The Mario Scarf Blog

I had difficulty posting yesterday, so if you saw an errant post from my show up in your Google Reader then I apologize!

Yesterday I started a brand new journey. I joined an Atlanta bootcamp (www.FitWit.com) and started eating on the paleo “diet.” I say “diet” because it isn’t so much a weight loss diet as it is just a healthy way to eat. I gave up bread, pasta, corn, cheese, milk, and other dairy yesterday. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I was struggling with the milk part. I’ve been a devoted milk-drinker my entire life and saying good-bye was not easy. Thankfully, someone suggested I get almond milk. Sure enough, almond milk is TASTY and good for you. I tried soy milk a few times but found it too grainy.

It’s already been difficult for me to start this new lifestyle, but I have to say, what I was doing before was causing me harm. The main reason I decided to make a change this time was… money. I had some extra cash and I decided that rather than spend it on eating out, going to a movie, or even my beloved yarn that it was time to make a down payment on the rest of my life. I am by no means a rich person, but I knew that if I made a major financial commitment that I would have a harder time backing down.

So here I am, day 2 of bootcamp and I can barely squat to sit down. My shoulders are burning, my ankles are sore, and I’ve never been more proud of myself!

To celebrate, I offer you a great Spring desktop wallpaper. In my neighborhood, the dogwood trees bloomed a week ago and their blossoms are gorgeous as ever. I took a few photos and one in particular is so nice that I want to share it with you and spread some positive energy. To save it as a desktop background, click on the picture below- it will take you to Flickr. Above the photo on the Flickr page there will be a magnifying glass button that says “All Sizes.” Click the button then select “Original.” Then you can right-click (PC) or two-finger-tap (Mac) and choose “Select as Desktop Background.”  Enjoy!

I uploaded pictures of books and nick-knacks I brought back from my boyfriend’s dad’s house. I have yet to photograph the posters I brought back- I haven’t decided whether I want to find a large flatbed scanner or just take a shot with my camera. Anyway, I’m still adding details about the books (copyright, edition, publisher, etc.) but I think I have some great cover art to look at now! Also included in the set are a few art slides I photographed in my light box.

In a few more weeks I’ll be adding more pictures to the set as we retrieve more items from the house. I hope I can remember to take my digital camera and light box with us next time!

My boyfriend and I spent our Spring Break in Columbus, Georgia cleaning out his father’s old house. We were supposed to go to San Francisco, but this house has been looming over our heads since Jim’s passing, and we decided it was better to deal with the house than spend money we don’t have on an actual vacation.

I can’t believe we didn’t take before and after pictures. Does anyone watch Clean House? Or Clean Sweep? I’m not even lying when I tell you that the house was in that kind of state when we started. Jason’s dad taught English & Humanities, traveled the world, and played in the Columbus Symphony for nearly 40 years. He collected books, vinyl records, art posters, art slides, mugs, and other miscellanea as others collect stamps (or yarn, in some cases!). He was meticulous about organizing and wrote lists of his favorite books, movies, and music. He NEVER threw things away. I wish I were being superfluous because it would’ve saved us a lot of work, but seriously. He didn’t throw things away- he has his college student ID from the 60s, his Marine handbook, all the cards he’s ever gotten, term papers, tests, overhead slides, teaching notes, albums galore, books by the HUNDREDS.

I tried to snap pictures as we went, but we were pressed for time, and I didn’t get a good record of everything. My boyfriend and I packed up 580 books to donate to the Phenix City/Russell County library on Wednesday. I know the exact number because we counted for tax purposes.

After friends and family came through the house to pick books and music for themselves, Jason and I got to gather a few boxes together for this trip. I got a bunch of great literary criticism books with fantastic covers from the 1950s, 60s, & 70s. I took these shots with my iPhone & plan to set up a lightbox in a few days to get a nice Flickr set online.

This post does not do the treasures (nor the clutter) justice. It’s just amazing to think about how many things Jim saved over the years- one can almost piece his life story together by examining the house. There are such wonderful pieces of memorabilia that show how deeply he loved his family and his passions. But I can’t put a glossy spin on it completely because my boyfriend and I worked our butts off this week and only made a small dent in the work that will need to be done. The treasures keep me from becoming overwhelmed, though.

Why hello, there. I’m trying to play catch up in several aspects of my life, including my blog. I think I’ve gotten up to speed with school, but several things still nag me and I figured I’d go ahead and tackle this one before I get too guilt.

On Monday, February 8, my boyfriend’s father, Jim Fletcher, passed away in Columbus, Georgia.. We received the call sometime after 9 PM, and while his father had battled heart disease for decades, this call was still a surprise. We took off in the middle of the night from Atlanta and reached Columbus around 2 AM. I left without taking any schoolwork so I got really behind. Things went as well as they could during the week of the funeral- we were surround by family and friends the whole time. My boyfriend’s father taught high school English & Humanities for over 25 years, and also taught at two local universities. All week long I heard stories about how much his teaching inspired his students- this was a man who was dedicated to changing the lives of teenagers through literature, music, and art. He invited his students to his home on many occasions to watch interesting movies and listen to his extensive classical music collection. He took field trips to Atlanta, and even to a monastery in Conyers! Needless to say, he touched many lives and there was a good representation of Hardaway High School alums and faculty during the week.

As for me, I try not to get too sad, but I considered Jim to be not only practically a father-in-law, but also a teaching mentor. He has given me many books, and we had planned to get together while I finish grad school to talk about lesson plans and teaching literature. I do get sad when I think that I won’t share my graduation with him next Spring. I think of other things I wanted him to be at in my future, but I will have to settle for keeping him in my heart instead.

As for life after all of that… it’s messy, literally. I’m almost caught up in my grad work, but I still feel like I’m a day behind on planning for student teaching. I also started choreographing for a show choir (what?!) so there are worksheets, CDs, dance shoes, flashcards, and tons of yarn all over the place. Nothing gets put away and nothing really has a place right now.

As you can see, the Yarn Monster has taken over my work table. Underneath the yarn are some half-buried flashcards I made for my students. I had high hopes about getting more items in my Etsy shop and finishing my cardigan before March. HA!

Oh yeah, we canceled our trip to San Francisco. In the wake of Jim’s death, there’s just to much to take care of involving my boyfriend’s inheritance. So yeah, Stay-Cation in Columbus, Georgia. I have promised myself that I WILL NOT get mopey about it and that we’ll have fun- going to local museums, eating tons of BBQ, and maybe a mini trip to a farm in Alabama.

I just had to put this out, mostly for my own peace of mind. I’m still working on some posts about knitting/yarn apps, and I’ll have some progress photos of my cardi soon, too.

Stay well!

I’ve had the idea in my head for awhile to review some knitting apps for the iPhone & iPod Touch. Currently, I’ve only used a stitch/row counting app, but haven’t been convinced that knitting apps are necessary. Knitting is so pen and paper to me anyway (aside from the thousands of electronic knitting patterns out there, of course!).

Before I delve into my reviews, I wanted to hear from you. Do you use any knitting apps? Have you used any knitting apps in the past? What did you like/dislike about them? Please send me an email at themarioscarf@gmail.com if you want to contribute! I’d love to hear from you.

Wow, my knitting queue is huge right now! Everyone wants some knitwear these days. I have about 5 active projects on needles right now and another one to start. I just wanted to share my three coolest ones really quick.

This is my Cranberry Sauce Hat! It’s the Mushy Peas hat pattern, except I screwed up some increase rows, and ended up with a bucket-style hat. I actually really like it this way. Nugget could not look less amused with me! I used some beautiful merino worsted yarn from Squoosh- her yarn & fiber always dresses to impress. I always enjoy what I order from her shop.

I’ve also started on the February Lady Sweater in a very soft blue in Malabrigo worsted merino.

The color of the blue is actually much softer than this picture shows. And oh my word is this lush. I’m on a total merino worsted kick right now. The goal is to finish this cardigan by the time we leave for San Francisco on March 6. I have to get buttons sewn on, ends woven in, and block the darn thing, so I’m hoping that’s all enough motivation to get it done.

Other projects in my queue include the Totoro mittens for Jason (!) and a cute raspberry stitch cowl in soft moss green for my Etsy shop.

In other life news- I started tutoring in a 6th grade math class this week for grad school and it’s going surprisingly well. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it or enjoy it, but after just one week I’m kinda into it. We’ll see how long that enthusiasm lasts!

I also recently finished reading Jesus Land by Julia Scheeres. Very intense, and very good!

Gosh, I wish I had more to update about. Life just seems to get in the way! But things are going well, and I can’t complain.

I don’t know how I’ve failed to mention this before, but I’m on Twitter as @cassinator. Feel free to add me!

Yikes. It looks kinda excessive all piled up like this, but I have big plans for all this yarn! I made a 2010 commitment to myself to make something nice for myself this year, and that starts with the Blue Sky Alpacas Lacy Wrap Sweater for my spring break trip to San Francisco in March.

I figure San Francisco weather in early March will be kinda chilly, and what’s better to combat chilly than with a cute wrap sweater in Malabrigo worsted? This is the first big garment I’ve ever made for myself so I’m really hoping I don’t screw it up too bad. I decided to go with Malabrigo worsted in light blue (Stone Blue 99) because a.) Malabrigo worsted is probably my favorite wool yarn in the whole world, and b.) I LOVE light blue. I’m a rather curvaceous gal and quite short to boot which means this sweater will be challenging, but I have faith in my skills. I’m looking forward to the lace as I’ve not done any patterned lace in a really long time.

The other yarns are Lion Brand and Patons yarn bought with a gift card to Michaels. I plan to use all of these yarns to make items for my shop. I decided this morning that I want to get serious about making a few standard items to sell. I played around with my shop for the past two years and I want to give it a real go this Spring to see if I can make this a part of my life.

I picked up some of Lion Brand’s Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton yarn in ‘Pecan,’ ‘Strawberry,’ and ‘Pistachio.’ I’m really looking forward to using this as it appears and feels to be very similar to Cascade’s Luna line. I usually don’t like a loose ‘boucle’ spun yarn, but I guess there’s something about this style in cotton that works well. I like the colors I got in Organic Cotton, but I hope Lion Brand expands the line because with the quite comparable price of Luna online, I may just stick with Cascade in the future. But I’ll give Organic Cotton a chance before I start professing any brand loyalty.

Ah, what a beautiful day it’s been in Atlanta. It’s so nice to come to the evening and finish the day with lots of winding to do!

Just a little round-up of fun links I found today.

+ Simple crochet circle garland from Quilt While You’re Ahead: I feel confident enough in my crochet skills to try this and use up some of my scrap yarn.

+ Totoro mittens!: Available as a free download on Ravelry (link goes to Ravelry page).

+ Zora cardigan on Knitty.com: Perfect for a Spring Break trip to San Francisco in early March.

+ “Knit Rodeo” cards by LocalGringos on Etsy: The cowgirl kinda looks like Patsy Cline.

And if you’re able to give, please consider donating to the International Red Cross to help Haiti. The Yarn Harlot posted the “Knit-Signal” and I am, too. If you knit (or crochet), please consider posting the Knit-Signal and encourage other knitters to donate. As a grad student I can’t offer much, but the minimum donation on this site is $25, but I figure: a.) I’ll have a roof over my head tonight. 2.) I’ll have clean, running water today. 3.) I can forgo groceries or eating out tonight with the assurance that I’ll be able to get food tomorrow.  4.) I won’t NEED $25 today.

Even for me, $25 isn’t an amount of money I throw around lightly. There are other sties where the minimum donating is $15 or $10. I just hope that you are able to do something to help.  And please, pass on the Knit Signal. Correction: You CAN donate a minimum of $15 at the icrc.org website- just enter 15 in the “different amount” box.

It’s a beautiful day here in Atlanta, and I’m all the more thankful for it! I hope things are well where you are.

Oh what a tricky winter it’s been! Around Thanksgiving I mentioned that my grandmother (my only living grandparent since my other grandmother passed away over ten years ago) had a massive stroke. On Christmas Day I flew to St. Louis & waited 8 hours for a little propeller plane to take me to the Marion, Illinois airport to see my grandmother, uncle, and my parents who’d driven up from Atlanta. I sat waiting for this tiny plane all day without food because the airline told us a plane could be ready at any moment and we were so far away from the main terminal that I was too scared to leave. By the time I made it to Marion I was hungry, tired, and seriously grouchy. We visited my grandmother in her nursing home, but she was really out of it. In the morning she’d had pancakes with my dad, was talking to people, and generally doing very well. As the day wore on, she started drifting in out of consciousness and finally my mom decided to have my grandmother admitted to the ER. The next morning I learned she’d had another stroke. My mom and uncle were exhausted from staying up in the ICU with her so my brother and I took turns all weekend in her hospital room and amazingly she was able to talk for awhile, knew who we were, and wanted to listen to music. It was such a miracle that she had the ability to speak and read- she kept reading the calendar and white board on the wall with the nurses’ names. At the end of my short visit, my grandmother was trying to drink from a straw and was sitting up in a chair again. It was amazing!

I hate to put all of my personal issues out there on this blog, but I haven’t been able to think about much besides my family and work over my break from school. I made an attempt to take a few days to relax (all this snow & ice in Atlanta helped- we couldn’t leave the house for two days!), but I found myself working more in my three week break than I did over the semester.

I want to post more in 2010. I decided not to make any resolutions this year about blogging or knitting (I don’t want to be disappointed!), but I have already started to make a conscious effort to put out more positive energy into the world. I plan to knit more this year and try more service projects that involve knitting.

All this to say- I’m here! I’m breathing! Despite being snowed in all weekend, I’m feeling great and ready to work hard at school and my life in 2010!

Soaring above the clouds in the tiny Cessna between St. Louis & Marion. Exhilarating!

Our tiny two-prop plane.

My seat was directly behind the pilot’s seat- I could’ve reached up and flown the plane! (But I don’t think our pilot would’ve appreciated that.)