freddyknits

It finally fits!

2009-01-11T16:55:00.004-05:00

A former colleague recently sent me this photo of her daughter wearing a sweater I made for her last winter. Isn't she sweet?

I'm working on another baby sweater now - I started yesterday and have to be done by Wednesday - not sure if I will make it. I don't think I have finished a single knitting project this past year. I did start socks, a scarf, baby booties, another sweater... But this time I have a deadline so I am motivated!

The new job has been taking lots of mindshare and energy, so there hasn't been much spinning or weaving either - at least no finished projects. I have taken a few satisfying weaving classes -color and transparency with Lois Bryant, painted warps with Sarah Saulson, and doubleweave at Forma. I also finally took a class at Spinning Loft, drumcarding lovely batts with the always fascinating Abby Franquemont. Very inspiring, but my drumcarder still sits there collecting dust....

Guess I haven't blogged in awhile, either. I'm still here, just a bit distracted.

another baby sweater...

2008-04-20T17:18:00.003-05:00

I made this last fall for a co-worker's baby - it finally fits!

There is much I should have blogged about these last two weeks of blissful unemployment. Why does it seem like so much work to download photos? I want to tell you all about my rug weaving workshop with Jason Collingwood, some amazing quilts (here is someone else's photostream), my tramatic dental experience, the newly restored Jacquard loom at Greenfield Village, my field trip with Jillian and Amy to Beth's store, teaching preschoolers to weave....

Tomorrow it is back to the real world, with a new job at a new company. Wish me luck!

babystuff

2008-04-01T19:22:00.004-05:00

I spun a wee bit of Lorna's Laces superwash merino for a Knittyspin review. It sortof kicked my ass but it turned out purty. Behold:

(And I do love that niddy noddy - I got it from Morgaine at SOAR but I can't remember the name that the thing is called.)

With the yarn, I made some baby socks for Ingrid's new Adelaide.
Normally I have a "no knitted gifts for knitting friends" policy. Since Ingrid is the most amazing knitter I know I am not sure what I am thinking giving her these, um, - shall we say rustic? - socks. But look at her!

In other baby knitting news, here is the latest office baby sweater:

The pattern is from the Nashua Handknits booklet Bloom. I used 1824 wool, and didn't knit to gauge, so following the infant size I got about a 6 month size. The baby is due in June, so that should work out OK.

No one else at work is pregnant (at least that I know), so I am off the hook for awhile. And anyway, Friday is my last day as a public servant so I guess it doesn't really matter!

Not trafficking in baby animals, really

2008-03-28T08:32:00.004-05:00

So, looking for a small workshop loom, I placed an ad on Craigslist for a "used Baby Wolf." My ad was pulled within minutes because they have a no-animal trafficking policy. Geez. Now the ASPCA is on my ass.

THIS is my new Baby Wolf, the loom of my heart:

Some days are like that

2007-11-02T10:09:00.000-05:00

More Art

2007-11-01T09:35:00.000-05:00

A few of you who know me well know I have been going through a difficult time. I don't blog about it here for fear of being dooced.

In short, I have been sad a lot lately. I am working hard to address the root causes of this sadness, and I think will be over soon. As I slog through the morass (don't even start) of self-pity, I have become increasingly interested in (distracted by? obsessed with?) the fiber arts. I hadn't really thought about this much until last night, when I got this fortune with my kung pao:

That was my aha moment. The new loom(s). The weeklong SOAR extravaganza. Not one, but two concurrent weaving classes. The staying up all night reading various Interweave publications. The new drumcarder, and hand combs, and spindles. I am not OCD. I am self-medicating. Better fiber than the bottle, that's what I say. Though both might be an even better combination.

That's it for the navel-gazing. I promise some pretty photos soon, if only to appease Carla. She is getting scary.

Restraining Order

2007-10-19T08:33:00.000-05:00

I will have to file a restraining order against my blogstalker. She is relentlessly hounding me to post photos from SOAR. I didn't take any good photos. But I do feel the love.

It has been nine months since my last post, though, so I could do some backwards blogging to tell you about weaving, the Czech republic, the departure of a dear friend, another baby sweater, the indignity of being a public servant, the joys of drum carding, the hazards of wool combing, and the thrill of buffalo fiber.

Downloading photos just seems like too much work right now.

Maybe if Carla begs me just a little bit more....

American Beauty

2007-02-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

After a year of bitching and moaning, I have finally completed the American Beauty capelet. Here it is, modeled by my neice Caitlin:

Back view:

This is the first and only commissioned work I have ever, and will ever, knit. It took me over a year to complete, in large part because every time I picked it up to knit, I was overcome by an overwhelming urge to hurl. I am not sure if it was because of the putrid color or because it wasn't socks. At any rate, from now on I only knit what I want, for the people I want to knit for.

BTW, the fringe is going away.

weaving class

2007-02-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

I went to Forma last night for my third weaving class. The first two classes were all about warping the loom. Last night I actually started weaving!

I know, there's a ladder on the left side. I skipped a slot in the reed (not sure if those are the right terms) while warping.

yarn fairies

2007-01-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, I discovered on my back porch a ratty bag from a now-defunct Ann Arbor yarn store, full of unloved, tangled half-balls of Wintuk and Red Heart. Buried beneath the acrylic was some greasy, dirty skeins of rustic wool. Simultaneously intrigued and disgusted I tossed the acrylic and left the wool on the screen porch. If ever wool had moths, it would be these smelly, scratchy skeins. By the next day I had forgotten them.

The next week my neighbor Don had a heart attack.

A few weeks later my neighbor's wife came over with a plastic basket loaded with more greasy yarn (see exhibit A). At home taking care of her husband (doing great now, thank god), she was channeling all her nervous energy into cleaning and organizing her house. Out with the 20 year old yarn from a farm in Ontario.

So now I had yarn with a story, from a personI cared about. I couldn't just let it live on the back porch all winter. There was a pattern for a large man's fair isle sweater, and part of a sleeve done in brown and gray. I just couldn't bring myself to make a mammoth scratchy sweater.

So what to do with it? I dyed some and made a scarf for Don. I hope this will help him to stay warm on his morning walks around the neighborhood. Michigan has been having record cold temperatures this past week.

But there's lots left over. I am not sure I want to make 5 more scarves. Ideas?

Coveting the scarves of friends

2007-01-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

Two blogless friends came in the yarn store yesterday, both with new scarves.

Nancy designed and knit a scarf as a gift for her son. He asked for a scarf. He wore it once and declared it "too warm" - his loss, her gain. When did warmth become a negative scarf trait?

Nice work, eh?

Ann is knitting a scarf from an unspun roving dyed by Tracy Bunkers. Very, very cool.

Went to see Pan's Labyrinth last night. Very melancholy and affecting, and definitely a big-screen film (vs. one for the Netflix queue).

Plus, with those subtitles, you might as well be in a dark theatre - you won't be able to knit.

someone stop them!

2007-01-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

My co-workers keep reproducing, which has seriously cut into my sock-knitting time. This was for Meng's baby:

I had two balls of Artyarns Supermerino that were supposed to become socks. They reluctantly agreed to be a baby sweater. I added the grape, rose, and brown Mission Falls to stretch it out. I especially like the buttons:

Found 'em at Habermans, a truly amazing fabric store in Royal Oak. It is the sort of place that makes you want to dig out your sewing maching from underneath all the yarn and rovings.

You already saw this one I did for Jon's baby - here is a better shot of the sweater:

The pattern is Cottage Creations Babies & Bears; the yarn is Mission Falls 1812 Cotton. The buttons are little bears. This pattern is a bit fussy for me. I actually like kitchenering, but kitchenering up the back seam is a bit much, if you are a lazy knitter like me.

I have been looking at some beautiful yarn today by local fiber artists. Here are some links:
http://www.happyfuzzyyarn.com/ (great sock yarn!)
http://www.briarrosefibers.net/ (I have some of her Sonoma - yum!)

...for destruction ice

2007-01-15T21:54:00.000-05:00

Is also great
And would suffice.

Global warming ended last night, at least in Ann Arbor.

Over the holidays I played with acid dyes in Anne's basement. The goal was to dye 15 yards of silk to make a fairy bower. Yes, there is a long, involved story about that, but I need to take some photos before I tell it.

In the meantime, here is some cheap wool I dyed to use up the leftovers from the fairy bower:

The skeins now belong to Nancy because she likes yellow. The balls will probably become socks for the kids.

Summer on the farm

2007-01-10T20:43:00.000-05:00

Blog backfill, from the annals of our photodocumented life...
If it is as chilly where you are as it is here, you might like to see some images from our trip to the sheep farm B&B last summer.

Our young hostess had just gotten a new spinning wheel. She is a natural!

The shepherdess with her baby lammykins - awwwww.

Wanna strawberry? These were on our waffles in the morning. The boys really got a kick out of collecting eggs for their breakfast, too.

Yay! Tire swing!

The slow trip home

2007-01-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

We took a train home from Kansas City, via Chicago. Brian and I stopped over in Chicago for a few days, to visit museums and hang out with Geoffrey. Dave and Evan headed home.

Brian enjoyed the dining car:

And dining out:

We both enjoyed a puppet show of the Nutcracker. Note that the Mouse King has 5 heads:

We are back home now and real life has started back up. I have begun another toe-up sock. I am still not totally converted to this method of construction, but it is fun to try it on as I go.

A colleague brought his spawn by the office today. Here is the cutie modeling a sweater I knit for him. All together now - awwwww.

There's no place like home

2006-12-30T18:00:00.000-05:00

(Not that I ever lived in Kansas....)

We're in Lawrence visiting the ~~Yarn Barn~~ my folks. Getting some much-needed relaxation:

Socks that Rock, thanks to Jillian

Yarn Barn aside, Lawrence is home of other venerable fiber-arts institutions, including Sarah's Fabrics and Bonkers.

Bolts of Kaffe Fassett cottons...

Must!Resist!New!Fiber!Fetish!

Until I walked into the door at Sarah's, I had never even entertained the thought of taking up quilting. Until. I barely escaped. Stop me please.

I did drop some cash at the Yarn Barn. Aside from droolworthy yarn, they sell all sorts of equipment and supplies for spinning, weaving, and dying. I got some undyed Henry's attic sock yarn, some Bonkers sock yarn, some acid dyes, a book on silk painting. No, not a new hobby. It just looked interesting, m'kay?

To wrap up my first post in 6 months, I leave you with something pretty I made late this summer (with a little help from Lynne Vogel):

OK, a lot of help. Those are Lynne's hand-painted rovings. I want to be Lynne when I grow up. Wait a minute...

Leave me a comment if you missed me!

I've been violated!

2006-06-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks to CatBookMom for clueing me in that some sleazeball in the UK was selling one of my copyrighted patterns on ebay.

Here's a link for proof positive he is stealing my content - my own photograph is in his ad!

Apparently this guy collects patterns and sells them in ebook format. There is quite a lengthy thread about this idiot, on The Girl from Auntie (of Rogue fame).

Anyway, I sent him a diatribe, and reported him to the UK ebay police, and he withdrew his posting, sending me an apology that his "sources" assured him it was public domain material. Not sure how he could have missed the copyright notice at the bottom of the page. But he has many more knitting pattern postings out there.

Not that I think I will ever become a famous knitwear designer, but a copyright is a copyright, whether it is a poem or computer software or a piece of music or a baby hat pattern. I share my silly little patterns freely, and will continue to do so - I just ask that people respect the copyright, and this means no duplication, selling, or distribution.

Grilled Nuthatch

2006-06-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

A white-breasted nuthatch has build its nest in our next-door neighbors grill!

Knitting 90210

2006-06-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

A quick hi from Beverly Hills. Unfortunately all I've seen so far is the inside of my hotel and conference rooms at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Monday afternoon I'll get some time on my own to check out Knit Cafe while the rest of my geek contingent check out the Museum of Television and Radio. I'm not particularly star-struck, but it might be nice to hunt down the Walk of Fame stars for Judy Garland and Lon Chaney Sr.

Not much to report on the knitting front, though I did finish some pink anklets. Here they are at the cafe last Tuesday. The other sock belongs to Denise:

I also finally finished Wavy, my Olympic knitting project. I was only one repeat away from the end during the final ceremonies when I ran out of yarn and had to spin more....

Pets or Meat

2006-05-14T21:12:00.000-05:00

I've been home from Maryland Sheep & Wool for almost a week now - high time I shared some photos with you.

The first day I was utterly gobsmacked - spinning wheels! Sheep! Yarn! Knitted garments everywhere! All I could do was stagger around with a slack jaw. The second day I whipped out the camera so that you could meet some of my new friends. I especially liked this fashion statement:

There were many, many furry animals. This angora bunny is having the fur spun right off him while he snuggles with the spinster:

Lest you harbor any sentimental notions about sheep farming, though, be warned that not all the furry animals are raised for fiber:

The dominant smell at the fairgrounds was not eau de ferme, but grilled lamb. Lamb sausage, barbequed lamb sandwiches, lamb chops, leg 'o lamb, lamb kebabs, gyros - It was all there. To completely disabuse you, more signeage:

Sadly I missed that event. I'm having a bit of trouble imagining the judging ... Hmm. Lovely carrion. Nice and bloody.

But I digress.

If you know me, you know that under normal circumstances I am not much of a shopper, and don't part with my money easily. Suffice it to say that these were not normal circumstances. I parted, and parted, and parted again. Who could resist?

Brooks Farm. Had to had to have some.

Persimmon Tree's wool & mohair made me weak in the knees.

I did leave plenty for the other shoppers, though. Golding sure makes some purty spindles.

And can you believe this detail on a loom?

I've got lots more show and tell, but it is almost midnight and there's work tomorrow. Before I forget, Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. You know who you are.

Maryland!

2006-05-06T22:38:00.000-05:00

I have merrily returned to the land of my birth to cavort with sheep and fondle fiber. My back aches, my head throbs, I'm sunburnt, and Anne, Dynese and I will be driving home with smelly fleeces in our laps.

I've died and gone to heaven.

Today I met the demigods of modern spinning technology:

Mr. Gordon Lendrum - I even touched him!
Mr. WooLee Winder, Jr!
Mr. David P. Hitchhiker!
And my new hero, Mr. Robin (a.k.a Gilbert Gonsalves). Finally a good reason to sell my motorcycle for cash money. It is a good thing he's got a two year waiting list.

Carla & Nancy, could you make a little room in your car?

objet d'art or bucket of ass?

2006-04-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

You decide:

Evan plans to use it for his cossack costume, come Halloween:

That's pretty much all I have to show for myself this week. I do have famous friends, though. Here's Jillian at her first Big Girl Knits book signing at Nicolas Books. I can say I knew her when.

Hey! My strangely furry object matches her tshirt! Coincidence?

Words used to mean things...

2006-04-25T15:50:00.000-05:00

Just finished up two days of a mind-numbing ITIL certification course. I have just been virtually lobotomized, in the name of IT process improvement.

No knitting allowed in class, but I got in some good fiber therapy last night, when 9 fiber artists descended on Chez Freddy, each more talented than I. Or me. Um, they knit and spin better than I do. See what I mean about the lobotomy?

Anyway, here's proof. Patti knit this:

Dianne spun all the yarn for this (some colors on spindles!), AND knit it:

I leave you now with some tranquil underwater images from our trip to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla last month:

The finger fairy

2006-04-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

Brian has a new smile:

The first morning that Brian discovered a shiny Sacajawea dollar under his pillow, Evan decided he wanted a piece of the action. When I went to get him out of his crib, he was wiggling his finger and muttering. I asked him what was wrong, to which he replied "I have a loose finger."

Since then he has had several other loose body parts, most notably a loose nose. Apparently along came a blackbird and snipped it off. We need to cut back on the Mother Goose, clearly.

OK OK, enough cute kid stories. Obligatory knitting content - my latest socks:

I'm not going to even try to explain where I have been for the last two months, aside from San Diego and Chicago and good old Ann Arbor. I haven't fallen off the face off the earth, really. Just been very, very busy. Work has been insane, but tolerable, and I have lost 27 pounds. Our tiny yard is starting to bloom - daffodils, tulips, a crabapple, rhododendron. I continue to knit, slowly.

More later. Thanks to Janice/Rabbitch for the kick in the arse that got me blogging this morning.

Snugglicious

2006-02-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Is it wrong that I find my kids especially adorable when they are sick? This is just too much:

I swear, I don't have that Munchausen by proxy disorder, really. But sick little boys are so slow and sweet and needy, with the added bonus that I get to stay home and snuggle all day. What's not to love?

Yesterday I should have been able to get lots of olympic knitting done, but instead I snuggled and slept.

I suppose it is now time to reveal my lies: Mouseketeer, Breakin' 2, Electric Boogaloo, Friends, Detroit, Disneyworld, Big Mac, Elann, and Disneyworld. Notice a theme? Lauren identified all of them, so she will be getting something pink, either handspun or sock yarn. Help me decide!

Fleece Fair

2006-02-19T22:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the Spinner's Flock Fleece Fair in Chelsea. Here's my haul:

On the left is some wool with cotton and silk slubs from Jane Purcell. On the right is merino and tussah silk from Sandy Griggs. Not sure what these will be, but I am thinking about Mother's Day.

I also picked up another ball of the green stuff so that I can complete my Olympic project. Here's a photo from this morning:

Anne came over to knit this afternoon, so I've completed a couple more repeats since this photo was taken. Still, I am a bit behind schedule to finish in time for the closing ceremonies.

Back to the fleece fair - I dragged Nancy along with me yesterday. She's not even a spinner (yet), but she bought some rovings anyway. It's just a matter of time. She will be assimilated.

Speaking of Nancy, Friday was her birthday. We went to Casey's, where a miracle occurred. I captured it on film:

Yes, that's the image of St. Seraphina in ketchup on her hamburger bun. It's an omen.

because really, it's all about me

2006-02-16T13:25:00.000-05:00

Kate tagged me for a meme, and since I have no knitting or spinning adventures to report, I am happy to oblige. Just for fun I am answering each question with four correct answers and one lie. I'll come up with some sort of prize for the first commentor who guesses all my lies.

4 jobs I've had (plus one lie):
- College English instructor
- Actress
- Mousketeer
- Software quality assurance engineer
- Aerobics instructor

4 movies I can watch over and over (plus one lie):
(This is difficult - I don't tend to watch movies multiple times.)
- Bandwagon
- West Side Story
- Singin' in the Rain
- The Sound of Music
- Breakin' 2, Electric Boogaloo

4 TV shows I love to watch (plus one lie):
(Again, not too TV-centric, so these are a stretch.)
- XFiles
- Monk
- Friends
- Lost
- Anything on TCM

4 places I have lived (plus one lie):
- London, between Notting Hill Gate and Queensway
- Cripple Creek, Colorado
- Provo, Utah
- Detroit, Michigan
- Cheney, Washington

4 places I have been on holiday (plus one lie):
- Santorini
- Alta, Utah
- Disneyworld
- North Wales
- Isla Mujeres

4 of my favorite dishes (plus one lie):
- Caprese salad with tomatos and basil from my garden
- Macaroni and cheese made by Nancy
- Sushi
- Big Mac
- Tamales

4 websites I visit daily (plus one lie):
- Google
- Bloglines
- New York Times
- University of Michigan Jobs
- Elann

4 places I would rather be right now (plus one lie):
- New York City
- Somewhere warm
- Somewhere mountainous
- A cozy cafe, reading, knitting, or chatting with friends
- Disneyworld

4 bloggers I am tagging (plus one non-blogger):
- Erin and/or Carma
- Kim
- Lauren
- Jillian
- Nancy (required to either start a blog or answer via comments)

I died and went to heaven

2006-02-13T12:49:00.000-05:00

But I am back now.

The lovely and generous Wendy hosted Nancy, Jane, and me for a long, cozy weekend in her northern Michigan paradise. We knit by the fire, cooked, knit, chatted, visited yarn stores, ate, drank, wandered around Petoskey, and knit by the fire some more.

Wendy is my new best friend. I'd better finish her capelet soon.

But distractions abound. For example, on Friday I cast on for the Knitting Olympics. If you haven't figured out from the button on the right sidebar, I am knitting for Team Wales. I met several criteria to qualify for this distinguished team of fiber athletes:

1. My mother's maiden name is Williams.
2. My former married name is Williams, but we're not going to talk about that.
3. My great-great grandfather was a tiny coal miner from Mold, Wales. He immigrated to Utah to become a farmer in the late 1800s.
4. Male acapella choruses bring me to tears.
5. I've been to Wales three times.
6. I can pronounce Llanelli.
7. I have "Do not go gentle into that good night" memorized.

Here's a pic of my progress so far:
A few folks have sneered at my project choice - a scarf? Why not something more challenging? This is plenty challenging for my tiny brain, thank you very much. I've never knit anything with more than a 4 row repeat, and this pattern has a 44 row repeat! To add to the excitement, about halfway through the project I'll run out of yarn and have to spin another couple skeins. In order to do that I'll have to acquire more roving, if Jane Purcell still has any left.

Back to the trip report. We spent several blissful days knitting in front of a crackling fire. The knitting was punctuated by quick jaunts to local yarn stores. The Dutch Oven Yarn Store in Alanson is, strangely enough, a yarn store and bakery all rolled into one. You actually have to walk through the bakery to get to the yarn.

At Calico Crafts in Petoskey I found this hanging on the wall:

If you recognize this, you've been reading me for awhile. It is my loopy little bag pattern! Unattributed, of course, but exactly the same in every detail. Attributed or not, I was flabbergasted and thrilled! I felt like a rock star. OK, not really. And I think I embarrassed my cohort by jumping up and down and squealing. But it was cool.

In the not-knitting-related department, here's another find from our weekend trip:

Yes, that's Men's Bread and Women's Bread. What a happy couple. I just want to know - what happens if I eat the Men's Bread by mistake? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fat Singles

2006-02-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

No, this is not about some lonely hearts club for unattached chubbyfolk, so hold back on your derisive comments. This is about spinning. Duh.

I now present to you something completely different - Fat Singles!

My favorite sort of basic commercial yarn is a substantial single with an intense color and a slow twist, ala Lamb's Pride (or if I'm feeling flush, Manos del Uruguay. ) I want to be able to make my own. I've gotten pretty comfortable spinning skinny yarn and plying. Though I think my plies could be tighter, I think I'm doing OK.

If you are a spinner, though, you know that spinning a fatter yarn that can stand alone as a single is a bit tricky. First you have to take special care to predraft to approximately the thickness you want. Then you have to treadle soooo sloooowly, all the while resisting the urge to draft further while you spin. Urge-resisting - always a problem in my world.

Anyway, I am tickled pink (and magenta, and red) with my first effort - it didn't hurt that I had an amazingly colorific Corriedale batt (or is it a rolag?) from Grafton Fibers.

So maybe there is something to that delayed gratification thing.

ho, hum

2006-02-05T19:05:00.001-05:00

It's the SUPERBOWL! In Detroit!!!

Yawn.

I should be more excited, I know. Not only is it practically happening in my back yard, but the Seahawks are playing. I spent my teenage years in Washington State, and even worked for the Seahawks for a couple of summers, since their training camp was in my hometown.

But really, double-dog yawn. I just don't get football. I confess I was a high school football cheerleader for one shameful year. I didn't grok what was happening on the field so I cleverly took my cues from the crowd and the other cheerleaders, shaking my pom-poms and yelling insipid chants like "Hold that line!" and "First in 10, do it again!" (what does that mean, anyway?), and almost never cheered at the wrong time. I was sure my secret was safe, until tryouts for the following year. I was the first girl in the history of Cheney High to not make it back on the squad the second season. Oh the shame!

But I'm not bitter.

Anyway, back to Super Bowl XL. Even Dave, who rarely watches sports on TV (an admirable trait in a husband) is watching.

There will be much spinnage of fiber this evening.

Go Hawks!

Fanmail from Some Flounder

2006-02-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

Well, walleye, actually. While I worked the winter sale at my local yarn store, Dave was home slaving away on our Chinese New Year feast - Steamed Whole Walleye, Shanghai Style. Behold:

The whole walleye was fabulously fresh, from Monahan's in Kerrytown. They clean your fish after you select it.

Brian and Evan are big fish eaters, and to their delight this fish came complete with eyeballs! I'll spare you the eyeball pics. Dave served the walleye with garlic green beans and sesame noodles.

It was mighty tasty, especially since someone else did the cooking.

Self-medicating with fiber

2006-02-03T15:03:00.000-05:00

This has been a rough week - the highs have been high, but the lows, well, you don't want to know. Time for some fiber therapy.

This is what I've been spinning up the last few days:

Singles

Plied

Skeined

This is from a mystery roving I picked up at the Michigan Fiber Fest. It is wool, with at least some mohair and silk. I am not sure what stall I picked it up from - either Homestead Sheep & Fiber, Goat Hill Farm, or Five Sisters Dry Goods. Anyone recognize it?

I've been practicing my long draw technique, in hopes that this yarn will be a bit more woolen and lofty. These fibers are especially long-staple and soft, so it has practically been spinning itself.

This particular skein is going to Nancy, for a sampler afghan she is making for Nate. I sorta want to keep it.

Here's another skein headed for Nancy, for an undetermined project. I haven't set the twist yet, and I've got quite a bit more to spin. It is from this merino and silk roving hand-dyed by Tracy Bunkers, aka Bonkers. I got it at the Michigan Fiber Fest, as a thank-you for hauling my Lendrum back from Milwaukee. It was especially selected for its sunny gaudiness. It makes me happy.

Too good to be true

2006-01-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

In preparation for an upcoming vacation to San Diego, Brian and I had the following conversation:

Me: have you ever heard of LegoLand?

Brian: (looking skeptical) No.

Me: How about Sea World? Have you ever heard of that?

Brian: (rolling his eyes): You're making things up.

He's in for a big surprise in a few weeks.

Nancy (She Who Can Do Everything) and her son Nate will be stalking us on our trip. There will be at least one "boys with boys, girls with girls" day, so that Nancy and I can have strangers play with our feet and put goop on our faces. Don't you wish you were me?

Oh, and I've heard there are a few good yarn stores in those parts. So Cal readers, any yarn store recommendations?

Rock 'n Roll Preschool

2006-01-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

"For those about to read, we salute you."

Though our musical tastes rarely overlap, I did appreciate these shirts Dave got for da boyz.

The sun decided to shine on our little corner of Michigan yesterday, so we headed to the Farmer's Market, where B&E enjoyed the Superbowl football sculptures.

Across from Kerrytown we encountered this motley crew of buskers. They were really terrible, but entertaining anyway.

Obligatory knitting content - Evan likes his purple socks.

Spindling at Sweetwaters

2006-01-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

My close-knit little group of cafe knitters has become infiltrated by the likes of this:

Yes, spindlers have been spotted at knit night, on more than one occasion of late. It's gotten so bad that we've had to spin off a splinter group of spinsters.

The patient staff at Sweetwaters have taken it all in stride. We've offered free knitting lessons, but so far no one has taken the bait. Our plan is to subvert the youth of Ann Arbor, one barista at a time. Through knitting. It all starts innocently enough, with novelty yarn and large needles.

This will be our first victim:

Sara's crime? She's been sending me subliminal messages through her latte art.

This one positively screams "teach me to knit!"

Big honkin' roses

2006-01-22T07:45:00.000-05:00

I've been a blog slacker of late. For the curious, here is what I am knee-deep in at the moment.

Yes, the big honkin' roses I threatened you with last fall. They are for this:

For my crazy friend who wants to pay me. I won't accept money, but I will accept a weekend at her "cottage" (can it still be called a cottage when it comes with staff?) up in Harbor Springs in a few weeks.

While there I will cast on for the Knitting Olympics, thanks to the always motivating harlot. My personal challenge will be Wavy from Knitty. Not exactly an Olympic feat, but I have to finish spinning this before the opening ceremonies:

It reminds my friends of Kermit the Frog. But I love it.

The day I dyed

2006-01-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

Over the break Anne and I played with dye and yarn in her basement. I used mostly food-grade dyes, and Anne used acid dyes. Here's some photodocumentation of our dying day. First, the results:

The Lopi on the left was supposed to be blue and green. For some reason the green came out brown.

The ruddy mess on the right was supposed to be copper and burgundy, with small flecks of green and pink. It looks mostly pink to me.

The motivation for the day was the purple and green skein on the bottom. It is a 10 yard skein, space dyed in four quadrants, with the goal of self-striping sock yarn. Here it is fresh out of the microwave, still cozy in saran wrap:

The repeat is supposed to be purple, green, purple, blue, but the blue came out so close to the purple that I am afraid the socks will end up purple with a strange occasional green stripe. Initially this green also came out an icky brown, so I had to resort to some serious crock pot action:

This last shot is of the steaming hot pile of wool, splatter-painted ala Pollock. In the photo above it looks rather blotchy but after reskeining I was pretty happy with all these colors together.

When will I ever find the time to knit all this stuff?

a skein a mile long

2005-12-30T09:27:00.000-05:00

OK, maybe 10 yards. That's 30 feet. Behold:

That's 440 yards of merino looped 44 times around those chairs. 44 laps around the chairs for me. Why? Have I gone (more) insane?

Naw. The goal is self-patterning yarn, like the yarn Anne dyed to make these socks. We are going to play with Kool Aid and other dyes in her basement today, so watch this space for more pics.

Hissing Cockroaches and Kinetic Contraptions

2005-11-26T20:02:00.000-05:00

or "If this is Thanksgiving, it must be Bloomington"

The highlight of our Thanksgiving trip to Bloomington was a trip to the new WonderLab. The thrills included madagascar hissing cockroaches:

Can you hear them hissing at Evan's purple sock?

And kinetic contraptions:

Brian at the helm

Dave left his mark:

Dave's evil self portrait on the the pin impression thingy.

We've been eating well - tonight my brother Chris made us a slow-smoked pork loin with Kate's great BBQ sauce, coleslaw, and french fries.

I paid my annual visit to Yarns Unlimited, a lovely store owned by talented weaver and certified nice person Suzanne Halverson. I bought something but can't show you because it is a suprise for one of my regular readers (hey! might be you!)

Killer Llama

2005-11-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. The random photo of the Killer Llama sign in the post a week or so back - there have been many questions about that. That sign is on my son's dorm room door.

So maybe I can forgive him for giving me the TB cough.

I started a purple sock for Evan three times last night. Apparently I can't divide by 4. I'll be back later this weekend with more photos. It's off to the yarn store now. One of my favorite people is starting to work there today. It is a nice place to hang out - a little wooly oasis - when the rest of the town is going freaking nuts on a football Saturday.

Lynne needs....

2005-11-15T20:39:00.000-05:00

I don't do many memes, but this one is strangely appealing. Plus it is easier than uploading photos. Google on "{your name} needs" and check out the results. These speak to me:

Lynne needs a kiss before heading home.
Lynne needs to stop with the excuses.
Lynne needs lots of sex!!
Lynne needs anyone to defend her.
Lynne Needs Our Help to Stay Alive.
Lynne needs to get comments back.
Lynne needs to grab hold of her musical schizophrenia.
Lynne needs a toothpick.
Lynne needs two men to testify that she is indeed single.
Lynne needs three helpers.
Lynne needs his own blog.
Lynne needs an operation.
Lynne needs rides to Topeka.
Lynne needs a good spanking, preferably with a paddle or a hard flip flip.
Lynne needs a bunkmate.
Lynne needs people like you.
Lynne needs to reappear soon.
Lynne needs to hurry up and finish her layout so that I can properly drool over it.
Lynne needs to code when she gets better at coding.
Lynne needs to know the truth so she can stop being such a bitch.
Lynne needs to call NBC and pick up her check.
Lynne needs to save his bacon again.
Lynne needs to have a talk with Britney.
Lynne needs the car to get to the midwife on Thursday.
Lynne needs to be kept away from hotel keys.
Lynne needs a drummer.
Lynne needs to hear the compliments she deserves and does not receive.
Lynne needs to keep out of Britney's business.

And my personal favorite:

LYNNE needs to put some weight on, she has gotten way too thin in the past few years.

xoxox Freddy

Postcards from Freddy

2005-11-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

I'm alive. To bring you up to date, here's what's been happening in my world.
Dave likes his socks:

I went to the Michigan fiber fest and bought some stuff:

Geoffrey started college:

I went to Chicago, saw my kid and some great buildings, but didn't visit any yarn stores:

I almost had myself committed while I was there.

Brian started Kindergarten; Evan started preschool. They were frogs for Halloween.

I have a new wheel. I love it.

I am knitting something pink, for a crazy rich friend who wants to PAY me:

My ankle is fine, but I have a body-wracking cough which renders me incontinent.

I went to Portland, got some training and saw some waterfalls, but didn't visit any yarn stores.

I quit my $60 an hour consulting job to free up more time for grading mind-numbing freshman comp papers, for what amounts to minimum wage.

I've decided this is my last semester of teaching, ever. The great 3 year long professional experiment is so over.
I went to Stratford, saw a couple plays, but didn't visit any yarn stores.

I will try to get back on the blogging wagon, as I have been informed that I am a "gateway blog." Not sure what that means, but if it is anything like a gateway drug, I am all for it.

"Nothing horrible has happened....yet"

2005-09-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

Famous last words.

That was a hint. Here's another - I can knit, but I can't spin. At least not on a double-treadle wheel, like my new, lovely Lendrum. Because I sprained my @#^&@*! ankle!

On Monday I was a good girl. I even went to a training class for my real job on what was supposed to be my day off. I was also feeling clever because I figured out, all by myself, that the inbound bus stop would be ACROSS THE STREET from the outbound bus stop. In my smugness, I stumbled getting on the bus, twisting my ankle, doing a faceplant on the rubber, and flinging my computer backpack across the floor of the bus.

I was more humiliated than anything else, so while the bus driver kept repeating "We really need to file a report" I focused my energies on getting up into a seat and not making eye contact with the other passengers.

Entirely ambulatory for several hours, I walked several blocks to my car, threw food at my family, and headed out to a spinning circle (where, by the way, the ladies informed me that my wheel is a special, limited edition, walnut 25th anniversary Lendrum bound to become a collector's item - lucky me).

While spinning my ankle started to hurt. Just a little. I took drugs. It hurt a bit more. I put it on ice and tried spinning with one foot. It wasn't fun anymore so I decided to go. Getting up to leave, I discovered I couldn't walk. Not at all. I was a total invalid. I had to crawl to the car (fortunately Anne was driving). I had to crawl up the stairs and into bed.

Dave got me some crutches, but that was a disaster - the next morning I reached for them, lifted myself out of bed, and fell spectacularly, hitting my naked arse on a very sharp corner of the hopeless chest. I now sport a triangular indentation in my left cheek (sorry, no photos).

The good news is I made some good progress on a heavy wool hiking sock for Dave while waiting for xRays. The bad news is my campus building, where I work on the second floor three days per week, HAS NO ELEVATOR. The good news is my ankle is feeling much better today, thank you. The bad news is that I have to teach my first American Lit class tonight, and go to 3 different campus buildings to prepare materials. The good news is I scammed a temporary handicap parking permit so I don't have to park a mile away when I go up to the community college tonight. The bad news is that handicap parking permit does me no good at UM (where I really work), since the peon lot (for the people who don't want to spend $600/year for a sticker) is 1/2 mile from my building. The good news is that Nancy will chauffer me around tomorrow. I think I should be able to manage the stairs by then.

Nervous breakdown still postponed. But stay tuned. I promise to post photos of the wheel, the sock, and some lovely things I picked up at Allegan. Soon. But first I must collect the shards of my wretched life and prepare for this class tonight.

I am still here

2005-08-25T21:17:00.000-05:00

I have a beautiful new spinning wheel, but no time to spin. Instead, I am frantically getting my classes ready for fall semester. My online classes start tomorrow. My classroom class starts next Thursday. My consulting gig starts back up Monday.

Here's a thought - instead of a posting a syllabus to my class website, I'll post a picture of me spinning at my new wheel. I am sure my students will understand.

The good news is that nothing horrible has happened, my new real job seems to be OK, and the nervous breakdown has been postponed until further notice.

Just no time for spinning. ergh. Don't unsubscribe yet, though. Exciting new knitting content should be coming soon. It will be pink. With big honkin' roses.

untitled

2005-08-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

The last couple weeks of my new job have been fine - so far my job involves attending endless meetings, nodding, and smiling. At some point I am sure it will become challenging, but at the moment, it is a bit brain-numbing.

I have scheduled a small nervous breakdown for later in the month, when the new semester kicks off and I don't have my course materials ready. Here's hoping that the interminable meetings will continue at the real job so that I can get through the days, nodding and smiling, for a few more weeks.

So if the blog entries are a bit thin for the next few weeks, you'll know why and send me chocolate.

There is exciting stuff going on - I get to go to the Michigan Fiber Festival tomorrow, I found an eggplant that looks like a penguin, and I think I may have just bought a new spinning wheel from a drama professor in Milwaukee. More on those stories as they develop.

In the meantime, here's my latest pair of socks, finished last night:

Posting photos is easier tonight than putting words together in coherent sentences, so here's some merino sock yarn I spun awhile back from a small roving Kim gifted me with:

And here's Brian bonding with sheep at the Michigan State Fair yesterday:

Babelicious!

2005-08-15T13:18:00.000-05:00

Check out my new loaner wheel:

That elegant PVC and plywood wheel is a Babe Fiberstarter. I wasn't allowed to continue monopolizing the Ashford Traveler, so I thought I would give this one a try. I haven't yet bonded with it - in fact the appearance of this, plus an annoying wobbliness make me more determined than ever to get the wheel of my dreams. But at least I will not be wheel-less for the next month.

That would be a tragedy, considering that this came in the mail the other day:

Clearly my secret pal loves me, AND understands my fetish. Would it be sacrilege to spin this amazing, luminescent Corriedale on the PVC wheel?

of pompons, hazmat, and fuzzballs

2005-08-08T22:14:00.000-05:00

I hate to steal Jessica's thunder, but I simply can't wait until Thursday to share my excitement.

The new Rowan is here! The new Rowan is here!

When bad pompons happen to good people

In the all about me department, I started my new real grownup job today. By grownup, I mean I can't work in my jammies or at the cafe as I am wont, there's no yarn discount, but I get health insurance and a retirement fund. There's benefits and there's benefits, y'know?

This job is so grown up, there was even an HR orientation. The highlight of the orientation was a short film, a summary of which follows:

A woman discovers a puddle in a campus parking lot. She locates the nearest emergency telephone and contacts campus security. Within moments a hazmat team in PVC suits and gas masks appear on the scene. They dump bags of kitty litter on the puddle, suck up the gunk with a shopvac, and drive off before the woman can thank them.

I was so stupefied I had to knit a bit on my sock to stay focused and calm.

On the walk home I kept an eye out for puddles, but could not locate any emergency telephones. I will have to find a different route home during the rainy season.

Once home, I engaged in a bit of fiber therapy, transforming this:

into this:

and then this:

I think I'll try navajo plying again since the colors are so purty. But once again, completely at a loss for what to make with this yarn.

The yellow/brown bits from the original roving (Interlacements wool/mohair) were cast aside for another project - they just didn't seem right with the jewel colors. Any ideas for what to do with those?

Another zucchini saved from the compost heap

2005-08-03T14:38:00.000-05:00

Has this ever happened to you? Note the large green object on top of my children.

I do not seek out zucchini, but they have a talent for finding me. This was one of two humongous suckers thrust on me over the weekend.

I am not in a zucchini bread state of mind. It's just not that tasty, y'know? But I felt guilty about chucking these on the compost pile. Here's what I have come up with so far:

That's Ersatz Okra, spicy corn-meal dusted, deep-fried zuchinni inspired by Stella's creation at last week's shrimpapalooza. It turned out pretty darn tasty, but we still have enough zucchini to feed everyone in this zip code, so I am casting about for more zucchini ideas.

While on our honeymoon in Greece, we had some fabulous zucchini fritters, laced with feta and mint. I'll give that a try tonight, and will report back tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a question for you to ponder:

Is frying the only way to make zucchini yummy? I don't mean palatable, as in a stir-fry ingredient or zucchini bread. I want a zucchini dish that will activate the yum center of my brain.

Although I don't grow zucchini, I do grow as much of this as I can in my postage stamp garden:

Hmmm.... Basil, pine nuts, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil. What could I possibly make with these ingredients?

But of course. 2 quarts of this:

We'll be gorging on farfalle al pesto the rest of the summer. With bread and a tomato salad, you've got the world's best 10 minute dinner.

Grits Redux

2005-08-01T19:16:00.000-05:00

Evan ordered this for breakfast the other morning:

Purple grits - it's what's for breakfast

I have a sinking feeling this is the beginning of a family tradition.

Continuing the purple theme, I finished this today:

Yes, a single sock. I would start the second sock, but I can't for the life of me find the second skein of yarn. Argh. Maybe the fairies took it? I sent Evan downtown to investigate. Is it here?

Evan waited patiently, but no fairies emerged bearing yarn.

But Evan is not one to give up easily. After searching high and low (mostly low), Evan found another tiny door, this one surrounded by giggling little girls. We watched and waited, but again, no fairies.

So, what to think? Are the fairies on vacation? Are they invisible? Are there doors we have overlooked?

Waaaa. I want my yarn.

Stella's Shrimp and Grits

2005-07-30T07:54:00.000-05:00

Ever since we returned from South Carolina I have had a hankering for shrimp and grits. Each of the five versions we sampled on the trip were slightly different - one incarnation included andouille, another featured tomatoes, another a brown bacon-based gravy, and yet another a garlicky wine-based sauce. All were good, but none were the holy grail.

When I got back home, I casted about for the right recipe, but nothing sounded perfect. So I decided to do my own thing, which is the way I prefer to cook, anyway. This time, though, I uncharacteristically took notes. Be glad I did, because judging from the happy noises coming from my crustacean-loving dinner guests, I think this was a hit.

Stella's Shrimp and Grits
(Named in honor of my favorite southerner, who introduced me to the dish)

Timing is important here - you don't want the shrimp to be waiting for the grits to get done. This timeline worked for me:

1. Prepare the saute, but don't add the shrimp.
2. Prepare the grits. When they are done, add the shrimp to the saute.
3. Finish the grits with butter and cream.
4. When shrimp are done, divide grits into four shallow, wide bowls and top with the shrimp saute.
5. Say ooh and ahh and groan alot while eating.

Shrimp saute:

1 lb medium shrimp, peeled & deveined
3-4 oz. andouille sausage link, halved and sliced
olive oil
butter
1 rib celery, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 large red pepper, diced
1/2 large green pepper, diced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 cup good chicken stock
pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
pinch dried thyme, or handful of fresh
fresh ground black pepper
kosher salt

In a large pan, saute the onions, celery, and garlic in 1/2 butter, 1/2 olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes and saute just until they start to break down. Add red and green pepper and sausage and saute another couple minutes. Add seasonings and chicken stock and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Raise heat and add shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, 2 or 3 minutes, just until shrimp curl and loose transparency. Do not overcook shrimp. Serve over shallow bowls of creamy grits.

Creamy grits:
1/2 cup white hominy grits, preferably stone ground. Not quick-cooking.
2.25 cups good chicken stock (home made, preferrably)
2 T butter
2-4 T half & half or cream
kosher salt to taste

Prepare grits according to package directions, but substituting chicken stock for water. Home made stock is far superior in this. Finish the grits by stirring in butter, salt, and enough cream to make them smooth and creamy.

Serves 4 hungry adults.

Recommended side dishes: Fried okra and capreze salad.

For the okra: cut okra in 1 inch pieces, dipped in egg, rolled in a mixture of cornmeal, salt, pepper, and tabasco, and fried. Even an avowed okraphobe enjoyed this dish.

For the capreze - slice fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, arrange on a plate. Top with ripped fresh basil. Sprinkle generously with fresh ground pepper and kosher salt, and drizzle good olive oil and balsamic vinegar over all.

Fairy door sighting!

2005-07-26T22:57:00.000-05:00

Tonight at the cafe my sock encountered a secret fairy door.

I've always relied on the kindness of strangers

2005-07-26T15:04:00.000-05:00

This past week I have been a victim of many acts of kindness, perpetrated by friends and strangers alike (not to mention strange friends).
Just as a warmup, Deb and Ed brought me this lovely Vermont pewter from the Green Mountain Spinnery.

Bunny buttons!

They must know that I am in a sock knitting rut and need some inspiration to complete a couple of long-overdue baby sweater UFOs.

You probably couldn't help noticing the lovely bit of blue roving. That is ingeo, a natural fiber made from corn. Kim presented this to me at the cafe last week as part of a lovely "welcome to spinning" package. Behold:

Big white ball - Bluefaced Leicester
Little white ball - soy silk
Blue ball - ingeo
Garnet and plum balls - superwash merino (yippee! handspun socks!)
Lavendar ball - merino and tencel, and oh-so-silky

This will keep me busy for awhile. Simply put, Kim rocks.

So those kindnesses were not from strangers. But here are a couple of vignettes for you, in which I am the object of a generous act.

(Art) Fair Weather Friends

If you are from around these parts, you know about the local phenomenon that is the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Actually Fairs, plural, but then I'd have to fix a tricky subject/verb agreement problem in the last sentence.

Anyway, the Fairs, as they are known, are renowned for huge crowds, inpenetrable streets, and bad weather.

So of course we decided to visit the Farmer's Market downtown, on bicycle, with the kids, Saturday morning. After living here 16 years, you'd think I would have a clue. Nope. Sometimes the need for fresh cucumbers moves people to irrational acts.

But I digress. On the way home, in the sweltering heat, Evan started a raging fit on the back of my bike. While waiting at a red light, a hot dog vendor asked if the kid wanted a lollipop. I said no thanks, but I sure could use a drink. In seconds he was at my side with a bottle of cold water. Not exactly the drink I had in mind (note the time, 10 AM), but exactly what I needed. He refused to take any money. The light turned green. The car behind me honked. I pedaled off.

Man, I could go for a hot dog about now.

Crime scene - do not cross

2005-07-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

Found on the floor near my spinning wheel. Two guesses who my prime suspect is. Fortunately this was just a scrap I pulled off someone's practice bobbin from the last guild meeting. Still, it gave me the shivers to see a skein of handspun mutilated. I have since moved my handspun to an undisclosed location.

If you've noticed a small addition to my blog template (and no, I am not going to point it out), before you unsubscribe in disgust, I want to hear from you. This is just an experiment, because , I am a pathetic geek at heart and wanted to see what would happen. I am finding it vaguely amusing. But if you feel violated that this one last shred of noncommercial entertainment in your life (however pathetic) has been, well, googlized, at least have the decency to leave me a rant before signing off.

I must be so ronery, so ronery, to be begging for abuse like this. Sad, I know.

I found my thrills....

2005-07-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

On Blueberry Hill...

Still life with Michigan blueberries and sock

Oh, to be unemployed in Michigan in the summertime. The days are just packed. Blueberry picking, knitting, spinning, swimming, rinse, repeat.

But the blissfully carefree days of summer will end for me too, too soon. Yesterday I accepted a job, (a real one, with benefits) at my alma mater. I start August 8. I am excited, but also little sad. Dave and I agreed that whoever got a job first would be it, and I won. Or did I?

But back to the subject at hand - knitting. Note I have started another pair of socks, in a blueberry colorway to honor the season. I know, there are other more urgent knitting projects I should be working down, but my gentle readers (that would be you!) didn't seem to care what I worked on next, so I picked my own project. Besides, I was having something of a sock emergency. Dave inadvertently felted the striped socks, so I had to give mom the fair isle socks, even though everyone agreed I should keep those. So I needed to replace the blue ones, see? I knew you would understand.

To carry the blueberry theme a bit further, here's my latest handspun:

Blueberry handspun, mystery wool

I only have about 200 yards. What should I make?

Non-verbal communication

2005-07-18T14:47:00.000-05:00

OK, Evan actually has pretty advanced language skills for a two-year-old. But I think he is at a loss for words here, and communicating the only way he knows how.

Another pose, slightly more threatening:

What do you think he is trying to tell me about my spinning habit? Leave me a comment with a photo caption suggestion, and I'll send you a pair of these:

Little beaded goodies

I've gone a bit crazy making these stitch holders. My friend Sue from my old yarn store job just opened a bead store with her daughter - Stony Creek Bead and Gallery in Ypsilanti (no website yet that I can find). If you are into beading and live in SE Michigan, you should go. Hell, even if you aren't into beading and live in Ohio or the UP or the midwest, for that matter, you should go, but beware - the allure of the small lovely bits of shimmery beauty will suck you in and you will never be the same.

Happy 4th of July (belated)

2005-07-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

I don't usually do these blogthing tests, but I found this one amusing.

You Are 27% American

America: You don't love it or want to leave it.
But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over.
On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead...
And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

How American Are You?

To make up for that (and keep the CIA off my back), from the Freddyknits archives, here's the sock waxing patriotic 4th of July weekend on the White House lawn:

Patriotic sock, now complete.

My favorite thing about Washington, DC? Some of the buildings remind me of Europe.

Potty talk

2005-07-15T19:26:00.001-05:00

We've been having issues with potty talk lately. It started innocently enough, with silly giggle fits involving poo-poo and pee-pee. Then Evan (2) learned he could get my goat by chanting "penis" incessantly. We decided to crack down - no potty talk unless you are actually in the potty.

So the kids got creative. Suddenly they were obsessed with Winnie the Pooh, and asking lots of questions about what comes on a poo-poo platter. They never get tired anymore, just pooped. And the other day in the car Brian (4) asked: "Mommy, what's "european?" Bewildered, I explained that it was someone or something from Europe. A few moments later I heard both boys whispering and giggling "You're a-peein'! You're a-peein'!"

Some parent deal with these situations in a mature way, or at least have the common sense to wash their kids' mouths out with soap. Not us.

Brian enjoying his poo-poo platter

So do we win the immature parents of the year award?

In other news, I finished my summer socks, in spite of the broken needle incident. I took Denise and Kim's advice and switched to metal Inox needles. Putting my needle snobbery aside, I must admit that for $3.75, these are the right answer for summer sock knitting. The cool smooth metal doesn't absorb moisture from my sweaty hands, and they are nice and slippery for the somewhat grippy cotton blend sock yarn I am knitting with. I do occasionally wince at the painful fingernails-on-a-chalkboard sensation, but that's a minor price to pay for these, don't you agree?

Summer socks, 1 skein of Knitpicks Dancing

I got a pair out of one 50 gm. ball. That's a pair of socks for $2.99! Now I am left with another ball. If anyone wants to trade me for a different ball of sock yarn, just leave me a comment.

After three pairs in the last couple months, I might have gotten this mania out of my system, at least for awhile. I really should turn my attention to some must-do projects. What will it be? Finishing the overdue baby sweater (it is the sweater that is overdue - the baby is 5 months old)? Knitting the overdue graduation sweater for Geoffrey? O wise and faithful readers, please advise.

Techno Holster - free crochet pattern

2005-07-15T19:25:00.000-05:00

Announcing another freddyknits pattern. I originally submitted this pattern to a certain feminist pop-culture publishing mogul, for her upcoming book. Be glad it was rejected, because now I can share it with you, free!

Model - my hottie neighbor, Stella

This is a brain-dead pattern for learning single crochet, crochet in the round, and button holes. I am a beginning crocheter, and I made mine in about an hour. The model fits my phone, but you can easily modify the design for other phones, ipods or PDAs. Or beg me to - I respond well to bribes. You could also add a flap over the top for more security if you would like.

The holster is designed to hook through a belt loop, over a belt, or around a purse or backpack strap.

Techno Holster

Materials
- Partial ball Berroco Suede, color Belle Star (hot pink)
- one button
- size G crochet hook

Gauge
Doesn't really matter.

For the bottom:
Chain 6 and join in a circle.
Round 1: sc 10, passing hook through the center of the circle vs. through the chain.
Round 2: sc 2 into each stitch, for a total of 20 stitches in the round.
Rounds 3 - 13: sc 1 into each stitch. Secure last stitch and cut yarn, leaving a longish length for sewing on the strap.

For the strap:
Leaving a long tail for sewing up, chain 22
Row 1: Turn and sc across.
Row 2 (buttonhole row): Turn and sc 17. Chain 2. Skipping the next two stitches, sc the last 3 stitches.
Rows 3 & 4: Turn and sc across. Cut yarn, leaving enough to weave in the end.

Finishing
Sew strap to top edge of holster. I used both the tail from the strap and the body of the holster, for extra security, since this will be holding technology. Sew button on the other side of the bag, very securely. You could sew a tiny button behind the button to make it more secure.

Wearing, and options
Hook around your belt loop or belt, or button to your purse strap or backpack. If desired, crochet a little flap on the top to make more secure. A holster made from one of the more leatherlike colors (tan or brown) might be cool, especially with some fringe, or maybe even a horsie or cowboy boot button.

Crocheted Techno Holster

Copyright 2005, Lynne Frederickson Rago
Do not duplicate or distribute.
Items made from this pattern may not be sold.
You may print one copy for your personal use.

Do you think he is trying to tell me something?

2005-07-13T15:16:00.000-05:00

So maybe my obsession with all things fibery is getting to my family, just a little bit. Yes, I know I dragged them to the ends of the earth to tour a llama farm on the family vacation. Perhaps the Saturdays spent fondling rovings and trying out wheels at the Spinner's Flock could be better spent with my family at the lake. Maybe the $9 per hour I make at my LYS , and that is all immediately, um, reinvested in yarn, books, and needles (But I get an employee discount! Summer sale starts tomorrow!) could be better socked away for my childrens' education (which in the next year will cost more than I earned last year). And possibly the Tuesday nights that I hang with the knitin-aa gang could be better spent doing laundry, looking for gainful employment, or paying bills. But really, has it come to this?

When a two-year-old helps you knit, bad things can happen....

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a broken #1 Clover bamboo double pointed needle you see at the top of the photo, courtesy of my youngest ~~monster~~ adorable boy. During a serious lapse of judgment I thought I would teach my two-year-old to knit. Little did I know he was bearing me ill-will. The tragedy occurred within 30 seconds.

So, what do you think? Is Evan sending me a non-verbal plea for more mommy time, and less knitting? Do I need to reevaluate my priorities? Take the wheel back? Quit the yarn store? Get a real job?

Or should I just switch to metal needles?

Although it does seem wrong, somehow, to knit your own handspun with metal, doesn't it? Behold the ill-formed offspring of my feeble needles:

First creation from my own handspun. I need to spin more to complete it.

Still in Carolina (in my mind)

2005-07-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

Well, we've been home for over a week, but I haven't been able to bring myself to blog until now. Not that I've been busy - I just suffer from the old post-vacation ennui. Ever get that?

Not that Ann Arbor is a bad place to be in the summertime. There's lots of outdoor festivals, like Top of the Park (free music and movies, but $14 for ice cream for a family of four), the Manchester Chicken Broil (12,500 chickens! 11 tons of cabbage! The Sounds of Germany polka band!), Elvisfest, the Art Fairs, and the Rolling Sculpture Car Show.

We took in Rolling Sculpture last weekend. Here's proof.

Elvis lives - and he's a knitter!

On the road

2005-06-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

Just a quick blog entry from Asheville, NC so you know I haven't forgotten you. There will be no photos just yet, but I'll add some eventually.

Asheville is lovely - cool mountain air, misty views, great architecture, and to my sons' delight, a TUNNEL in the middle of town. I checked out Earth Guild and even tried out a couple wheels (A Schacht and a Louet) while the boys explored The Chocolate Fetish. I also checked out Yarn Paradise while Evan took a nap in the car. Afterward we visited the Western North Carolina Nature Center (baby red wolf pups! otters! black bears!) and met up with friends and former Ann Arborites Jen, Rich, and their two girls. Although I am very happy for them, I must admit I am a tad jealous over the seemingly idyllic life they have carved out for themselves at the base of Beacatcher Mountain.

En route to here we visited horsey Aiken, SC to see my good friend Machelle. Before that it was Charleston, SC where we ate great fish and saw lovely antebellum homes.

Our new favorite food is shrimp and grits - we had it three times in about three days. Jen is going to send me a recipe for the version she served at her wedding. I'll try it out back in Ann Arbor and then share it here, with Jen's permission, of course.

Tomorrow we will mosey on up the Blue Ridge Parkway, but first, a stop at a llama farm near Mars Hill. It was a bit of a hard sell, but when I found out that the segment of the parkway just north of Asheville was closed due to flood damage, and that we'd need to detour anyway, I knew it was a done deal.

Back soon, with photos, I hope. Knit on.

Are those socks food?

2005-06-22T16:12:00.000-05:00

Meet my newest friend from Huntington State Park. He's eyeing my small boys with great interest -

Yum! I spot dinner!

I think the gator approved of my latest sock project:

Alligator, meet sock. Sock, meet alligator.

So how does the Harlot get both her sock and and the subject of her photo both in focus?

I must say, blogging from this biker bar is growing on me. Today's price for two hours of internet connectivity? A pint of Bass.

Photo credit - Stella Beale, my vacation photographer

This is a Test of the Remote Blogging System

2005-06-20T15:07:00.002-05:00

This is a test of the Remote Blogging System. This is only a test. Do not adjust your set.

I am blogging at you from the sandy beaches of Pawley Island, South Carolina. For the price of a Newcastle Brown, at a biker bar with Wi-Fi, I can blog till I pass out. But I have better things to do, namely:

Knitting in paradise, sans-cheeseburgers

Brian and Evan are having fun, too, though the photos below are somewhat ambiguous:

Brian in a pensive moment

Evan feeling apprehensive about something

The trip down was without incident. I knit a scarf (broken rib, out of my first three skeins of homespun) and slept. The kids talked. And talked. For Two Days. Dave drove. That about sums it up, really.

The scarf (sorry, not photo yet) was supposed to be for my dad, for Father's Day. But when he saw it in progress when he was visiting last week, he asked if it was supposed to be so uneven and bumpy. I suppose it is rustic, but I like it, and would hate for it to languish in a closet somewhere when some appreciative person could be wearing it lovingly. Who to gift it to?

And speaking of using words like languish inappropriately, I recently started reading Everything is Illuminated, by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's unlike anything I have ever read - insightful, amusing, delightful.

I would give a large amount of money for a tape recorder right now. There is a blowhard at the bar, pontificating about the chemistry of chili and venus flytraps and Francis Marion and his first wife and the wonders of southern hospitality. It's like an unbelieveable scene from a sitcom, of the sort that you would react to with a "no one could possibly be that tediously pompous in real life!"

Later in the week I will report back about alligators and Charleston and more beach knitting. In the meantime, behold the generousity of my favorite blogger, Rabbitch:

gifties from Rabbitch

The dishcloth is more a punishment than a gift, actually. It will be included in a large box of dishcloths to Project Scrubbie. The lovely roving is for me, me, me. My only regret is I won't be able to do anything with it until July, when I return from my trip.

Happy anniversary, baby

2005-06-15T19:35:00.000-05:00

The happiest 9 years of my life began 9 years ago today.

Yes, we are this happy.

Maybe I did something right

2005-06-14T21:34:00.001-05:00

So maybe he has the messiest room on the planet, but he managed to finish something:

Marching across the stage

Although all you ever hear from me are complaints about the room (and the car he ran out of oil, and the time he forgot he was babysitting....) this is a great kid, with an amazing mind and a huge heart. In a few days he'll no longer be a permanent resident here, as he's heading off for a summer as a YMCA camp counsellor, and then off to college in the fall. I will miss you, Geoffrey! Who will be left to argue with?

Other good stuff is happening - I got a box today from Rabbitch, with a lovely roving and a dishcloth in the most hideous, baby turd shade of green you could possibly imagine. I would share a photo with you but I don't want to be blamed for the vomit all over your keyboard.

If you haven't already figured it out, she's nicer than she lets on.

Also, our new, flexible (read, unemployed) schedule means that when we leave on vacation Friday, we may just never come back.

More on that tomorrow. My husband is twiddling his thumbs again.

Mariah Educates the Sensitive

2005-06-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

Here's the poem that Suzanne read to me while I was spinning at her store in Bloomington over Memorial Day. I hope you like it as much as I do. I was delighted to discover, after she had read it to me, that I had actually met the author, and that she reads my blog!

Mariah Educates the Sensitive

In the first place,
you are not allergic to wool.
That lie is the bastard brat
of ignorance, overheating and vanity.
You may be allergic to cats,
angora rabbits,
dust, mold, pollen, the stings of bees,
bad dreams, the semen
of Rh negative men,
or, if you were an axe murderer
in a former existence,
strawberries. You could be reacting
to chemical dyes, the sulfuric acid
they soak wool in to carbonize the hay,
sheep dip so deeply lethal
it kills on contact, bad vibes
from an old cryptorchid ram, hysteria
or bad karma. But not wool.
Never wool.

Has it ever crossed your mind
that there are breeds,
that each breed extrudes
a different wool? You buy
a crappy, scratchy,
certainly Suffolk
sweater because you like
the pretty color,
then brag that you're too sensitive
to wear wool. What do you know
of Merino, Spanish wool so fine
it makes a grandmother's love
seem cold and harsh?
Men were beheaded
for smuggling these sheep.
You could spend a life
exploring the differences
between Icelandic and Churro,
Black Welsh Mountain,
Finn, Romney, Jacob, Corriedale,
Karakul, Cheviot, Shetland, Lincoln, Leister--
both Border and Blue Faced--
Coopworth, Cormo, Targhee, Wenslydale,
Herdwick, Swaledale,
Cotswold, God forbid,
Dorset, Tunis, Polworth, Rambouillet.
Then you could start on rare breeds.
Don't get me started.

Wool is the perfect fiber,
the only one
which insulates when wet.
Wet cotton, silk,
are out to save themselves, leaching
your body heat away.
Like us, wool breathes.
Unlike us, it's blessed with memory,
returns to its original shape when washed.

Wool is proof of a benign, personal God,
is grace, divine intervention at its best.
It's why sheep are mentioned in the Bible
more than any other animal.
I made that up,
but you believed me, proving
you've had your own suspicions
all along.

When mercury freezes,
hang your quilts on the wall.
Curl under wool.
Wool knows you're a mammal.
It's sympathetic, doesn't just conserve
body heat--it radiates it,
melting your bunched muscles
into something capable of sleep,
making sure your dreams
fill with green fields.

-- Susan Blackwell Ramsey

Poem first published in KnitLit (too). Susan (rams in blogland) gave me permission to post this to my blog. Thanks rams!

I am still a functional human being

2005-06-11T08:33:00.000-05:00

Just to prove that if nothing else, my obsessions are still intact, here's another pair of completed socks for you.

Super soft socks, Knitpicks Sock Landscape

My mother is visiting for His Slothfulnesses graduation tomorrow (can you believe she is sleeping in his room? Horrors!), and in my foolishness I offered her a pair of socks. She may either have these or the last pair I made. She refuses to pick ("loves them both"), so now I have a Sophie's Choice to make. OK, bad analogy. My mothers feet are hardly a concentration camp. But I think you get the idea. Anyway, which of my lovelies am I willing to part with? It doesn't seem to bother her in the least that both pair have been on my stinky feet. Help me out here!

I've also been spinning, this time with Kings Ransom from Yarns Unlimited in Bloomington. 80% Coopworth, 20% silk, spins like a dream. I want more.

King's Ransom singles

Kings Ransom, all plied and sitting pretty

Next post I will share a poem with you that Suzanne shared with me at Yarns Unlimited while I was spinning. You have to love a shop owner that reads you poetry while you spin. Anyway, the poem is most excellent and deserves its own special post, so stand by. Just a little teaser.

I am now off to Spinner's Flock in Chelsea to return my rental wheel AND the lovely wheel I was trying out but have decided I can't afford at the moment. Violin music, please. I am hoping to return from the Flock with another $10 rental. Wish me luck.

The digital Vermeer project

2005-06-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in an entire week. Fibery things have been happening, but blogging about them has taken a back seat to a Major Life Event, a negative one, that occurred in my family this week. With all that has been going on I just haven't had the emotional wherewithal to blog, for fear that I would dump all my woes and angst on unsuspecting strangers out there in the blogosphere and immediately regret it.

To cheer myself up, I instead share with you some photos I took at Greenfield Village earlier this week.

Plying on the Great Wheel, Daggett Farmhouse

Basket with Plant-dyed Homespun, Daggett Farmhouse

I have never been much of a photographer, and my digital camera has me especially mystified. But the lighting and overall effect of these photos pleases me, and reminds me of Vermeer paintings.

These next two photos are of old machinery. Not quite as lovely, but equally fascinating, and also fiber-related:

Old Wool Carding Machine, Gunsolly Carding Mill

Unwinding Silk Cocoons, Hanks Silk Mill

A former colleague, Bill Hope, was giving the demonstration at the Silk Mill. According to Bill, it is a great retirement job. I want to retire now. I think they need me, anyway - there weren't nearly enough women in colonial garb spinning, weaving, and dying.

Potty Party!

2005-06-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

My friend Kate had the brilliant idea to host a potty party in her back yard. The participants:

Potty Party!

Though it wasn't intended to be a competitive event, the girls beat the boys, hands down. Team Fiona and Gemma scored at least five pee-pees in the potty. (Fiona also went through five pairs of princess underpants, but who's counting?) She's highly motivated by M&Ms. Nicholas and Evan didn't manage any pee-pee in the potty, but Evan did pee standing next to his potty. Not a shabby performance, I say.

As you can see, Fiona and Evan found this all especially amusing:

As for obligatory knitting content, head on over to the knitin-aa group blog to see Alecia taking a bite out of a delicious knitted confection. Also, I continue to spin. Are you getting tired of these shots yet?

I couldn't resist one more spool shot.

I'm no supergenius, but....

2005-05-31T15:33:00.000-05:00

...I think I just taught myself to Navajo ply:

It's way overplied (note the strangely twisty end of the skein below), and now that I consult an online tutorial I see that I am using my hands all wrong, but still, it plied up!

I tried this as a desperation move, as my rental wheel has only three bobbins, and I had to get yarn off of one of them so that I could continue making plied skeins. The bobbin in question had a single that, to put it politely, wasn't knitable as is, and wouldn't look good plied with anything else I have on hand. I don't have a ballwinder or a nostepinde, so plying with both ends of a center-pull ball was out. (Note to self: put Brian to work fashioning nostepindum out of Lincoln Logs). Someone told me recently that Navajo plying was sortof like crochet - you make a loop and keep pulling new loops in as you turn the wheel. That's what I did, in a fashion, and it sortof even worked!

So that's the good news. The bad news is on the way home from Bloomington I missed out on a fabulous fiber-related photo opportunity at Connor Prairie Living History Museum, because I left my camera in the car. There were sheep, spinning wheels, and drop spindles all over the place! There was a woman in period dress spinning flax, and another woman tending huge steaming dyepots, where handspun soaked in a cochineal dyebath. In the Loom House, a young volunteer showed me a rainbow of skeins dyed with onion skin, indigo, walnut, dandelion, osage, marigold, coreopsis, and cochineal. Oh, yeah, there was other stuff, but I wasn't really paying attention to the non-fiber-related exhibits.

I was so enthralled that it didn't even hit me until we were back in the car that I hadn't taken any photos. Oh well - sometimes when I am too focused on taking photos I forget to actually have the experience I am photodocumenting. Not this time, though.

I leave you now with further evidence that I am actively subverting the world's youth by introducing them to the fiber arts, one kid at a time. Here's my nephew Jake, now totally addicted to finger knitting:

Back home again in Indiana

2005-05-29T14:06:00.000-05:00

Evan was sleepy on the way down:

The long snooze down I-69

Apparently I was, too. This is what happens when you think you have the sock pattern memorized. A prize goes to the first commenter to tell me what I did wrong here:

Botched gusset - a cautionary tale

But I got back on track, as you can see here:

The sock (and Brian) visit the Bloomington Farmer's Market.

And here:

The sock, inspired by the Harlot's travelling socks, takes in the Monroe County Courthouse.

A new use for tinker toys

2005-05-29T14:04:00.000-05:00

Brian thought I needed a more colorful niddy-noddy, so he fashioned this for me out of tinker toys the other day. Observe that it is completely functional:

Tinker Toy niddy-noddy, easily made from materials found around the home

Bad blogger, no biscuit

2005-05-27T07:19:00.000-05:00

I have been a wretched blogger lately - too much work, too much fun spinning (three plied skeins so far!) Now I am off to Bloomington, Indiana to visit my brother's family for Memorial Day weekend. Last time I was there I taught my nephews how to knit. That was a bit frustrating for them, but they really warmed up to finger knitting. Maybe I will teach them to drop spindle this time - hee hee!

I'm planning to knit in the car and visit Yarns Unlimited to try out some wheels.

When I put new batteries in my camera I will upload some photos from last Tuesday's Knit-In - great fun! Emily and Denise gave me some dishclothes to send off to Project Scrubbie, and Jennie has finished a bunch, too. Theirs are fancy, with stitch patterns. Mine are lame garter stitch squares. Ergh.

Update, 5/29 - finally, a photo!

Project Scrubbie dishcloths made by Denise and Emily.

Espresso for Kids

2005-05-23T16:12:00.000-05:00

I am starting to wonder if I can make sweeping generalizations about entire cultures on the basis of what people google on to find my blog.

For example, someone in the UK got here when they went searching for "espresso for kids." By this I conclude that the entire juvenile population of the British Isles is far more sedate than kids in these parts. Warm milk for kids, perhaps, or maybe even distilled spirits. But espresso? I don't think so.

I think we are looking at a significant cultural divide here.

And don't even get me started again on "fat bitchers" (incidentally, also from the UK).

Introducing . . . Stella, the neighbor, admirer, lurker and now . . . guest blogger!

2005-05-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

First, let me get the "obligatory knit comment" out of the way: I actually taught Lynne to knit (long, long ago). That same year, I knit a scarf. It was my first project in 10 years and my last to date.

So, Lynne is too embarrassed to mention this, but I am not. I have (literally) snatched her lap-top from her to let you know that not only is Lynne a knitter, blogger and mother, she is also a teacher. This July, you (or, better yet, some young charge of yours) can bask in her presence and learn from her majesty at the Greenhills School Summer Program. She will be teaching a course designed for middle and high school knitters called, "Knitting Adventurers."

I have adventurered with Lynne (as have you --at least through her prose), so we all know how skilled she is. Sign your kids up! Pass on the good news. You won't regret it!

Registration forms: http://www.greenhillsschool.org/summer/2005regform.pdf

Addendum from Lynne:

To set the record straight - "long, long ago" was about 18 months ago!

Everything else Stella says is true - I am majestic, adventurous, and skillful. And she did steal my laptop from me just now. We're at the cafe - she's supposed to be grading papers, and I'm supposed to be working. I got a row of my sock done while my laptop was hijacked so it's cool.

As long as your children are potty trained, I'd love to teach them to knit and use words like "niddy noddy" in complete sentences.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled nonsense.

The secret life of toddlers

2005-05-21T06:13:00.000-05:00

In the morning I eavesdrop on the small boys via the baby monitor. They are two and four years old, so their conversations are mostly incoherent or downright silly. Not this morning, though. Today's dialogue is profound and slightly disturbing:

"I'm not Harry Potter; you're Harry Potter!"
"No, I'm not Harry Potter; you're Harry Potter!"
"You're Harry Potter; I'm Harry Houdini."
"You're not Harry Houdini; I'm Harry Houdini!"

I will be sorting this out all day. Who would I rather be? A magician or an escape artist? And how do my children even know about these people? Why are they arguing about it? Help me out here.

Fat Bitchers?

2005-05-20T21:31:00.000-05:00

Whoever got to my blog by googling on "fat bitchers" - did you find what you were looking for? If not let me know and I will try to oblige. Shouldn't be too hard.

No knitting today. Maybe tomorrow if things are slow at the yarn store. Should I start new socks with Sock Landscape or Dancing? (Thanks, Kate!) Finish the overdue sweater for the baby that was born several months ago? Cast on for Geoffrey's graduation present sweater, even though he will probably lose it like he lost the hat and scarf I made him last fall? I am feeling ambivalent about my next project. Advise me. What do you want to see photos of next?

Yes, feeling ambivalent. And inexplicably weepy. We're watching Fiddler on the Roof, and I can only barely hold back the tears. The sad stuff hasn't even started happening yet. WTF?

People want to give me things today, though. That should cheer me up, right? Janice wants to send me a roving (note to self - look for the rest of that green cotton). Better yet, Emilie, a shepherdess/Bed & Breakfast hostess (where can I apply for that job?) wants to give me a stinky fleece. (OK, I asked for it.) Nothing gives me more joy than the thought of hours spent washing hay, crap, and sheep pee out of a muddy pile of stinking wool. I can hardly wait!

I've got happy feet

2005-05-19T21:49:00.000-05:00

I'm dancing a celebratory jig in honor of my first pair of adult-sized, non-felted socks:

Happy Feet!

Pattern: Adult Basic Socks, Ann Norling #12
Yarn: Elann Sock it to Me! Harlequin, Blue Stonewash

I will be wearing these to work tomorrow, with Birkenstocks AND capri pants, to make sure people notice.

I'm also quite proud of my niddy noddy, fashioned from PVC pipe and t-connectors for less than $3.oo. It is not lovely, like Theresa's, but then we didn't all get to go to Maryland Sheep and Wool and bring back a haul of fibery treasures. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Behold the poor woman's niddy noddy in action. And it folds flat for easy storage!

5 pieces of PVC pipe and two t-connectors

I will be enhancing my niddy noddy soon by hacking the pegs a bit shorter and adding PVC end-caps. And maybe a Danish oil finish.

The yarn on that there niddy noddy is the first offspring of my spindle. Again, no comparisons with Theresa's spindling, please:

My first spindled skein - unintentionally Christmassy

I had more to blather on about, but I just saw this guy on the TV, getting six metal bolts implanting in his forehead for screwing in whiskers. I can't think straight or even type. It's time for bed.

The Mad Shitter strikes again

2005-05-16T17:15:00.000-05:00

Well, it happened again. If you haven't been following my blog, you have been spared the adventures of a excrementally obsessive toddler. But not anymore. I thought that dressing the small person in onesies and overalls was an adequate prophylactic measure. Apparently not. What's next? Do straight jackets come in size 2T?

Next time, there will be photos. And that's a threat.

Not much knitting or spinning today - too many cribs and small people to bleach.

Spinning out of control

2005-05-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in awhile, because something had to give. Remember when I was worried that my new job would get in the way of knitting? Well, knitting hasn't suffered much, and I've even taken up a new fibery pursuit - spinning. So blogging (as well as housework, sleeping, and parenting) have suffered a bit.

Let me bring you up to date.

Here's Kate at playgroup Thursday, helping me skein my first spindleful.

Kate multitasking

Kate and I headed out to Chelsea Saturday morning for the monthly Spinner's Flock meeting. We made several new friends, including Rebecca, official wheel wrangler of the learner's circle. Here she is brandishing a niddy-noddy to keep us in order:

We met this fuzzy little guy in the parking lot:

Barbara, a very patient and skillful spinner, got me started, and within a couple hours I plied my first bobbin:

Bright, eh?

And yet another opportunity to work the word niddy-noddy into the narative - Lisa helped me create a skein, using the niddy-noddy, of course.

Here's the end result:

My first skein of yarn!

I rented the wheel and brought it home. Here I am at home the same night, spinning away:

Here's a closeup of my third bobbin ever:

And a closeup of my first true homespun skein of yarn (the turquoise skein wasn't spun at home, now, was it):

Shall I knit it or frame it?

Yes, it is rustic and scratchy, but it made it all by myself. What a thrill, to make yarn!

All I want to do is spin

2005-05-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

There's something I should be doing. I can't show you a picture of it, but it needs to be finished by Saturday. I'm not sure who's reading, so I must be oblique - it involves a very tiny and relatively new person who probably won't get very excited about it. It also involves sewing up. I think you get the picture.

I went to spinning class last night, and now all I want to do is spin. Could this possibly be more addictive than sock knitting?

What I want to do

I've got it so bad, I've already got a lead on a secondhand Ashford Traveler, and I am planning to look at it Friday. Erg - my husband reads my blog. Sorry honey.

OK, I lied. I also want to finish my second sock. I started it at the employee appreciation party yesterday.

I would be willing to do this, too.

I just can't find the motivation for that other project. You know the one I mean.

Do these stripes make my ankles look fat?

2005-05-09T23:40:00.000-05:00

OK, so people with thick ankles should probably knit their fair isle socks side-to-side for a more slimming effect. Who cares if my ankles are, ahem, sturdy? I can hardly wait to knit the second one so I can wear these babies everywhere.

First sock!

After several false starts I went with the very simple and flexible Ann Norling sock pattern, with a traditional heel flap and gusset. It was a confidence builder and now I am mentailly prepared to tackle other types of socks. Well, once I make sock number two.

My friend Kate finished her first sock Saturday. Her ankles are better proportioned. Sigh.

Road trip

2005-05-07T19:00:00.001-05:00

Be forewarned - I feel a long and rambling post coming on. At least there will be knitting content. Scroll straight to the bottom for the yarn porn.

Anne and I made our pilgrimage to Kalamazoo to see the Yarn Harlot. She was endearingly quirky, pee-in-the-pants funny, and she graciously allowed me to touch the edge of her shawl (silk!).

A happy harlot in Kzoo

While waiting in the loooong line to get my bookbookbook signed, I got hunted down by the likes of these self-avowed dorks:

Reciprocal blogging

That's Carma on the left in the Go Everywhere Cardigan from Stitch 'n Bitch. Erin made it for her, and finished it just the night before. Erin, on the right, is looking lovely in her Honeymoon Cami in soy silk.

These two bloggers in crime talked me into the trip and I am so glad I got the opportunity to meet them. I'll be driving through Erin's town on the way home from taking Geoffrey to college this fall, and we're planning to get together to knit. Erin, who's already gifted me with this treasure, presented me with a trio of lovely stitch markers:

Little worlds with forget-me-not

The round beads look like tiny planet earths, but I couldn't capture that in the photo.

Isn't she the world's most generous knit-blogger?

A touch of Stephanie's shawl miraculously cured me of the dread sock disease. I am now on my way. In fact, I rock. Behold:

Sock and verbena

But I am still determined to conquer the Pricilla Gibson-Roberts toe-up technique, maybe with something nice and chunky so I can see what I am doing. Perhaps with the little treasure, below, I picked up at Threadbear on the way to Kalamazoo.

Artyarns Supermerino and sand cherry

And yes, Threadbear was wonderful. I was a bit overwhelmed, since we only had a half an hour to browse. Aside from the above loveliness, I found a tricky little Lucy Neatby pattern for some striking mittens. The sample, done in black and jewel-toned Koigu KPPPM, looked like stained glass. Probably beyond my ability, but not after I am done with them, right?

And this is the real thrill of the week - I just got Rob's newsletter from Threadbear, and they made a sample of my Loopy Little Bag to hang up in the shop! I am tickled pink! I only wish I had seen it when I was there.

Espresso Explosion

2005-05-05T10:18:00.001-05:00

Minimal knitting content today. I've been knitting and ripping out the same sock over and over (first toe up, then top down), and it is making me grumpy. Aside from a perfectly lovely evening at Ann Arbor Knit In Tuesday night, my attitude toward knitting has been pretty negative of late. Usually knitting makes me happy, but right now I have my knickers in a twist over socks. Ugh.

But I do have other talents. My career as a barista got off to an auspicious start this morning:

Espresso Explosion!

After a false start, I did manage to espress something that looked like coffee:

My Cups Runneth Over

No one warned me it wouldn't turn off automatically.

I also have a talent for making food out of garbage:

Stock Garbage - yum!

And to think that most people just throw that stuff away. I prefer to turn it into this:

Two gallons of glistening, greasy chicken stock

My secret pal knew better than to send me anything knitting related this week. Instead, she sent me this - my favorite flower:

Clematis Piilu

Actually she sent me a bare root clematis, but those aren't very photogenic, and this is what it will look like in a couple months.

I'm determined to have some sock to show you next time, along with a report of my adventures at Threadbear and at the Yarn Harlot event in Kalamazoo.

An embarrassment of riches

2005-05-02T16:01:00.000-05:00

If you read my blog because my mildly depressed tone cheers you up, or because my hapless ineptitude makes you feel superior, stop reading now. This will be a happy post, one bound to make you feel like a loser in comparison. I am about to prove how wonderful I am. Furthermore, I am appreciated, even loved.

No, the doctor did not up my meds.

First, Erin sent me this because I left a comment on her blog - can you believe it?

Wool of the Andes from Knitpicks

It is a pretty yet manly color, and I have the pretty yet manly boys who will appreciate it when it is knit up. I am hoping to meet Erin and her blogging partner Carma on Friday in Kalamazoo, when the Yarn Harlot makes a much awaited appearance at the Athena bookstore. Anne and I are planning to stop at Threadbear on the way - woo-hoo!

Any other Ann Arbor knitters heading out to Kzoo? Leave me a comment & maybe we can meet for dinner before the event.

But there's even more wonderfulness! Jen left me a very sweet and complimentary comment about my Beginner's Fair Isle Baby Hat pattern, and sent me a photo of the one she made. This Maize-n-Blue version would be just the thing for a little Ann Arbor baby, no?

Jen made my baby hat!

But the love just keeps coming. Today I received this in the mail from my knitty coffeeshop secret pal:

Still life with Kureyon, coffee, glass, and seed packet

More good news - Saturday was my first day at the lovely Flying Sheep Yarns (only two blocks from my house, lucky me). It was perfect in every way. I worked with a high school student named Mouse who's been knitting since she was five, and knits all day at school. I spent the day straightening bins and inventorying bamboo needles. I'm gonna like it there.

And I started my new real job today, and didn't expose myself as a charlatan.

I am so full of sweetness and light I can hardly stand myself. Admit it. You wish you were me.

Rhapsody in blue

2005-04-29T09:58:00.001-05:00

Now that I have my camera back (thanks, Anne!) I can show you some pretty things. First, a basket of lovely blue sample skeins from Elann:

A basket of blue

I might do an afghan for my mother, if I can find the right deep blue foundation color. Otherwise, who knows? Anyone have any suggestions for me? I might just leave it in the basket and gaze at it lovingly.

Sally Melville Styles has some good advice for how to incorporate odd bits of yarn if you are interested in designing unique pieces from your stash. I am not crazy about the patterns in that book, but the color and design information is at least worth browsing.

Another blue project is on the horizon. Geoffrey is graduating from high school (yes, the one with the famous room), and I am determined to make him something out of this. It's Highland Wool Bulky, again from my beloved Elann. His eyes are exactly the same color. I keep browsing through Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, but can't find inspiration. I need to cast on soon - graduation is in six weeks and I am a slow knitter.

I leave you now with something truly amazing to behold - a garment of hand-spun alpaca, knit in Peru:

Something pretty I did not knit

Bitter grounds

2005-04-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Today is Dave's birthday. I had been scheming and squirreling away yarn shop paychecks for months - money that otherwise would have purchased yarn, so you know I am serious - to get him a high quality espresso machine. My plan was to surprise him this morning with a steaming cup of java. I was even going to try my hand at latte art.

Dave is hard to shop for, and even more difficult to surprise. He does love a good cup of latte, though, so this was going to be the perfect gift. My fellow blogger and foodie Kate recommended the right machine. It wasn't in stock locally, but I uncharacteristically started planning early enough that I could wait the month for it to arrive. When it came my neighbor hid it in her basement (Dave is impossible to hide things from, too). I even bought a simple set of ceramic espresso cups and a tool for tamping the grounds down.

As the day approached, I got appropriately wonderful coffee beans, Grumpy Monkey, and the best local whole milk, Calders, from Big 10 (aka "Cheese Cheese Cheese"). The day before I found some amazingly gigantic, luscious strawberries and some good chocolate to dip them in, for an elegant accompaniment.

Before going to bed last night I sprung the machine from its hiding place and hid it in the back of the truck. I cleverly set the alarm on my cell phone to go off half an hour before Dave usually awakes.

I was at my most brilliant, most sneaky, most generous best (not counting the part that I really wanted the espresso machine for myself).

Until this morning. The alarm went off. I spent 15 panicked minutes searching for my car keys. Finally found them here - whew! Spent another 15 minutes reading instructions and putting the thing together. Then someone sprung Evan from his crib, and he and Brian came to help. Have you ever had two children under the age of five help you prepare espresso?

As I was simultaneously swatting away small children and priming the pump on the machine I snapped the steam nozzle off in my hand. Panicked, but hoping it was a detachable part, I called Kate for tech support. She gently informed me that I had broken the damn thing. But the show must go on! Dave must get his latte! Kate talked me down, encouraging me to forge ahead with the espresso and forget about foamed milk. Unruffled, I placed the cups under the spigots and set the machine to espress, or whatever the appropriate verb is. Hot water gushed from the steam nozzle and all over the counter. No espresso came out. I called Kate again, just for sympathy.

Then Brian, Evan and I dipped the strawberries, made plain old drip coffee, scribbled our names on a card, and headed back upstairs for the sorry presentation of gifts.

I want a do-over. Or maybe not.

When will I knit again?

2005-04-26T16:16:00.000-05:00

Update on the interview - I was offered and accepted the job today and start Monday at 8 AM. It's only half-time consulting, doing software QA for a local company, but I am already worried about when I will ever find the time to knit again.

Someone must stop me. I collect jobs like some people collect eyewash cups. I accepted another job (well, a course assignment for the fall at WCC) just hours after accepting the consulting gig. Early American Lit, for the curious. And I accepted another job last week, at a local yarn store. (Yes, I've switched allegiances.) At least maybe they will let me knit at work on occasion (5/2: clarification - I mean vs. the QA and teaching jobs, where knitting is discouraged).

Is this an illness?

I wanted to blog more about spinning, and show you my lovely fleece and spindle, but I can't find my digital camera. Crap! Oh well, I have to go, anyway. I've got several resumes to get in the mail before my date with yarn at 7 PM tonight. If you live in Ann Arbor, please join us!

Knitting around town

2005-04-26T08:57:00.000-05:00

I've been attending a monthly spinning group with Anne for a few months. Last night Fran helped me with the drop spindle I got at Spinner's Flock last year. I keep breaking the yarn and getting the spin up in the drafting zone, but I think I am starting to understand what is going on.

Sunday I met a new friend Leah at Sweetwaters and taught her how to knit. She's already knitting like a rock star. Seriously, it was amazing how quickly she caught on. She completed an entire pencil cozy during our session.

Tonight I am heading back to Sweetwaters for a meeting of the fledgling Ann Arbor Knit In group. If you are reading me from AA, please come join us.

I'd post some pics, but I'm heading out for a job interview in an hour, and I still have to iron my blouse and park the toddler somewhere. Don't wish me luck, because if I get the job, when will I ever knit?

The more things change, the more they stay the same

2005-04-24T09:43:00.000-05:00

Recall the lovely azalea I posted just days ago? Here it is this morning, covered in snow.

View from the driveway, April 24

But some things never change. Evan continues in his fecal exploration. Yesterday at the mall play area he found a lovely little dried-up turd and popped it in his mouth. And this morning Dave and I were roused from our Sunday AM snuggle by Brian. "Mommy, Evan is playing with his poop again!" Once more, I will spare you the photo.

Maybe Geoffrey was right - it is a sign of mental illness. If if it continues I know I will come unhinged.

On the bright side, I get to do my fourth favorite thing today - teach someone to knit! I am meeting a blog reader at Sweetwaters downtown. Woo-hoo! Should I teach her properly, and risk a repeat of the whole Nancy fiasco?

Score!

2005-04-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

Look what I got for $5 at a garage sale this morning:

$5 garage sale treasures

That's eight balls of Encore DK, seven balls of Paton's Kroy 3-ply (fingering weight), three circular needles, 5 pair straight needles, two baby pattern pamphlets, and two sets of stitch markers, and some mystery off-white worsted.

I probably won't be able to knit with all of it, but there is good EZ baby surprise potential with the rose, grey, and tan Encore. There's also a cute pattern in one of the pamplets for a baby jacket and leggings that will use most of the Kroy. I can give the needles and white worsted weight yarn away to knitting students.

Yay me.

Vaguely scatalogical

2005-04-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

Actually, downright shitty. Literally.

Evan discovered the joy of playing with his own excrement yesterday, and engaged in this new hobby, twice. I am still recovering from the disgust and shock.

I'll spare you photos, but suffice it to say that there were many loads of laundry and many baths. My 18 year old (the one with the room) expressed concern that this is a sign of mental illness. Evan is two. If I had to place a bet, Evan is not the family member most likely to end up in a padded room.

I leave you with a photo, not of a toddler and crib bedding smeared with feces, but of something lovely blooming by my front porch.

Not too shitty

Green is the color of spring

2005-04-18T13:44:00.000-05:00

Here's the beginning of my green green afghan, taking a snooze in the hammock:

It's easy being green

To answer everyone's burning questions - I am calling this a freeform afghan because I don't have a pattern, or even a plan other than to knit when I feel like, purl when I feel like, and change yarns when the mood strikes me. Nothing complicated or even very well thought-out. I am hoping that with garter, stockinette, and reverse stockinette on both sides there will be a lot of visual interest and no right side/wrong side.

The only possibly interesting technical note is how I am using my Denise needles set. I've connected one US 9 tip and one US 11 tip with about 60" of cable. I figure since I am using different weights of yarn, the unevenness of the needle tips and more textured fabric might have an overall unifying effect. So far, so good.

I have exactly two balls of each yarn, so I separated the yarn into two identical piles. When I am done knitting up the first pile, I'll decide if it is big enough to be half an afghan. If it is, then on to the next pile. If not, back to the yarn store.

I know I promised there would be no more dishcloth photos, but I can't help myself. They just look so peaceful relaxing in the afternoon shade.

Well-rested dishcloths

If anyone else in Southeast Michigan is interested in knitting these for Project Scrubbie, let me know - maybe we can get together for a scrubbie knitting party, and or find a local place to sell them. Otherwise, these will be shipped off to California soon. Though I have to say, I am growing quite fond of them...

My next victim

2005-04-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

To borrow a phrase from my friend Kate, this is my next victim:

Lots of green yarn

Except in this case, the victim will be knit, not eaten. I have been haunting the sale bins the last few months, collecting greens for a free-form afghan. I am getting tired of small projects, and want something big and mindless to knit while watching old movies.

Speaking of Kate, here is her daughter Fiona modelling the bonnet I made:

Supermodel spokestoddler

Muskrat love

2005-04-12T13:44:00.000-05:00

I don't have a lot of knitting content for you today, unless you want to see three more dishcloths. Didn't think so. I did discover last night that I can knit dishcloths in a dark movie theater (and in the bar).

Really, it's been too lovely outside to knit much, hasn't it? We had a great outdoor weekend. Saturday Brian and I planted radishes, spinach, and lettuces, (peas, cilantro, dill, and parsley coming soon). Sunday we went to the botanical gardens, where we met this fellow:

Muskrat Suzie or Muskrat Sam?

Yes, I am showing my age.

I am happy to report that I have knitted my required 10 items (full accounting coming soon), which is a good thing, because I bought a lot of yarn lately. I've been collecting different green wools and mohairs for a freeform afghan. I am also about to get started on a graduation gift sweater for the surly one, if I can get over my issues. All this means I should have some actual knitting content soon.

In the meantime, I leave you with more photos from the botanical garden.

Evan discovers there IS light at the end of the tunnel

Brian wallows in daffodils

The transformation

2005-04-08T14:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the mane just minutes before it got chopped:

I didn't think it was this long

The braid for Locks of Love

The new me - don't I look happy?

I was so pleased with myself I went home and made this for Project Scrubbie:

Celebratory scrubbie

Many thanks to my dear friends Anne for moral support and photodocumentation, and Stella for watching Evan so that I could relax during the event.

More signs of spring in Ann Arbor

2005-04-08T14:08:00.000-05:00

Proof positive that spring has arrived in Ann Arbor:

Shakey Jake doing his thing.

And if you need more proof:

Flowers in the side yard

Flowers along the driveway

String Scrubbie Smackdown

2005-04-07T13:31:00.000-05:00

I thought Brini Maxwell was the most bizarre crafting show, until I came upon Craft Corner Deathmatch last night. Annoying announcer, and the Craft Lady of Steel is uninspired, but I love the concept.

I want to see a Celebrity Craft Corner Smackdown, between Brini and Martha. Certainly Martha's buffed up in the last 6 months, but ten bucks says Brini could take her.

I am also a formidable opponent. Gaze in awe at my latest creation:

Janice commanded that I knit a few of these for the String Scrubbie Project for tsunami relief. To spread the joy I coerced Jennie and Denise to knit a couple, too. I still need to get their cotton to them.

I leave you with these words of wisdom from last night's crafting bloodbath:

"Remember, it's cheaper and easier just to buy stuff."

I am a fiber animal

2005-04-06T11:12:00.000-05:00

For those of you into exotic fibers (possum, golden retriever, musk ox), feast your eyes on the soon-to-be-shorn fleece of the Hippy Chick:

I don't normally let my hair get this long. About 6 months ago I decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love, a charity that makes wigs for poor kids suffering from long-term hair loss. Although my hair was long enough to donate at the time, since then it has been very easy to procrastinate the haircut - I finally had an excuse for looking unkempt!

Hair today, gone tomorrow (well, actually Friday)

In the meantime my good friends Deb and Anne have both donated their hair, as has my niece Sarah. People were starting to seriously doubt my commitment to this enterprise, and suspect that I was morphing into Lady Godiva (the one immortalized by Tennyson and Collier, not the famous chocolatier).

So today I marched right into a downtown salon and made an appointment (actually arrived on horseback to much fanfare). Check back in a couple days for the big reveal, to borrow an ungrammatical term from the icky lexicon of reality television.

And if you are curious, I've posted a new Locks of Love button on the right sidebar. Click through if you want more info about their worthy cause and how you can help.

I'd love to hear your hair donation stories, and see before and after pics. Leave me a comment.

I've been tagged

2005-04-04T20:17:00.000-05:00

Awhile back Erin tagged me for a book meme. I'm a bit slow in replying, but here goes.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

Well, the point is it has to be memorized, right? I am terrible at memorizing, so I wouldn't have a chance unless it was in verse. It should also be something worthy of becoming part of the oral tradition. This is a great responsibility, and I take it seriously. I'd like to choose The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, so the plays would live on, but I'd just feel silly doing all those different characters. Am I thinking too hard? OK, The Canterbury Tales. I already have the first 100 lines of the General Prologue memorized anyway.

The last book you bought is:
I've been trying hard to use the library more, and the bookstore less, due in part to lack of funds, and in part to lack of bookshelf space. Here is what I brought home from the library last Thursday:

High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
The Lecturer's Tale, James Hynes
No Idle Hands, The Social History of American Knitting, Anne L. Macdonald
A History of Hand Knitting, Richard Rutt
Knitted Embellishments, Nicky Epstein
Shadow Knitting, Vivian Hoxbro
Sally Melville Styles, Sally Melville

Also some videos - two Elizabeth Zimmerman Knitting Workshop videos, A Star is Born (the one with Judy Garland), and a bunch of kids books.

The last book you read:
How to be Good, Nick Hornby - excellent.

What are you currently reading:

Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood
High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
Saul and Patsy, Charles Baxter

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

A very comprehensive survival guide, with sections on building shelter, first aid, wilderness cooking, you get the idea.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (a decent edition that all comes in one volume, so that it only counts as one book).
The Oxford English Dictionary (the one volume version, with magnifying glass).
The Norton Anthology of English Literature: the Major Authors, 7th edition in one volume (my full-length edition is two volumes, so I can't take that).
The Norton Anthology of American Literature, shorter 6th edition (my full-length edition, at five volumes, would completely blow my book budget)

Rationale - I am not approaching this as a "five favorite books of all time" question - that would be a completely different list (mostly fairly light, contemporary fiction, plus Bleak House, Emma, and Tom Jones). My strategy, instead, focuses on the most pages of worthwhile reading I can fit between 10 covers. Although my emphasis on the traditional canon reflects an unfortunate bias for the works of dead white men, it lends itself to some really enormous anthologies, so if I am stuck on the island forever, I'll be all set for reading material.

Once again, thinking too hard.

What three people will you pass the stick to, and why?
First of all, I am limiting myself to people I have actually met, because I am shy (can't you tell?)

Kate, because of her impeccable taste in and voracious appetite for books. Here's her recommended book list.
Jennie, also a book geek. Here's her book blog.
Denise, because I'd like to get to know her better, and because she used to be a children's book editor. She also blogs about her reading.