Purls Before Wine

Wild

2012-01-28T15:58:00.004-06:00

As you may know, I live in the city. There are normal hazards and challenges to an urban environment, and they are to be expected. Every once in a while, though, something unexpected pokes up its head, and we have issues with wildlife: the occasional raccoon gone bad, rodents of various sorts (let's not go there), possums who decide to make your roof their penthouse, and so on. Apparently, we have a coyote who has decided to take advantage of our delightful, tree-lined haven. Coyotes in Chicago aren't new. This one was apparently hungry for a sandwich. "Our" coyote seems to want to stay. He/she's been spotted more than once, both times on a street that crosses mine a half block away from the house. I altered my route coming home the other night because of it, as if the coyote couldn't stroll down another street. When I did, I saw a few people standing by the alley, talking and pointing. By the time I got there, they had moved on, but I wonder if I just missed seeing our new neighbor. I would like to see him/her, but from a distance. I think a coyote colorway may be in order, maybe utilizing some of these shades:

Beulah

2012-01-26T23:14:00.004-06:00

Photo credit for sweater pic : Knitscene Spring 2012

This month's Knitscene features Beulah, a darling cardi by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark. Mercedes recently shut down production on her Kitchen Sink Dyeworks line, and this particular piece was done in a yarn no longer available. Lucky for you, the called-for yarn is the same base as Fleur de Fiber Aries Oceanus, and is available in the Etsy store and in Chicago at Windy Knitty. Aries Oceanus is one of my very favorite yarns, shiny and drapey and it just radiates color. Not only do I like the lines of this retro sweater, but the scalloped stitching is just darling. The topper: I had a great aunt Beulah who was a delightful lady and she crocheted me an afghan to match my bedroom when I was a girl. This little piece just calls to me on every level.The pattern calls for 2-3 skeins, and I would be happy to dye custom quantities for you if you were making this piece.
My great aunt Beulah would approve of the sweater, and she would have looked delightful in it. Speaking as her great niece, I feel compelled to knit one in her honor.

In a haze and in the glow

2012-01-22T01:43:00.003-06:00

I am blogging in an altered state. My insomnia is at a raging peak, and even though I bogarted an Ambien from the husband, nearly 2 hours later, I am still up. Thursday night I didn't sleep at all, not one little wink. It leads to less than stellar thinking.

The delight of an afternoon and evening out with some of my dear knitting friends does some good for counteracting the negative forces that stolen sleep brings to the table.

I find these times to be ripe with new ideas, but not all of them reasonable, or achievable. I plan a lot of amazing trips in this altered state, only a few of them ever possible. We did lay the groundwork for a fiber trip in the next months. It can and will happen. As the owner of two tents, plus one gone AWOL, I declare myself Queen of Shelter. I will also name myself She of Things To Be Grilled. Why not? This should be glamping. Someone else needs to be Queen of Things to be Shaken with Ice and Imbibed. I have a housing philosophy: if it can't be 4 star, then it needs to be my tent. It's that wishy-washy in-between place that makes me uncomfortable.

Another trip was born of a late night. People who know me know that I am a huge Springsteen fan. One item on my Bucket List was to see him play in Europe. When a show was announced for Helsinki, Finland, I went for it. Helsinki is just a couple hours by ferry from Tallinn, and I have been hoping to go to Estonia for some time. Not only is Estonia a mecca for knitters and knitting, but I have a good friend who lives there. A side trip to Stockholm might be possible, too, as my friend also works there, and I would likely have a plane change there, anyway. There are a lot of details to work out, but I am excited about the possibilities.

Recall on the Recap

2012-01-19T22:38:00.007-06:00

I know that I said I wasn't going to recap my goings-on since July, but there were so many colorful events that I couldn't resist.

In October, I once again headed northwest to San Juan Island for one of Cat Bordhi's Island Knitting Retreats. I love this annual trip for so many reasons. Of course, there's Cat, who always manages to amass a wonderful assemblage of personalities. A lot of us are repeat offenders, so there is a core group who has been together for a number of years. This time, six of us booked a private whale watching tour on one of our free afternoons. We saw many different whales from two of the three resident pods. Try as I might, I didn't get any good whale shots, but I did get this great photo of my friend Lynda's mitt!

It was a remarkable afternoon: sunny, cool, clear, with even more laughs than waves. This picture of me and my friend Ana is a great reminder of how much fun we had.

There are so many fabulous things to do on the island, and one of my favorites is to walk South Beach. It's a rocky and piled high with huge driftwood logs. There are wild foxes at the beach, though I've only ever seen one there, myself. I think this piece of drying kelp would make a great colorway, don't you?

The resort where the retreat is held is situated right at the edge of a small lake, and each evening we got a spectacular light show. These pics are from two different nights. Just gorgeous.

I am ready for October, and not just because it is in the single digits here today.

Did Any Hearts Grow Fonder?

2012-01-17T00:05:00.009-06:00

I knew I had abandoned the blog for some time, but I really didn't realize just how long that it had been. Oh, the shame. So much has happened, and it is impossible to recap it all, so I shan't. Moving on...

Last year ended with a flurry of knitting, none of it for me. There were Pay It Forward gifts, and hats requested by the waiters who take care of our knitting group on Tuesday nights. The husband's firm does some work with a group that serves homeless people, so there were warm, washable hats and scarves made. January, February, and maybe beyond have been declared Months of Self-Indulgent Knitting at Chez PBW. This week I started and finished the Buttoned Skirt from the Winter 2012 Vogue Knitting. This pattern is not without issue, and I had to spend a fair amount of time figuring out how to fix a stitch count error. (Because it has a trellis lace pattern, a number of potential fixes were not practical because they would have disrupted the pattern.) I was the first to start the project on Ravelry, and I was in uncharted waters. (Well, they were charted, but you know what I mean.) Errata on the VK website was not helpful as it didn't address the actual problem, but another editing issue. After charting and counting and adding and ripping, I finally found a solution that worked, and I was able to finish quite quickly. Now, I'm just not sure that the piece is going to work on my figure, but that is another matter entirely. It's blocking now, and the quest for closures begins.

My next project may be Vitamin D. I have been holding onto 4 skeins of Aries Oceanus for just the right project, and this may be the one.

I will try to be better, if only to have a writing goal. I used to write a lot in my former life, and I miss it terribly. My vocabulary and spelling skills have softened and I need to exercise them. I am currently engaged in several games of Words With Friends, and I admit to being terrible at it. We didn't play a lot of Scrabble growing up, and I don't have a mastery of those weird two-letter moves and all those words that start with Q that don't need a U. I am getting better, but if you want to play someone and win, I'm your girl--at least for now.

Fleur de Fiber continues to grow and develop. After stockpiling a fair bit of yarn, I will be descending into the Craft Dungeon for more colorway concocting this week. A potential large-scale job looms, and I need to do a few test-dye skeins for the client. Wish me luck!

A Big Fairy Wonderland

2011-07-01T00:09:00.003-05:00

For those of you who think that TNNA is a big fairy wonderland of knit/crochet/needlework goodness to which only a very few are permitted to enter, you are right. It was fun, big, big fun. I went with Mandy, a friend and owner of the fabulous Windy Knitty, fortunately located just a short walk from where I am tethered. If you ever get to go to TNNA, I recommend you get the deal I got, which is I got to tell Mandy how to spend her money! (Since her shop is my LYS, I might have used my influence to encourage her to buy some things that I would like. Okay, that's exactly what I did.) We saw some great new things. My absolute favorite is an accessory that can be a sweater closure, a shawl pin, or just a decorative bauble. I intend to own loads of them. On the dark side of things, I must warn you that novelty yarnageddon once again approaches, though we did not succumb, nor were we even tempted. Be sure to visit Windy Knitty because many, many wonderful new things will soon be on her shelves.

Columbus was lovely, with delicious food and drink within walking distance of the hotel and convention center. All the stories you've ever heard about Jeni's Ice Cream are true. Over the days we were there, Mandy and I tried 13 flavors. My favorite was Goat Cheese with Roasted Cherries. Jeni now has a cookbook out, a copy of which--along with an ice cream maker--will be winging its way to Sir Eli of Northampton, who, I am told, was bemoaning a lack of savory ice creams available on the market. Eli, my friend, Jeni will get you started, but I suspect you will soon be inventing your own concoctions shortly.

The Craft Dungeon has been a hive of activity. I dyed lots of goodies for Mandy's booth at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair this past weekend. Now I am stockpiling for The Fold's booth at Sock Summit. I am hoping to get far enough ahead on the keystone base yarns to add a few more exotic selections to the line, including some camel, some additional silk blends, and perhaps some mawata.

In case you haven't heard it yet, Stash and Burn did a very nice bit of commentary on Fleur de Fiber on the most recent podcast (ep. 106). I sponsored a giveaway for them, and they had the chance to knit with some of my yarn. Stash and Burn has been one of my favorite podcasts for some time, and if you've never listened, be sure to give them a go.

Ack! I just looked at the clock at the bottom of the screen, and it has turned into July! So much to do...

What I Learned

2011-06-06T14:36:00.009-05:00

Whew! I like to travel and have new experiences, but man-oh-man have I scheduled myself into a few corners.

I just got back from a combined trip to see friends in Northampton, MA and to attend the Squam Arts Workshop. The trip to Northampton was big fun, marked by not one but two home Chopped competitions. (The Reader's Digest version of Chopped is that 4 contestants are presented with a basket of mystery ingredients with which to prepare a course. Pantry items may also be used. In each round, a contestant is eliminated until the dessert course, when a winner is named.) We decided on 4-5 ingredients to make a meal. (Dessert was separate.) Sir Eli directed the competition and chose the teams. On night one, he and his dad shopped, and his mom and I cooked. We were presented with shrimp, calamari, radicchio, chocolate mint, and potato chips. From that came grilled radicchio dressed with balsamic vinaigrette topped with sauteed calamari, shrimp with a chip/cumin/chili crust and a watermelon/strawberry/basil/chocolate mint salsa cruda. Let me tell you, crushed chips give panko a run for its money as a crust. Night two saw his parents confronted with ingredients he and I procured. We presented them with Sockeye salmon, dandelion greens, ginger beer, sunchokes, and cherry fruit leather. The mystery basket produced a ginger/soy/cherry glazed salmon (fruit leather melts in warmed ginger beer and it makes a fab glaze), dandelion greens with a cherry vinaigrette, sunchoke puree, and a ginger beer/lemonade/vodka aperitif. (Sir Eli got a virgin version.) It was great fun, and I recommend it as a fun dinner party activity if you have some adventurous cooks in your crowd. (Ample cocktails are a must.)

From Northampton, I travelled up to Holderness, NH to the Squam Arts Workshop. I learned a few things:

I get squeamish about anything described as "transformative."

I have determined that I am a short hugger. I met some long huggers at Squam, and I am decidedly in the short hug range of things.

I am now excited to sew. The Reinvention sewing class I took got me hyped about uses for that big, white Singer paperweight in the Craft Dungeon.

My over-packing has reached epic proportions. I had four knit hats with me. Four. Plus a sunhat. It got worse from there.

I learned a lot about how I want to display my yarns in retail situations.

You can be 1039 miles from home and meet your neighbor from five houses away for the first time. True story.

More later. I'm off to TNNA.

Hello Again

2011-04-28T00:06:00.003-05:00

Sorry to have been absent for so long. It was all for good reason, but I need to be more attentive to the blog lest the corners get as dusty as those in my house!

So, what have I been doing? More dyeing, dyeing, dyeing. I will be trying out some exciting new bases soon, including Frog Tree's Pediboo. It feels divine in the skein, and I can't wait to see what happens when I add color. I also have some new 70/30 Merino/Silk and 50/50 Merino Silk, and 70/20/10 Merino/Cashmere/Silk to play with. I'm waiting for a shipment of silk hankies (aka mawata) and an Angora/Silk yarn. It's a wonder I ever leave the Craft Dungeon!

Leave the Dungeon I did, for my fourth Sock Camp. It was, as ever, a lovely time, with friends old and new. The weather wasn't so delightful this trip, but that's okay. Hula Hooping in the rain adds to one's character. I got to spend my birthday dyeing with Tina Newton, and that's just about as good as it gets. Classes with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Anne Hanson, and JC Briar were just great, too. Anna Zilboorg was a special guest this session, and it was nice to see her once again, having had the pleasure of spending several days with her at the last Cat Bordhi retreat that I attended.

The Husband had a conference in Boston, and I tagged along. I hadn't spent any time in the city (except for a brief stop back in the touring theater days) in about 18 or 19 years, back when I lived in Waltham and worked downtown and in Harvard Square. As in every city, much has changed, yet much remains the same. The swan boats still float in the lagoon in the Public Garden, and the city is still daunting to navigate, but it was great to be there, though the weather was less than welcoming. We were also there on the lead-up weekend to the marathon. We arrived Wednesday, and on Friday--boom!--all these skinny people in Spandex arrived. For a bunch of fast runners, they all walked very slow, and the area we were staying in (Copley, which was also the finish line for the marathon) got terribly crowded. We did catch the Chihuly exhibit at the art museum, and that was more color inspiration that I can describe here. (Those photos are on my phone, and it takes forever to upload from the phone to Flickr, so no snaps here for now, but it was glorious. There is a slideshow on the link I provided.) I have now seen Chihuly installations in two very different venues, a museum and a botanical garden (a glass conservatory), and both have been spectacular. An added bonus to the trip were getting to see Sir Eli of Northampton, who was in Boston overnight with his mom and dad in anticipation of his trip to London with his grandma. (Lucky kid got to go to The Globe, do a Harry Potter walking tour, see the sunflower seed installation at the Tate Modern, and a million other cool things. No word yet on whether a Royal Wedding floaty pen was secured, per my request.) I also took the train to Natick to see my old roommate. I toured the arts school where he heads the Theater Department, and we squeezed as much catching up as we could in the couple of hours before I had to train back and he headed into rehearsal. I did get to visit a delightful new yarn/fabric/crafting shop in the Central Square area called Gather Here. It is a great concept and I hope they're really successful. I wish it were closer so that I could up my sewing skills, which are sorely lacking.

I have finished several projects, but the cutest by far is the kimono I knit for my friend Kelli's new arrival. I will be meeting Eloise next week and will be delivering her new sweater, both knit and dyed by yours truly.

In exactly a month I head to New England again, this time for the Squam Arts Workshop. I am very excited because it will also be my first retail show for my yarns. There is a one-night marketplace at the Workshop, and I am thrilled to get my goods out there! Added bonus: a few days in Northampton with Sir Eli and his folks, a stop at Webs, and who knows what else!

In Clover

2011-03-18T21:40:00.002-05:00

Well, I fell off the 30 Lists wagon. Other things have been demanding my attention:

Meet Baby Dill, Clover, and Shiny Happy People, all in Atlantis Silk.

Chicago now has a new LYS, Windy Knitty, and it is open for business. She has a great selection of yarns...including mine! There is also Malabrigo, Cascade, Three Irish Girls, Sweet Georgia, and a whole lot of other fabulous lines.

I will be heading off for Sock Camp soon, and there is homework to be done. I think I know where I am headed on that front, but I've changed my mind a few times now, so we'll see. As always, I am looking forward to my trip to Seattle and Port Ludlow. Perhaps I'll get far enough this weekend to offer a few homework sneak peeks.

Coincidence?

2011-03-10T11:50:00.002-06:00

So, while my French press of coffee and chicory was steeping, this is what I posted on Facebook:

"Wishing for warm days so I can knit and spin on the porch and hula hoop outside. I'm getting tired of the hoop bumping into the sofa."

Then, I popped over to the 30 Days of Lists blog to find that today's list is Wishes. Lucky me, I got a jump start!

1. Warm days for the reasons mentioned above.
2. Hoping my husband's weekend trip is less stressful than we anticipate it will be.
3. Hoping to build my business in creative ways. Wishing for inspiration to make it happen!
4. I wish for many more healthy days with my cat, Pitch.
5. Wishing for the opportunity to see as many friends as possible this year.
6. Still wishing for that Estonia trip to happen.
7. I'm hoping my friend's new LYS will be a rousing success--and she will sell lots of my yarn!
8. Hoping for a fab vacation with my husband that is just for us--no business, not knitting-related.

My Favorite Things

2011-03-09T12:30:00.003-06:00

Today's list is favorite websites/blogs. Here goes:

Amazon.com I shop there ALL THE TIME, though I feel guilty because some of the profits end up in the hands of political interests with which I do not agree.
Sundance Catalog.com Yes, I want to live in that catalog. I want everything, almost.
Peapod.com Online grocery shopping saves me $$ and keeps me from buying impulse items. I also get to avoid the annoyances of the Jewel. I still shop at a small, independent grocery for some items and am looking forward to the return of the Farmers Market.
Posie Gets Cozy Her projects, be they knitting, crochet, embroidery, home improvement, cooking, or what have you, are so aesthetically pleasing. She does cute very, very well.
Etsy 'Nuff said.
Fryd + Design Short, sweet posts with delightful pics.
Knitspot Anne Hanson is zooming to the top of my list of favorite designers. I also love her pics, and she is a great teacher.

There are others, too, but I've really pared down my blog reading. It all sort of fell apart during the Blogspot changeover, and I need to reorganize my blog reading mechanisms.

By the way, I added some additional colors of Atlantis Silk to the Etsy shop. Tarnished and Favorite Jeans went up yesterday, and Clover, Pistachio, I Didn't Wear White, A Touch of Envy, Shiny Happy People, and Baby Dill are coming today or tomorrow.

Bagged

2011-03-08T22:10:00.002-06:00

What's in my bag? Well, I took a few things out of my purse and threw them in my knitting bag tonight, which has made this less dodgy.

wallet
keys
two project bags in case I couldn't decide what I wanted to work on
some tissues
I thought there was lipstuff in there, but when I went digging for it, I was mistaken.

That's it. My purse is another story: 6 lipsticks. It goes downhill from there.

Playing Catch Up

2011-03-07T10:38:00.004-06:00

I am behind on my weekend goals and behind on my lists.

Least Favorite Words

My high school friend, Jon Wurster, is the drummer for both Superchunk and The Mountain Goats. He is also a comedian who has been touted as one of the funniest Tweeters/Facebookers out in the Tweetisphere. He has a regular feature called WordHate, where he throws out one of his least favorite words, and hilarity often ensues. Here are a few of my least favorite words:

Squee (Knitters use this all the time, but I cannot abide it.)
Awsomesauce (Not a real word, but this one gets to me.)
Expresso (While a legit spelling & pronunciation, it always reminds me of the common mispronunciation of "expecially" for "especially." Ack.)

Blog Goals

Blog at least twice a week
Add more pictures
Be more entertaining
Activate the blog for Fleur de Fiber

Weekend Goals

2011-03-05T16:44:00.002-06:00

1. Dye the skeins of yarn that are already soaking in the bucket.
2. Help my friend price her merchandise so that she can get her store open.
3. Clear off the dining room table.
4. Hang up the clothes that are in a pile upstairs.
5. Pick up the stitches to start the next section of my shawl.
6. Load Quickbooks on laptop and upgrade.
7. Get my yoga stuff together in prep for taking class Monday.
8. Reskein dry yarns and load them into etsy shop.

March Forth

2011-03-04T13:26:00.002-06:00

After much ado, the shop is open!

This weekend I am instituting a no green dye zone! I would dye green after green if I could!

Today's List is "My Playlist."This has been the rotation as of late:

1. Whatever is on NPR. (Sadly, it's pledge week, so that limits things)
2. WXRT, Chicago's rock station. They play classic rock to new things. I like the morning DJs, but I usually don't listen that early.
3. Springsteen, always. I can listen to some albums (Greetings from Asbury Park, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Born to Run) every day. For others (Nebraska, The River, the non-E Street ones) I have to be in a particular mood.
4. Mumford & Sons, Little Lion Man
5. Podcasts (knitting related, The Moth)
6. David Sedaris, When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Jumping on a Bandwagon, Try Again

2011-03-03T11:23:00.002-06:00

Okay, if you saw the post from yesterday, ignore it because it has been disappeared. I, apparently, cannot follow instructions.

So, I have decided to jump on the 30 Days of Lists bandwagon (after falling off once already.) Here goes:

#1 A Few Things About Me
Knitter
Dyer
Wife
Cat Person Who Also Loves Dogs
Shoe Enthusiast
Boot Collector
Bad Housekeeper
Good Cook
Former Professional Stage Manager
Former Executive Director of a Not-for-Profit Dance Company
Springsteen Fan

#2 Things I Am Good At
Cooking
Starting Projects
Writing Grants
Bargain Shopping
Finding Something I Have in Common with Almost Everyone I Meet

#3 Thing I Am Looking Forward To
Moving to Another Place When My Husband Retires (PNW, please)
Visiting Boston for the First Time in Forever
Having a New Kitchen
Warm Days on the Porch/Balcony
Walking By the Lake When it Isn't Freezing
Visiting Estonia
Many More Happy, Healthy Days with My Cat, Pitch
A Vacation with My Husband This Year

Soon, My Pretties

2011-03-01T15:37:00.004-06:00

I know I have been yammering on about the dyeing forever. Some of you have been hearing about it for forever and a day. I promise that there will be yarn in the etsy shop next week, if not sooner.

This weekend I delivered a wholesale order to a new shop opening here in my neighborhood. I could not be more thrilled. The shop is going to be GORGEOUS. The owner has done a magnificent job, and has done it up right: nice, neutral fixtures, thoughtful space design, great lighting, and well-selected product lines. I am thrilled and honored that I get to be a part of it.

If you would like to be on Fleur de Fiber's notification list, head over to the etsy site and contact me and I will add you.

Root Beer

2011-02-11T20:22:00.003-06:00

As of late, my routine is something like this: I get up, throw on my dyeing "costume," which consists of black yoga pants, a black shirt, a fleece jacket, wool socks, dye-spattered Birkenstock clogs, and a wool hat. It's been pretty cold here, and the craft dungeon has been a bit chilly, but there's no question that it's a lot of look.

Tonight the husband picked up dinner and was kind enough to bring me a diet root beer, one of the old-fashioned ones in a vintage-y brown bottle. Those bottles just make you want to blow into them while you're drinking, making crazy wind whistle sounds, which is just what I was doing. My husband looked up from his dinner, saw me in my dyeing get-up and said, "You look like a yarn hobo." I couldn't deny it.

Goodbye, Little Lion

2011-02-04T15:26:00.005-06:00

Papel. Pel. Pelly Bel. Babyhead. Little Lion. Trotwood. Little Boy. Little Furry Buddy.

He grew into his ears, but kept his kitten voice. Never walked when he could trot. From the little tuft of hair on his left ear to the "racing stripes" around his back legs to his Q-Tip tail, he was the cutest, sweetest, most lovable tabby cat ever, and we told him so all the time.

Decisions, Decisions

2011-01-30T12:26:00.005-06:00

Today I made the decision not to dye. My friend's shop is opening a bit later than I thought, and I have a bit more time to finish her order, which I should be able to do with no problems once the new motor for the electric skein winder gets here, provided I can install it without causing harm to man, beast, or object. My knitting has been sorely neglected, and I have some projects that need to get moving. I designed (on paper) a cowl that needs to be knit up pronto. It's for a swap, and the sooner it gets done, the sooner I can write up the pattern (if it is worthy), and the sooner the package can get mailed. One less thing to cause me distraction.

Other decisions are looming. Our "baby cat" (who is 14) is not doing so well, and we may have to make a decision about that sometime soon. He's been having occasional rough days for some time, but he always seems to bounce back, though he's just a shadow of his former self. The bad days seem to be coming a bit more frequently, and it's clear that, even on a fine day, his batteries are drained. But, every time he trots from one end of the house to the other (he doesn't walk unless he's punky), we look at it as a positive sign. He's been especially chilly, so this morning I wrapped him up in a fleece blanket burrito. Sometimes he still looks like a kitten.

I wish there was a yarn that was as soft as the fur right behind his ears. It is the softest, sweetest thing I've ever touched.

My Dr. Might Sew, But He Doesn't Knit

2011-01-27T15:03:00.001-06:00

True story: If you tell your osteopathic surgeon that your hands are blue because you are dyeing, he's going to think you just told him you are dying. Lesson learned. Homonyms will getcha.

I'm Dyein' Here!

2011-01-25T15:03:00.002-06:00

I am spending copious amounts of time in the Craft Dungeon. All this dyeing means that there isn't much knitting. Not much at all. As in none. Zip. If not for knit night on Tuesdays, it would be a knitting desert around here.

Today I'm dyeing up a seacell (rayon) and silk blend lace yarn. It is gorgeous, shiny, luxe stuff, but it smells awful--really, really, really awful--while it's being dyed. The end result is so gorgeous that it's worth a bit of suffering on my part.

When I buy yarns, often they arrive packaged with ribbons, tissue paper, and plastic bags in a shipping envelope. The plastic bags seem like overkill, and don't get me started on the ribbons. They are pretty and festive, but they often end up in the trash, and who needs that? My plan is to wrap the yarns in natural, unbleached tissue (recycled and recyclable) tied up with yarn, plenty of which is lying around the Dungeon. I'm going to ship in Tyvek envelopes (unless a box is required), which are water resistant. What are your thoughts on packaging? (I should also note that I'm going to be sending a little extra with the yarn--tea from Steven Smith Teamaker. Their teas are exquisite, and if I like them, I think you will, too!

Comfort Zones and Accidents

2011-01-20T17:15:00.004-06:00

We all have them, and we spend time trying to step out of the former and avoid the latter. One that I have been fighting for some time is the concept of dyeing a skein of yarn that isn't my personal cup of tea. I remind myself time and time again that there are infinite combinations and just because a particular skein is not the first one I'd grab doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't fall in love.

In my teens, my friend and I used to mutually despise yellow. We even went as far as to be a bit superstitious about it, blaming unfortunate incidents on the presence of yellow in the immediate surroundings. At some point, that changed for me and, in this house as well as my last, I have had yellow or gold rooms. My current house has four. I am sitting here looking at two balls of golden yarn destined to be a shawl. Yellow has gained ground in my color world.

Dyeing can be thrilling, and sometimes there are unexpected results. A while back, I put some skeins in the pot with the three different dyes that make up the colorway. The secret to that particular colorway is to limit agitation so that there are flashes of color without much mingling and the natural color of the skein still remains visible. For some reason, I stirred the pot, literally. Oops. What came out was a new colorway because it shares very little resemblance to its cousin, and it may just be one of my favorites. And it has yellow in it.

Getting Ahead of Myself

2011-01-15T14:56:00.005-06:00

I do it all the time. I get so caught up with the possibilities that the here-and-now gets in my way, and I end up tripping all over myself.

Today I found myself thinking about seeds. Here in Chicago, you really can't plant things outside until after Mother's Day. That's a long way off, and there's much to do between now and then. Additionally, I've not had much luck with my own seedlings. They tend to be spindly, weak, little things that wither in the urban jungle of my backyard. I do, however, have a worm bin just packed full of castings (that's a polite way to say worm poo) that could provide a better starting medium than what I've used in the past. I'm going to be ambitious and try it again.

There are seeds of a different kind that have been germinating here for some time. As you may remember from posts-long-gone, I dubbed the basement The Craft Dungeon, and in said Dungeon, experiments of the dyeing type were taking place. I became more comfortable with my technique and my materials, and I was producing colors that I thought could be attractive to yarnaholics who weren't just me. Last winter's fall and subsequent surgery postponed my plans, but didn't dampen them. So, I finally feel ready to tell you all that there is a new yarn line soon to be out in the world.

I will be launching the etsy store soon. You'll be the first to know.

So You Think You're So Smart...

2011-01-12T11:04:00.002-06:00

Okay, about that cowl and my "improvements." Well, I solved a design issue, but I created a construction issue. For some reason that I just can't discern, grafting the two halves--which, theoretically, should have been seamless--caused some areas of the pattern to create weird little poofs. They're a bit too odd to be "design elements" and so it's back to the drawing board. I think what I really need to do is get out some knitting graph paper and design my own cowl. It will be a good exercise for me, and I'll let ya know how that turns out. By the way, do you know how long it takes to kitchener 119 stitches to 119 other stitches? I believe that unit of time is called a foreffingever.

One One One One One

2011-01-11T13:06:00.002-06:00

That was predictable, right?

I wish I could say that 2011 has started off with a bang, but, alas, it hasn't. It started out with sniffle, then a whine, then a honk, and it progressed from there. The sofa in the knitting room still has a dent from the three days I spent there, both day and night. Admittedly, I do not suffer illness of any magnitude well, but this cold wiped me out. I am feeling better, but now my sleep rhythms are completely upside-down, and I was fully awake until 5am this morning. Fortunately, though, the calendar has provided me with a do-over of sorts, so I am declaring today the first day of my 2011. It's got an extra "one" in it, so that counts.

I've got some new projects on the needles, both of which have been subjected to my tinkering. I started one of the many pairs of mittens out there that are based on the ubiquitous Owls sweater. After knitting 90% of one mitten, I decided that the construction wasn't making me happy. The thumb was accommodated with a series of increases that essentially followed the lifeline on the palm, and while that sounds interesting, it resulted in a mitten that pulled in an odd way, and so it went to the frog pond. Instead, I am Frankenknitting a few patterns together to make a mitten that's making me a bit happier.

I have signed myself up for a Mardi Gras swap on Ravelry. I have decided to knit my giftee a lacy cowl made with some of my hand dyed yarn. The pattern is pretty (but I shan't name it here because of the Ravtroversey which, apparently, surrounds it), but it isn't symmetrical. The motif at the top and the bottom are mirrored, and the stitch pattern in the middle runs gracefully and logically from one side, but then it kind of slams into the border at the other end. After knitting 75% of it, I decided to frog it and make some changes. I am knitting it in two parts, from the ends in, and I am going to graft the halves in the middle. In the past, I have said my knitting would go faster if I didn't stop to admire every row. It would also go faster if I didn't re-knit every project at least once.

I am doing that "Pay it Forward" thing that's been making the rounds. It's the one where I promise you something handmade if you post on your blog or Facebook page the promise to do the same. I have one more slot open, so if you are interested in receiving something handmade by me in 2011 (it could be anything, mind you, not just knitting, as I wield some mean recipes and I own the Cadillac of hot glue guns), you must promise the same for five others. Comment here or on my Facebook page, and the next person I hear from is in. (If you decide to do it, I can provide you with the "text" for the Pay it Forward promise.) I'm really excited about the folks who are on the journey with me so far. One of them is a male friend from high school who I haven't seen in about 25 years! I have already been plotting and planning about the "right" items for each of them.

It's a beautiful, snowy day here in the city, so I need to do a bit of shovelling. Perhaps I'll take a bit of a snow walk for some exercise and to help ease myself toward being tired enough to fall asleep at a normal hour. Wish me luck, but if you see me Tweeting in the wee hours, you know I'm in deep trouble. (Insomnia often results in reckless internet shoe shopping, and that's just not good...)

One One One One

2011-01-01T12:31:00.004-06:00

Hi there. Wow, it's been a long time. I can't promise how often I'll be stopping in, but I'm gonna try to be better.

Since it's 1.1.11, it is de rigeur to set a few goals for the year.

1. Less takeout and more cooking at home.
2. More exercise.
3. Less retail therapy. Shop in my stash more often rather than buy new yarn. Desire a new pair of shoes? Go to the shoe closet and pick out a pair rather than succumb to the temptation for a new pair. (I admit it: this will be a hard one.)
4. Plant the garden this year.
5. Rearrange the rooms I have wanted to revamp for a while: the TV/knitting room, the upstairs living room, the back room upstairs, both pantries, the office area.
6. Purge/clean the basement.
7. Purge the cookbook collection.
8. Hang all art/pictures. If there isn't a place to hang it, purge it.
9. Spin more.
10. Waste less time. Limit computer time. (Use an egg timer if necessary.) Turn on the TV less, but always multi-task when the TV is on.
11. Spend more time on the business.
12. Purge the Ravelry queue, if only a little bit.
13. Fewer pajama days.
14. Spend more time with friends.

All right, y'all, hope to see more of you in he coming year. Happy start to the new year, and see you soon!

5 Things I Learned This Week

2010-07-01T13:09:00.006-05:00

1. I realized just how much I love Mason Jars. Love. I love them for storing things, for making sun tea, and for generally being cute.
2. I have learned that if you renovate an old house, nothing is square, therefore, don't put a tile floor with very straight lines in that old, non-square bathroom if you have OCD tendencies. The fact that the tiles aren't perfectly aligned will keep you awake at night.
3. Your cats will forgive you if you have to keep them confined in one room while you are renovating. They will pout, whine, and whinge if you have to put them in a different room every few days, even if it is for their own good.
4. That I don't care if sitting on my porch for hours at a time and for days on end gets me the reputation as the neighborhood crazy lady. It's my porch and I like it out here.
5. It was reconfirmed for me that some relationships suffer nothing from either distance or time. Some friendships are built for the long haul no matter how unusual or unlikely they may be.

My New Favorite Place

2010-06-28T21:01:00.006-05:00

Given the chaos inside my house, it's only natural that I would seek respite outside. The front porch has become my new favorite place. Tonight, it's me, the netbook (the WiFi signal is better on the porch than it is inside--how weird), some incense to ward off the bitey bugs, scads of lightning bugs (which I adore and which are not bitey), and a nice cool breeze.

I've been spending my days knitting, computing, reading, brewing sun tea, and just generally relaxing out here.

Yesterday's Brew: Octavia Organic White Blueberry Tea--yum!

Today's Brew: Intelligentsia King Crimson Organic Hibiscus and Lemongrass Blend

Once the workmen have cleared the upstairs, I will likely shift operations up to the second floor balcony (where the cats also get to hang out), though the exposed balcony does get strong afternoon sun. I've really been thinking I need a hammock, though that would probably be best placed in the backyard. I am so fortunate to have these lovely outdoor spaces here in my little corner of the city, and I am taking greater advantage of them than ever.

There has been knitting. A few weeks prior to her being "Harloted", I bought some yarn from Wolle's Color Creations. My intention was to double strand it with Diaketo DiaSantaFe, which has been working out well. What am I making? Another skirt--one in a long line of them, it seems. The long color shifts of the WCC and the shorter shifts of the Diaketo are making an interesting tweedy fabric of a very nice weight. (Sorry for the weirdly skewed shot that is not only sideways, but makes the skirt look wider than it is long. The striping is, in fact, horizontal, and the skirt goes from navy at the top to gray to light blue at the bottom. I so wish I had been able to take Franklin Habit's knitwear photography class this past weekend.)

I have to weave in the ends, add the tulle ruffle trim to the hem, and make a cord for the waist before she is street ready. (Hmmm...that doesn't sound quite right.)

Last night at SnB, I swatched for my next skirty project. I'm going to use a pattern I got at Churchmouse (my favorite yarn store--wish I didn't have to fly 4 hours and take a ferry to get there!) and some dark purple CotLin.

Knitting the Old and the New Together

2010-06-03T20:10:00.003-05:00

As I have mentioned before, I live in an old house. This is her 100th anniversary year, and, to be frank, she is showing her age in some places. I would love to make all of the updates and changes she needs in one fell swoop, but unless there is some great windfall, the changes will be made as we can. We are in the first stage of renovating both bathrooms and turning the upstairs kitchen into a laundry. (We live on both floors of our two-flat, so we have duplicates of everything.)

I have felt very strongly that we need to respect the house and her architectural style. While we don't live in a neighborhood of tear downs (many neighborhoods in Chicago suffer from this), lots of folks buy homes similar to ours and gut them, creating more modern, open floor plans. Sure, I would love one of those houses where the spaces flow seamlessly, but I feel compelled to retain the integrity of the house's historical period. That's not to say that we're not making updates--we are--but those updates are done with an eye toward what makes sense for the old girl. So, as I hunt for floor tiles, fixtures, and amenities, I'm trying to knit together modern aesthetics with historic sensibilities. We are exiting the "Oh my, this will never be over, and it will never look like anything but dog food" phase and entering the "Hey, there really is a bathroom under all that dust" phase. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

By the way, if you are going to have only one working bathroom downstairs due to the demolition of the upstairs loo, and you sleep upstairs, it might not be the best idea to drink gallons of iced tea every day unless you want to make the nightly treacherous decent through the obstacle course that has become your home. Strangely, it's a lesson I have yet to learn, and it has been weeks.

Ups and Downs

2010-05-29T07:00:00.003-05:00

And I mean that in a good way. Slowly, for the first time since mid-December, I can raise my left arm above elbow height and not see stars. It's a process, to be sure, and I am still stiff and sore, but my range of movement is getting better. Sleeping is still an issue, and I'm having a rough time when I roll onto my left side, but better is, well, better.

I finished my second knitted skirt (the lacey skirt with bows by Kat Coyle), and am about to cast on another skirt. I don't know why I'm fixated on skirts, but I am. Cotton Fleece is a great yarn for them, save one quibble. Like most cotton or mostly cotton yarns, you can see where the ends are woven in, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. I have pulled out ends and tried again and again, always with the same result. It's a frustration, to be sure, but I'll keep trying.

Sadly, it looks like my trip to Estonia this August is postponed until 2011. Most disappointing is the fact that I won't get to see my friend who lives there unless he has a business trip to the states. (He usually flies through Chicago when he does, so I'd get to see him that way.) I'm still hoping to get there at some point in the not-too-distant future. Coincidentally, I was supposed to be gone during Stitches Midwest, and I had registered for two Estonian knitting classes with Merike Saarniit, which I thankfully had not yet cancelled. That will have to do, and perhaps I will get to pick her brain a bit about must-see and must-do places and events.

I had a funny realization a few days ago. My friend and knitting teacher, Cat B0rdhi, stayed with me for several days while she was in Chicago teaching. Would you believe that we didn't knit a single stitch here in the house during the five days she was here?! We had great conversations, however, and I did get to spend a lovely afternoon at the Art Institute with her and Franklin Habit, which was great fun.

I need to leap off and do some around-the-housework. We are starting some home renovations next week, which means that things need to be moved and organized before the contractors get here. I'm excited to have the work done, but the process of renovation is always nerve-wracking. Still, it will be nice to look at a freshly tiled and painted bathroom instead of the nasty peeling paint I'm looking at right now.

Knitting on the Other Side

2010-05-17T12:43:00.004-05:00

I am just 5 days post-surgery, and I feel pretty great. Sure, I'm stiff, and movement is limited, but...I CAN KNIT! Hah! I'd learned to compensate due to the injury so that I can knit without significant movement in my left arm and shoulder, so the knitting continues. I can't knit for long stretches, and the Hempathy project is out of the question (not enough give), but I may have another knitted skirt finished very soon. I need to be careful about over extending myself, but I am chalking the knitting up to physical therapy. (Mental therapy, too!)

When getting ready to go to the hospital, I wasn't going to take anything with me. I had a 1:30 surgery slot, and I figured that by the time I got checked in at noon, tests run, and the glamorous hospital fashions donned, I wouldn't have time. Good thing I tossed the project in the bag at the last minute. My surgeon got backed up on his first surgery of the day, and by the time I went to the pre-op holding pen, it was after 4pm. The husband and I did get to wait in a very nice private room with free movies during the lead up, so it wasn't as annoying as it might have been. The worst part was that I hadn't eaten since 8pm the night before, and the room was right over a vent for a cafeteria, so I could smell burgers cooking, and it was making me a bit cranky. In fact, I've been craving a really good burger ever since!

A Tale of Two Scarves

2010-05-07T13:54:00.008-05:00

There is a clock ticking in my head. I'm on the final countdown to my shoulder surgery (woo hoo!), so I have a limited amount of time to get some things done before I'll be in recovery mode. I'm knitting like crazy because I'll be off the needles for a few weeks. I'm also shopping for tile, bathroom fixtures, flooring, and doors for our upcoming renovations since I won't be able to drive for several weeks. (We're updating two bathrooms and converting a kitchen into a laundry.) I'm organizing and cleaning in anticipation of a most esteemed house guest and the upcoming renovations. But what am I doing this moment? Blogging with the TV on.

This week I cast on a modified version of Anne Hanson's Rivolo which I narrowed to three repeats and with an added beaded cast on and bind off, a la Sivia Harding. It was a pretty fast, satisfying knit. The scarf is made with Kraemer Silk and Silver that I kettle dyed a while back. It is intended as a gift for a friend of a friend in Estonia. (Gifting knitting to an Estonian is a little like giving tulips to a Dutch person, I suspect, but it's what I do.)

I've also cast on a project from Veronik Avery's new book. It is a mesh tank that I'm making with Hempathy. It is slow going, my friends, slow going. The combo of knitting haltingly right now, the unstretchy yarn, size 2 needles, and the 252 stitches in each round means this is going to be a slog. Urgh. But I want the finished product--now. Right now.

So, while preparing to wash and store winter things, I unearthed the first knitted garment I ever made. I think I took my first knitting class in 1995, and this is the teaching scarf pattern that my instructor devised. It incorporates garter, stockinette, rib, and moss stitches, increases and decreases. It doesn't make for an elegant garment, but it was a useful teaching tool. It was a great way to learn the techniques while ending up with a finished garment.

Campy

2010-04-24T11:26:00.006-05:00

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee from my new Starbucks Seattle mug, getting all moony for the Pacific Northwest. (I love the Starbucks city mugs, by the way. They are the perfectly sized cup of coffee for me. I prefer my Jennie the Potter mugs for tea, however. Don't know why I make this distinction.) It's cool and rainy outside, very Seattle-like, though the weather we experienced there last week was unusually spectacular up until departure day.

Of all the things I am missing (the bacon, the bacon, and the bacon), I am missing my camp friends most of all. I have been extremely fortunate to attend lots of fiber events all over the country during the past several years, and I have made friends at all of them. At Sock Camp this year, I saw previous years' camp friends, friends from other events, and new friends who I look forward to seeing again. It was great. (I just found out yesterday that I will likely be travelling to San Francisco in August, so I hope to see some of the SF girls then--what a treat!)

The husband is returning from a business trip this evening. I came home late Tuesday, and he left really early Wednesday morning, so I hadn't even unpacked before he left. There's a little bit of new yarn to put away before I pick him up at the airport tonight ;) We haven't seen each other very much lately, but he did the funniest, sweetest thing while I was in Port Ludlow: he wrote me a camp-themed poem. Camp had a Seussian bent this year (along with the b00bies), and the poem was in reference to a series of really silly Seuss-themed skits produced by the four "tribes" at camp. Enjoy, especially the knitting curse at the end (not that ANY OF US would EVER wish evil on another knitter. Not EVER. No, NEVER!) Anyway, it was a cute and campy thing for him to do, and he clearly has the lingo down.

I hope the knitters liked your skit;
(I hope the skitters like your knit.)
Did it go well, was it a hit?
Did they stand and clap and clap, or sit?
Did people gush, and, then, get lit?
(Was the liquor bill a massive chit?)
Did the sketchers 'gainst whom you were pit
Match up, and give as good as git,
See you pun for pun, and tat for tit?
Did all lap up the crafty wit --
Like cream is lapped up by a kit --
or did some sneeralate and crit,
And pick a nit with ev'ry bit,
And snarkelfize, and give you shit,
Like some insipid royal twit,
whose festering gob just will not quit?

Upon those churls, I lay this curse:

May Quiviut cause you a rash;
May moths invade your treasured stash;

May all your patterns each omit
Important rows you should have knit;

May airlines ban the knitting needle,
No matter how you beg and wheedle;

May yarn crawls all be heavy slogging,
And ev'ry sock require frogging.

No, no, I do not doubt a bit
That all the knitters liked your skit.

PS The Yarn Harlot proclaimed him "sexy" for writing a sock camp-themed poem. Perhaps he should add that honor to his resume.

Come for the B00bs, Stay for the Bacon, Pt. 2

2010-04-23T11:13:00.008-05:00

So, the mascot for camp was a Blue Footed B00bie, and from there, it's not hard to see where things spiralled out of control. Homework has always been slapped with the silly stick, and this year was no exception. Our assignment: knit b00bs.

There were big ones, little ones, shy ones, saggy ones, misbehaving ones, Wicked ones, glistening ones, and there were even some manb00bs. There were b00b cupcakes, b00b egg cozies, b00b socks and b00b hats. The most important thing, as Mary pointed out, was that we do our (ahem) level breast. (So clever and funny, that one. I must go buy her book, pronto!)

All-in-all, it was a great time seeing old friends and making new.

In Tina's class, this old friend became......this new one:And this...
...left camp as this:
And these were two new friends who have joined a large family of skeins here at home:
Chalk another year up in the books. Wonder what they'll have in store for 2011...

Come for the B00bs, Stay for the Bacon

2010-04-22T15:57:00.005-05:00

I am a couple of days out from my return after Sock Camp, and I am two days into bacon detox. Sock Camp is about many things, not the least of which is food. But I get ahead of myself.

I flew into Seattle a day early for some fun and frivolity with Ana and Leslie, friends from two previous retreats with Cat Bordhi in Friday Harbor. I also know Ana from the Alaska Sea Socks cruise a few years ago. Leslie picked me and Ana up at the airport and we were off, with stops at three yarn shops, a conveyor belt sushi lunch, ice cream at Molly Moon's (I cheated), and a delish coffee at Fuel. Then it was back to the hotel for a break before heading out for more food later. I spent my afternoon walking around the Pike Place Market, with pit stops at the John Fluevog store (it's so itty bitty compared to Chicago), and a lovely wine shop near the market. Then it was back to the Hotel Max. (It was a great deal and perfect for a one-night stay when I wasn't planning on being in the room very much. The hotel is stylish, but the rooms and bathrooms are small, but for the price, it was great.) Japanese was the theme for the day, and that night we dined at Maneki which was simply fantastic and incredibly reasonable. Three of us ate quite well for $40!

The next morning we headed down to The Hangar Cafe by Boeing Field for breakfast crepes. (This trip was rife with cheats for me!) From there, we headed to the ferry and toward Bainbridge Island, home of my absolutely favorite yarn store ever, Churchmouse. Their selection, display, friendliness, and helpfulness never wavers. Some loveliness, including a Habu tunic kit made their way home with me. I also picked up the folio of Churchmouse Classics--gorgeous! From there, it was off to Port Ludlow.

Camp, as ever, defies accurate description. It's silly, inspiring, touching, educational, gut-bustingly funny, exhausting, and fulfilling. I got to have classes with two new (to me) teachers who I would be happy to take class with again in the future. Both Anne Hanson and Sivia Harding were wonderful. Because of Sivia, I am going to be seeking out projects in need of a beaded cast-on, and Anne actually made me want to swatch! A dyeing class with the Depraved Dyer, Tina Newton, and a sock anatomy lesson with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee rounded out the classes.

Part Two to follow, but to tide you over...

...this is the dog who delivers coffee to the Inn.

Dang, People...

2010-03-18T22:31:00.005-05:00

Well, it looks like the Weather Pixie down in the lower left corner has skipped town. I would, too, if I were her, because--as I said before--Chicago is a cruel mistress. Today it was almost 70, so I spent nearly the whole afternoon out and about in the neighborhood. It was lovely. But, before I haul out the open-toed shoes (yeah, like that would happen before a major league pedicure appointment), we are scheduled for at least one more snowfall, purportedly this weekend. Dang, people, that is just mean.

So, the other night I was adjusting the ice pack on my shoulder, the hot water bottle on my bicep, and the cat that likes to lie on top of the hot water bottle on my bicep (we aim to redefine "cumbersome" here in this house) when I felt something akin to marbles under my skin. Needless to say, it freaked me out just a bit. When I got to physical therapy today, I asked my therapist about it. "Oh, those, yep, I've been feeling them in there for a few days." Yikes. I have never had a healing process take this long (Monday was my three month "injuverssary"), but I guess I have never been this old before. I'm learning a lot about referral pain. It's like a little poltergeist is scooting around between my neck, shoulder, bicep, tricep, elbow, and even my lower back, playing a really nasty game of hide-and-seek. I am, however, seeing some improvement in my range of motion, so after hitting the wall last week, I am feeling more optimistic. And when I get the bad, stabby pain in my arm, my vision doesn't go black anymore, just a dark indigo blue, and it fades after about 45 seconds, not the full minute or so it was lasting. That's much better!

I am fortunate to have good insurance that is covering most of my expenses, from specialists to x-rays to MRIs to cortisone injections to therapy, but I can't help but think of those who don't have coverage who must suffer horribly from events like mine and much, much worse. It makes me furious when some of our "esteemed" legislators say the words "health care bill" like they the are actually saying "toenail fungus." Yeah, Orange John, I am looking right. at. you. You, too, Cantor. And Bachmann, I see you hiding behind Foxx. Oh, and any senior who, while benefitting from Medicare, speaks of not wanting a healthcare bill shoved down his/her throat, should be ashamed of his/herself. Hypocrisy is not becoming. We gave you Bruce Springsteen for the cover of AARP magazine a few months ago, but we're taking him back. So. There.

Batting Cleanup

2010-03-05T11:02:00.003-06:00

There is the tiniest hint of spring in the air, though I know Chicago is just messing with me and there is some big, nasty, brutally bone-chilling cold front just waiting around the corner for the day I leave the house in my cropped workout pants and no socks.

I have vowed to get some semi-completed projects out of the semi stage. I did finally finish the Harmonia's Rings Cowl I started in Friday Harbor in October. Today, with any luck, I will finish the Cardigan with Leaf Ties from Fitted Knits that was started sometime last year. I fear that this sweater will make me look like Titsy McBoobington, but I may wear it anyway. I found a different leaf pattern and used that instead of the one called for in the pattern. (UPDATE: The cardigan is finished and, yes, my new moniker is TMcB. Ah, well.)

Tithe is torturing me. It could not be an easier sweater, though there is some lazy pattern writing involved. (DO NOT just tell me to M1. Tell me which increase you used in the sweater pictured 'cause there are lots of them, and they don't all look the same. And, if you tell me that I am going to continue in pattern, increasing on a in a knit row, but then say to continue increasing every 3 rows, that means there will be an increase on a purl row. Grrrr...It's stuff that I can suss out, but I just think that it's lazy pattern writing/editing. JMHO.)

I have re-started A Little Something. I'm using some Brooks Farm yarn that may be a little too variegated to do the pattern true justice, but I am going to forge ahead. I like the drape that the yarn is producing, and I think it's going to be okay.

I had a happy little moment this morning. I was starting to fear that my Magician's Scarf was lost. I couldn't find it anywhere, and the last time I remember wearing it was on a trip to the west coast. This morning, while digging through the freezer in the basement, I found my scarf! In summer, I had frozen most of my sweaters and knitted accessories because of a *dreaded M-word* scare. (It turned out to be just that, a scare and not a real crisis, but it was a case of better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes a hole is just a hole and not an impending wool-related disaster. Whew.) Anyway, the ziploc with the scarf and a fun little wool hat I bought in New Orleans a few years back had slipped behind a frozen turkey breast and a C0stc0-sized bag of frozen veggies. My heart did a little skip when I found it because I love that scarf so very much.

This shoulder thing is getting really tiresome. I want to take yoga classes, I want to lift wet skeins of yarn out of dyepots, I want to roll over in bed without waking up, I want to put on a bra without getting tears in my eyes, and I want to stop complaining about it. It's been a roller coaster ride of one good day--which leads to false sense of security--followed by a bad day or two. It seems like this is going to be a much longer road than I originally anticipated. Ugh.

Epic Olympic Fail

2010-02-27T13:36:00.004-06:00

If there was a gold medal for Olympics coverage watching, I would get it, yes I would. I love, love, love the Olympics, and I may even be a convert to watching NHL hockey in the future as a result. I, however, have failed miserably at knitting. It all began with a fall on the ice on December 15, which resulted in a pretty painful and persistent shoulder injury. I finally decided to deal with it after two months. I got through my first-ever MRI (as a bit of a claustrophobe, I want a medal for that), and am now getting 6 weeks of physical therapy before a decision is made about surgery. Blech. I can still knit, but my concentration isn't there, and I gave up on my Olympic project, Laminaria, almost as soon as I began. (I would still like to knit it before my trip to Estonia in fall.) See you in two years in London, fellow medal seekers.

FOs have been scarce around these parts, but there are Monster Pants.I made these for my friend's nephew (the same one who got the BSJ). I figured that since the kid lives in Scandinavia, he can use some wool pants. And a little boy named Ragnar needs Monster Pants. I love how these turned out (it took some serious fiddling to get the corners of the mouth just so), and the yarn is so fabulously soft. It's Valley Superwash DK from Webs and I will turn to it again for baby knits. Fast and fun, I will knit these more than once.

I did a little UFO assessment, and it is not pretty. There were 3 unfinished vests, 4 unfinished first socks, 2 unfinished sweaters, and 1 unfinished shawlette. Some things got frogged, and some got a reprieve. I really need to keep a lid on that situation going forward.

It's time to line up some knits for warmer weather, which, I hope, is coming. A few of the tanks I made last year are now too big. (Chicamis, I hardly knew ye.) Warm weather is coming, right?

Slush Puddle

2010-01-28T13:44:00.005-06:00

Maybe it's the lack of natural daylight, maybe it's the cold temps, but I am running at slow speed these days. We've had a cold winter so far, but only a couple of good snowfalls. Here in the city, things get gray, brown, and, thanks to our canine friends, yellow very quickly, so winter is just not aesthetically pleasing in these parts. It's a challenge to find inspiration. After all, who wants a handpainted yarn called Frozen Mud or Slush Puddle? (Actually, I might go with Slush Puddle...)
There is a BSJ winging its way to Estonia this week. A friend's sister had her first baby a few weeks ago, so I used that as an excuse to make something quick and cute. The baby lives in Sweden, so I hope that the package gets to his uncle in Tallinn and his uncle gets it to him in Sweden before he outgrows it! (It's BMFA STR Medium in Stonewash and Lucy, by the way.)

Speaking of Estonia, I am hoping to visit the country in fall. I've been increasingly fascinated with their knitting history and culture for some time, and I have quickly assembled an impressive library of knitting books and pamphlets, many in Estonian. (Fortunately, their patterns rely heavily on charts rather than the written word, and there are translations for some books available.) When I found out that my Swedish friend now lives in Tallinn, well, the wheels got to turning. I found a group of Irish knitters on Ravelry who are planning an Estonian knitting retreat, and I jumped on the bandwagon. If it all works out, I hope to do the retreat as well as spend a few days with my friend in Tallinn and perhaps hop over the Baltic to Stockholm. (The flights I was looking at stop in Stockholm anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard to manage, I hope.)

I've decided not to go to Blue Moon's Sock Camp this spring. I may come to regret that decision, as I'm already missing some of the friends I know will be there. I suppose I might come to change my mind...

What's coming up? A serious UFO evaluation is in the offing. Serious. And a destash. Good stuff coming to my Ravelry destash page soon. I've got a few weeks before the Olympics and the Opening Ceremony cast-on of my Laminaria, so I hope to fit in a project or two (maybe I should just finish something that's already started!)

Knitting Catch-up

2010-01-16T16:51:00.005-06:00

So, there was some knitting. I started a Multnomah Shawl (twice, actually, but I didn't love the first one), but it has stalled.

I made fingerless mitts for my Grandmother for Christmas because she said her hands got cold when she was watching TV or reading. I figured this way she could still turn the pages or use the remote.

My cousin's daughter got a pair of Little Snugs. Not hard to make, but you essentially have to knit them twice as the lining is almost identical to the outside.

They look like a dog's breakfast before felting, but they looked great after. (And don't let people tell you that you can't felt in a front loader. Add some old flip flops or washable sneakers and felt away. My washer has a pause button, and because the water level is actually below the door, I can open it and check in on things mid-cycle. Sure, there are a few drips, so I put an old towel on the floor first.)

I made the first of my 5 Maximus Cowls. My other cousin seems to like getting handknit items for Christmas, so she got a Maximus in the same yarn (Malabrigo Aquarella in the Indy colorway) as the Cat Hat she got last year. Did I take a picture? Um, no.

Three of the remaining cowls were for moi (accessory ho!), and one for my friend, Sandra.

There have been a few other various and sundry items (a hat for a friend, a fraternal twin to that hat which I thought might be too big, so I wear it kinda slouchy myself, etc.) The house is strewn with half-finished first socks, sweater pieces, top-down sweaters that need arms, etc.

I am on a mitten kick at the moment. I have set about collecting mitten patterns from around the world. The mail lady definitely has some questions about the sudden onslaught of packages from Estonia, I'm sure. I don't know what set it off, but it is here to stay for a little while. Right now I've got some Finnish mittens that need to be finished! (Sorry!!!)

The Ambien I took three hours ago still has not kicked in, so I may be off to Internet shoe shop, a common cure for insomnia around these parts...

It's Only Rock and Roll...

2010-01-15T19:12:00.005-06:00

So, like I was saying…

Hmm, when I step back, I really step back, yeah? Well, turns out I was having too much fun in October and November to blog, and then December happened, and December is all December-y, and, well, if it isn’t about the holidays, it just isn’t happening.

So, what was all this fun I was talking about? I took a really fun trip to the east coast. I flew into Philly and spent several days visiting my grandparents, my mom, my brother, and my friend, Amy, and her brood. I also met up with some old h.s. friends at a local bar that I had never actually been to back when I lived in PA. On Oct. 14, I drove back down to Philly to see Bruce Springsteen at the second of his final four shows at the now-retired Spectrum. (The only other concert I’d ever been to there was--get this--Barry Manilow when I was 13. Big difference!) It was a great show featuring the entire Darkness on the Edge of Town album. It was fantastic to see him in Philly, which, being right across the river from Jersey, has always claimed Bruce as an honorary son. It was so incredibly loud--the loudest show I have ever been to--and at one point I reached down to feel the tops of my boots vibrating!

The next morning I took Amtrak to NYC to spend two days with my old roommate, Tim, and his partner. I got to see a few other college friends, too, and had a fantastic time. Then it was back on Amtrak to spend a few days with my friend, Adele, and her family. Adele is a designer and artist, and her husband is a theater professor, so you can only imagine how quirkycoolsmart their 7-year-old son is. I love this kid! Among other things, we spent the weekend devising scents for an imaginary candle company that specializes in the scents of Medieval times. I know…weird. And totally so much fun. And, oh, I went to Webs.

October brought a return to the PNW, and yet another reunion of sorts with a h.s. friend. I hadn’t seen my friend Jim in 16 years, and had never met his wife and children. A visit with them to their home in Seattle was a great way to start the week. From there, I traveled up to San Juan Island for my second retreat with Cat Bordhi. This year my friend, Liz, was also there, and a great time was had by all. The Lakedale Resort was beautiful, with lots of paths through the woods to walk and reflect. So many nice people, and, of course, the wonderful Cat leading the way.

I saw The Boss three more times in November: in Milwaukee, Nashville, and the last show of the tour in Buffalo. (I also saw a Bruce Hornsby in a solo show out in the ‘burbs.) Milwaukee was a fantastic show--even the husband had a good time--and the band was in great form. The next morning--I kid you not--I had coffee with members of Megadeth and Slayer (okay, not with so much as adjacent to) who were staying at the same hotel. If you think metal musicians spend their morning coffee time talking about drugs, sex, and rock and roll, you’re wrong; they talk about wanting to lose another 10 lbs., where they can get a pair of jeans tailored, and where the nearest bookstore is. Sorry if that totally blows the illusion. Three days later, my friend, Sandra, and I had GA tix in Nashville. We did the whole afternoon-long lottery process hoping to get into the pit, but it was not to be. We made friends with three young guys from England who had spent all the money they had (and some they didn’t) to come over for the show. While we were all licking our wounds from not getting in the pit, they told us about all the European festivals they went to over the summer. We did our best to not look like scary cougar-types, though their accents were most adorable. Besides, we’re both married and probably old enough to be their mothers. Fate smiled upon us, though, and we not only found a great spot on the floor right behind the pit, but we got to touch Bruce Springsteen. Oh, yeah, my left hand was dripping with Boss sweat. (Some of you may not find that as appealing as I do, but it will go down as a lifetime highlight for me, to be sure.)

By the end of the night, I decided that I wasn’t done living the groupie life, so when I got back to Chicago, I started scoping the secondary market for a Buffalo ticket. On Saturday morning, I got up and packed a bag in anticipation, and reserved a flight to Buffalo for that night. (I had a freebie coming on Southwest, and their supremely awesome cancellation policy meant that I could change my mind up to an hour before the flight was to leave and keep my free ticket.) After watching for a single ticket all morning (and reluctantly ruling out a good one available for $900 and not wanting to sit in the rafters for $300 if I could avoid it), just after noon a great ticket popped up in my location-to-price comfort zone. Now, if you’ve ever bought a ticket on the secondary market the day before a show, you may already understand how this works, but it was crazy to me. The broker calls the ticket holder who confirms the availability of the ticket. The ticket holder then contacts the buyer with details on how to do the pick-up. I flew to Buffalo with the cell phone number of “TixGuy” and a tentative arrangement to call him the day of the show to get the ticket. It was a little nervous making, but in the end, I was able to spot his burgundy sedan, and he recognized my green scarf, and the connection was made. It was an amazingly good show and such a fun time. I know there was at least one fellow Raveler in the crowd as she and I exchanged messages in the Backstreets Board on Ravelry. I also met another Raveler at a bar before the show. I was standing there waiting for my drink and struck up a conversation with a couple at the bar. Turns out she was a knitter from Toronto. (Neither she not I was sporting any knitwear to give us away, so it was a pretty interesting coincidence.)

Um, any knitting happened during all of this? Honestly, not too much, but I will post about that next.

Shark

2009-09-01T12:14:00.004-05:00

If there is one thing I know, it's that I've got it pretty good. That being said, everything is relative. (Or caused by one's relatives.) I feel the need to take a break from almost everything right now. Knitting isn't doing it for me, and there have been some goings-on over at Ravelry that I have found to be downright upsetting. ("Stay away from the non-knitting threads, stay away from the non-knitting threads," I remind myself. "People aren't always 'excellent to one another.'" Hell, I'm not even involved in any of it and I'm bothered.) A spate of family house guests means things can get complicated, especially when, in the past, things have been complicated. Trips down memory lane sometimes have sharp drop-offs on the side of the road, and one must proceed with caution. Reunions with old friends are full of nostalgia, joy, laughter, and longing and regret over time wasted and missed opportunities. Specifically, my recently deceased friend's absence from the reunion was much harder to deal with than I'd imagined it would be given that I hadn't seen him in 15 years. There was something missing that night that couldn't be found, fixed, or replaced with anything or anyone else. I'm pretty good with the mortality thing when it comes to aging relatives, and I have a number of them who, thankfully, have been around a long time. That also means, however, that the next several years will be spattered with funerals and all of the things that go with them. I feel pretty well prepped for that, but I'm not as adept at dealing with "premature" departures. And, really, who is? Daily walks to the beach with Bonnie Raitt on the iPod are helping, and I don't care if people think I'm nuts because I'm singing along. And, because I am prone to playing certain songs over and over, I try to keep moving...like a shark. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.

Make My Day

2009-08-30T11:47:00.003-05:00

It's been quiet here, and I freely admit to some post-Summit and post-reunion letdown. (If you had told me that I would actually enjoy my 25th h.s. reunion, I wouldn't have believed it, but I really did.) I've been trying a few things to shake the cobwebs out of my head like playing my favorite songs really loud and singing along even louder (much to the neighbors' dismay, I'm guessing) and taking walks to the lake, but I'm still in a bit of a funk. But today, this helped. My skull rock made it onto Skull-a-Day.

Lagniappe (A Little Extra)

2009-08-13T09:11:00.007-05:00

The husband and I scheduled an extra day in Portland after the Summit to do some more sightseeing. We decided to rent a car and drive to Newport down on the coast. After fueling stops at Stumptown Coffee and Voodoo Doughnuts, we were off.

We visited both the Aquarium and OSU's Hatfield Research Center and then went over to the beach to get a little west coast sand between our toes.

I'm submitting this one to Skull-a-Day:

This one looks like a UFO:

Okay this one is sideways and I can't get it fixed (*shakes fist at Blogger picture upload*), but it's cool anyway, right?

I had no idea just how much I'd enjoy Portland (and the coast of Oregon). It is like finding a whole new passion. You lucky Ducks or lucky Beavers, however the case may be.

All Good Things...

2009-08-12T12:47:00.007-05:00

...must, as we know, come to an end. (Insert sad face here.)

After a refreshing day of outdoor activities, it was back to the Convention Center for my final class and the Sock Summit Luminary Panel.

On Sunday morning, I had a Spindle Spinning Basics class with Abby Franquemont and Denny McMillan. They advocate the use of a bottom whorl spindle, which was a new experience for me. I equated it to writing with my left hand instead of my right. (At one point I pulled out a top whorl spindle just to make sure I hadn't lost my spinning mojo; thankfully, I hadn't, though you wouldn't have been able to tell from what I produced in class.) Now that I know some of the advantages of bottom whorls, I will be looking at spindles differently.

After that, it was one more sweep through the market where the big finds were Stranded in Oz, some of the softest merino evah, and a sweet Queen Bee Creations tote. I had to leave because every aisle was another shoppertunity. Step away from the cashmere!

Finally, it was up to the ballroom for the Luminary Panel. There was so much intelligence and wit up there on the dais, but here are a few gems:

When discussing the creation of EZ's first book, Meg Swansen said that it was typed on a rented IBM Selectric Typewriter. "You know, you make a mistake at the bottom of the page…shit!”

After being posed the question of whether being a woman made it more difficult to be taken seriously in her business, Meg responded, "I don't know, I've never been a man." (Love her!)

Barbara G. Walker was asked how she has managed to pack everything in that she has (feminist writer of many books, painter, foremost curator of knitting stitches, etc.), and she proceed to describe a lifestyle that is clearly motived by focus and drive. She admitted to needing very little sleep. She gave a detailed description of her routine, including how she took advantage of the six hours a day she had while her kids were in school to work on her projects, and how she once realized that her tv had been broken for five years before she called to have it repaired. After she left us all agog with her incredible discipline, Steph summed it up: "Recap, don’t sleep, and ditch your tv, right?”

There were so many other wonderful moments: Anna Zilboorg talking of the days when she did craft fairs, and realized she had crossed over to the dark side when her favorite part became counting the money at the end of the day, and Judith MacKenzie McCuin admitting she had moved a few years ago and part of the move was 6,000 lbs of fiber! I could go on and on...

There were questions raised about knitting as it relates to race, economics, gender, and social interaction. It sparked an all-evening discussion with the husband (who came with me to the Panel) that actually started on the Max train. (Another knitter on the train added her thoughts, too, which was great.) I'm so fortunate to have a husband who supports my interest and is willing to participate in it. (I also think might have a bit of a crush on Lucy Neatby, who was charming as anything, even dressed as she is as a punked out Raggedy Ann Doll! To prove it, here is a badly Kinneared pic of her.)

What's next? Tina told me directly that there will be other events, just not next year. She and Steph have formed Knot Hysterical Productions for these future endeavors. There are rumors that the next one will be in Toronto, Steph's hometown. (That part is unconfirmed--I did not get from Tina, though others have said they heard it from her.) Wherever it is, I hope to be able to go. It will be hard to top this one, and it is unlikely that it can be repeated, especially given the age of some of the teachers involved, but there are people coming up who will be dynamic forces in the field, to be sure. Counting the days...

Day Off: A Portland Travelogue

2009-08-09T01:10:00.010-05:00

The husband and I took the day off from the Sock Summit to enjoy Portland. We were mighty busy as we:

went to Stumptown Coffee for some delectable brew. (Remember how Voodoo Donuts was playing Springsteen's Nebraska album? Stumptown was playing Born in the USA, and, while not my favorite album, clearly Portland has got my soundtrack down.)

we then headed down to the Saturday Market, a weekly art festival featuring all types of artists and craftspeople. I picked up a few very fun skirts made from reclaimed material. (I'm not buying more clothes, I'm recycling.)

After the festival, it was off to the zoo. (This has been the only disappointment so far, as there were very few animals. Or maybe they were just hiding from the crowds. If I were them, I might do the same.)

From the zoo, we headed up to the Japanese Garden which was lovely and peaceful.
We headed across the street to the Rose Garden, which was quite remarkable. The scents were intoxicating. (I took eleventybillion photos, most were blurry. WTF?!)
We had time to spare, so we caught the first part of a free concert featuring Devin Phillips and special guest Storm Large (of Rockstar: SuperNova fame).

Wait, there is knitting!

After that, we headed down to the Ravelry meetup where we met up with our friend Jocele who we first met on the SeaSocks cruise. We also got to spend a bit more time with Blogless Carla, Ana, Leslie, Marisol, Linda, Stephen and his pup, Janie Sparkles.

As an added bonus, we had an early birthday dinner with Jocele, who shares her special day with Elizabeth Zimmerman. Happy birthday!

We rounded out the day with a late-night cappuccino in the club lounge at the hotel.

Not bad for a day off, eh?

August 7, 2009, Portland, OR

2009-08-07T18:13:00.004-05:00

Today at Sock Summit, I helped to break the Guinness Book of World Records for knitters knitting in one place, met this legendary woman (Barbara G. Walker):

took a class with this lovely lady (Meg Swansen):

and put on a sock that Meg used to wear that was actually, really and truly knit by her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman.

I think I need to put a cold compress on my head.

Knitting Ne'er Do Well, Summit Slacker

2009-08-07T01:21:00.007-05:00

Here's a quickie 'cause it is late and I haven't finished my homework for my Meg Swansen class and I'm tired and my head is spinning and my sock knitting dial is at 11.

This morning I took the bus out to the Pendleton Woolen Mill Factory Store. One of the salespeople at a regular Pendleton store told me that they had yarn and felting supplies. I also knew that the had selvages which I definitely wanted to check out. The yarn was on cones and was more appropriate for weaving, and the felting fiber wasn't anything to write home about. The selvages were all black, so they weren't that exciting. What was thrilling, however, was this old animated display of the steps it takes to process Pendleton wool:

Most adorable. Also quite fantastic was the display of woven tapestry. There was a wide variety of themes and styles, but the photo-realistic ones fascinated me.

Here is a close-up:It was worth the trip to see the exhibit.

My afternoon was filled with reacquainting myself with knitting friends from past festivals, camps, workshops, trips, etc., and Priscilla Gibson Roberts's Ethnic Socks and Stockings lecture.

PGR has health issues, and we were told that this would be her last outing to teach, so it was extra-special to be there. (Her most recent teaching trip was back in 2001.) It was an interesting, varied, and eclectic afternoon with slides and samples of some of the most amazing sock knitting you can possibly imagine, plus tales of knitting ne'er do-wells and veritable yarn-y feuds.

Following the afternoon class, the Marketplace opened for a few hours. At some point I just stopped putting my wallet back in my bag and kept it at the ready. The stash has grown by a couple of spindles, some new project bags (all featuring skulls or skeletons!), and a few skeins of yummy yarn goodness. (SWAG photos will have to wait for now.)

The evening concluded with the Open Reception during which Stephanie and Tina shared many-a-tale of how no one believed that this little gathering of knitters would become the phenomenon it did. (Those girls have got to get some sleep because they were just the tiniest bit punch-drunk, but who can blame them.)

Gotta fly so that I can finish my homework lest I have to write "I am a Sock Summit Slacker" 25 times.

Get My Cowgirl On

2009-08-06T01:43:00.006-05:00

The unabated fun continues here in Portland, and Sock Summit hasn't even begun yet.

After a quick stop at Powell's for a return, we walked to Chinatown to the Chinese Classical Garden. On the way, there was diversion into Pendleton's where a 25% off sale meant that a Sally Starr-like cowgirl shirt was coming home with me. (For those not from the Philly-area, Sally Starr was a peroxide blonde cowgirl who hosted a TV variety show.) This shirt has contrasting piping and big, colorful embroidered flowers, and I am unleashing the cowgirl who bucks within, y'all, so watch out.

The garden was beautiful and peaceful, reminiscent of the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Garden in
Vancouver, BC.

There were so many incredible sites, not the least of which was this woman's feet.

Seriously, I am all for a pair of heels, and I have suffered mightily from leaving the house in the wrong pair, but these were out of control. Somewhere a barefoot drag queen weeps...

After the garden, we took a walking tour of Underground Portland, though that was largely metaphorical.

I took many, many pictures of above-ground architectural details.

After the tour, we stopped in at Voodoo Doughnut, Too, made all the more fantastic because they were playing Springsteen's brilliant but oft-neglected Nebraska album. The husband got three donuts, the cream-filled, the chocolate CocoPuff topped one, and, at my urging, the Maple Bacon Bar. I had one bite of each. Well, actually, it was two bites of the bacon one. (Dietary restrictions went right out the window when we got here yesterday. I even had my first drink of hard liqor in eight months. Vodka, how I missed you. I will be on permanent detox when we get back home.)

After Voodoo, we made a quick stop at the hotel for a little nosh in the Club Lounge. (What you need after donuts are hors d'œuvres and red wine.) Earlier in the day we had read about a variety show featuring music and burlesque and hosted by a drag queen, so we asked the concierge what she knew about it. Her description of the venue was that it was a motorcycle bar. Hmmm....motorcycle bar and drag show...really. In actuality, it was kind of like Barbie's Dream Biker Bar with a cabaret room next door, and I'm guessing that the patrons were more likely to be Vespa drivers than hog owners.

One of the strangest things about it was here in a town with tons of great brews, there were several people drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in cans. I really had to wonder.

So, some of you Chicagoans may know of Milly's Orchid Show, a live variety show hosted by Brigid Murphy, aka Milly, Brigid's cowgirl alter-ego. (Cowgirls are a theme tonight.) Milly holds some serious sway, and her show has included Poi Dog Pondering, appearances by Robert Klein, Sex and the City producer Micheal Patrick King, and many other notables. This show, Phoenix Variety Revue, was kinda like low budget Orchid Show. There was a charming vocal duo that performed 40s-era pop and jazz, a belly dancer, two burlesque performers/striptease artists (complete with spinning tassels and obvious evidence of being fans of Brazilian Waxing, a burlesque swing dance duo (more tassels!), and a hula hoop artist named Revolva. The whole thing was hosted by Ms. Zora Phoenix, who offered up both live vocals and the more traditional lip synced numbers. She opened the show by singing Brandy (You're a Fine Girl). You know the one..."The sailors say, Brandy, you're a fine girl, what a good wife you would be." (Now I dare you not to sing it all day. Come on, I dare you.) It was an interesting evening, to be sure, but it did make me nostalgic for both Milly's Orchid Show and a really good drag show.

Tomorrow...a trip to the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store and the Summit begins!!!

PNW Tales

2009-08-05T01:21:00.005-05:00

After an early morning and a very bumpy flight (at least the first 90 minutes of it), we arrived in Portland. We know we're in the PNW because they make your coffee like this:

I've already smashed through every dietary restriction I have, in part because our hotel is plying us with copious amounts of food and beverage. When I booked the room many, many months ago, I got what I thought was a great deal by prepaying. I knew breakfast was included, and free wi-fi sealed the deal. When we checked in, we found out that there were four different "meals" included--plus complimentary drinks, and we're not talking the cheap stuff, either. Our room looks like Coco Chanel came back from the great beyond to decorate it herself, and the towels are the biggest I've ever seen. I think I'll be moving in permanently.

We spent the day wandering about. We walked to Chinatown, the Pearl District, where I found a new favorite shop, Cargo, and around the Pioneer Square area where our hotel is located. We also hit Powell's, which is a site to behold, though I'm going to be going back to return some wildly overpriced used books I purchased. (I got back to the hotel and found out that the Powell's prices were significantly more than I could get the same books used on Amazon. One book was 7x more expensive at Powell's. It was a bit disappointing.)

Tomorrow will be devoted to more wandering. Thursday the great sock adventure begins.

PS I won't lie, no matter how much fun I'm having, I'm missing these two something awful.

Portland Bound

2009-07-22T22:01:00.004-05:00

On Sunday I finished the Spring Forward socks I was knitting for the Sock Summit Sock Museum. I'm not certain what the colorway is, however. (It was a STR lightweight mill end). I think the shaded solid serves the pattern well, and I hope the designer, Linda Welch, likes them. It's a great pattern that I have now knit twice, though neither pair has been for me. (That is going to be rectified at some point because I'd really like my own pair.)

They are on their way to Portland, and in two weeks, I will be, too. (Must. Start. Homework.)

Cartoon Clubhouse 2 (Pitch's Revenge)

2009-07-18T10:01:00.004-05:00

I promise this isn't about to become a blog where I post pics of my cats all of the time...just some of the time.

Inspired by Girlzilla, the husband presented me with one of his trademark Cartoon Clubhouse cappuccinos this morning:

Pitchzilla! I don't usually ascribe thought to my cats' expressions (at least not publicly), though I am fairly certain Pitch is thinking, "Does this latte make my butt look big?"

In case you are interested, here is another link about the Puppet Bike. It's a great little piece done for a show on WBEZ, the local public radio station.

The boys and I are about to head out to the balcony for some serious sock knitting.

Girlzilla and The Puppet Bike

2009-07-17T23:05:00.004-05:00

I had my camera with me all day. Did I take any photos at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair? Nope. I forgot it was in my purse. It's kind of tricky anyway, since some of these types of events restrict photography, but most would-be photogs aren't up to any fiber-y espionage; they just want to spread the yarn-y goodness around.

The fair seemed smaller this year--about 1/3 smaller by my (non-scientific, could be completely wrong about this) estimate. Last year there were vendors lining the hallways (the event is in a community college classroom building), as well as in tents outside and in the gymnasium, but this year there were few hallway spots. I missed Miss Babs and Jennie the Potter, but I expect I'll see them both at Summit. Two of my favorites, Brooks Farm and Briar Rose, were there. I can't seem to resist either of them. I become weak in their presence, and usually end up double-dipping, going back for seconds (and sometimes thirds!) before I will myself to stop.

I have a couple of book recommendations for you. I've got an Audible.com subscription, and I finally finished listening to Son of a Witch, the follow-up to Wicked. It was good, but Wicked was such a great read, and I was not nearly as enamoured of the sequel. I might feel differently if I had read it as opposed to listening to it, and I started to think that maybe audiobooks were leaving me a little cold. Then I downloaded The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It's a Swedish book that has been translated into English, and I am loving it. It's got some great hooks: a 40-year-old unsolved crime, corporate wrongdoing, vengeance, and a bit of sex, though some of it is unsavory, to say the least. (It's not gratuitous, however. It works in the context of the storyline.) The Swedish names take some getting used to (and some sound somewhat similar, which wouldn't be an issue if I saw them written out), but I am enjoying the narration. It's making my Sock Museum socks go more quickly.

I also started reading The Help. Just this week I got a Kindle and it was the first book I downloaded to it. I have stacks of actual paper books to read, and instead I am reading an electronic one, but there is a good reason. I thought it would be easier to "turn" pages with the press of the button when I was on the treadmill. With a paper book, I'd have to take it out of the rack each time I wanted to flip pages, which makes keeping a steady pace kind of tricky. And, hey, if it means I use the treadmill more, that's good, right? Anyhoo...I've only read chapter one, but I love it already. The characters are well-crafted, and feels like it is going somewhere important.

I had my camera with me tonight when the husband and I walked up to Clark Street for some sushi. The little girls next door have been busy little sidewalk artists again this summer. This one looks like Girlzilla about to decimate a village:

On the way home, one of our favorite neighborhood oddities, the Puppet Bike, was open for business. (The Wikipedia entry about it is very interesting. There is also a YouTube video here (actually, there are lots of them if you do a search) but keep in mind that it isn't as charming on video as it is in person.)

It is what it sounds like, a puppet stage mounted on a trike. The first time I saw it was downtown, but it has since take up residence here in Andersonville, and we love it. The "show" consists of Steiff handpuppets bopping around to recorded music.

It's often older, fun stuff from the 40s and 50s (Louis Prima and the like), and the "staging" is quite simple. Whenever the curtain is up, you can count on a crowd of 15-20 people, young and old, watching it. There is a tip box, and hilarity ensues when cash is deposited, especially if it's a bill bigger than a dollar. (The puppets can reach into the tip box from the back and sometimes a tug-of-war breaks out.)

Yes, our corner of the urban jungle is populated with stuffed tigers, alligators, and bunnies.

More of the same, only different

2009-07-15T20:24:00.012-05:00

Since last post, I've been inspired to do more gardening. We have two small plots directly in front of the house, one which has a yew that I despise and a sad, unshapely Japanese Red Maple. All of the bulbs I planted a few years back have been pilfered by squirrels, so it's really quite barren. The other plot had nothing. Getting rid of the yew and the maple will be more work than I'm personally up to, so for now, they are staying. On the other side, I added some hydrangeas at the side of the house, some of the same plants that went into the parkway garden (hosta, huechera, astilbe), and the specimen plant at the center of it all is a Contorted Filbert. It's a little sparse at the moment, and I think I need to add a few things with chartreuse leaves to spice it up before I call it done.

In knitting news, the Sock Summiteers are compiling a Sock Museum that will be on display at the Summit and will hopefully have a life beyond. They were taking suggestions for more patterns (in addition to the ones they had chosen), and I wrote in requesting that they include Spring Forward, written by Sock Camp friend, Linda Welch. When I didn't hear back, it slipped my mind. Turns out that they had some kind of glitch in their response system, and they were writing to me and thinking I was being unresponsive, and I wasn't getting their emails, so I thought they weren't interested. It's all straightened out, but now I have less time to complete them. It's not a hard pattern, but a false start delayed my progress. My first attempt resulted in some pooling that was decidedly not "museum quality", so I ripped and restarted with a different colorway. The second try is going much better, and I should have them completed by the weekend, figuring in other things I have scheduled over the next few days.

After a long, cold, wet spring, in late June, we launched into summer with a vengeance. Fortunately, we had just one week of high temps, and the last few weeks have been in the 70s to mid 80s. It has made for a magnificent season so far. I've been inspired to be out and about more, enjoying the balcony with the cats as much as possible, and taking in the neighborhood offerings more frequently.

(That's Pitch enjoying the balcony. He never really looks like he's enjoying anything (he has a stern countenance), but--trust me--he is having a great time.)

Here are a few shots from the small-but-lovely farmers' market which is a new addition to our little bit of Chicago.

ETA: Sorry about the weird paragraph spacing. I seem to have chronic spacing issues here on Blogger. Ugh.

The Rundown

2009-07-09T21:15:00.007-05:00

It's been a fun-filled week, and it's only Thursday.

I finished the Green Gable. She is washed, blocked and ready for action. I started and am about 70% finished with a fourth Chickami. I used some variegated Elann Sonata Print from Ye Olde Stashe that had been partially knit and frogged. It's doing much better as a Chickami than it was in its previous incarnation. I've started Samro's A Little Something. I'm not far along at all, however, because this week has been jam-packed with other activities.

I am Tour de Fleece-ing. I'm not on a team or anything, but I have committed to spinning every day, even if I don't get home until 11:40 and only have 20 minutes. That was last night after seeing a show at The Goodman Theater, and the Journey Wheel and I were not getting along at all. I just could not get the tension adjusted properly. Things were better today. I'm currently spinning some Romeldale with silk noil and tussah silk mixed in. It may actually turn into real yarn that I can use.

Tuesday and Wednesday were largely taken up by the joint gardening project my next-door neighbor, Diane, and I took on. There is a 10' swath of parkway that runs between the street and the sidewalks in front of our houses, and it was in sad, sad shape. She had straggly grass on her part, and I had nothin' but dirt on mine. (I had a landscaper put in vinca a few years ago and it all died. All of it. Since then, nothing grew, not even weeds.) We have a few challenges that make it tough to grow things. It is mostly shady (big trees and shadows from the buildings block a lot of the sun, and big trees have big roots), and our neighborhood is chock full of dogs that just gotta go. Still, we were determined. After studying the sun's movement throughout the day and having a landscaper turn and amened the soil, Diane and I went to work. We purchased a variety of plants that featured interesting leaf shapes and colors, made two trips to a stone supplier for limestone and granite rocks, stopped at Home Depot, Lowe's, and a local garden center more times than I can remember, and we got dirty. We went for an informal, woodland vibe, and I think we did pretty well.

Many of the plants will eventually have blooms or the leaves will change colors with the seasons, so we're excited to see how it goes. Hard to believe, but there is a half-ton (seriously...1000 pounds) of stone in there that we hand-picked, loaded onto wagons, pulled to the scale, loaded into her car, unloaded from the car, and placed and replaced in the garden. And now we are tired. And sore. And happy that we did it.

Ooooh, and look at the "skull" rock that I found. I'm sending this pic to Skull-a-Day.

The husband and I also got a surprise invite to a Cubs game this week. We're not big sports fans (that's an understatement), but it was great people watching which made for a fun evening.

Wherein I Ask for Bad Picture Forgiveness

2009-07-04T12:03:00.004-05:00

I thought I'd post while I'm sitting here waiting for my Starbucks delivery. (What?! Your Starbucks doesn't offer delivery? Mine doesn't either, actually, but the husband will be bringing my Venti Decaf Nonfat Extra Dry Cappuccino with Three Splendas shortly, I expect.)

In the fine tradition of poorly lit, badly focused mirror pics, I present Chickami #1 and Chickami #3. (You've already seen Chickami #2, the Chococami.)

I love this pattern because of its wearability. (It's a vest! It's a camisole! It's a dessert topping! The Chickam-o-matic!) The rows and rows of stockinette can drive one to distraction (especially when you have to knit entire sections over again), but the end product is worth it.

As mentioned in a previous post, there were a few stitches making me cranky.

They just were off, and no amount of fiddling was helping, so I ran lifelines with the intent of cutting out the offending section and grafting the halves together. It occurred to me that the grafted row might end up bugging me, too, and that's a lot of kitchenering for what could be a not-great result. I bit the bullet and ended up cutting and re knitting from the top lifeline down. Stitches look the same no matter what direction they're knit in, so it didn't matter that I was knitting down on a garment originally knit up. In the end, I think it was the better--though more time consuming--choice.

So, the inventory is:

#1 (Purple) Skinny strap, fitted version

#2 (Brown, aka Chococami) Wide strap, no shaping, pucker stitch from the Chocolate pattern on the cover of the current Verena

#3 (Sedona Red, aka CSI: Chickami (my last post explains the name)) Wide strap, no shaping, eyelet pattern from ChicKnits Sitcom Chic

I don't think I'm done yet, but I'm not sure what the variation will be for the next one. I've got loads and loads of Cotton Fleece, and I also have some Elann Sonata Print that would be nice for a variegated version. Plus, I am within an hour or so of finishing the Green Gable, and a few hours more to finish my Cardigan with Leaf Ties. (I come out of the gate fast, but I am not good in the home stretch.)

In other domestic news, this week I received an order of heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.

Sorry about the pic being sideways. It is correctly oriented in my computer, but every time I upload it to Blogger, it rotates and I just can't fix it. Just tilt your head to the right and please forgive me. Aren't they pretty, though? Those Vaqueros look just like little cows! They are more expensive than grocery store beans, to be sure, but the varieties are so cool. Two days ago I made a crockpot of Flageolets with sauteed bacon, onion, green pepper, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and rosemary. YUM. Yesterday I did Yellow Eye Beans (they look just like Black-Eyed Peas, only gold) with sauteed bulk hot Italian Sausage from our local farmers' market, onions, bay leaves, red pepper, basil, thyme and parsley. Today I have Cranberry Beans in the crockpot with some onions, garlic, and bay leaves. When they are cooked to the right point, I intend to use them to make baked beans. I'm on a big legume kick right now. Earlier in the week I made red lentils with onion, garlic, rosemary, a cup or so of leftover Pinot Noir, and vegetable broth. I served them over brown rice. I loved them (the red wine and rosemary tasted so...French), but the husband didn't like the texture of the lentils. C'est dommage.

I'm a big fan of using the crockpot in summer. Even though many recipes have a distinctly fall/winter feel about them, the crockpot doesn't heat up the kitchen. (Of course, after sweltering last week, we are now in the low 70s, so heat in the kitchen isn't really an issue. I'm sure it will get hot again just and my neighbor and I are scheduling our joint gardening project in front of our two houses.)

Some of my weakling tomato plants are slowly coming around. About half bit the dust after transplanting. Worm castings from the worm bin would have helped, but my little flock (herd? gaggle? troupe? team?) of worms had just arrived, and they hadn't yet started producing. I filled in with some heirloom varieties from garden centers and the farmers' market, so I should still get some decent ones. I hope they don't all get ripe when I am in Portland for Sock Summit.

The Fixer

2009-06-29T22:48:00.002-05:00

So Saturday night, the husband and I were out to dinner when all of a sudden I see these little dots of light across the room. Turns out that one of the patrons had on a pair of glasses not unlike these to read the menu. I don't know about you, but I have been knitting in bed quite a bit lately, and the lighting in our bedroom is not good at all. The bedside lamps are both to dim and too short to help much. I do have an LED book light, but there is nowhere to clip it when I knit. One of the SWAG items for Sock Summit is a different kind of clip-on light which, for $6.00 is cheap enough to give a try. My friend Liz has an over-the-ear version not unlike this one. When camping at fiber festivals, I sometimes knit in my tent wearing my headlamp, but then I end up with a big strap-mark on my forehead. (Since I camp alone, no one will see it, so I'm not sure why I care.) I suppose instead of gadget hunting, I should just buy taller, bright bedside lamps and dispense with the problem once and for all, right?

It seems like the knitting I've been doing for the past two days is all about fixing, so I'm not really getting ahead of the game.

I decided I could not live with the funky stitches on the Chickami, so I ran lifelines. After picking and ripping, I determined that grafting was not necessarily going to make me happy, either, since the single row of grafted stitches was likely to be at a slightly different gauge, and when you are working in a solid color mostly cotton yarn, it's pretty visible. So, I've decided to put it back on the needles and knit down from the upper lifeline using the yarn from the bottom section. Let's hope that works.

Yesterday, when picking up my nearly finished Green Gable, I noticed one wonky little stitch just under the lace panel. Since I'd already bound off the bottom, I had to undo the edge and ladder back to fix the splitty stitch. (I'd missed two plies of the Cotton Fleece, and the stitch was all scrawny as a result. It bugged me to no end.) That bit of surgery was actually a pretty quick fix, and all I have left is the second sleeve cap.

Yesterday I also cast on for Orion's Sock. This was a case of "I should have listened to myself." The pattern is toe-up, and calls for a cast-on of 28 stitches, 14 on each needle. I thought to myself, "Hmmm...when working cuff-down, I usually decrease to 16 or 20 stitches, 8 or 10 on each needle. This seems like a shallow, wide toe." Guess what...it was. Since I'd only knit one pair toe up before, I didn't question the pattern, at least not enough to change things from the outset. I was in denial for a few inches of toe and foot, then took an inevitable trip to the frog pond. I think I'm going to cast on again tonight and follow my own plan until I get to the correct number of stitches around.

The question of whether one is a process or product knitter comes up a lot. I've come to realize that for me, I can't have a product I'm happy with unless I complete the process to my own satisfaction. Which reminds me, there was something about the bind off on the Green Gable that was a little off...

Crime Scene Cleanup

2009-06-27T15:12:00.007-05:00

So, I'm on a roll with these Chickamis. I just finished number three, and she's a-blockin'. (There may be some emergency surgery later, however. I'm not happy with a few stitches on the front. Depending on how it looks, I may run two lifelines, surgically remove the offending rows and graft the sucker back together. Otherwise, my obsessive mind will never let me forget that those stitches don't look quite right to me.) Pics of all stages will follow if that happens. I finished last night and decided that a thorough soaking might help to even things out, so I put the tank in for a good soak with some Kookaburra Wool Wash (love that smell!), and went to bed. This morning, it looked like my top had been used for major crime scene cleanup. I saved a glassful of the soaking water to show you. There is so much dye that you cannot see through the glass--it is practically opaque. You can't tell here, but it is exactly the deep red color of blood:

The label on a skein of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece warns of color migration, but this is color exodus. I won't know until it dries, but the color of the garment seems not to be significantly different. I've noticed runoff with my other Cotton Fleece projects, but this was beyond the pale. It's a warning to not use Cotton Fleece for multi-colored projects, to be sure. (I'd thought about a striped tank using leftover bits and skeins, but that is officially off the table after this!) It also means that if I do perform surgery, I will pre-wash the yarn I use for it so that it exhausts some of its color, too. (FYI, the colorway is Sedona Red, which is a rusty red.)

I was down in the Craft Dungeon on Friday playing with more yarn and dye. I almost always listen to NPR, and they had some of the more interesting commentary about Michael Jackson. Since we are so close to Gary, IN, the local news has been out of control. Actually, all the news has been. I watched CBS Friday night, and Katie Couric paused for--no joking--maybe 4 minutes to report on something other than the death of Michael Jackson. As someone who came of age in the 70s and 80s, he was ever-present. I loved the Jackson 5 cartoon when I was a kid. I remember watching the Motown 25th Anniversary special and being amazed. My senior year, I was in something called AV Homeroom; it meant that we "produced" our morning TV show, but more importantly, we got to go to the AV room during study hall and watch MTV. Seriously. 1983-84-era MTV in instead of actual study hall? Clearly, a first-rate education was had. I knew every video in MTV's rotation by heart, including his. I must say, however, that the bizarre behavior, the disfiguring plastic surgery, and the legal issues turned me off to him. I do still love some of the old Jackson 5 hits (especially The Love You Save and ABC), although it's sad to think that whatever was happening to him then caused much of the strangeness in his later life.

I'm getting very excited about Sock Summit. I just picked my colors for the Orion Sock. I'm going to use Oregon Red Clover Honey and Crabby McHappyPants. I think the ORCH--which I love, love, love for its subtle shading and sophistication--will be a good foil for the brightymcbrightington-ness off CMcHP. Don't know if I'll get them done for SS, what with the four bazillion Chickamis and other warm-weather tops I still plan to make this summer. (I know some folks are taking things quite seriously and concocting sock-y costumes of sorts for the Sock Hop. I'm not likely to be one of them.) I need to get cracking on my homework for Meg Swansen's class, too. Plus, I'm looking forward to some quality time in Portland with the husband, who has been working way too much lately.

2009-06-19T10:12:00.002-05:00

Because I know that the second-best way to show off your knits is to take blurry, not well-lit, pictures of yourself in a mirror, here is a Chococami action shot:

We are in the midst of another thunder and lightning storm--best time to be on a computer, right? Clearly my plans to go to Home Depot to shop for perennials are going to be scrapped in favor of building an ark, it is raining that hard. (Tough to build that ark without going to Home Depot, first, though, not coming from survivalist background.) It's also hailing big, bouncy pieces of ice which I always find a bit freaky. There are police and fire sirens all around (not uncommon when you live in the city, even if it is a generally calm neighborhood), which adds to the apocalyptic vibe. Oddly, the Weather Pixie down there on the left of the screen is wearing a sundress that shows a lot of leg and is calmly holding her umbrella, seemingly enjoying the deluge. Any Weather Pixie in her right mind would have taken cover, as her little black cat companion has already done. (I worry about the Weather Pixie; I think she has been behaving a little strangely of late.)

There is a good chance I may finish my Green Gable today. Yesterday I had an all-out panic because I had reached the end of a skein and couldn't find the rest of the yarn. I knew I had bought enough, but it was nowhere to be found. I literally had one inch to go on the body, then a short stretch on each arm to finish. After looking everywhere, I got myself worked into a state that necessitated that I either have to find more yarn or rip the whole thing out. I went online to check the eBay seller I got it from, and it turns out she had a 50% off sale on Cotton Fleece--and Cascade 220, too. She didn't have the color I needed, but, um, well, she had a few others. Whoops. (Her shipping is reasonable, too, just USPS Priority Mail with no extra fees.) Finally, last night around midnight, I went down to the Craft Dungeon to look again. After rifling through bins I had--ahem--carefully organized last week, I found it sitting on my work table, in plain sight. (Well, it was in a grocery bag, so it wasn't that obvious.)

Speaking of which I need to go check the Craft Dungeon. We have not had water issues in this house (at least not any that weren't directly linked to a failing pipe or faucet or toilet), but we did have a backup in the basement of our former condo, which is just a block away. I hope I never have to go through that again. Knock wood, cross fingers, turn around three times and spit, etc.

My Feet Have Wings

2009-06-17T14:25:00.007-05:00

I am an admitted enthusiast. I get on a kick with something and I just can't stop. (Some might call it compulsivity.) Lately (for a few years, actually), I've been quite enthusiastic about Fluevog shoes. I suppose I'm a collector, of sorts. Some other knitbloggers are, too (hello Marisol!), which is confirmed by the presence of a Fluevog group on Ravelry. (Okay, there are groups for almost everything on Ravelry, so it's really no wonder.) On Sunday I was swinging through the listings on eBay and happened upon a pair that called to me. (I know, used shoes--eeeew---but this pair could not have been worn more than once or twice given the condition they are in, and they were a sweet deal.) I think they look pretty fun with a pair of Monkeys:

I must note that these got to me from Kissimmee, FL in one day, USPS Priority Mail. And, my mailman--who has been hailed here as the nicest mailman ever--thanked me for getting a package! The guy really seems to like his job, even if things are not so great at the Postal Service these days. Mail volume is down (which, from an environmental standpoint is a good thing), and they reported a huge loss last quarter. They're talking about cutting Saturday delivery, and I think a lot of people are concerned about their jobs. (Some of the people who work at my local post office don't seemed to be concerned about their jobs--or much of anything for that matter, but that's another story. I try to avoid the actual post office as much as I can.) All-in-all, when the mail works, it's a pretty great deal.

Anyway, I digress...they are from the same Angel "family" of shoes as these boots that I wore last night when I was slogging around in the rain downtown:

My other 'Vogs are mostly of the 3" heel variety, but I'm kinda feeling the London-y, Punk-era vibe of these right now. Plus, it's still cold here in Chicago, so closed shoes with socks feel pretty good.

Because I know that bathtub drying racks are the BEST, most flattering places to photograph knits, here are some pics of the Chococami:

It was not getting dry on the blocking mat (what with all the moisture in the air and no airflow through the mat), so onto the rack it went. The patterned stitches are starting to "pooch" more as the water evaporates, so maybe it will be okay after all.

Yesterday's Craft Dungeon experiment was pretty cool. I have a veritable smorgasbord of yarn samples, and I wanted to see how they each took color. I took my mini skeins, "labeled" them with a semi-elaborate system of cotton ties, each with a different number of knots corresponding to my list of samples, weighed them, and calculated the depth of shade I was going for. Then they all went into the hot tub together. It was so interesting to see how the characteristics of each yarn changed (undyed yarn looks very different than dyed yarn which "blooms"), and how each fiber took up the color differently. Here are just a few of the mini-skeins strewn across my desk:

If only high school chemistry had been this much fun!

The Hurrier I Go The Behinder I Get

2009-06-15T22:40:00.003-05:00

The title is one of those Pennsylvania Dutch phrases that you see on kitschy trivets in tourist traps in PA Dutch/Amish Country (Lancaster, PA, and surrounding areas.) It's not something I've ever heard any of my Dutch relatives say, but it seemed to apply because projects are being completed, but photos are lagging seriously behind. For example, here is a (kind of blurry) pic of the cowl described in the last post:

Today I wove in ends and soaked my Chococami. It is a mash up of a Chickami and the Chocolate pattern on the cover of the latest Verena that I worked up in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Truffle. All seemed to go well until I dunked it, and then the lovely puckery part (the element that attracted me to the design in the first place) kind of...deflated. It flattened right out. I'll have to see what happens when it's dry. It might still be fine, just different than originally intended.

While Chococami was soaking, I cast on for the Classic Elite Sprout Center Detail Tank. (Is that not the longest name for a tank top ever?!) I'm using some Araucania Nature Cotton picked up on the cheap from Webs. (I found out that an old friend that I recently reconnected with is moving to Northampton. Sounds like a Webs pilgrimage--I mean a visit with my friend--may be in my future!) It's going quickly which is good because bulky cotton is not the most fun to knit with, though it is producing a nice fabric. I'm also planning to make the Sprout Tee in the same yarn before this summer top mania I seem to be in passes.

I've got two other projects on needles right now, both in Cotton Fleece. I'm making my second Green Gable, this time in a bright blue. I made my first one during the time of the original Green Gable zeitgeist, and it was always too big. I tried to shrink it a bit in the wash, and from that point on it fuzzed like a milkweed pod. Eventually, it got thrifted. I'm experimenting with sizing on this one, and I hope I get it right. I'm also making the Leaf Tie Cardigan by Stephanie Japel.

WWKIP Day was damp, but there was a good turnout anyway. It was originally slated for Millennium Park, but it moved to the Cultural Center because of the rain. (If you are ever in Chicago and haven't already done so, you must visit Preston Bradley Hall in the Cultural Center to see the Tiffany Dome, and then pop over to Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's) to see the Tiffany Dome there, too. Gorgeous.) Hop over to Lynnette's post for the touching story about the pianist bound for Iraq who gave an impromptu mini-concert for a room full of knitters.

Cowl Weather

2009-06-11T22:06:00.006-05:00

It is cold here. I'm actually contemplating firing up the boiler again, it's that cold. And damp. And gray. Bleh. It's so cold that I put down my (clearly anticipatory) warm weather knitting and made a cowl yesterday. Chicago weather, however, is a cruel, cruel mistress, and she will be cranking up the heat at some point, and you can bet that I'll complain about that, too!

Speaking of the cowl, the Chickadee is one I've wanted to make for some time. I used some of the Malabrigo that I dyed recently, and it is so delish. The pattern is a keeper and has started wheels turning for new ways to use linen stitch. It is a bit time consuming, and because the fabric doesn't have a ton of stretch, it has limitations. However, I love how it can make a yarn, especially one that might have a tendency to pool, do something really fabulous.

On Friday, I posted that I'd decided (somewhat reluctantly) to go to my 25th high school reunion. One of the people I looked forward to seeing was my friend, Bill. We were close all through high school. We hung out, talked on the phone, confided in one another about our respective relationships, took a memorable trip to the Jersey Shore, and kept in touch for a while after graduation. I saw him at our 10-year reunion where we caught up and agreed we should stay in contact, although we didn't because he was in PA and I was in IL, and that's how things often go. This week, I found out that on Friday, the same day I decided to go to the reunion, Bill passed away. I'm going to miss seeing him, giving him a hug, and saying, "We really should stay in touch," even if we weren't actually going to do it.

Knot Again

2009-06-05T15:09:00.005-05:00

With time quickly running out, I set aside last night to knit my Barn Raising Square for the blankets that will be raffled/sold at Sock Summit to benefit Knitters Without Borders. I've got a big bag full of fingering weight odds and ends, so I found a small ball that I liked and started knitting. Not long into the process, I hit a knot. Taking it as an opportunity, I changed colors. Then I hit a knot in that yarn, so I went back to the original color. Then, I hit another knot, so for the heck of it, I changed color again. This little square had more ends to weave in than a fair isle sweater! FYI, the blue/gray color is Piece of Beauty BFL in "Glacier" (love, love, love her colorways and base yarn), the pink/light green/baby blue is My Small Wonders in "Olivia's Favorite" (bought to make my niece, Olivia, a pair of socks), and the dark gray with neon flecks is some yarn I dyed in a class at Michigan Fiber Festival a few years back. (The knots, by the way, may have been my doing, not the yarn makers'. I think I combined multiple bits and bobs at one point. Why I did that, I'll never know.)

Here's another goody from the Craft Dungeon. It reminds me of Day Lilies and Oriental Lilies, so I'm calling it Lily Smashup. (Sorry the pic is fuzzy. After owning my camera for years, I finally found the macro settings and then took a cruddy pic anyway.)The color combo is kinda weird, but I like it. It's a pretty thin fingering weight, and there is a lot of it--more than 1300 yds.--so I may make some kind of shawl-y, wrap-y thing with it.

So, after a year of saying I wasn't going to my *significant number* high school reunion, today I found out that an old friend is coming all the way from Estonia to attend. Until a few weeks ago, it had been more than a decade since we'd been in touch. (Ah, the magic of Faceb00k.) We had managed to stay in contact for about 10 years after high school, which is kind of amazing since he was back at home in Sweden (he was a foreign exchange student), and we'd had one of those nasty high school breakups near the end of the year. (I broke up with him (with good reason), returned my prom dress, bought a different dress and then went to the prom with a different guy.) Despite bad feelings on both sides, we managed to patch together a pretty decent friendship before he left the country. (Even thinking about high school feels so, um, high school.) So anyway, I think I'd better suck it up (and suck it in) and go to the reunion. I told my husband that I would eat only iceberg lettuce from now until August 21. I've seen recent pics of some girls from my class, and they look good, some even better than they did back then. The guys...not so much. The whole thing gives me anxiety. High School Reunion, brought to you by the letter X, because without it, you couldn't have Xanax or Spanx, and you're going to need both.

Another Day in the Dungeon

2009-06-03T15:17:00.002-05:00

Day two of stash reorganization. I'm almost done, though there a few odds and ends on the first floor that need to migrate back toward their friends downstairs. While I was arranging things, a few more skeins cooked up in the dyepot and are now dripping away, awaiting their turn to be re skeined.

So, here are a few pics of yarns dyed earlier in the week. I'm calling this one Greens n Roses:

Here are the three that were together in the dyepot hot tub:

I find it fascinating how different they all are. The worsted weight (middle pic) took up the most color and displayed more blended colors, especially greens. The fingering weight (top) came out pretty much as I'd hoped it would. And the Malabrigo (bottom) is the least intense. It's almost Martha Stewart-y in its shading.

Yesterday I was concentrating on blues and greens and blues, fuchsias, and purples. They're still drying. Today, I experimented with green, purple, blue, and orange. I'm pretty pleased with the results, though they are not colors I'd normally put together. Pics to come.

I'm about to run out to the farmers' market that is supposed to be set up in my neighborhood. Last week it wasn't, so we'll have to see. When I get back home I may do some handpainting now that my work table is cleared off.

Notes from The Craft Dungeon

2009-06-02T22:03:00.002-05:00

I started out the day with a plan to reorganize the sock yarn stash. (Well, the part of the sock yarn stash that isn't BMFA, because that's all set, kept in its own special bins.) It got overwhelming very quickly, which is an indication that perhaps I have...wait for it...too much sock yarn. Eventually the feeling passed, and I actually decided to tackle the whole stash. It's a good idea to go through it now and again, not only to check on its health and well-being, but to decide if perhaps I have grown apart from some of it. Because I catalog on Ravelry, I rarely have those "I had no idea I had that" moments. I did, however, have some "I'm not sure I love you anymore" moments, so look for some bargains coming soon to my stash page.

While stash tossing, I also simultaneously continued to experiment with kettle dyeing. Kettle dyeing is much less predictable than handpainting, I've discovered, especially when you use more than three dye solutions or solutions with unpredictable blending results. But mama, that's where the fun is. (Sorry, I may have just planted an earworm.) One experiment was to put three different yarn bases in the same batch. It was amazing to see how the dye take-up was different for each base. Pictures coming soon!

The other night I decided to finally do some sewing, and I started playing around with a bunch of(intentionally) felted sweaters. I got this crazy idea to make a sock shaped bag using the felted material. (Yeah, I own that I had Sock Summit Fever.) So, it's late, and the husband comes down to the craft dungeon to find out what I'm doing. I show him the sock bag and he tells me that I "officially have too much time on my hands."

Sadly, I must report that it is not going to be a good year for the tomatoes. Many of my starts did not do well when they were transplanted to the garden. The weather has been weird here, with big, booming thunderstorms and cold fronts assaulting them. They were all heirloom seedlings, and I just think that some of them aren't as hale and hearty as the more common varieties. Some may hang on, but I'm going to have to buy some replacement plants (horrors!)

Deadline Approaching

2009-05-28T18:28:00.004-05:00

For those who have read about the contest being hosted here on this very blog, one of the projects I mentioned is closing in on its deadline. Squares for the Barn Raising Quilt are due June 9. I need to get mine done! (Remember, the prizes will be good!!! I know for sure that some STR will be involved.) I'll be highlighting some additional charity knitting opportunities in upcoming posts.

I'm getting some fun knitting done, but pics are scarce. I am currently wearing my Chickami, but since winter doesn't always leave these parts until June, I might be better off wearing my Bzzz Queen of Bees Hat. It's chilly here. (Sometimes I get a kick out of what the Weather Pixie is wearing down there in the lower left corner of the blog. I love that she changes her clothes with changes in temps--and that she sometimes is accompanied by a black cat--but one of her outfits looks like full-on S&M gear. Weird and funny.)

I am currently listening to the audiobook Son of a Witch, the follow-up to Wicked, one of my favorite books. I love the Wizard of Oz to the point of distraction, and the backstory that Gregory Maguire created is brilliant. (Definitely not a read for the kiddos, though. The musical left a lot of the adult content out.) There have been a number of references to spinning, and I am always amused by that.

Speaking of spinning, we did have a few warm days recently, just perfect for me and the cats to spend the afternoon on the balcony with the spinning wheel. (I have a workshop in a month that requires sharper skills than I currently have, so I am on a bit of a mission.) Occasionally, keeping my older cat, Pitch, away from the pre-drafted roving becomes a battle of wills, but we usually work it out. I think he likes the smell of alpaca because he once appropriated an alpaca shawl. The cat survived, but the shawl suffered permanent injury.

Off to knit a Barn Raising square!

A Lesson in Dyeing

2009-05-16T16:55:00.006-05:00

I just got home from a tour of the Lorna's Laces studio which is just a few minutes from my house. (Yes, there were bargain basement-priced acquisitions!) It was very interesting to learn a little bit about Beth's approach and technique in comparison to what I learned from Tina at Sock Camp. There were a lot of differences, actually. Vinegar or no vinegar. Dish soap or no dish soap. Pre-soak or not.

The more I learn about dyeing from what I've been reading, seeing, and through first-hand experimentation, the more I realize that, aside from a few important details like making sure the dye is set by heating to a proper temperature for an appropriate amount of time, the rest is open to interpretation. Different things are going to work for different dyers and different yarn bases. There is a bit of magic involved, however. (Some may call it chemistry, but I prefer magic.)

I've been dyeing down in the craft dungeon for a while, and some good things have come out of the dyepot. There was the recent success I had by overdyeing Blue Moon Twisted in Falcon's Eye using various blues, greens, gray, and purple:

The other day, I decided I wanted to make the Bzzz Hat for Queen of Bees. After searching for the right colorway, I decided to make my own using some natural Malabrigo-like yarn I had stashed. I used two different golden-y yellow dye solutions to get this result, which I have named Honey Butter:

I'm on a bit of a tear at the moment, and I have a wildly unrealistic list of projects I'd like to accomplish. There are a bunch of warm weather items that I'd like to make before the snows set in again. This week I cast on my friend Bonne Marie's Chickami pattern. It would be finished if I hadn't done something so entirely stupid, not once, but twice. I missed a paragraph and leaped ahead in the pattern. Each time I made a different error because I skipped a different paragraph. Ugh. I'm using Cotton Fleece (which I had planned to use for a number of summer projects), and I am realizing that it is contributing to some pain in my right elbow and hand. Looks like I am going to have to alternate projects with some bouncier fibers. It's a good thing that my list of service projects, most of which will be wool, is as long as my list of personal projects, so I'll be able to switch back and forth.

My Second Favorite Man From New Jersey* **

2009-05-13T14:00:00.004-05:00

*post not knitting related at all
** I married a man from NJ

I am WAY to young to have a bucket list (*ahem*), but when I do have a bucket list, I will be able to cross off that I have seen Springsteen do Jungleland live. Everything else from here on out is gravy. (I was at the concert at the United Center last night. I was the one in front of the four drunk girls who paid over $100 a ticket (plus a bazillion $8 beers) to scream to each other and take pics of themselves with cellphones through the whole show. They. never. stopped. yelling. Does the fact that I just complained about screaming girls mean that I am old enough for a bucket list? Nah...)

I just went back through old set lists from shows I have been to (I love you, Internet, where things live on forever!) and have started an Excel spreadsheet of the songs I have heard at which concerts. It's the fangirl version of stashing on Ravelry, I guess. (Looked, I slipped in some knitting content!)

Do-Gooder (There will be prizes.)

2009-05-02T16:31:00.004-05:00

My first words when I woke this morning were, "Today is Maryland Sheep and Wool, and I wish I were there." I hope those of you who are there are having or had (if you're reading this later) a wonderful time. I'm only the tiniest bit jealous!

To piggyback on my post about the square I did for Afghans for Afghans, I have decided what my next charity projects will be. Knitters for Obama (Ravelry Group) currently has two service projects in motion. The first is to provide hats, gloves, scarves, etc. for LGBT youth living on the streets, and the second is providing stuffed toys for children in foster care in Chicago and throughout Illinois. In addition, Melanie Falick has a post on her blog about Barn Raising Quilt Squares (from Larissa Brown's Knitalong book) that will be assembled into blankets to be auctioned or raffled at Sock Summit. So, it looks like I have some knitting to do!

Okay, remember when I said that there would be challenges that entailed prizes? Well, here is the first one...I challenge you to a knit/crochet service project-off. (Think of it as a calorie-free bake-off with yarn.)

The charity is of your choosing, but it must be a charitable organization or cause. Sorry, gift knitting doesn't count for this challenge.
The project must be new, not one you have already completed or that you currently have on the needles/hook. My intention is to get more projects going.
Multiple items will be counted separately. So, for each hat, toy, blanket square, etc., you make, your name will go into the drawing. (Baby/kids socks/booties count as one item; adult socks will count as two. Baby blankets and sleeved garments will also count as two.)
You have until July 4 to make your item(s). (It's an easy date to remember.)
Email me with your name, Rav name (if you have one), the name of the charity, description(s)the item(s) you made, and links to any pics you post on Ravelry or your own blog. (Please do not attach any picture files to your email.) You can email me at PurlsBeforeWine(at)gmail(dot)c(0)m or PM me on Ravelry at PurlsBeforeWine. No need to wait until July; go ahead and send me the info as you finish your project(s). Please title your message "Do-Gooder" so I don't miss it!
I promise that the prizes will be really, really good. Really. One prize will be drawn at random, and another will be awarded for an entry that moves me, makes me laugh, that I really, really love, or some other subjective criteria. (There will be some objectivity--it won't just be because I know you. I might know you, but that won't be why.)

I know my readership isn't huge, but I would love for you to help spread the word, not for my sake, but for the purpose of generating some positive movement. Most of us are so very fortunate to live in the circumstances we do, to have the time and funds to knit/crochet (even if it isn't always with the luxury fibers we'd desire), to have roofs over our heads (even if they sometimes leak when it rains alot), to sleep in clean beds (when the cats don't have hairball issues in the middle of the night--there's an ugly little snapshot into my world right now), to have a warm meal (when we don't forget to turn the crockpot on *headsmack*), and so on. No one's life is perfect (actually, I think Hugh Jackman's wife's life looks pretty close to perfect from where I sit, but maybe he leaves the toilet seat up or snacks on raw garlic something equally annoying), but a lot of us have it pretty good. Let's do something to make someone else's day a bit better. Are you in?

Lucky...Squared

2009-04-26T20:39:00.003-05:00

I am pretty lucky. I have lots of time to knit, more yarn than I could knit in my lifetime, and I get to take lots of wonderful fiber-related classes and go on fun, fabulous fiber-y trips. Life--as related to my favorite pastime/hobby/addiction--is pretty great. In recognition of that, I have been making a concerted effort to direct some of my energy into projects for the benefit of others. So, when a thread on Ravelry popped up to make squares for an Afghans for Afghans project in memory of Kay's husband (she of Mason-Dixon fame), I threw my hat in the ring, so to speak. One evening of podcasts (some knitting-related and various NPR offerings) plus a skein of stashed Kureyon and I have my 10"x10" square. I hope it brings comfort to the family receiving the blanket and Kay's family, as well.

I'm curious...what are your favorite knitting charities? And stay tuned for a couple of knitting challenges; there will be prizes.

And...Jazz Hands

2009-04-23T18:04:00.003-05:00

Next year, Sock Camp is going to be awash in Shawl That Jazz(es).

Earth Day

2009-04-22T12:59:00.003-05:00

Tomatoes grown organically in my backyard last summer.

This year I am commemorating Earth Day by:

walking to the pet store to buy natural cat food--taking my own shopping bag, of course.
waiting eagerly for my new worm bin to arrive.
anticipating the day I can safely transfer my vegetable seed starts into my garden.
having taken part in a park clean-up on Saturday.
making a donation to the America's Wetland Foundation.

I would love to make some grand gestures like putting solar panels on my roof, installing an on-demand hot water system, or planting a roof garden, but those things may be impractical, at least for now. In the meantime, I try to do what I can to preserve our resources by recycling, installing fluorescent bulbs where it makes sense to do so, and using a front-loading washing machine. I think this will be the year we finally replace our drafty, dirty, inefficient windows with more energy-saving versions, so by the time winter rolls back around (though I'm not entirely sure it has actually left as the weather people were calling for snow last night), we might save a bit on heating.

I was planning to go see Earth which was opening in theaters today, but I heard the directors on Fresh Air this morning, and I got weepy just hearing them describe one poor little elephant's fate. That one may have to wait.

Channeling My Inner Pioneer Woman

2009-04-17T22:37:00.004-05:00

There was more fleece picking today. I felt like Laura Ingalls Wilder with an iPod and SPF 45. Between the VM* and the BM**, sheep are dirty little devils. I also attempted washing some of the picked locks. After researching various methods, I decided to try cleaning the wool by laying it into the colander part of a salad spinner. (In case you're ever over for dinner, this is a spinner just for fiber-y pursuits, so no worries about wool in the watercress.) I filled the bowl with very hot tap water (ours is turned up pretty high) and dish soap, and then gently lowered the colander of locks into the water. After just a few minutes, it was remarkable just how much lanolin and other muck dissolved. (The first dunking also produced an odor that is not how you want your kitchen to smell--ever.) I would then lift out the colander, dump the water into a bucket (lanolin + other ick + my home's 100-year-old plumbing = a potential plumber visit, so the back yard is now fragranced with eau de Bridget), and repeat until the water rinsed clear and the wool smelled more like wet yarn and less like wet barnyard. The locks are currently drying on a sweater rack in the bathroom downstairs. I can't wait to see what they look like when they're dry.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be cleaning up a city park in celebration of Earth Day and our President. (Why is it that I will do that, but I can't stand dusting my own living room?) Hopefully I'll also have both a few hours of good sun and the energy to continue working on the fleece in the afternoon.

In other matters, as if Ravelry wasn't enough, I have fallen victim to the timesuck that is Faceb00k. My downfall comes as a result of an impending high school reunion, and a significant one at that. (That doesn't mean that I'm actually going.) One thing led to another, and all of a sudden, hours are flying by looking at who has friended whom. Halfpint never had these kind of distractions. (OMG. I just G00gled "Laura Ingalls Wilder half pint" out of curiosity and discovered that she Tw1tters. Srsly. WTF.)

*vegetative matter
**Yes, that BM. No, I'm not going to spell it out.

Supercrafty

2009-04-16T18:29:00.004-05:00

It was perfectly lovely here in Chicago, so I took advantage of the warm temps and lack of a breeze to set up a table in the backyard so that I could skirt and pick the fleece I received from my sheep. Bridget is a Coopworth that two of my friends adopted for me for Christmas last year, and she was recently shorn and her fleece was shipped to me. The somewhat smelly box had been languishing for a couple of weeks while I decided what to do with it. After some initial research, it looked like the best course of action was for me to attempt the first steps of processing myself, and then send it out to be finished. I have never had a raw fleece before, so this is an adventure--a dirty, stinky adventure. I'm not even halfway through picking it, and I was at it for over 2 hours. (Not knowing what I am doing has a good deal to do with that.) I am fairly certain that I am either discarding too much or too little.

(I took this picture after about 15 minutes of picking; rest assured I did have more finished than that little pile in the corner!)

After I got tired of picking poo and other icky things out of greasy wool, I decided to dye some yarn for Samro's Shawl That Jazz. (Sam was a fellow Sock Camper, and her pattern just skyrocketed to fame because a certain well-known knitter from Toronto just made one and blogged about it.) I bought the BMFA Falcon's Eye Twisted from a Raveler's stash at a pretty good price with the plan that I would alter the color once it arrived. Here it is in its original form:

and here it is after I finished with it:

Anyone interested in gardening out there? My friend is going to be on Martha Stewart tomorrow! Jerry (who is married to one of my dearest friends, Amy) is a landscaper with a really great sense of aesthetics. It's no wonder that he's getting this terrific opportunity--he's incredibly talented. The segments were filmed earlier in the week (Amy says taping went really well), and they will be on tomorrow (Friday.)

Camp Condensed

2009-04-06T22:16:00.006-05:00

Triple Eagle

By now, many of you have read others' accounts of BMFA's Sock Camp, and what you have read is true: it was a really, really good time. All of the changes that were made since last year (new venue, less people, more free time to knit, spin, walk, relax, etc., yoga classes taught by Nathania Apple) all added to the experience. The hotel staff was great, the food was really wonderful, and the rooms came complete with giant jacuzzi tubs and gas fireplaces. It was heaven with yarn and pointy sticks.

Port Ludlow Resort

All of the classes were fab. JC Briar offered a cast off class, Stephanie, aka The Yarn Harlot, taught a class that used production knitting techniques to improve speed, Cat Bordhi introduced a brand new, super-secret sock architecture which will be in her upcoming book, and Tina Newton taught a dyeing class. Yep, that's right, dyeing with Tina Newton, The Depraved Dyer. (Tina also gave a "behind the scenes" slide show of BMFA as well as Oregon Coast pics she uses as inspiration to create colorways. It was truly a highlight of the week for me.)

My Three Skeins from Dyeing Class

This year's camp homework was to make a sea creature, with bonus points given for crabs, since this year's mascot was a crab. I made these Peekytoe Pedicure/Yoga Socks:

One of my favorite parts of camp was that I felt like I'd had a chance to meet and have at least a brief conversation with almost everyone. A slide show featuring everyone's pictures, complete with knitting secrets that we "confessed" on paper the first night, was a fitting, funny, bittersweet closure for the event. My secret:

"I would knit a hell of a lot faster if I didn't stop to admire my work at the end of every single row. I am a vain knitter."

Twice in a Day

2009-03-26T19:10:00.002-05:00

I was missing my blogging mojo for a while, but I think it's back...for today, at least.

While I was gone, had a couple of out-of-town jaunts. I went with the husband to Madison. He was on business so I tagged along. I hit a couple of LYSs, one of which I recommend highly. Lakeside Fibers is a lovely shop with a fab cafe tucked in behind it. On a cold, windy day, it is a bit of a hike from downtown Madison (it was me and the ice fishermen out by the lake), but well worth the effort. The cafe has WiFi and serves salads, soups, baked goods, and wine.

I also took a trip back to PA to visit friends and family. I have finally discovered the key to visits home: keep moving. I stayed a maximum of two days in any one place, so I didn't have time to get tired of anyone, nor they of me. (Wasn't it that famous Bostonian-turned-Philadelphian, Ben Franklin, who claimed that fish and guests both smelled after three days? I shower daily, but you get the point.) I also managed to squeeze in quick stops at Rosie's Yarn Cellar and Loop on the way to the airport. I also got to see my cousin's baby in her "Blu" jeans. It was nice to see a gift knit "in action."

My Journey Wheel has arrived, and I am trying to get used to it. It is a very cool piece of engineering, and I can't say enough about the Bosworths' customer service. I really am happy to own one of their creations.

My friend, Liz, and I took a field trip out to The Fold. It was great to see Toni again, and Liz was able to find the perfect yarn for a project she was planning. If you are ever in the Chicago, do make the trip out to Marengo. It is a bit out of the way, but so worth it.

My new dietary restrictions have gotten easier (or I have become more resigned, and having to buy a smaller pair of jeans didn't hurt.) There are a few cravings that still get me (the sound of a cocktail shaker practically brings tears to my eyes), but I am mostly making do. I did find a recipe that I have made twice that you might want to try, Harvest Wheatberry Salad. I do not add the sugar substitute (it's not needed), and I have made it with both dried cranberries and dried cherries, and both taste great. Go easy on the cinnamon, especially if you have good, strong stuff from somewhere like Penzey's or The Spice House. It's crunchy (from the walnuts and celery), chewy (from the wheatberries), tangy (from the lemon juice), and sweet (from the cranberries or cherries.) It's good stuff. (The page takes a while to load when you click on the link.)

I have laundry, chores, and homework to do before I head out for Sock Camp on Monday. I'm sad that my camp-buddy, Liz, won't be going, but I'm looking forward to another trip to the PNW.

Color Study

2009-03-26T09:20:00.006-05:00

One of my assignments for Sock Camp is to make a study of the colors to which I gravitate. Over the years I've noticed that I love combinations of dark reds and greens. When I was a kid, we used to pass a house on the way to the mall that had dark red siding and green shutters (or maybe it was the other way around), and my mother always commented that she loved how it looked. I never thought much of it (I was hung up on the architecture, which I didn't love), but clearly it struck a chord with me, too. (I also love blues and greens together, but don't most folks?)

Sea Slug Hat

2009-02-12T21:43:00.003-06:00

Thanks, y'all, for the supportive comments. Every day I get a little less pouty about things. And, hey, I got to torture my first waiter today.

I got the new Vogue Knitting and was intrigued by the EZ Snail Hat. I guess I hadn't noticed it in The Opinionated Knitter (I think that's the correct book), but the pics in Vogue piqued my curiosity. Still on my service project knitting binge, I grabbed the last skein of Lion Brand Woolease Thick and Quick in the house (it's one of the washable "go-to" yarns that I use for charity knits) and cast on. This thing flew off the needles--about 2 hours of knitting. Maybe the color wasn't the best choice for this particular project, though; it kinda looks like a slug. I'm not sure how many people who don't know who EZ is would really want to wear it. (There are some pretty "interesting" designs that get a pass in the fiber community but seem a bit strange to non-yarny folk.)

I'm making great progress on the Ribby Pulli that had been hibernating for a while. If I put my mind to it, it could be done by the weekend. After that, I want to cast on a sweater that was reverse-engineered at the Cat Bordhi retreat I attended in October. (The pattern isn't public yet, but there were plans to do so.) The process was really fun. Someone brought a thrifted sweater with really interesting construction, and Cat and Judy Becker (of Judy's Magic Cast-On fame) dissected it and wrote it up. I'm not sure how it is going to look on me (it reminds me of something I would have worn in the late 80s or early 90s, but I don't think it's dated, actually), but I want to make it as a kind of souvenir of that really great week.

Aptly Named

2009-02-10T22:40:00.002-06:00

Isn't it true that you never want anything more than when you are told that you can't have it? Well, that's the way it is for me, at least.

Basically, the genetic train wreck that is me is dangerously close to derailing (sounds dramatic, no?!), and I am having to give up a number of things I love in order to continue down the track. The occasional Sazerac Cocktail, gone, ditto the Sidecar. Red Velvet Cake, you are banished, and take those potatoes and pretzels with you. The medical hammer has come down, and basically I am on permanent South Beach Diet in order to stave off some not-so-fun medical consequences. The good news: I could end up a skinny bitch. The bad news: I may not be kidding about the bitch part. (The drag is that I drink rather moderately as it is (average two drinks a week), and there is no bottomless cookie jar here at the house, so when you think that you eat reasonably well already, to find out that you have to be even better is a bit of a blow. Hell, beets, a vegetable I love, are on the "avoid" list. I already eat whole wheat pasta, and that isn't helping. Damn.) So, Purls Before Wine it definitely is. Grumble, grumble, bitch and moan. There are many worse things to suffer, but it still sucks. At least I can still eat (non-fried) oysters, so get out yer shuckin' knives, boys, cause I am all over those slippery little devils. Unfortunately, I will now be one of "those people" at a restaurant. "Um, can I get the roasted root vegetable without the parsnips and the rutabagas? Oh, and light on the olive oil. Is there sugar in that dressing? Can I just get oil and vinegar. Do you have brown rice? No bread. Just berries for dessert." I apologize in advance to event planners, waiters, waitresses, and line cooks everywhere. I didn't choose to make your job more difficult on purpose--believe me.

There is knitting and spinning to report, but they lack proper visual documentation, so I will post about them later in the week.

Just had to vent into the series of tubes for a moment. I promise that this will not become the "what I wanted but couldn't have or my blood sugar will spike" ranty-type bloggy thing. I'm sure many of you deal with similar and worse situations with a great deal more dignity and stoicism than am I. *End of temper tantrum*

We will soon resume our regularly scheduled high-in-fiber blog diet.

Finish What You Started

2009-02-03T18:13:00.004-06:00

One of the things I hope to do in 2009 is finish at least one project a week. That may mean finally sewing up a sweater started in 2008 or it may mean that I have to cast on a baby hat at 6pm on a Sunday night just to have something to finish. However it happens, that's what I would like to do. So far in 2009 I have completed:

a Noro striped scarf,

a Sophie's Toes Magic Ball scarf,

two baby hats for the service project currently running in the Knitters for Obama group on Ravelry,

a Chevron Scarf,

a charity blanket made for Blue Moon Fiber Arts that Tina will give away,

and two Brangelina Hats, also for KFO.

The blanket was the only project that had been on the needles at the start of the year.

I've also decided to evaluate UFOs. Either it gets finished or frogged. I've picked up the Ribby Pulli again, but the Hiker's Waistcoat bit the dust, mostly because I'd lost my place and was too lazy to figure out where I was. (Seriously, it's not a hard pattern, so that's a pretty pathetic admission.) I plan to cast the vest on again and start fresh, but I did pick up a similar one on sale at the Sundance Catalog for a great price, so who knows how that will go.

Cartoon Clubhouse

2009-01-05T18:15:00.003-06:00

After reading the blog post about missing the latte foam drawings he used to do, the husband gave me this:

He went up to Starbucks and asked them to make the foamiest steamer they could, then he brought it home and drew the picture. The image on the right is a cat, and the image on the left is yarn and needles. (The needles are kinda hard to see 'cause foam is a tricky medium.) How funny is that?! Yup, this is the cartoon clubhouse we live in.

Holding Out Hope for 2009

2009-01-02T23:40:00.004-06:00

There are some things in this world that you just can't give up on. You're certain that if you just hold out a little longer, events will surely go your way. Well, blog-o-friends, here is your proof that if you have faith, things may just turn out:

This sock has been MIA since May. I took the pair on the SeaSocks cruise to Alaska, and I was absolutely certain that they both came home with me. Nonetheless, when we got home and I went to wash them, one was gone. The remaining sock sat on my dresser for a while, then I put it in a drawer. I even contemplated letting go, but something kept me from parting with it. (You see, my optimism was fueled by a similar incident with a pair of mittens a few years back. It took two years, but the pair was finally reunited. I never gave up hope.)

The husband found the beloved sock while--ironically--helping me to look for a missing credit card. (Visa is still on the loose, but I'm pretty sure it is on the premises since the last time I used it was to pay a plumber here in the house. I'm only giving it until tomorrow before I give up the ghost. No worries, though--there have been no unauthorized charges.)

While the universe gives, she sometimes takes away. Alas, I need to call the plumber again. It seems that an outdoor faucet has sprung a bit of a leak, and the side of the house has been turned into a frozen waterfall. Two plumber visits in as many weeks? Hmmm...maybe 2009 isn't looking as hopeful as I'd originally thought.

Goals for an Improved 2009

2009-01-02T10:34:00.003-06:00

1. Lose weight. Duh.
2. Go to yoga on a regular basis. (See #1.)
3. Get rid of at least one pair of shoes for every two pairs I might acquire. (This may be harder than you know.)
4. Only buy yarn for which I have a specific project in mind. (This WILL be harder than you know. BTW, I've already had a "falling down" at the Woolgirl sale. Ooops.)
5. Spend more quality time with my husband.
6. Get those $%&**@ house projects started that I have been yapping about for years!
7. Eat better. (Pretzels do not constitute a meal, even if you are originally from Pennsylvania.)
8. Get started on developing the knitting education program that I have been thinking about for a few years.
9. Read more books that aren't necessarily about knitting.
10. Try a new restaurant every 4-6 weeks. (Not too hard to do in Chicago. I could try a new one every day if I set my mind to it, but that might adversely affect #1.)

There are other things that I would like to do/do better, but I'd better keep it manageable.

Knittah, please!

2008-12-23T22:07:00.003-06:00

My friend, S.A., and her feller spent the better part of the day driving from Alabama toward Chicago. (I say "toward" because weather has stopped them in Indiana for the night.) Somewhere in Tennessee, I think, based on where I surmise they were when the text message came in, they spotted a woman knitting AND driving, doing about 80 mph. Not only was she weaving in and out of traffic, she was doing COLORWORK!!! I say, "Knittah, please! Put down those needles before you hit someone. Better yet, next time, take the bus." Seriously, Christmas deadline knitting should not become a road hazard.

Six Random Things

2008-12-20T11:08:00.005-06:00

I was tagged by Jocele for Six Random Things, so here goes:

The Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (I tagged four 'cause I'm pretty sure some of the other people I would have tagged have done this before.)
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random Things about me:

1. I love being surrounded by "real" art. The pieces we have around the house may not ever be worth more than we paid for them (and, in most cases, probably less!), but it really makes me happy to have art in my home.

2. I was a cheerleader in jr. high and high school. Hard to believe, I know...

3. I hate to be forced to listen to half a conversation while someone loudly babbles on the cell phone at the grocery/Target/on the street/in a restaurant. Seriously, I don't want to know that much about you and your significant other/medical condition/legal woes. And don't get me started on driving and cell phones...

4. I would eat raw oysters every day of my life if I could, preferably with a peppery mignonette. Or with spicy horseradish and lemon and a dash of Tabasco. Ummmmmmm.

5. We used to have a fab espresso machine. Every weekend, my husband would make my frothy beverage of choice and he would draw pictures in the foam using a toothpick and paste food coloring. It was so silly and very fun. Starbucks moved into our neighborhood, the machine broke, and I don't drink coffee very often anymore (it makes my stomach very, very sad), so coffee drawings have fallen by the wayside. I miss them.

6. If I had the means, I would have homes in New Orleans, Seattle, and Vancouver, BC. They are cities I return to again and again. (Plus, oysters are readily available in each!)

Next up...I'd like to tag:
Lynnette
Monica
Emily
Carey

Have Yourself a Merry Bleeping Christmas* from a Friend in Chicago

2008-12-18T10:28:00.008-06:00

*I've been known to drop a few F-bombs, but seriously, Rod and Patty have set a new bar.

While we are here digging out from snowbanks and political scandals, I thought I'd provide a few pictures of my favorite Chicago holiday event, the Christkindlmarket. Vendors from Germany come to Chicago from just after Thanksgiving to December 24 and offer traditional German wares in (unheated) wooden huts, just as they do in Germany and Austria. There are gluwein booths and sausage stands, hot cinnamon roasted nuts, and other delectable treats. In an effort to be multi-cultural, they also include importers of items from South America (warm, woolly hats come in handy this time of year), Ireland, and a few other countries and regions. These folks are at the mercy of whatever Chicago throws at them. On our annual Christmas date last year, it was brutally, viciously windy and cold. This year it was windy and snowing. (Windy can be a theme here.)

The tree at Daley Plaza is an odd one. It is actually constructed of hundreds of smaller trees wired together to form a big tree. Interesting...

Caroling out in the snow.

After the market, we walk a block over to Macy's (formerly Marshall Field's) to see the holiday windows. After that, it's up to the 7th floor to see the Grand Tree in The Walnut Room, then out for dinner. It's one of my favorite nights of the year.

Now that I've completed all of my holiday deadline knitting and shipped out all of the gifts going east, I'm focusing on decorating the house and setting the menu for Christmas Eve. We've decided to skip the real tree this year. I'm doing the wrought iron tree with the fiber-themed ornaments again. I haven't decided what else is coming out, but I think simple is the game plan.

Speaking of Christmas knitting, here's what was on the needles:

Blu for my cousin's baby, Cora Jane

Hats for Stitches from the Heart

Spring Forward Socks (dyed and knit by me) for my Aunt to gift to someone at work

Cat Hat for my cousin

Plus a Brangelina Hat (forgot to photograph that one) made for a giving tree that my friend, Barb, was doing for charity. (If you decide to make one, my experience is that it comes out rather large--even large enough to fit over our disgraced governor's hair--so you may want to cast on fewer stitches.) It certainly wasn't the metric ton of knitting that some people do for the holidays, but those little jeans were a challenge to my patience. The knitting was easy and the finishing wasn't difficult in terms of skill required, but I took them apart three times until the stitching looked good enough to me. I even re-did the little label twice. I must have stitched one of the pockets four times. (I was obsessed.) In the end, I think they're pretty cute. Hope she can wear them more than once or twice.

Holidazed

2008-11-25T13:01:00.004-06:00

I am caught up in the frenzy of holiday merriment. And when I say merriment, I mean painting my kitchen, getting a few broken floorboards fixed so no one plummets into the basement on Christmas Eve, and finally having extra leaves made for my dining room table. (Those are going to cost more than the table did, but I can't think about that right now. The table was a huge deal we picked up at an antique festival years ago, so I guess things just balance out. Gulp.)

This past weekend, instead of lowering the frenzy level by working on my Christmas deadline knitting, I made baby hats for Stitches from the Heart. All told, I knit seven. Clearly, I was obsessed. I'd met Kathy Silverton, founder of Stitches from the Heart, at Cat Bordhi's retreat this fall. I was really touched by her passion for the organization and I knew that I wanted to help out. I'm sorry that it has taken me this long to get a box of goodies (plus a donation to help with the enormous postage costs incurred by distributing the knitwear to hospitals, nurses, and social service agencies) sent out to her. I hope to send regular shipments once I get done with the dreaded deadline knitting.

Leg Three: Friday Harbor, WA

2008-11-16T21:14:00.007-06:00

So much has happened since my return from Friday Harbor (is it too much to say that it feels like the whole world has changed?), so my post may be a bit short on details.

The retreat that Cat Bordhi hosted (the first of two in October) was phenomenal. If you have ever taken one of her classes, you know what a remarkable teacher she is. My only criticism of her classes is that you always want them to be longer. These four days covered things that I'd done in other workshops with her, but there is always so much more to absorb. And, she is constantly thinking of new techniques and encouraging innovation, so I would never hesitate to repeat a class I'd taken before. There were 20 participants, and the length of the workshop gave us time to get to know one another just a bit. The energy of the group was really wonderful as these things go, and I enjoyed the company. It was held at the States Inn Ranch, and most of the workshop participants stayed there. I decided to stay downtown at a funky, renovated motel called Elements (which appears to have been recently renamed Earthbox), and that worked out well for me. I had enough group time, but also got to enjoy some away time, which was perfect. The rooms at Elements are much nicer than the motel-y exterior would suggest (modern furnishings, wood floors, microwaves and fridges, etc.), and it was great to be withing walking distance of the shops, etc. I did take most of my meals at the States Inn, and they did a phenomenal job with that. The baked goods, in particular, were highlights for me.

We had classes in the morning and evening, which left afternoons free to wander. I took in the Sculpture Garden at Roche Harbor,

visited the island's camel, Mona, went to look for rabbits at South Beach (no rabbits, but I did see two huge Bald Eagles), fed alpacas at the ranch, and did a little shopping downtown. All in all, the balance of time in class vs. free time was perfect.

It was a marvelous end to a two-week festival of fun. (New Orleans, the Kentuck Festival and this retreat all in the same trip? How fabulous is that?!) I already have next year marked on my calendar.

Now that I have recovered from pre-election stress and post-election euphoria, I am concentrating on holiday projects. I have some gifts that need to be finished (um, and started), and I'd like to paint my kitchen before our annual "Christmas Eve with the Feinsteins and the Cohens" dinner party. (I said that last year, too.)

A Cat and a Hat

2008-11-10T21:52:00.005-06:00

We are still enjoying the post-election afterglow, but we've had to return to the call of homeland issues here in our actual home.

One of my two cats, Pitch, had surgery on Friday to remove some tumors under his skin. This has been a recurrent issue for him, and this is his third surgery in five years. This time he had nine removed. He is such a trooper, and once we get over the hurdle of getting him into the carrier (he is seriously strong, and he can latch onto me so tightly that he feels like he weighs 190 lbs, not 19), Pitch handles the experience with tremendous stoicism. He doesn't look quite as Frankenkitty-ish as he has before, but he does give the appearance of having been in a hell of a bar fight since several of the incisions were on his dear, sweet face. So far, all of the tumors have been benign, thankfully, but I just wish they would stop. He's 13, and they won't want to keep putting him under general anesthesia for additional surgeries as he gets older.

In knitting news, I happened upon the perfect pattern for my cousin's Christmas gift. I knit something for her every year, and I was planning on a hat or cowl or possibly both. I found Linda La Belle's Cat Hat and knew it was just the thing. (Well, I hope it is, anyway.)

It was a very, very quick knit, done in just a couple of hours. I used one skein Malabrigo Aquarella in the Indy colorway (yea for the stash!), and I think it came out rather well. I may also make a cowl or wrist warmers to go with it, but I have a batch of holiday knitting yet to do, so that will only happen if time allows. (I've got two more skeins waiting in the wings in case I get to it.) Just the thing for a quirky 20-something.

I need to go because Pitch is lying across my left hand (all 19 lbs. of him) and alternately nudging and nibbling the fingers of my right hand as I type this. He clearly wants some undivided attention, and he's earned it.

44*

2008-11-05T23:12:00.009-06:00

After months (two years, actually) of hoping, this day is here. Not the day of the election, mind you, but the day after the election, when the guy you thought was elected when you went to bed is actually still the president-elect when you wake up. (I'm looking at you, Election 2000, and I'm giving you the stink-eye.) I am in awe.

I vowed early on that I would not allow myself to be a passive participant in the process this time. I made the decision to spend Nov. 1-4 working for the campaign in Iowa, and I was eventually assigned to Waterloo. My only regret is that I didn't spend more time volunteering earlier in the process, but the time I did spend means everything to me. I feel invested in this election and its results in a way I never have in any election before.

Did I say invested? A while ago, the husband noted that BarackObama.com was appearing on every monthly Visa statement. (Might be true.) At this point, I've got more Obamagear than the average bear. I even made this sweater vest (it's a Picovoli) to wear while working in Iowa:

Fortunately, it now has a shelf-life of 4-8 years, though I may retire it after the Inauguration.

*Barack Obama is our 44th president, and 44 just happens to be my lucky number as well as my birthday. Coincidence? I think not. (Well, actually, I do think it is a coincidence, but a pretty good one!)

Leg Two: Kentuck

2008-10-30T12:21:00.007-05:00

Kentuck is an annual event that I adore to the Nth degree. My first experience with the festival was when I was in grad school at the University of Alabama. Since meeting my friend, Sandra, here in Chicago and discovering that (a) she grew up in Tuscaloosa/Northport, and (b) that we were in school in the same program nine years apart and therefore know many of the same people, it seemed fate that I should schedule this annual return to Alabama. In another twist, her dearest friend from high school, S.A., who has since become one of my closest friends, is now the Executive Director of Kentuck. Life...a funny thing.

The beauty of Kentuck is that it allows people to meet the artists and collect art at fairly reasonable prices. (Reasonable is relative; there are things there for a few dollars and things that range into the many thousands. The nice thing is that you are purchasing directly from the artist without the filter of a gallery or agent.)

Sam the Dot Man

I adore having "real" art in my life. An actual painting is so much more thrilling to me than a print. And, while the art I select may not be the art you or someone else would choose (including the dear husband who tolerates some things he does not like in the least), it means something special to me. (Well, there are those questionable purchases, and I make at least one every year. The good thing is that I still love all of the "larger" acquisitions I have made.)

The festival is held outside in a local park, and the weather is generally warm and gorgeous. (S.A. lives in fear of the years when it is not, and there have been a few. A festival or two ago, it rained hard overnight, and they had backhoes in the park distributing mulch and digging trenches to direct the water flow. That wasn't so much fun, especially for her.) This year the weather was perfect.

There has been a consistent group of artists who are there every year, but this year, at the time when artists were being selected (it is a juried show), gas prices were at their highest. This was unfortunate for some artists who chose not to make the trip, but it resulted in a lot of new faces who hadn't been there before. It added a fresh dimension to the festival, and it was incredibly exciting for me. There were also many reliable favorites and it was great to talk with some of them again, and it was thrilling to see how some of them have evolved their work.

Several of the artists displayed their political views, primarily pro-Obama. Peter Loose had a big bag of "Obama Yes" buttons that he handed out. Some artists were equal-opportunity. Yee-Haw skewered both sides with their "wrestling-ticket" posters that were quite clever and Mike Hanning (scroll to bottom of link for a pic of Mike) had both McCain and Obama depicted on clay face jugs.

Each year I select an artist from whom I will make my first purchase the following year. Last year I didn't actually make a pick which turned out to be fine since there were so many surprises. Next year, I aspire to get a large face jug from Tim Flinn, whose work is incredibly unique and has great detail.

A Velvet Ant on the Kentuck grounds

Another wonderful aspect of this annual adventure is spending quality time with Sandra and S.A., though S.A. has very little free time and is generally exhausted. Another friend, Buggie, came with us for the second year in a row, and she is so much fun, so energetic, and adds an incredible amount of laughter to the adventure. This annual trip is one of my favorite things in the world and I hope I will continue to go for years and years to come.

'Cause in Chicago, It's Vote Early, Vote Often

2008-10-28T23:26:00.003-05:00

Voters in my household: two.

Votes for Obama: two.

The hopeful feeling that we may elect this man President next Tuesday: priceless.

Leg One: New Orleans

2008-10-28T10:29:00.010-05:00

We flew into MSY on Sunday morning, October 12. After a quick lunch at Mother's, dessert at Cafe du Monde, and a brief walk, the husband was off to work and I was left to my own devices in New Orleans. I spent a lot of time on my feet. I traversed much of the French Quarter, although I only walked down one block of Bourbon 'cause I'm 42 and over it. As I always do, I visited the amazing collection of Newcomb Pottery at The Historic New Orleans Collection on Royal. (I harbor a dim hope that someday I will find a piece of Newcomb at a yard sale and it will come home to live with me. Fat chance of that, but I can dream.) I slipped into the Marigny. I took the streetcar way uptown and walked down a long strip of Magazine (I had the blisters to prove it), and back through the Garden District. (Some Creole Cream Cheese gelato helped to ease the pain.) I procured some pre-1955 Czech Mardi Gras beads and doubloons. (Prior to 1955, glass throws were made in Czechoslovakia. They were stockpiled and used after then, but they were no longer being imported.) I enjoyed some of my walks with portable Bloody Marys in hand. (I love sipping a fine adult beverage out-of-doors, don't you?)

We have stayed in many different places on our many trips, and this time I got a great deal at Le Pavillon. It is a gorgeous, fairly formal hotel that is about four blocks from the Quarter. It has excellent access to the St. Charles streetcar, and free WiFi. I usually don't do room service, but I exhausted myself walking the first day, so I ordered a cheeseburger and a Sazerac and tucked in for some quality time with MSNBC. I am not kidding when I say that it was the most magnificent, juicy, delicious burger I have ever eaten. (I think the bun was spread with a stick of butter before toasting.) The staff at the hotel was very friendly and responsive and I would recommend it highly.

We had dinners at Luke, a John Besh restaurant that was merely okay but not fantastic despite the hype, and Cochon, which rated a return visit after my trip down in March. If you go to Cochon, keep in mind that everything on the main menu is quite delish (they even have a Moonshine menu--try the Catdaddy), but dessert is just average. Either save the calories or go somewhere else for dessert...another order of beignets at Cafe du Monde, perhaps? Upperline never, ever disappoints, and JoAnne, the owner, was there and so excited because they had just installed new paintings on the facade that very day.

The ones there previously had been ripped away by Katrina and JoAnne had spent the past three years deciding what to do about replacing them. They are very different than their predecessors, but they compliment the restaurant well. I cannot recommend Upperline highly enough; it has become a must-go on each visit to NOLA. I adore the eclectic collection of art, the attentive service, and I always have the same thing: Fried Green Tomatoes with Shrimp Remoulade, the Roast Duck with Ginger-Peach Sauce and Sweet Potatoes, and Bread Pudding. To. Die. For.

The husband had Wednesday off, so we did the museums at The Presbytere and The Cabildo as well as the Museum of Art in City Park. We quite enjoyed (though probably not for the reasons intended) the tribute to Louisiana collector H. Speed Lamkin. The piece de resistance....a portrait of Speed and his sister that he ripped in half because he thought the artist should have included framing in the price. The painting was eventually hung over the fireplace in the family manse without even the slightest attempt to conceal the gap; in fact, there was a 1/2" tear separating the siblings. It was one of the greatest monuments to The Hissy Fit ever. I just find it hysterical that someone in the house hiked up their big girl panties and hung that thing on the wall as is.

I didn't get to the Garden District yarn shop on this visit. They, like many businesses, have shortened hours since Katrina and are only open the second half of the week. I did stop at Quarter Stitch and had a lovely chat with the owner. (My Obama-wear invited many excellent conversations on this trip.) It turns out that they have a knit night around the corner at a gelateria on Sunday nights, but I didn't find out about it until it was too late. They have no Internet presence (not even on Ravelry), so info about this little shop can be hard to come by.

The husband flew home Thursday morning and I wasn't leaving for Birmingham until Thursday night, so I went to the Ogden Museum, had another artery-clogging lunch at Mother's, and went to see a documentary about Katrina called Trouble the Water. It was there as part of the New Orleans Film Festival and I recommend it highly. I had been obsessed with the events and coverage of Katrina. I watched CNN compulsively, and I have continued to follow the progress (or lack thereof) in the years since. This documentary shows a perspective of the disaster that I had never seen before. It follows one couple from the Lower Ninth who started video taping before the first drop of rain fell. They continued to tape as the water rose and they were forced to take refuge in the attic and, later, as they were helped out of the flooded house by a relative who used a punching bag as a flotation device. It documents their attempts to restart their lives in another state, and their eventual return home. It was incredibly powerful to watch this film just yards from the Convention Center where so many people suffered for so many days. It is an interesting and worthwhile piece of historical documentation.

The cabdriver who took me to the airport, Betty, is a 64-year-old raising two of her grandchildren in the Lower Ninth. She told me tales about neighbors who took their compensation from Katrina and who have spent it recklessly and those who have used the funds to pay off mortgages and get their lives back on track. I knew an awful lot about Betty, her family, and her neighbors by the time we got to MSY. What a character. It was a fascinating end to a marvelous trip to a place I enjoy so much.

Next stop: Northport, AL

Time Flies (and so do I)

2008-10-27T23:52:00.007-05:00

I have just returned from a two-week trip of such incredible fabulousness that I can't believe it was me who was on it, and it is going to take several blog posts to share everything.

Firstly, I tagged along with the husband to New Orleans. He had a conference, and I took the opportunity to enjoy five days in a city that I love. From there, I flew to Birmingham, AL, and met my friend Sandra for our annual trip to the Kentuck Festival in Northport, just outside of Tuscaloosa. Our dear friend, S.A., is the Executive Director of this amazing event and it never disappoints. From there, it was off to Seattle on my way to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island for a four-day retreat with Cat Bordhi. Really, it shouldn't be legal to pack this much fun into a two-week period. And, because of Southwest's customer friendly change policy, I was able to add the New Orleans and Seattle trips on to the original Birmingham trip with incredible ease and no change fees. My flight plan of Chicago-New Orleans, New Orleans-Birmingham, Birmingham-Seattle (via Nashville), Seattle-Chicago cost under $600 (which I though was incredible), and every flight was either on time or early. Plus, Southwest is one of the only carriers that allows two checked bags without additional fees. Still, I wish they would do assigned seating, but there are many other pluses that offset that inconvenience. (Here ends the commercial for Southwest. We now return to our regularly scheduled post.)

I hope to blog the entire trip this week before I head out on the road again to spend the last four days leading up to the election working for the Obama campaign in Waterloo, IA. I'll admit trepidation about going door-to-door (I personally find it intrusive when it happens here at home), but my desire to see Obama elected far outweighs any nerves that I am feeling. I hope I don't annoy too many of Iowa's good citizens in the process.

Here are three pictures, one from each leg of the journey, that capture a bit of the flavor of the last two weeks:

In Which I Snarkily Accuse Another of Snarkiness

2008-09-25T00:41:00.012-05:00

I am loathe to give the McCain/Palin ticket any play, but SP's interview w/ Katie Couric made my head want to spin around until it popped off and went flying into orbit. Seriously, when SP licked her finger and held it up to say that Obama sticks his finger in the air to test the political winds before making decisions, I said bad words to my TV. Lots of bad words. I stuck my finger in the air, too, but it was a different one. I gotta give props to Katie, because she was on SP like snot on suede. I have had it with the "aw, shucks, I'll get right back to ya on that one, Katie" folksy crap. (The paraphrasing is mine, but that's what I hear when she speaks.) Our current president was lauded for his folksy, everyman appeal, and look where that's gotten us. I'm not interested in voting for everyman/everywoman. I don't want to have a beer or go on a moose hunt with the president or vice president. (I certainly wouldn't want to go on any kind of hunt with the current vp.) I want someone who is smart, not a smartass.

(Okay, I lied just then. I would totally want to have a beer with Barack Obama. So sue me.)

Now that I know the recipient has gotten her package, I thought I'd post pics of the most recent reverse applique shirt that I made. I donated it to an Obama fundraising raffle on Ravelry and the winner has promised to wear it to a debate party on Friday night.

I am so fired up to go to Iowa to volunteer for the campaign for the four days leading up to the election. I am going to get in my car and head west and I am going to put my Dar Williams cd in and turn the volume up really loud on the chorus. (Yeah, I know the song has nothing to do with a politcal campaign, but there aren't many state names that sound so good sung over and over again.)

CSI: Pre-School

2008-09-18T16:35:00.005-05:00

There are two adorable little girls in the neighborhood who have spent a good part of the summer decorating the street with sidewalk chalk. Sometimes we open our front door to find toddler graffiti scrawled on the stone staircase that leads to our porch. We've been told that the girls think our steps are really cool (?!), and it has been fun to see their drawings getting more detailed as they get older. Today, I left to have lunch with a friend and was shocked to find that Chicago's Major Crimes Division must have been called to the scene.

It's a bit hard to see, but there are 7 or 8 chalk outlines of the girls, some feet to feet and one set holding hands. It just cracked me up.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2008-09-15T21:59:00.006-05:00

It is September and that means it's Halloween. (I am in the camp that believes it is a season, not just a single day.) I love, love, love Halloween: pumpkins, ghosts, witches, all of it. Okay, not ALL of it. I like it all except the dressing up. I know that sounds strange, but it comes from a very logical place. My mother HATED Halloween because she despised costuming my brother and me. Over the years, her dislike of costumes began to rub off on me, and something I used to enjoy became not-so-much fun. (Don't get me wrong, Mom is a fine person, she just hated Halloween.) The other issue with costuming was weather-related. Growing up in Pennsylvania, it was often cold at the end of October, and Mom, being a sensible, responsible mother, required the wearing of coats when it was cold. As you know, Dorothy Gale did not wear a yellow puffy jacket with blue and red trim when she was skipping off to Oz. The wearing of cold-weather gear messed with my sense of verisimilitude and put a big, fat damper on things. (Chattering teeth probably would have taken the fun out of it, too, but who could tell when one was all hopped-up on a Sugar Daddy and Dum Dum buzz.)

So, anyway, I am deep in the throes of Halloween preparations. There are skeletons, rats, pumpkins, black cats, spiders, and artfully draped pieces of cheesecloth (appropriately tattered) everywhere. (I always have to tell my husband when I have put out the rats so that he doesn't have a heart attack.) I haven't put up any of the crows and ravens, yet, but they're coming.

Halloween is a huge deal in my neighborhood. Many of the houses on the three streets to the east of us do it up big. There are graveyards, webs, giant spiders, and ghosts everywhere. My street, though, is a bit of a downer. When our neighborhood was developed in the early 1900s, it was done in three phases from east to west. The first phase, three streets over, had mostly large, single-family houses. As the construction moved west, more multi-family buildings were incorporated into the plan of each street. Our side of our street was the last part of the development, and is comprised of mostly two-flats, three-flats, and some larger buildings. The other side of the street was not part of the development and has an even higher percentage of multi-unit buildings. Long story short, most of the trick-or-treating takes place on the three streets east where the single-family homes are. Kids are bused in (no, I am not kidding, busloads of kids are dropped off) and they go from house to house loading up. It is wall-to-wall superheroes and princesses over there. I know one house that had over 1000 kids before she ran out of candy. How did she know exactly how many? She is strictly a "one-piece-per-person" candy-giver. (No reaching into the bowl at that house; it's a hold-out-your-bag-and-I'll-drop-it-in operation.) She knew, based on the number of bags she had bought and the number of pieces per bag exactly how many she had. That same year we had seven. No, not 700. Seven. See, the kids don't do the street with multi-family buildings because most people in condos don't answer their bells. Never mind that I sit glumly on my porch, a big bowl of Snickers and M&Ms on my lap, ghost-shaped candles flickering all around me...*sigh*.

All this decorating is cutting into my knitting time, but I have got to get moving. I have a lot of stitches to get in before the end of the year. I finished Mr. Greenjeans.

I'm fairly happy with it, though it isn't as fantabulous as I wanted it to be. I found and (sorta) fixed a mistake. (Nope, it's not a cable issue, and if you find a cable issue, DO NOT TELL ME.) I doubt that you could find the flaw unless you examined the sweater very carefully (yea! for the slubby yarn that aided me in my time of peril), but I know that it is there. I found it after the sweater was washed and blocking, and there was no way I would have been able to get to it without ripping out a massive amount of knitting. My OCD tendencies, however, will not let me forget its presence, and it makes me crazy. (I find myself touching the spot where the problem lies almost constantly. If you ever see me wearing it, you will be able to find the problem because I will practically be pointing to it.)

I've got a few pairs of socks going, and I am casting on a Cat Bordhi pattern for a bag to hold my Denise needles. No sooner did I order the yarn for that project than I found out about the new Denise organizer which immediately my must-have item from the current issue of Knitty. Oh, well, the organizer will go into the bag. I am also planning to make a vest (waving my big, fat, geek flag here) sporting the Obama campaign logo. I am going to go to Iowa to work the final Get Out the Vote push, and I wanted to have something special to wear while I am there. I feel so strongly about this election, and I've convinced myself that if I have enough Obama-wear, there is no way he can lose. (I guess I'm kind of into dressing up after all.)

Stitches Midwest

2008-09-06T10:59:00.006-05:00

It has just been a big, yarn-y blur around here. Last weekend was Stitches, and I did a semi-immersion, taking just two classes (though one was all-day), and shopping a bit here and there. No fashion show, no student fashion show.

I cannot say enough positive things about the new location in Schaumburg. (Take note as I am about to rave about a suburb.) The new convention center/hotel is lovely. While I didn't stay at the hotel (I cheaped out and Hotwired for the two non-consecutive nights I was going to be there and ended up with great deals at two decent places), I heard that the rooms were gorgeous, and the public spaces were fab. The decor was modern and beautiful. You could have picked that hotel up from the giant parking lot in which it is situated, plopped it down in any big city, and it would look like the chic, upscale property it is. (I even suggested that--gasp--the husband and I go out there some night for a little getaway, it's that nice.) I had dinner and drinks one evening in Gather, the bar upstairs. It is open, light, friendly, had fantastic food, and was so much more delicious and less expensive than any meal I have ever had in a hotel bar/restaurant. I was shocked. Now, I'd like to try their steakhouse, which, I believe, is called Sam & Harry's.

The convention center itself was fine. (It's a big, huge room with cement floors and fluorescent lights, a typical scenario.) The food was less expensive and better than is common in these places (I had a grilled veggie wrap w/ boursin cheese that wasn't bad as compared to the dried-out pizza featured in Rosemont.) Also, there were tons of restrooms, so there was never any line. (Some things are disproportionately important to me.)

My classes were spindle spinning with Mereike Saarnit and an all-day sockitecture class with Cat Bordhi. I've heard some grumbling about the spinning class over on Ravelry, but it met my expectations. Cat's class was, as all of her classes are, inspirational. It was similar to the one I had with her at Sock Camp, but it got to go a bit father since we had 6 hours. And she just keeps finding new ways to do things that make our knitting so much better. This time it was a new way to make our decreases look neater. She is so generous with her knowledge. I find her to be remarkable.

What's also remarkable is that I am going to be spending five days with her in October! My husband had secretly been emailing with her about her knitting retreat in Friday Harbor (on her home island), and I am going! My friend, Liz, and I had spent one day at Friday Harbor on our way to Sock Camp, and it is a gorgeous place. We went to Krystal Acres Alpaca Farm, shopped in the stores downtown, had drinks and dinner at the waterfront, had breakfast at a charming local hang-out, etc. Now I get to go for five days to see the things I missed, which hopefully will include some aquatic wildlife, the lavender farm, more alpacas, the camel that I have heard lives on the island, etc. Plus, five days of learning from Cat. Do I not have the nicest husband ever?!

(An alpaca, not a picture of my husband, btw.)

Getting there is going to be fun. I was already flying home to Chicago from Alabama (I'll be there for the Kentuck Festival) on the 20th. Thank goodness for Southwest, and I was able to change my flight (and keep the full value of the ticket) so that I will be flying from Birmingham to Nashville where I change planes for one bound to Seattle, and my bags will be checked through. I'll pick up a car there and stay in the city (at a cool hotel in the U district called the Hotel Deca), and I will drive to Anacortes to the ferry the next morning. I bought a separate, one-way ticket home. It worked out great. Then, when I get back home the 26th, I will have a few days to rest up before I ship out to Iowa to help the Obama campaign Nov. 1-4. (I have volunteered but have yet to get an assignment, so that is still a bit up in the air, but I'll be damned if I will sit idly by without doing all I can--besides writing checks--to see the election conclude the way I hope it will.)

Michigan Part II

2008-09-06T10:38:00.007-05:00

It has now been so long since my first post about MI that I no longer remember what else I had to say. Here are some of the highlights:

A couple of evenings, I hung out with Jennie the Potter and Dawn (Jennie's "roadie" for this show), both of whom I'd met on the SeaSocks cruise. I love, love, love Jennie's work. I added one of her new yarn bowls to my pottery collection. It was great to see both of them again.

I also got to spend time with Chris of Briar Rose and her daughter, Amy, who was helping at the booth. She is a nice as her yarns are gorgeous, and she graciously offered to have 6 of us piled into her RV so that we could watch Michael Phelps win gold #7. Seriously, if you believe that spirit and intentions transfer to the thing someone makes as she is working on it, you cannot do better than to get some Briar Rose.

I acquired mostly roving and top on this trip, and I have plenty of fun new stuff to spin. I also got two itty, bitty Bosworth spindles (20% off!) and a new Kundert spindle for the collection.

All in all, a fun trip, though perhaps a day too long. I missed my boys (the tall, human one, and the four-footed, fuzzy ones), and I missed my shower. (It isn't the most glam bathroom on the block, but at least it is mosquito-free!)

It was home for a few days, then off to...