Project #24: sheets and pillowcases

So I took these:

I added dye, thread and hours of sewing with a blunt needle and I ended up with these:

I was going to crochet an edge on them but I decided I really liked the simple look of the blanket stitch.

Project 23: Thanksgiving Hearts

So I've been making stuff like crazy, now that I have a couple of days off it's time to post it all.  Here are three heart pillows I made, one of them I started about five years ago and finally finished this past week or so. Still on a mission to use up all this damn yarn....

Project #22 Avengers bunting

In addition to hoarding yarn, I also hoard fabric; FYI.
I've been meaning to make bunting for ages, and I finally got around to it this weekend.

Of course I did it super last minute as a birthday gift for an 11 year old-I started making the bunting after I was already supposed to be at the birthday party...

I could have gotten much better shots of this bunting if I had made it during the daytime.I got the Avengers fabric from Joann's Fabrics and I really like it, I have more and I'm thinking of what else I can make with it.

I have since made a bunch more bunting in different fabrics (including old clothes and sheets), and I will be posting it all shortly for your viewing pleasure.

Project #21 Baby blanket

It's a well known fact that I rule my house with an iron fist. When I say 'Jump' my kids say "How high?".

I attribute this to my awesome parenting skills. I am consistent and reliable; there are no 'mixed messages' here.

Anyway, I digress. I finally finished a baby blanket I started for a coworker I no longer even work with, whose daughter may or may not have graduated already.....

It looks pretty good, now if I only knew someone who was having a baby...

"How's the new job?" "I'm glad you asked...."

Six weeks in to the new job and here is a short synopsis of situations involving students on my caseload so far:

Day Two: 
Student described in a meeting as "ruining every class he was in last year" is expelled for bringing 5" knife, being high, long track record of bullying.
Student in wheelchair drives chair off the curb, chair falls over, student bleeds extensively from the head, I call the firefighters/paramedics, student goes to ER.
Student who is undocumented,homeless, schizophrenic, spent the summer in psychiatric ward, shows up unexpectedly at school.

The Next Week:
I meet the the family of one of my students-they are a prominent local family half of whom are in prison having been convicted of murdering a local journalist
6'2" deaf blind student strips completely in the teacher's mail room. Student is swinging at petite aide who is trying to get his clothes back on him. Big 'safety officers' will not help her as they say "we're not trained for that". I help her get him dressed.

Week After That:
The parent of one of my students disrupts a meeting, causes a scene and is banned from campus for 6 days.
Student with Down syndrome is caught sneaking back on to campus having left in the middle of period to buy a grilled cheese sandwich which he hides behind his back. When I question him about it he tells me "It's not a sandwich it's a back warmer". I give him detention. Later on he tells me "I've got some bad news I don't think you're a good fit for me"

Last Week:
Undocumented student is accused of indecent exposure/masturbating in the library. I have to take his statement.
Vision testing proves so intolerable to one of my students he runs away from my group, kicks the wall, runs up and down the hallway yelling "I just want to have fun! Who here just wants to have fun?" , tries to start a revolution but is voted down by the rest of the students.
Student with Down syndrome figures out he can buy me extremely easily with coffee. On Friday morning he brings me a latte and gives me a hug.


Today is Monday but there were no students, it was a training day. Don't worry. I'll have more tales from the dark side soon enough.

Project #20 crocheted baskets....obviously

As part of my ongoing efforts to avoid being featured on Hoarders (Season 6), I've been on the lookout for ways to use up my goddamn never-ending yarn collection.

                           

                                         Yes this is what my yarn stash looks like. Maybe.
So I've been dabbling in the dark arts of crochet lately, and I spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out how I could crochet a basket and then I came across a pattern and I thought... "That was easy".
And then I got a bit carried away.

                                     

 
                                                I even made a basket that was actually a hat:

I have more baskets that I'm working on because....why not right? It doesn't seem to be making a dent on my stash but now at least I have baskets to put my yarn in...

Project #19: Airstream

So Every August Burning Man comes to town. This means a visit from one of my oldest friends in the world Miss Hypnotic Gastric Lapband. She is such a veteran of burning man that she has her own 37' airstream that she bought just for burning man. Such is the dedication this naked hippy fest inspires.

                                 

When she purchased her airstream sight unseen from Craigslist, she thought "What could possibly go wrong?". When she finally got it to California (from Maine) and realized it was full of rat feces and in extremely poor condition, it was too late to do anything about it except bust out the hardcore environmentally unfriendly cleaning products and get on with it.

For many years we told people we were sisters, and if there are any survivors from those years (the 80s in NYC were basically clubs, drugs and AIDS) they are out there still thinking that we are, in fact, sisters. In the spirit of sisterly love, I made new curtains for the airstream. They were pretty fun I have to say. Due to the severe short term memory loss of Miss HGL (she did survive the 80s in NYC after all..) she did NOT take a picture of the finished curtains in her airstream at burning man. I guess we'll have to wait for her to forget to take a picture at next year's burning man....