School days, school days
Dear old Golden Rule days
'Reading and 'riting and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hick'ry stick…
Smell that, dear readers? Autumn is in the air! I love the change of seasons, bouquets of newly sharpened pencils, chalk, kids hauling backpacks larger than they are down the street, moms and dads waiting with open arms outside the school at the end of the day, school bus yellow, brown paper lunch bags… You get the idea.
When my brother and I were kids, my mom would always make sure we were dressed up fancy for the first day (that changed when I went to an all girls, private Catholic high school and uniforms were the name of the game) and pose us in front of the front door for photos. I love looking back at these pictures. We got taller, the door was painted a new color, braces and bangs came and went, glasses changed to contacts but the smiles were always the same.
I loved the first day of school. With a mix of anticipation and a little bit of fear (those elementary boys could be brutally mean) the first day held such promise. A clean slate, a new teacher, new subjects, new books, new classrooms and when I started Junior High I suddenly had a locker and got to take cool things like Wood Shop and Home Ec (I ROCKED them both, by the way.)
I remember my first summer out of school. I was 21 and had just graduated RISD. When September rolled around it was strange to not be getting ready for a first day. From age 4 to 20 I had had myriad first days then suddenly, poof! No more posing in front of the door or picking out a new Trapper Keeper. I still get that twinge every September. I roam the back-to-school aisles at Target, walking slowly by the wall of backpacks and lunch boxes and look forward to taking my 16-month-old son down these same aisles in a few short years when we tackle Pre-K.
In honor of back-to-school, I offer up another free pattern, the Chevron iPad Sleeve. Can we talk about the yarn, because I love this yarn! Cascade’s Greenland is 100% merino superwash, which is great if you’re like me and things get dirty no matter how hard you try to keep them clean. The inside of my bag is a hodgepodge of cracker crumbs, hand sanitizer, toddler toys, sippy cups, knitting projects and for good measure, a pen usually explodes every 6 months or so to keep things interesting. If your Chevron iPad Sleeve gets dirty, simply throw it in the wash on warm and tumble dry low. This is an especially lovely superwash and would knit up beautifully as a sweater with its nice stitch definition, no splitting, springiness and softness.
The sleeve is easily customizable by using 2 or however many colors you want (I used 5 beautiful shades). You can adjust the size to fit an eReader or laptop by making it wider or narrower. Do a gauge swatch that’s 6x6” then measure the gadget you want to make a sleeve for and adjust accordingly. I recommend using Velcro rather than a button so your screen doesn’t get scratched. It knit up quickly on US 9 needles and I think the hardest part was choosing from the 60+ colors Cascade offers.
Grab your backpack and hop a yellow school bus. School is back in session!
Download the free patter here.