Last night, I finished up my second to last term of graduate school! I turned in my papers, went to my last class of the term, and went out with friends to celebrate. After eleven weeks of lots of work, it feels great to be done!
What am I going to school for, you ask?
(If you’re not that interested, you can skip to the bottom for my knitting update!)
Well, for the past two years, I’ve been going to school to get my Master’s in Leadership for Sustainability Education at Portland State University. Sustainability Education translates to developing a wide variety knowledge and skills that will help to make our world a more ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable. I use sustainability education as the base for my teaching philosophy at my work as a garden educator, at Learning Gardens Lab, which is connected to a public middle school in SE Portland. I teach 6th graders, college students, community members, just about anyone who shows up to the garden, about how to care for and create connection with the land around them.
So now you know what I do when I don’t have needles in my hands!
Now I have almost two weeks off to bathe in the unusual Portland sunshine, read all the books I’ve had to put aside for my schoolwork, and work on my many many knitting projects and dreams! I’m working on several things right now, all of them sweaters.
Here’s the project I’m almost finished with…
I’m working on a really great cardigan project right now using scrap yarn. I’ve completed the body and am working on the sleeves. I’m excited to finish and parade it around! It’s based on the Shalom cardigan that has been sweeping through Ravelry for the past few years. Its a great simple design which, because it is free, easy to read, and does not take much wool, has been translated into many versatile, beautiful, and unique projects by the crafty knitters of ravlery.
My version, which is made of some very old Noro Kureyon and an extra skein of the Cascade Ecological Wool that I used to make a beautiful cowl-neck sweater in the fall. I like designs that have bright colors that have been subdued in someway, I always feel like this reminds me of what colors in nature look like, bright flowers against the brown of the soil or brightly colored autumn leaves against the mute colors of the tree’s bark. I think because of this, I might call this sweater Autumn’s Rest.
I decided that for the yoke of the sweater, instead of simply doing the twisted rib that is so characteristic of the cardigan, that I would also make the rib corrugated (in other words, I am using two alternating colors). The effect is a bright, colorful yoke with that is somewhat subdued by the constancy of the brown throughout.
Also, in addition to the changes made to the yoke, I also added some slit pockets as a sort of experiment. I wanted to see how they would turn out! They have a vertical corrugated rib that I grafted to the body of the sweater with live stitches. I haven’t finished out the pockets yet, but the insides are going to be made of the Kureyon.
Currently, I’m working on the sleeves! I’m really hoping that I am going to be able to get at least 3/4 length sleeves out of this.
As for the buttons, I’ve designed it to have buttons all the way down, but haven’t made any button holes…. because I’m making loops and toggles! I’ll hopefully make the loops out of the Eco wool, if I have enough. As for the toggles, I’m not sure yet, I’m thinking of pieces of wood? Or maybe think of something else that I can make, possibly out of bakeable clay.
What do you think so far? I’d love any and all feedback or ideas!
Please check back soon! I am currently working on plans for a new line of knitwear this is strongly influenced by the beauty of the gardens at this time of year. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you all. And as always, I’d love to hear from you!
BeetKnits 