blast taking people on tours of some of the exhibits. It was really cool when former students came up and told me they remember our field trip way back in 10th grade. Back when they were just "kids". Sigh.


In addition to the aquarium, we visited a Marine Bird Hospital in San Pedro, as well as the Marine Mammal Care Center at Ft. MacArthur. Very interesting stuff. I'll post more pics in the next entry.




I finished another Sheldon turtle (from the archives of knitty.com) and this one is a super-sheldon! I used chenille that I got at the 99cents store, so the entire turtle cost (besides my precious time, right?) about $6. I knit him on size 11 straight needles, and 10.5 dpns. If you have some chenille and don't know what to do with it, try a Sheldon! I doubled the yarn throughout. This one was sent up to Portland for Ellery and her mommy for Mother's Day.



A few weeks back I was at the Black Sheep Knittery (dangerously close to my house) and coveting all of the bags of yarn, dreaming of the fun things I will knit this summer, when a woman asked me if I was Karyn Newbill. Sure am, I replied. She said she reads the blog and wanted to give me a donation for yarn and stuff for the kids to use! I couldn't believe it! So, here is what I bought with the GENEROUS donation made by Therese from Pacific Palisades!!!!! She overheard me asking about DPNs and sock yarn, to teach 16 kids how to knit socks. I searched and searched online and finally found the best deal out there and purchased some sock yarn on clearance and 16 pair of DPNs. So awesome! Thank you so much Therese! The kids are well into their first sock, and three of them have turned the heel and are heading for the toes! Your fabulous donation is much appreciated! I'll post more pics when there are some finished socks. In the mean time, I will post my progress on my sock, as I knit along with them. We are all knitting the Jaywalker Sock, btw. Great first-sock pattern, and it has an easy pattern repeat! Go for it, everyone!

Catching Up...

I finally finished Andi's birthday present. I made her the yellow cable computer bag with leather straps. It turned out really great! Look how cute Andi is!!!!!


Instead of a cake, I bought a dozen world-famous Sprinkles cupcakes (my second favorite...since Saint Cupcake is only in Portland, Oregon) for Andi's big day. We stuffed ourselves with too many yummy cakes and had some pretty great pub food (baked mashed potatoes!) at the 3rd Stop on 3rd street in Beverly Hills.



The next morning, bright and way-too early, we headed up to Malibu for Maggie's baby shower. It was a windy but beautiful day and the party was great. So many fun people, some very creative gifts and delicious food.
Here is Maggie opening presents with her son, Charlie

Knitted presents from me

We decorated onesies with fabric crayons for the new baby. They turned out really cute!

Our Malibu view. Spectacular!

Me and Maggie


I have made a new addition to the Knitting Oasis. I took some embroidery hoops and stretched bits of my favorite fabrics. Then I hung these on the wall up the stairs. I saw this on someone's blog and loved the idea. The hoops were $1 each at Michael Levine downtown and I used fabric that I already had. What makes this so special is that I get to see fabric from past projects that are long gone. It is sort of like making a quilt, but with almost no effort.



This is a new addition to my classroom. I saw it when I took my students to Catalina in February. It is an outline of a sea lion and one of a surfer, as seen from below by a shark. I made these out of black felt. Sharks are not the smartest animals out there, so they are easily confused by these similar shapes. Humans are mistaken for sea lions (a big source of food for great white sharks) and occasionally sharks take a bite of the wrong food. I will hang these two outlines on the ceiling of my classroom with some basic facts about sharks. Swim at your own risk!


The latest project to fall off my needles is another Jess Hutch bunny with really long ears. I jsut took her pattern and added 20 rows to each ear. I used a hand-dyed wool that turned out really awesome. Next up is another Sheldon Turtle from Knitty.com

Spring Break...Portland, Oregon!

I spent the beginning of Spring Break up in Portland, visiting with my great friend Jen, her hubby Jake and their cute baby Ellery. She's 18 months old. Here is Ellery wearing Mr. Potatohead's glasses.


Jen and I drove down to Eugene, the scene of many college exploits. We hadn't been back there together since I graduated in (gulp) 1994, and it was so strange driving around checking out our old haunts. We dined at the Glenwood, home of the famous tomato and cheese soup. We can highly recommend it next time you are in Eugene, Oregon and looking for something to eat. Here is Ellery feeding herself a pear. I think she REALLY likes eating that pear.


then Ellery fed Jen a bite. The people sitting around us at the restaurant clapped when they saw this! So funny!

I got a ton of knitting off the needles while up in the Pacific NW. I made a pair of Jess Hutchison bunnies. I embroidered "e" on each one. "ee" are Ellery's initials.

Here is Ellery test-driving the bunnies on the morning I left. This kid is so much fun to be around. Seriously. She is getting really adventurous with talking and will parrot whatever you say. Sometimes it is right, other times we get a good laugh. Jen kept pointing at me and saying "Karyn...Karyn". Ellery, would think for a second, then clearly say "Donna...Donna". Well, close enough for now, she's only 18 months old. Maybe by my next visit I will get to hear my real name. Or, maybe I'll forever be Donna when up in Portland. No biggie!


The big baby shower is a week away and I am getting ready. I spent most of today finishing up the party favors. I made soy candles scented with jasmine. I poured them into little jars that look like baby food jars, and made a cute label. Then, I tied a baby bootie to each one. I can't believe I made 48 of these! They turned out so cute, I can't wait to hand them out at the party. I'll post pics of that next time.

Planning a Baby Shower and Teaching DPNs...what a week!

Whew! Made it to the end of another crazy week. One week to go until Spring Break! I can make it...I can make it!!!!!

This week I sent out the invitations for my friend Maggie's baby shower. I am planning the whole thing. A simple task, I thought. Then she handed me the invite list. 50 people. Yikes! I quickly decided that I could not afford to buy that many printed invitations, so I made them myself. I am pretty proud of the results...the vellum overlay has a pink bow (Maggie is having a girl, Finn)

The vellum slides to the side to reveal the invite details. My next task is to find an economical party favor to give to 50 people. Of course, didn't I mention that everyone is RSVPing YES??!!?!?! Great. I think I have settled on jasmine candles in glass jars. I'll wrap the whole thing in tulle and tie it with a pink bow. Maggie insists on lots of pink!


This week in yarn land, my advanced girls are learning double pointed needles and are knitting with the yarn they dyed last week. Pretty cool! Here is Jordan getting the hang of it.

Christine is shy and didn't want her picture taken. Here are her hands...

Shannon is shy too. Her hands...

We Put the COOL in Kool-Aid Dyeing!!!!!

My advanced knitters are really fast learners, so I am constantly trying to find new stuff to teach them! This past week we tried Kool-Aid dyeing. I had never tried before so it seemed like a perfect time to do it. First, we wound the wool into loose skeins. Here is the wool and the kool-aid packet. I am trying Cherry.



Next step is to wet the wool first in plain water, letting the water completely soak into the wool. While the wool is soaking, pour the powdered drink mix into a microwave-safe container and stir. ** the amount of water does not matter, since all of the dye will absorb into the wool. We found that one packet of mix dyed about 1 oz of wool (maybe a bit more). Put the wet wool into the drink and push it down so that the wool is completely covered by the dye. Add more water to cover it.



Put the container into the microwave for 2 minutes on HIGH. Let it stand for approximately 10 minutes (or until it cools down a bit), then repeat again until all of the dye is gone from the water.


Before microwave



After microwaving 2 times. Notice how the dye has completely left the water. It's all in the wool!!!!



Grape drink. The neat thing is that the wool now smells like kool-aid. We found that the scent fades after a few days, but it made my classroom smell lovely for a few days!



Cherry yarn. I took this sample over to Stitches From the Heart so they could see what we were doing with their generous donation. Our next step is to knit up some toys to felt! This wool will be perfect for that. It started out a beige color and was pretty plain. Now with added color, it can have a whole new life! Today, the girls brought in some new colors to try. Orange and green. I can't wait!!!!!


Last week in Marine Biology (my other teaching job) we had a Crustacean Feast! The kids brought in different foods containing crustaceans and we had a huge feast after the test on Arthropods. Here is the feast table. Looks so good!



I tried so many variations of ceviche that day that I am now an unoffical expert.



Trays and trays of sushi! And shrimp cocktail! The kids brought food in during 5 of my classes! I can safely say I have had my fill of shrimp cocktail for the time being!



A giant lobster. This guy was cool, he even had barnacles growing on his exoskeleton. Another crustacean! The kids enjoyed pulling this lobster apart and seeing how his joints work. Who says science isn't fun??!!!?!?!


Hope you all have a great week. Next week I will post pics of our dyed yarn put to use. And my advanced kids are learning dpns. The beginners are each working on baby hats, so I will have another big donation for Stitches coming soon!

CABLES CABLES CABLES!!!!!!

My students have been hard at work with cables these past 2 weeks. I assigned 4 different cables for them to sample. Once they got the hang of it, they can now design and make a project with cables.
Here is an assortment of their efforts:


this cable is called "TAFFY"


this is HORSESHOE and CORNROWS


this is SIMPLY TWISTED


I got all of these from the Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. 2: Cables. Such a great book! The kids are using the book to get ideas for cables they can use in their designs. Just to be fair, I decided to do this project along with them. One can never get enough practice with cables, right?

Here is my project, a definite work in progress:
1. My materials. The yarn is a soft yellow bulky weight that I got at Jo-Ann's 4 years ago. It was intended for a sweater that never happened. It feels so good to use up stuff that has been sitting in the knitting oasis for so long! I knit this based on the purse I posted in my last post. That is my goal purse. So, no pattern to follow! FUN!!!!! Also pictured is the fabric I will line the purse with, as well as the piece of "plastic-board" that will help the purse be purse-shaped.



I cut the plastic to fit into the knitted shell and scored it along two lines so I can define the bottom. Cutting this stuff is harder than it looks! I ended up using a steak knife. Not so safe. I was pining for my rotary cutter, but it is at home and I am at school.


Here is the purse with the plastic inside. Check out the cool SnB calendars! The kids were so happy when I handed them out today. They couldn't believe I got them presents! I bought 36 calendars, one for each kid. Hopefully they can find some inspiration in the daily bits of wisdom. It was so cute watching them flip through the pages and saying "Oh, I'm going to make that sweater" and "Ms. Newbill, can youteach me how to make socks?"


Next step: lining the purse. I have a sewing machine in class, so later this week we will be lining a few purses. Once I have the lining in, I will take it to a cobler and have him add brown leather straps. Hopefully not too expensive. The last one only cost me $15 for the leather and the labor.

Happy President's Day...How do you celebrate?

I saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater here in LA yesterday! Such a treat! My aunt Barbara, cousins Kori and Kristyn, Kristyn's hubby Justin, and their daughter Weslie came over from Arizona for the long weekend, and we saw the Sunday matinee. If you have a way to get tickets (apparently tough to get through the end of the summer) GO GO GO! I had a wonderful dinner playing catch-up with Kori and Barbara and really miss my extended family, most of whom live in Arizona. They read my blog, so I want to give them all a little shout out! I gave Kristyn a few knit items I had stashed for her youngest daughter, Brooklyn, and the Kate cat from Knitty.com was a gift for Weslie. She dragged it around the theater, to the bathroom and was still deciding on a name as we walked to the car.

I finished another pinwheel baby sweater! Seriously folks, knit this sweater. It is easy with a dash of challenging, and knits up really fast. I will start my third one within the next week.

here is the front of the sweater, when worn by a "kid"

back of the "kid" sweater

back of the "baby" sweater

front of the "baby" sweater

This one is for my friend Leslie in Chicago. She and her husband are expecting any minute now, a girl with bright red hair! I thought the greens and greys would look great with red hair.



Next up on my needles! A cable tote bag like this one. I have to write a pattern for it, but I have a general concept in mind.

My advanced students are all learning cables right now. I assigned a sampler of 4 different cable types. Once they have these 4 down, they can pick a project with at least one cable. Hat, scarf, purse, clutch, tote, sweater. Knitter's choice. I am going to show those interested how to write a pattern from an idea. From yarn selection all the way to finishing. My plan for this tote is to have a cobbler add the leather at the top (with straps) as well as a bottom piece of leather that keeps the knitting off of the floor, and gives the bottom some strength. Later in the week I'll post picks of the cable samples that they are working on, as well as progress on their cable projects.

Spend some time knitting each day. Even if it is only 5 minutes. :)