Oh Beautiful

For spacious skies, for amber waves of grain...


Come on. Look at the socks. Look at them. And pretend you don't suddenly feel the need to break out into absurdly patriotic song.

That's right. Give in to it. Just make sure it's not "Oh, Canada." I started these during the Olympics and would like to say that I did not do so with the purpose of making patriotic socks. These are NOT for me. I am not sure I want to advertise my attitude towards my nation right now. I also question many of the attitudes that have surrounded patriotism and love for your country in the last ten years. It's all gotten very wrapped up in politics and anti-terrorism, and American flags popped up and sold like hotcakes after 9/11. Genuine American patriotism? Perhaps. Timed to show that being an American means support of violence towards others as part of the process of revenge? Definitely.

I don't know. No, what I do know is that MA loves red, white, and blue. He'll love these, and that's really all that matters. I've been working on these for quite some time -- look at my last post and you'll see what I've been distracted by. My students made amazing embroidery squares, that I also feel the need to share here.













That was just the beginning. The finished pillows have been auctioned off to families of kids in the class. I cannot believe I let them escape without pictures. They sat in a trash bag for a few days while I struggled with other projects before I could sew up the stuffing hole. I didn't leave myself enough time.


Many an adult said: "Oh, so-and-so may be able to embroider, but that other kid? No way." and "that student just doesn't have the attention span for embroidery." Many adults even said such things about their own kids -- oh, my child? Never in a hundred years. But guess what? Guess what? (I am now shouting triumphantly.) They did it. (Ok, that was a smug yet quiet tone. End of shouting.) And they did it with such pride, and such care, that you would have thought they were a young Japanese girl embroidering her own wedding kimono onto silk or satin. Many times they sat around the low table with their embroidery gossiping just like a group of 19th century Bronte sister heroines. But I learned something. Not only did I learn several stitches to teach them (ah, who cares about all that...it's in books, after all). I learned that my students can be gentle, and patient, and attentive to detail and beauty at every turn. They can also be maniacs and loud and obnoxious and frustrating. Welcome to the 9-12 child, Johanna. Did I mention that I love teaching these kids?

A Long Unawaited Post

Well! Good thing I don't have faithful readers to disappoint or anything. I've not been posting for almost two months, but luckily, the earth hasn't been thrown off of its axis or anything. Keeps things in perspective, I'd say.

What I've been up to:
--teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th graders
--parenting a couple kids
--trying to take care of my household as a single parent

-- and knitting/sewing!

Pictures of what's been accomplished: The socks for SA! When I gave them to her, I gave her specific washing instructions, and according to the grapevine, she's been very concerned about wearing them only at special times. That'll wear off in time, I hope. I personally think that handknit socks should be worn EVERY DAY.

Speaking of which, today both kids had on handknit socks. GF was wearing some new ones that I knit for her just recently, and DL had on some quite old ones that are too small for him. He said, "Look! We both have Mommy made socks on!" I was so happy. Here's the ones that GF was wearing.


I knit them up in just a few days. Pink and light teal blue? Yeah, those colors scream Georgia all the way.








Onward -- I did some cross stitch for a Christmas gift (no picture, as it IS a gift that I haven't given yet). And then....one of my lovely fifth-graders, Victoria, left for Africa. For ten months, no less. Yes, that's right. She's 11 and going to Africa for longer than all of my vacations put together so far in my whole damn life. I'm not entirely jealous. Part of me is quite happy for her. And we will ALL miss her...she's such an important part of the class. As a goodbye gift, we all helped to sew her a little creature, which is half falcon and half flying pig (in my class this is called an Ub). The Ub has a short and complex history. It was created in the fall as a brainchild by one of our highly intelligent sixth years. The Ub is mostly pig but does have the capacity to fly. When our class chose names for the two groups that go to Art at different times, they chose the Unexpected Ubs and the Fierce Falcons. So the sewn creature is half and half. And the eccentricity of the creature, which is probably making you giggle, is exactly what we wanted to come across. Our class is eccentric, and creative, and crazy, and giggly, and interested in the world around us. And I adore them for all of those reasons.
Also.....I've knit some socks for a new baby to enter my life -- my friend's little redheaded wonder. I've only hung out with him twice but can reliably say that he is gorgeous and perfect and well-behaved and a wonderful little addition to this world.


If there were a penny next to these you'd realize how tiny they are. I cast on for them when my friend went into labor -- over 4 weeks early. I was under the impression at that point that I was knitting for a preemie. Little did I know that he was coming out at over seven pounds!! And long, long feet. I have to pull out the toes and redo them. No big deal. I also have some booties in the works that I'm afraid that I'm running out of yarn for. He's so fun to knit for.


Also, I finished the quite large socks for a friend of mine that I work with. They are beautiful. They did not fit my foot when I finished them, which bummed me out, but she IS a size 10, and so I held on to a bit of faith that they might fit. And they did!! She commented on how perfect they were. Can't ask for better than that.


The yarn was very nice....Araucania makes it; it was some sort of sock yarn by them that is not too soft but not scratchy either. On sale at Webs!!

I also finished GF's purple sweater that's been in the works for awhile. How can I say this without crying about it? Not sure...but the truth is, she won't wear it. Lovely little child, that one.














In the past month I have also become MUCH more familiar with the ins and outs of embroidery and sewing machines than ever before. Or, as my mom would probably be quick to point out, I used a sewing machine for the first time. My students all embroidered these beautiful squares with African-inspired geometric patterns and I sewed them together (yes, with some guidance from the quilting store and from my mom) into even more beautiful pillows. Next step: quilting.

Next pair of student socks in the works is for MA, who is a complex character in the class who I have a lot to say about. More on him (and a work-in-progress photo that will make you want to sing the national anthem) next time.