I’ve been struggling to assemble as many cohesive thoughts as a blog post requires, and I’m still failing. So I’m serving Blog Scramble today instead.

Weekend redux: Quilting/knitting night with friends in Vancouver. Started a Hill Country hat for Betsy since she’s in Maine and it’s been so cold there. Didn’t do any quilting because fifteen minutes of flailing about the house searching for my red embroidery thread didn’t turn it up. Saturday I helped out a friend of a friend whose little girl has a disability that prevents her from walking, but not from wishing to ice skate. I happily agreed to help hoist/propel/carry five-year-old Nuha around the rink in Beaverton. She wasn’t sure about the pinchy tight laces and ended up satisfied with a couple of laps, so it wasn’t a lengthy outing, but the grin on her face was more than ample reward for the effort. Afterward went to Katrin’s house for knitting; finished Betsy’s hat while watching Whip It, which kind of made me want to roller skate, despite having trying it before and being disappointed that it’s not as much like ice skating as you’d think. Found the red embroidery thread when I got home, in plain view right on top of a work basket full of quilting stuff. Sunday morning I packed the dog and all the quilting stuff in the car, went to sing at the cathedral, then spent the afternoon sewing with Mr. G’s mom. Got a lot of work done on a new quilt for a special baby whose mom isn’t ready to announce to the world yet, but who will arrive at the end of the summer. I’ll have pictures soon. It’s another making-it-up-as-I-go sort of quilt, although this time I’ve got inspiration from here. I’m making stylized trees instead of Alexandra’s leaves, and alas I have no beautiful Liberty scraps to employ, but on the whole it’s shaping up to look like something my grandmother would approve of, which never fails to make me feel proud. Mr. G’s mom taught me about paper piecing and sent me home with a roll of freezer paper. Stayed up too late watching the second installment of Emma on Masterpiece. This is my favorite film interpretation of the book to date, as I think Romola Garai is perfect for the role and Michael Gambon’s portrayal of her father makes it far more apparent than in previous adaptations why Emma is who she is.

Wednesday news: Daffodils are up. Trees are budding. Apparently we might have thunder and lightning today, though. I have just finished introducing a class of seventh-graders to Chiradza for the African marimba. Lunch is a kale salad like this one, except that I had manchego in the ice box, not pecorino. And my bread is a light rye, which also gives a different flavor. It’s good, though. I’ve added half an avocado that wanted eating.

Inspiration: I want to drop everything and knit Lene Alve’s new little swing coat, Minni. Go on, have a look. I dare you to resist the adorableness. Somebody please have a girl baby, okay? Or multiple girl babies? Because I love Lene’s Lilliput, too.

… And trepidation: Madrona is really soon. And in an effort to stretch my abilities and learn Big New Things, which I always like to do at Madrona, I’ve signed on for a drop spindling class with Amelia Garripoli. I haven’t touched my spindle in months. I definitely need to do some warm-up sessions before I’m ready to expose my limited skills in public.

Knitting: a bulky version of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s curled-tip, thumbless Jogger’s Mittens, to go with the hat for Betsy. Also, my stripey baby sweater is about two-sleeve-inches shy of seaming party time. (It will be a brief party, as there are only two seams.)