Several things that are GREEN!

(A very appropriate color for St. Patrick’s Day, no?)

Didn’t mean to go nearly a month without posting! The semester has been semestering, and I’m still dealing with unpredictable episodes of fatigue and dysautonomia, which is why instead of being at the AAAL conference presenting as part of a colloquium this weekend, I’m at home, having pre-recorded my part of the talk. Long-distance travel just doesn’t feel like something I can do mid-semester until I get a better sense of what my body can handle in the aftermath of both late 2019’s nasty pneumonia (which might’ve been COVID?) and the COVID infection of a little over a year ago. I’ll keep hoping and pushing for conferences to learn from what we were able to do to make conferences more inclusive and accessible during the early part of the pandemic, but it seems they’re instead determined to be even less inclusive and accessible instead. I’m far from the only person who’s now less able to attend in-person conferences because of physical limitations…those numbers keep growing, in fact.

But the upside of it all is that I got to spend Spring Break fully at home, and gosh, did I need some downtime. I had plenty of work to catch up on, but I also tried to set aside time each day for rest and crafting. Most excitingly, I was able to finish the Studio Tunic that I started way back in July! The fabric is Brussels Washer in “Pear”.

Studio Tunic, from the front!

I’ve been following along with the Studio Tunic class from Sew Liberated, which is incredibly well-done! And I had made it as far as the pocket preparation last summer before I set it aside at the beginning of the school year, and that’s where I picked it back up.

Studio Tunic, from the back! (I promise I pressed it well! It’s just wrinkly from being sat on.)

I’m especially enamored of the hanger-loop and pleat at the back – it’s just such a delightful detail (and I learned a lot from making it!).

I had the hardest time with the facings at the bottom curve of the underarm, and I’m not really happy with how they turned out, but I definitely learned things that I think will make the next time I do this go smoother.

The neckline went much better!

But the pockets are the BEST! My daughter (who took most of these photos) thinks the little one, which holds my phone perfectly, is so amazing.

I put it on the left side, even though I’m ostensibly right-handed (I’m actually mixed-handed), because I’ve got such long arms that it’s more comfortable for me to reach across for my phone than to reach straight down.

My favorites are the BIG pockets, though, which very comfortably hold a ball of yarn for me to knit from!

Speaking of which, I’ve finished the first Roddin mitt that I’m making for myself – I made a pair for my kid for Solstice, and then cast on for a pair for myself, because as a person with Raynaud’s, the more handwarmers I can have, the better!

I just started the second one last night, but hopefully soon I’ll have some nice toasty handwarmers to use when I’m handling wet laundry and things like that which tend to trigger the painful constriction.

I’ve also made some progress on the Winter Grid sweater! I’ve reached the point where it’s try-on-able, because it’s joined on both sides of the neck, though I still have the rest of the body to finish on the second side.

I’ve also reached the end of the first ball of Eco+, and am just about ready to start the second ball.

I bet that big ball would fit just fine in my Studio Tunic pocket, eh?

I know from experience that after Spring Break, the remainder of the semester is INTENSE, so I don’t expect to have tons of progress to report in the next few weeks, but who knows, perhaps life will surprise me.