knittingfrau

Easter & hair cut

2009-04-17T09:02:00.010-04:00

Glitter eggs, candy hunt in jammies, new shades, Cabury Cream Eggs for breakfast - must be Easter.

Some before and after hair cut pictures, both of us lost about half of our hair.

More signs of Spring soon!

Nothing says spring in Michigan like 6" of snow

2009-04-06T09:39:00.002-04:00

I was taken hostage by Twitter & Facebook

2009-03-24T15:25:00.009-04:00

I've been sucked into Twitter - follow me here.
& Facebook.
Though the love and obsessiveness has be waning.

Back at the ranch, I've been spinning like a woman in love. In love with my latest wheel:

Here's some of my spinning. A trip around some of Michigan's fiber folk.
Suzanne Pufpaff's black wool with streaks of lime, fuchsia and turquoise.

CJ Kopec's merino and corriedale

Yarn Hollow's merino, alpaca & tussah, mmmmmmmm. Beth has a great selection at her shop too.

I've been playing with my drum carder, too. This is some shetland from Windswept Farm, blended with some tiny yarn snips for a little tweedy action

Still knitting some, but I've mostly been a spinning fiend. Not even doing much designing these days. This little swatch might become something for Beth if she likes it.

My Honey , the Andy of this Andy, fractured his wrist while popping wheelies with the kiddos.
He has Injured Husband Syndrome tm - you know, grumpy, restless, cranky. Worse than Man Cold.

New baby

2009-02-03T16:30:00.007-05:00

I have a new to me DT Journey Wheel! All thanks to Carla who kept asking her friend, Nancy, who's not spinning much any more. I never get tired of looking at how it all unfolds. Join me won't you?

Yep, Scotch Tension :-)
Also since Nancy's not spinning much anymore Carla score 3 huge bags of fiber. The biggest yum found - an Indigo Moon batt - merino, alpaca, silk. If you don't hear from me for a couple of days, I'm spinning.

Today the future seems brighter

2009-01-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

Hey Amy! and you other Capt Mal girls out there

2009-01-17T13:04:00.006-05:00

Nathan Fillion is back on tv every week starting March 3.
It's called Castle. And I know you don't even care what it's about.

Hello snow

2009-01-10T15:59:00.007-05:00

It's snowing ,again, here in Michigan

Andy snow blowing for the third time today

Henry's happy about the snow

Isobel cleaning off our AWD car, so we can go drink beer with friends in the neighborhood tonight

How much? This much 8 ish inches in the past 36 hours & it's still snowing hard.

This week's work

2009-01-06T09:57:00.004-05:00

I'm dreaming of knitting new things, but before I start I need to get my yarn house in order.
My yarn & fiber are discombobulated & so is my knitting & designing brain.
So, it's time to clean up & clean out.

It doesn't hurt that, like everyone, money is really tight. There's little to no yarn/fiber buying this year, and I've canceled my plans to go to SOAR. So has Carla, we'll have a slumber party and spin :-).

Here's this week's task:
Sort out single/few balls
Sort out 'sweater's worth'

They get sorted into:
keep
maybe
give/sell
use in teaching kiddos
use in batt making
toss (too tangly or too little)

Here's my pile:

Bags and 1 bin of singles/few skeins

1 - 45 gal bin of 'sweater's worth'

Small boy for scale

Carla's coming over later to make sure I haven't lost my mind................

Ho, Ho, Holidays

2009-01-05T18:09:00.006-05:00

Happy New Year!

Our fam had the most mellow holiday vaca we've ever had.
We rarely left the house and certainly never got out of our jammies until well after lunch.
I knit more mittens and spun a little. I read, and read and read - an entire mystery series 8 books in 9 days, the most relaxing and decadent thing I've done in a long time.

The topper was fantastic news about a dear friend with cancer, Hi Maggie!

Henry & his Build Your Own Lightsaber Kit. "Mom Santa made this just for me in his workshop"

Isobel got her first Ipod. I got all misty when I loaded it up for her. Her first Ipod, she's growing up so fast. Man, those rites of passage have sure changed.

They played this well 90% of the vacation. or, at least I think so, I was reading.

Handstanding on Uncle Matty - no spot needed

A gymnastics injury. She came out of a back tuck on the floor & landed flat on her face. Flat. From 5 or so feet in the air. No broken nose, just scrapes. I didn't see it happen. I didn't let her out of my lap for a couple of days.

Now it's back to the work and school world. My husband's back on the road , the kids are back to school and activities, and I'm already working on the next Knittyspin & Fall 09 Curvy Knits.

When's the next break?

Snow Day - maybe?

2008-12-18T10:01:00.005-05:00

We're supposed to get 6-11 inches of snow tonight/tomorrow - spending the day making sure all teachers/coaches/etc have their wee gifts.

Milk in the fridge would be nice :-) Me and every other human who's planning to be snowed in will be at the grocery today fighting over the last organic fat free gallon of milk.

Also reworking patterns with wild abandon & a calculator for my patience- of- a- saint tech editor at Classic Elite.

Need to be at the girl's classroom to help with writing assignments. Take the boy to a birthday party-in a nearby town. Then pick up girl-feed her-take her to gymnastics-have a heart to heart with the coach about why girl seems to not be giving it her all now that there's talk of moving her up a level - while simultaneously picking boy up from birthday party-in a nearby town.

Haven't got to most things on the to-do list yet, though I added two more pairs of mittens, maybe three to Christmas knitting.

Pass the caffeine I'm full of the spirit of Christmas, or at least full of something, because I'm still smiling. Maybe it's because I've convinced the husband to wrap gifts while he's on an all day conference call.

Oh and anyone expecting to get a Christmas card from me? See that photo up there that's the closest I'm coming this year!

Double Digits in December

2008-12-15T10:42:00.007-05:00

10 days until Christmas and most people I know are losing their minds. I kind of like the holiday crazies - there's nothing to do,but do.
New Knitty went live, it gorgeous. Did you see my pattern? The Briar Rose fiber is some fantastic spinning.
I'm knitting mittens. Non-matchy from odd ball skeins of Noro. They're plain with a little lace at the cuff. Extremely satisfying knitting and gifting.

Running, picking up the wee boy from preschool to make a gingerbread house (yes it's a kit).

Henry Sez......

2008-11-27T11:25:00.002-05:00

"It's Thanksgiving Dudes"

Eyes on the Prize

2008-11-21T07:46:00.004-05:00

This gorgeousness is going to become some 3 ply mittens before Christmas.

For who, you ask innocently? Me. It's my own Scrooge-Along. Wanna play? Make something for yourself with wild abandon.
The fiber is merino/silk from the boys at Threadbear.

Why Entertainment Weekly rocks

2008-11-13T17:23:00.004-05:00

Check out # 6

Though Carla is is excited by #1 too.

The Must List: Week of November 9, 2008

Pink, Kate Winslet, New Kids on the Block, and 12 others make up the countdown of pop culture gems YOU -- and the EW staff -- are loving this week

MUSIC
1. FUNHOUSE, Pink
Breaking up is no call to break down, as divorcée Pink gets some musical therapy on her powerful disc. Not that she has all the answers: ''Please Don't Leave Me'' eventually gives way to ''It's All Your Fault.''

TV
2. KRISTEN WIIG on 'Saturday Night Live'
SNL stars come in two flavors: hams who do characters, and utility players who do everything else. Wiig is both.

MOVIES
3. THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON trailerBrad Pitt ages backward, while time rolls on for Cate Blanchett, as this bittersweet preview introduces two lovers forced to ''meet in the middle.''

DVD
4. REACH OUT Four Tops DVD
Honor the recently departed Levi Stubbs with this disc featuring 22 of the Tops' best performances. The bonus? Previously unreleased a cappella mixes that will thrill purists.

WEB
5. POLADROID.NET
If you miss the days of shakin' it like a Polaroid picture, this site lets you do it virtually, turning digital pics into classic-looking snaps.

BOOKS
6. BEAUTIFUL SHEEP, by Kathryn Dun
Who needs an artful tome (with photos by Paul Farnham) touting the woolly belles of the barnyard? Ewe do.

STAGE AND MOVIES
7. KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS in 'The Seagull' and 'I've Loved You So Long'
Can't get to NYC for Scott Thomas' Broadway debut? Check out her starkly honest film role as an ex-con rediscovering her convictions.

TV
8. KEVIN MCKIDD on 'Grey's Anatomy'
We loved him in Journeyman (axed) and Rome (ditto). Now McKidd has job security on Grey's as ex-Army doc McStudly, who's rocking Cristina's world...and ours.

WEB
9. MTVMUSIC.COM
See? They do play videos. Groove old-school on Biz Markie and Dire Straits, then Rickroll yourself with ''Never Gonna Give You Up.''

I can't quit reading the Twilight series, though book 4 sorta jumps the shark for me.

Also Jacob, not Edward.

A New Day

2008-11-05T08:38:00.001-05:00

Here a link to a transcript of his acceptance speech.

I'm breathing easier, you?

2008-11-04T08:52:00.002-05:00

On my way out the door. I am completely restless today, checking tv, radio, net constantly. I can't wait to finally exhale when this is done. I'll be the one spinning in line, in fact I'll be the one spinning all day long. Join me?

Rhinebeck randomness - Beth are you there?

2008-10-28T13:51:00.002-04:00

Hello I am a Teeswater sheep. Yes, I am wearing a coat. I am sending my love and locks to the Long Wool Avenger.

Miss Beth are you moist?

Happy Birthday Amy!

2008-10-27T14:07:00.006-04:00

It's Amy's birthday!

Photo swiped from Julia, who remember to take pictures at Rhinebeck :-)

it's also Simon Le Bon's birthday he's 50, but I remember him like this

Did you hear Shannon's news? The Omnimedia presence that is Shannon Okey is taking over as the editor of Yarn forward magazine - woooooo-hooo! Congratulations Shannon, when will you sleep?

Mama's off her feed

2008-10-06T20:17:00.006-04:00

Man I love that phrase, it describes so many states of being so well.

Everything about the past week or so has just been off. Some big things like the health of friends physical and mental. Most things are of the incessant annoying variety - the constant to & fro-ing with kids, deadlines, the perpetual politics of parenting and schooling.

And when did the world get so rude? Why drive on my bumper going 80 on the highway - is it really worth dying to get there 5 minutes faster. Don't get me started on driving with cell phones, too fast, too slow, weaving, stopping at a stop sign -past the stop sign, the inability to use a turn signal because your signal flipping hand is holding your phone. Here's my flipping hand.

Today was the bottom of the barrel for the not right. Here's a confession - I like Mondays. To me on Mondays anything is possible. Hell yes I'll knit a whole sweater, blog every day, start a charity,spin a pound of fiber,exercise everyday, connect with my friends and family, do fulfilling and flawless work all week long. :-) It's Thursdays that I hate.

Today is Monday and I got nothing done. Nothing. About 6:30 I resorted to a little used tactic to feel like I've accomplished something. Bleachy cleaner and the bathtub/shower. You could eat out of tub now. I even used a toothbrush on the grout. I feel better, marginally. But I'll take it.

Tomorrow's Tuesday and anything's possible, right?

Here's some spinning that I didn't do today:

It's "fine wool" in a variety of colors with black alpaca. It's roving the the wool and alpaca aren't blended - they're side by side. It made some wonderfully nubby yarn. I did nothing different to the two bobbins. They just came up two different runs of colors. And yes the wool and the alpaca slipped and slided around each other, and once I got over it, it was good.

I can see Russia from my house

2008-09-29T14:35:00.001-04:00

Best New Yorker cover ever.
Do you think she's shaying "shoo, shoo!"?

Lace Spinning at Beth's

2008-09-28T09:59:00.011-04:00

Carla & I took Lace Spinning with Beth yesterday at The Spinning Loft. First Beth had to show off - because it's what she does.
But she does it with Love.
The Fabulous Abby Batt shawl blocked

Peeky-peeky Beth

Marilyn made Amy's Abby Cowl from this issue of Knittyspin from some gorgeous merino/silk

closer

Beth modeling? She's puzzling over how to steal the cowl.
She wants all of her students to bring her gifts like this.

Spinning? Yes, look WooLee Winder free....

I spun 15 samples - really, really fine
BFL
Merino
Merino/Silk
Cormo locks, flicked
Wensleydale locks combed
Masham
Ex fine Mohair
Carbonized Bamboo
Optium
Bamboo
Soy Silk
Bombyx
Tussah
Silk Cap
Alpaca

Carla is ready

If you need one......

Knitting for a Tween

2008-09-26T08:01:00.005-04:00

The girl is finally overjoyed with something I knit for her

Top down raglan, Rowan Cotton Tape -from my stash.
Chunky, top down, it took a weekend!
She has worn it so much that it was ketchup stains on it, and if that's not love I don't know what is.
The downside - I now have list of 8 things she wants me to design & knit for her. And you know I will.
Because of love.

Can you feel the vibrations of excitement (not not that kind Beth!) becasue Rhinebeck is less than a month away......

Here's where I've been......

2008-09-11T12:45:00.003-04:00

Looky Knittyspin has her own front page, it gives me chills to see it. Also Amy's gorgeous design on the cover made out of Abby silk ,uuummmmmm! (Beth has it)
A perfect fornt page debut I think.

Knitty went live yesterday & the crowd went wild!
What are you going to make first? I love the cover sweater.

This issue of Knitty marks the partial debut (Amy & I shared this issue) of my new Knitty job - Ad Sales Queen.
Our former Queen Dr. Steph has gone on to different wonderful things. I'm toasting you Steph!

Saturday is Spinner's Flock & my personal countdown has started for Rhinebeck!

I'll be the one face down in fiber :-)

Have you seen it?

2008-08-18T14:40:00.008-04:00

The new Curvy Knits booklet is out! The photography and model are gorgeous & I've head wonderful things about how round knitters are liking the patterns.
I've been a published designer for 6 years now & it still feels amazingly surreal to see my patterns in print.

Spinner's Flock this Saturday

2008-08-06T14:05:00.006-04:00

Spinner's Flock meets this Sat at 10am at Beach Middle School Chelsea,MI.
Spinner's Flock is my spinning guild and it is a fantastic thing.
There are lots of members at every meeting and lots bring goodies to sell.
Here are some photos from the June meeting.
We had trouble finding a place to sit becasue there was so much for sale :-)

Here's Beth, what's that on her arm?

Masham lace. Moist much, Beth?
We're collaborating on a project.

Carla's usually there too. This month she'll be in Alaska with her husband.
She's bringing home some qiviut, or else.

One of the best parts of Flock is lunch after. Lots of chat, but we've turned it into a Goal Lunch.Everyone has to say 3 goals for the month out loud, they get written in a little book & then the next month we report.
They can be anything, but we try to have one fun thing & one thing we're dreading to do.
I can report that at the ages of 40+ we all still hate to clean our rooms.

I can't wait for the Olympics to start. I know the politics are f*cked, beyond f*cked. But I look at it for the athletes and the athletes only. I cry when anyone gets a gold medal. Hell, I'm crying at all the commercials that keep showing Kerri Strug sticking that vault with torn ligaments.
It is unbelievable what those athletes do.

I've got a pocket full of.......

2008-07-31T08:12:00.004-04:00

does anyone have that song stuck in their heads? I can't stop singing it.
Summer here still has 5 weeks to go.
I've had a summer full of deadline - the entire fiber world seems to love Aug 1 as a deadline :-)

Here are a couple of things that have kept me sane with the kiddos this summer:

Crafts - our house is packed with crafty goodness

This is chalky paint:
1/4 c water
1/4 c corn starch
food coloring
It dries to look like chalk
It makes great body paint, but the blue has to wear off

Technology Tickets
Each kid gets 6 a day. They have to use them for
anything with a screen.
It's totally stopped the summer OD on tv &
the fighting associated with tv, computers, wii, ds..........

I love knitters

2008-07-25T14:54:00.002-04:00

Just took the girlie to see Kit the new American Girl movie.

I'm walking through the lobby after & a woman says "Are you Jillian Moreno?"
I smile & she says one of my favorite lines
"I'm a knitter". (one of the others, "Beer?")
She's here from Texas for her sister's wedding (she's knitting a blanket & no she didn't bring it to the movie because she's at the assembling stage; she was going to X Files).

We chatted knitting, movies, sweaters in movies, that I knit during the movie. It was great.
Knitters, we need a secret handshake, perhaps like the one above, an all fiber handshake.

Kit does have good sweaters, of the cardigan variety. My moment of bliss came near the end. I'm knitting on a secret project, secretly in the dark, Kit comes on screen wearing a sweater with little arrowhead (it's in BW #1) as the stitch pattern - the same stitch pattern I was knitting. I smiled that knitter's smile of secret pride.
Also, the movie with lovely sweaters, was produced by a knitter, Julia Roberts.
I had an afternoon of zero degrees of knitting separation & never went to yarn store.
Now knitting & the hammock are calling. Beer?

Janel Laidman color goddess

2008-07-21T09:12:00.010-04:00

This past Saturday I took a Color & Spinning (a.k.a What the F to Do with All of Those Painted Rovings You Have In Your Stash) class from Janel Laidman at The Spinning Loft. Janel is a great teacher, she manages to explain clearly & get you to do A LOT. For the first time I actually did all of the class exercises. I did not take a lot of photos.

Our hostess, Beth. She is adorned in some dyed Masham that I gave her. I love to make her happy.

Here's Carla , spinning away, all casual. If you look on the floor behind her left leg, you can see that she is hoarding an entire BAG of orange sparkly Abby Batts. She eventually shared.

Here's Janel, her hand is in her pocket hiding a wee whip she carries to class, kidding!

World famous Denny, who came down from Toronto to be moist with us, is assisted by Beth. I have no idea what's going on.

Look at all of that spinning! 9 of those samples are mine the rest are Carla's & Kat's( yea Kat!)

Shhhhhh, don't startle her. I've never seen Denny so still - she's beautiful isn't she?
And a Guinness, a must after spinning class

Vacation food & fiber

2008-07-17T14:00:00.001-04:00

We went to Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City - one of the best barbeque places in the country. We had pulled pork, beef & ribs.
Oh, yes.

There was fibering. If you look closely at the back of our packed car, you'll see freshly spun & set yarn drying on the top of our bags. Merino, Spunky Eclectic.

I spun in the car. Used my Bosworth, sat cross legged in my seat & let the spindle drift toward the pile of crap on the car floor. It worked great, i spun 4 oz of BFL (It's Black Bunny)

I knit a uterus for my friend in Kansas who lost hers to ovarian cancer. I figured she needed a spare and a laugh.

Vacation - the kids

2008-07-14T08:11:00.007-04:00

Over the week of the 4th we loaded up the car with the kids and headed to Lawrence, Kansas.
The kids weathered the car trip spectacularly, with only a couple of threats.
I tell my kids that we have blood family, which we don't get to pick & love family based on love, time and shared experience. Lawrence is our land of the love family. Jane and I have been friends for 20 (!) years, and we always vowed our kids would be friends.
Here's photographic evidence.
Two things we learned in Kansas:
1) stock tanks make great back yard pools
2) a little propane torch beats a punk for lighting fireworks every time

Make my funk the P-Touch

2008-07-07T18:52:00.002-04:00

Yes, I have a whole vacation to write about & even stuff before then.
But today when I was pacing the house in that post vacation "I have so much to do, I can't quite manage a list" mode, I went out & bought a label maker.
It's my friend, it makes everything seem organized.
Ahhh, much better.

In fiber news Miss Pippikneesocks is back online! Don't try to buy the Falkland - I already did :-)

On the Road!

2008-07-01T08:27:00.003-04:00

We're in the midst of making our annual vacation pilgrimage to Kansas.
I spun a few ounces of BFL on a Bosworth spindle in the card and finished up one of my 67 projects I packed for the trip. Love knitting (& now spinning) in the car.

Right now I'm trying not to annoy my family with my morning-personness. I wake up early & I wake up awake & silly & talking, usually. Poor Amy & Carla who have to travel with me the most - though I try to soften the morning person blow by hunting the elusive Starbucks before they're out of bed.

More on the trip, and yes, spinning in the car after we arrive.

Beth had a party!

2008-06-23T15:24:00.010-04:00

Beth, channeling Elvis, had a summer solstice party at her shop

The was spinning in and outside, natural dyeing, many snacks &, of course, much silly.
Yes, Lynne did buy that spindle.
No, Kat did not buy that Jensen wheel.
Kat & Sandy drove across the state to play. My Sandy pictures are blurry :-(
Abby came latter, yes, that Abby. She walked through that open door after I was back home with the children.
Where's Carla? Well, we thought she had an accidental hangover, from a bottle of Coppela wine while watching P.S. I Love You, but it really was a migrane - much less fun.

Ears and Beers

2008-06-19T22:06:00.009-04:00

We had some 9 year old birthday ear piercing around these parts last week.

Before

Right after, can you see the relief?
No tears, just a little flinch.

All of a sudden she's grown up

Then we drank, it was my birthday too!

Hooray for the bear

my beer was as big as the water carafe & I may have had more than one.........

The reality, birthday or not.

Wild Kingdom

2008-06-17T17:43:00.007-04:00

Following in Amy's post-footsteps we continue with (Mutual of Omaha's) Wild Kingdom.
We had a big snapping turtle lay her eggs in our yard.
We are at least a mile from the small to middle sized pond where she lives.
I think she was in love with the bowling balls all over our yard.
It took her 2 hours to dig her hole with her back feet.
30 minutes to lay her 20-30 eggs - that looked like pearls, but were the size of ping pong balls.
30 more minutes to fill the hold and stamp down the dirt.
Then she just walked off, back to the pond.
The babies won't hatch until the spring.
I was amazing to watch, she looks like a dinosaur
Take a look:

More things I loved about TNNA

2008-06-16T10:07:00.003-04:00

This was absolutely true! Amy lost her voice, before the show started - enough said. Fiber people bring out the silly in me, I know my face hurt from smiling and my stomach from laughing. Also I love all of the hugging.

Here's the Classic Elite booth, featuring my new Curvy Knits designs - look at all of that space devoted to fat girls!!! I'll give you a tour of the designs closer to pub date.

I have bunches of pictures to put up - birthdays, fiber, lots to show and tell!

Birthdays & TNNA

2008-06-10T08:57:00.004-04:00

It's my birthday, I'm 45 and I can't stop smiling.
Each year gets better and each year I'm happier.
I share my birthday with some cool cats - Maurice Sendak and Howlin' Wolf.
But this is my favorite birthday sharee and my favorite birthday present ever:

Yep, born on my birthday. She's 9 today. I'll take the birthday picture later, she'll be getting her ears pierced after school.

TNNA was a bucket of love. It's a yarn slumber party. I forgot to bring my camera. The Harlot and Amy have photo recaps and more will be added to Flickr I'm sure. So I will recap some in bullet points:
Amy lost her voice before the show started. I've been working with her for years on Knitty, but having to step in and do the big talking with her standing right there - terrifying.
More Big Girl Knits signing - we signed so many books that my pen ran out of ink. There was lots and lots of Big Girl love
Classic Elite and Curvy Knits - I have my second booklet of Curvy Knits patterns coming from Classic Elite this Fall. This is really where I am kicking myself about the camera. All the garments were there. There was a display with the garments, and blown up photos from the booklets. I nearly cried for two reasons: 1) my designs on the wall at Classic Elite - holy f*ck. 2) a gorgeous big, sexy, succulently sexy woman modeling knitwear on the wall- ON THE WALL UP FRONT in a major yarn company's booth. It made me swoon .
Did you feel the earth shake when Knitty & Ravelry met in person for the first time? Really, the earth shook, angels may have sang.
I told Cat Bordi I'm going to spin yarn for her sock class - now I really have to do it
The Stitch Co-op Girls - there was buzz and there were orders. I belong to a co-op of indi knitting and crochet designers organized by the medialicious Shannon Okey, that sells our patterns into yarn stores. We laughed a lot, also there were nuts, and Nathan Fillion in nut oil.
Miriam Felton - a new friend! We adopted Miriam and made her do wicked things. She makes me want to knit lace shawls.
Clara Parks has an awe-some high school hall smile & nearly made me pass Guinness through my nose.
Carol Sulcoski cusses as much and maybe even more than I do, we had an f-bomb fiesta.

Franklin was there :-)

Sandi Wiseheart - we met, we hugged, our boobs shot sparks.
Julia and the Twist Collective. Have you seen the gorgeousness?
Abby was there and we fondled fiber.
It was Beth's first TNNA, wait til you see what it did to her shop
There was beer

I've taken a crochet challenge

Jenni's ice cream - the Harlot says it best

TNNA is the best kind of reunion it leaves your body exhausted but your heart and your little gray cells full!

Squee-riffic!

2008-05-18T09:42:00.014-04:00

I spent *several* hours unboxing and playing with my new
Patrick Green carder. The first batt off was a blend of - gotland, alpaca/silk & purple silk.
It was blissful :-)
I had some problems with cashmere - I'm sure it was impatience, using puffs that were too big.

It was there waiting for me this morning, ready to play!

Try 'em on!

2008-05-08T19:46:00.003-04:00

The More Big Girl Knits trunk show will be at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor next Tuesday night at 7pm.
I'll be there too, signing books and talking about the Bs that obsess me.
Come play & try on some sweaters!!!!!

The reading meme

2008-05-07T08:57:00.002-04:00

Thanks Steph, I needed a diversion today. I t seems like half the fiber world has chosen May 15th as a due date. Also day 7 of 9 of the Honey Man being out of town.
Beth and I decided we need a Sisterhood of the Traveling Husbands group on Ravelry.

Let's be diverted, shall we?

What we have here is the top 200 books most often marked as "unread" by LibraryThing’s users. As in, they sit on the shelf to make you look smart or well-rounded. Bold the ones you've read.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies (have it at home, might read it)
War and Peace
Vanity Fair

The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations

American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West

The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes : a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

I managed to get a lit degree, and work in the book business for 20 years without reading the Russians or much Dickens. One of the best parts of doing this is recalling when I read them. The most vibrant of memories are the books read for classes, and especially, books read on obsessive binges (Atwood, Kundera, Morrison) authors that so hooked me that I had to read everything they wrote.

Toronto Book Launch

2008-05-05T09:22:00.016-04:00

More partying, more cupcakes, Beer & Cider(!),an Irish band, Shannon!, Denny doing a jig.
Tracey, how are you in none of the pictures?
Yes, we were moist, thanks for asking!

More party pics!

2008-04-24T20:19:00.013-04:00

Because you can't have too many party pics!
We're missing a picture of Rob & Matt - the hosts with the most.
Amy was here & we laughed and met amazing people in person. We played with old friends. We worked on Knitty, and other craziness.

My big girl went to the state gymnastics meet & came home with 2 medals - I cried. Then later I got food poisoning - note to self, just don't eat when traveling.
Tomorrow I hit the rails to Toronto for the next More Big Girl Knits party at Lettuce Knits. Special guests include Shannon Oakey, Denny and Dr. Steph with Guinness!

Woooooooooooooooooo!

2008-04-08T09:29:00.004-04:00

The photo above photo by Mike Yoder shows 40,000 Jayhawk fans on Mass St in Lawrence.
I was there in spirit, and old enough to have been there the last time in 1988.

Happy Book Day!

2008-04-01T08:23:00.003-04:00

Woo0hoo! Today is the official release day for More Big Girl Knits. Amy & I are doing a happy dance, we hope you'll join in!

Abby!

2008-03-31T09:35:00.005-04:00

I spent 6 hours spinning 4 yarns on Saturday & it was fantastic.
It was all types of spinning I avoid - the chain ply, the long draw, the spinning from the fold because I'm not comfortable with them.

Abby made it all doable and gave history and stories. It was never not frustrating, but there's bliss (at least to me ) in that type of frustration.

I love learning new things, especially when it's not easy. Abby made me want to keep trying, and to me that's a key to a great teacher. Not just keep trying, but can't- wait- to- go- be- frustrated- at- my- wheel- until- I- get- it ,trying.

Thanks Abby you are a Rockstar!

Also, we were nasty. My whole end of the room was so moist the whole shop should have felted.
I laughed until my stomach hurt & may have said things that embarrassed my own self.

I am in love with Greg, and am convinced that Kat & I are soul sisters - she laughs even louder than me. Yes, Beth, you still make me moist.

Yes, I do still knit. It is all secret knitting, which sorta sucks because it's deadline knitting. But look at that fabric I'm making, it's yarn from the The Fibre Company, it is wonderful, sexy and tweedy. Now I must go have conversations with a calculator about armholes, then I can spin again.

Spinning, spinning

2008-03-25T13:51:00.012-04:00

My knitting projects have been frustrating, so I've been spinning more. Here's a peek:

Some Beloved Boogie. Fiber BFL Color: Popsicle, Navajo ply & 2-ply. I suck at the Navajo I feel like I may as well be using my toes instead of fingers. So now I Navajo ply all of my leftovers from 2 ply for practice.

Some of Lorna's Laces new Superwash merino Navajo plied. More BB, merino, color: Moonflower, 2 ply and Navajo.

I am lucky enough to have a spot in Abby Franquemont's Spinning Sock Yarn class at The Spinning Loft, so I've been practicing spinning fine.
This is just some regular Shetland. Love the fine spinning, hate how long it takes to fill a bobbin.

This will eventually become a 2-ply finished in the Judith McKenzie McCuin method- menaced with a wee plunger, and bloomed.

My "What is she smoking" thought is this, I'm also lucky enough to be taking Cat Bordhi's New Pathways sock class at Threadbear and I want to make handspun sock yarn for it, to honor Cat's beautiful brain.

Horton Spins a Who?

2008-03-16T14:17:00.004-04:00

Did anyone else who saw Horton Hears A Who this weekend try to decide if it would be better to comb or shear those fuzzy Whos before spinning their fur?

I'm thinking combing like a cashmere goat.

The Day I Ran Away From Home

2008-03-15T17:34:00.016-04:00

These are my kids and I love them.
One or the other has been sick for the past two to three weeks and they both have cabin fever.
Today they got on my last nerve.
"I'm leaving", I told my husband with enough edge in my voice that he just said "See ya, have fun"

The two on my nerves whined"wheeeeerrrreee are you going, what will you bring me, where ,what, where, what, me,me ,me ,me ,me" then they started to fight.

I looked at them, the lights of my life, right in the eyes and said "You two are driving me f-ing nuts" Yes, I dropped the f-bomb on my kids. They'll live.

From the other room the husband yells "Aren't you gone yet?"

I jumped in the car, cranked up Lucinda, the patron goddess of road tripping, and drove , fast. Really, if my ass had actually been on fire I don't think I would have driven faster.
Can those of you in the Ann Arbor -ish area guess where I went? The sign is exit 137 Howell/Pinckney

Two beautiful signs.
The Spinning Loft.

"Beth", I yell. "I ran away from home"
She smiles. Yes, she is always this cute.

Here's the shop

Right wall - raw fleeces, at least 30 - buy a whole fleece or buy it by the ounce. Back corner - the succulents, silk, yak, buffalo, angora, cashmere.........

The wall of dyed rovings.
Also, that's Shannah, she's a Knitty-published author, she has llamas. She's working on something for Knittyspin.

I know I'm lucky to have a spinning store close. It's a great spinning store, it has selection - in fiber, in books, in equipment.
I wanted hand cards - I had 5 different brands to choose from & choices with in each brand.

I went with the Strauch, they felt good and the wood is gorgeous.
I didn't take pictures of all of Beth's wheels - that's for another play day. I want to go and spend a long half of a day trying wheels. Maybe Carla will come?

The haul: hand cards, a flicker, an ounce of cashmere, some California red - for the cards, some raw Cormo - for the flicker. I don't believe in letting my equipment be lonely, even on the ride home.

The hug.
Thanks Beth, for letting me run away to your shop.
Don't forget your article..........

Best Weekend Ever

2008-03-11T09:07:00.005-04:00

These are not women I know, they're from Google images.
But this is what I did this weekend with girlfriends.
We ate, we spun & knit, but mostly we were rude and laughed. We talked about life, the good, the bad - we dreamed out loud. It was pretty damn perfect.
It was our gang from SOAR - yes, it's taken us this long to get together. And yes I've already sent out the email inviting for the next one.

Also, Miss Amy was here, she filled the A2 library and made everyone laugh & learn. I met lots of great knitters, and some new spinners that keep buying wheels......
My kiddos are in love with her. They pile on her, they cry if they can't wake her up, they play games with her she doesn't even have to participate in.

Yes, Knitty is still coming probably today. We worked on it in our jammies on the couch.

It was good & it was just what I needed.

We have booked a hotel for Rhinebeck we're staying here.
It's never too early to plan.

Has anyone seen my Classic Elite design book Curvy Knits out in the wild? I've heard only one peep [it was a love note :-) ] about it. Nothing from Ample Knitters or the Big Girls list.

The sun is shinning today.

Thank you

2008-03-05T05:50:00.002-05:00

Thank you for all of your kindness and understanding. It's much harder than I ever imagined it would be. Right now all the mad I had for her and our relationship has turned to sad, and somehow I have to let that be ok.
All of your words have helped tremendously.

Yes, I been avoiding you

2008-03-03T10:40:00.002-05:00

It's been life. Well the ending of one.
My mother died.
It hit me harder than I thought it would, mostly relieved, but still sad.
It happened Feb 11, so not too long ago, and exactly one year to the date of her stroke.
Her life was so sad, she was miserable for as long as I can remember; just waiting for someone to take responsibility for her life and make her happy.
Between us it had come to the point where I had to choose between her and me (and my family), I had someone else appointed her guardian, and she was about to be moved into a 'home'.
It was a good time for her to be done, and I think she had some choice.
I did send up a word thanking her for giving my life back.

That's where I've been.

Hear me ramble, ah roar

2008-02-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

I'm on Shannon's Knitgrrl podcast today at 4 pm eastern - there will be silliness!

Still Knitting

2008-02-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

But mostly for other people.
A teaser or two:

A pile of exotic alt fibers for a Shannon Okey book

something that needed to be blocked with binder clips

A whole bunch of designs for the Fall 08 Curvy Knits booklet

I may be quiet on the blog front but I'm having a great time designing and knitting.

Classic Elite and More Big Girl Knits

2008-01-17T08:18:00.000-05:00

I'm coming out of my groundhog knitting hole to do a happy dance.

Have you seen the gorgeousness that new creative director, Pam Allen, has created for Spring at Classic Elite?

While you were over there did you notice this?:

That's right, a plus-sized booklet with designs by me.
I am so excited and proud.

Curvy Knits I should be arriving in you LYS any time now.

In other rounded body knitting news Amy & I received our preview copies of More Big Girl Knits yesterday. There was much skype squeeing :-). If you thought the first one was pretty - wait until you see this.

MBGK is due late March/early April at your LYS and other places that don't sell yarn.

2008 is already off to a hell of a start!

o.k., back to knitting................

What I liked in 2007

2007-12-31T16:08:00.001-05:00

It's New Year's Eve & I'm home with two sick kids in the midst of a Harry Potter marathon.

What better time to reflect on what I liked this year:

Knitting Books: I preface this with these have to be books not by my friends nor books that I have a pattern in:
New Pathways blew my mind, I'm a little scared of it.

Knitting New Scarves is the first knitting book in a long time that I wanted to disappear with and knit everything from start to finish in the book.

Other books:

Harry: I laughed, I cried - a lot. I love how it reminds me how books can stop time.

The Thin Place is ethereal without being silly. Kathryn Davis has never written a book I haven't liked.

Best & very apt description of Mistress of the Art of Death - The Canterbury Tales meets CSI.

Music:

Lucinda is one of my life heroes.

I nearly wept when I read that Amy Winehouse was pulled from writing the theme song for the next James Bond movie - never a more perfect pairing exists. Plus how can you deny the beehive?

I've been playing Under the Blacklight everyday for at least a month.

Movies:

I'm a softie what do you want? Did Casino Royale come out this year? If so please bring me a steaming plate of James.

What did you like this year?
Happy New Year!!!!!

The Power and the Glory of Christmas - Kid Style

2007-12-28T16:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, he's really that happy. Do you remember the last time you got that excited at Christmas?

Man Cold

2007-12-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Watch this if you've ever had a sick man in your life.

Snow day today. I mostly watched Tin Man & knit. The kiddos roamed the house.
Ahhhhh.

Tin Man is good to knit to. It's not great by any stretch - it took me almost 2 of the 6 hours to get into it & now at the 5 hour mark I can't just stop can I?

In stop the presses news - I'm reading something other than a mystery. The Gathering by Anne Enright is so well written that after I read the second chapter I went out & bought myself my own copy.

Just yarn

2007-12-11T08:34:00.001-05:00

Doing a project for an upcoming Shannon book with a bunch of yarn from Habu - hemp, nettle, linen, paper.

Some amazing gorgeous gifty hand-dyed yarn from Shannon. Shades of dirt with a purple cast over the whole thing.
Don't know what I'll make, maybe socks. I'm freezing this winter already.

First snow (it was in November). Yes, Henry is wearing pajamas & I am mother of the year.

Crappy cellphone pictures of cute kids

2007-12-10T07:40:00.001-05:00

Yes, it looks like I participated in the november no-no blog mo. All is fine. I even took pictures, just never blogged......

My girl competed in her first gymnastics meet yesterday and brought home a medal. 4th place vault. I alternately smiled and cried.
She didn't sleep with it, but she did wear it to school today.

The other had a lovely Thanksgiving & is thankful for Star Wars, of course.

I've been knitting secret projects. Here's the yarn for one that for Pippi's upcoming spinning book. Merino & Mohair locks. yummmmmmmmm.

I've been obsessed (who me?) with getting organized (again). I'm all about the GTD (Getting Things Done) way by David Allen. It's all about lists. Lists are right up there with swatching as things I love in life. So far it's good. I have lovely lists, empty in boxes and deadlines that are more often hit than not. :-)

I've been spinning too, lime green alpaca blend, lofty goodness. No pictures yet.

For Carla & Amy

2007-11-16T12:20:00.000-05:00

For Carla & Amy, because we're all having a crap day & you both are sick courtesy of me & my children:

Carla : You bewitch me body & soul......

Amy your favorite browncoat with large gun

And your favorite scene.......

All together now: "She'll be in her bunk"

Back to deadlines...........

Threadbear!

2007-11-13T13:29:00.001-05:00

Amy, Carla & I had so much fun at Threadbear this past weekend that the walls fell down.

I had an amazing group of women for my Knit to Fit class on Saturday. There was much giggling and groping of boobies, bellies and butts.

Our hosts with the most. We were lucky enough to get to stay chez Rob & Matt. We were all quite silly and laughed ourselves literally to tears, over things that are unprintable.

Also thanks to the boys I am now addicted to The Soup & Project Runway.

We even wore out the dogs with our shenanigans.

Now I have the laryngitis that my children so nicely passed on to me. I'm healing myself by knitting lace swatches of the Dream in Color (Spring Tickle) sock yarn I bought. I want to make a sweater, yes on size US2 - it just has to be done before I die.

Sweeney

2007-11-08T07:05:00.000-05:00

Obsessing slightly on this movie.
Heh, heh.

Blame Kristi

2007-11-07T08:32:00.000-05:00

It's all Kristi's fault that I am addicted to Free Rice.
Feed the hungry, plus vocabulary fun.
Who said that English degree would never come in handy?
I can't get past level 43.

Halloween & Laryngitis

2007-11-04T17:23:00.001-05:00

Scenes from our Halloween.
Isobel was sick with laryngitis all week & limp on the couch.
She managed to rally & trick or treat to 9 houses before she gave up.
She was a witch (in her first purchased Halloween costume ever), her friend was an evil Pixie Queen.

Dress the boy all in black, give him one glove and a light saber, presto - Luke Skywalker from Empire Strikes Back.
All Jedi dig skittles.

p.s His nose IS orange. He's been eating orange jello without the aid of a spoon.

About the only smile we saw all week. Look at her eyes, poor little sickling.

Can you see why I love him?
We sat around the fire pit and drank beer while handing out candy.

What did we do during laryngitis week?
I taught La Boo to knit continental.
The tongue is important.

Don't you wish you could learn like a kid? It took her exactly 1 episode of Scooby Doo to learn continental.

Me? I finally learned to long draw. That's right Carla, just Let Go! The fiber?
Alpaca/wool blend from Spunky Eclectic, one of my favorite fiberistas

Can you see the teeth makes on my wheel? They're mine, from being trapped in the house for a week with a sick kid & a 4 year old climbing the walls.

When the going gets tough

2007-10-29T10:31:00.001-04:00

the tough spin cashmere. This is Chasing Rainbows merino/cashmere - can't find the tag right now so I'm not sure on the colorway.

Bought from my favorite fiber crack dealer Morgaine at SOAR.

This afternoon I'm going to a meeting where a social worker will tell my mother she can't live alone anymore. She has to go to an assisted or group home situation. She will have to give up her dog and basically hope that she'll be getting better.

Once she's moved it will be a huge relief for me. She can't keep a home help worker - I've been shopping,managing her meds and money, doing her laundry, driving her every where & listening to her litany of woes. Mostly directed negatively at me.

The cashmere was a wonderful balm last night. It's a little thick/thinner than I really wanted. But I predrafted it the last night of SOAR after a *few* beers. So it has fantastic memories spun in.

It will be knit into some sort of neck snuggly for me. Stay tuned!

8 things - random

2007-10-26T10:16:00.000-04:00

Dear moist Beth tagged me for 8 random things meme.
Sounds perfect for this rainy, rambling Friday.

1. I've been to all 48 contiguous US states, I was a mad roadtripper in college. I still love to drive.
2. I tend to obsess on Horoscopes, I'm a Gemini, some days I read 5 looking for one I like.
3. I love Ziploc bags. I have them in all sizes from the snacky tiniest to the huge - hold a fleece size. I know that they were in vented in 1968 and they can be recycled if your city recycles #4 plastic.
4. I am curious & painfully nosy. I was the 'why' kid, and I still am.
5. I love to do research. See #4.
6. I am shy and find it really difficult to small talk with people I don't know.
7. I love bones. I have bones and skulls real and fake. I love them for they fact that they make the most amazing architecture in our bodies. I marvel that and how our bodies move. I probably should have been an orthapod.
8. I want to learn to surf, on a board, before I'm 50.

Is it wrong?

2007-10-24T10:39:00.001-04:00

Is it so wrong that I'm lusting after going to Rhinebeck next year, and I haven't even put away my stuff from SOAR?

Everyone had so much fun at Rhinebeck.

And no, I haven't spun everything I bought last year at Rhinebeck..............

A little pause from SOAR

2007-10-19T11:29:00.001-04:00

If you are or know an Ann Arbor t(w)een knitter come by on Sunday and do some charity knitting at the Northeast branch of the library. Knitted items will be donated to Mott Children's Hospital and the Ann Arbor Safe House.
Now I have to finish the samples.....................

Lend a Helping Hand: Knit Your Bit - For Others

Sunday October 21, 2007: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm -- Northeast Branch

For Grades 4 - 12

Knit a hat, scarf or mittens to be donated to a local non-profit organization. Jillian Moreno, author of "Big Girl Knits," will be here to give advice and demonstrate stitches. Bring your own needles and choose from a variety of our yarns and patterns

SOAR

2007-10-16T15:12:00.000-04:00

Now don't everybody shit at once, but I'm updating.
Not only that, but my SOAR photos are in Flickr.
That *THUD* was Amy dropping dead all the way over in Norway. Hi Amy!

Here are a couple of pictures that make me smile:

Amy and Maggie, who taught her to not only spin, but love spinning. Amy wore a handspun yarn wreath all week. Maggie taught me to spin too, years agoooooooooo.
It kills me how happy Amy is in this picture, she was that happy all week.

Carla did not want to take the Wet Finishing class because there were plungers involved. Some deep seated fear, or kink? You decide.
Here, she menaces me with the plunger.
I'm voting kink.

Amy Winehouse has nothing on me

2007-05-30T08:51:00.000-04:00

This is me 15 or so years ago, when I had the time to rock a mean beehive, and some fine vintage. I am all decked out to be a judge in a drag pageant

Hello from the land of Stroke 'N' Stress!

Things are moving along simultaneously at the speed of light and at the speed of molasses.
The mother thing is still a hell of a quagmire for many, many reasons.
Thanks to everyone who has written from the land of 'oooh, my parent(s) are evil too, hang in'. It warms me in special places to be reminded that not everyone lives in the land of Ozzie & Harriet.
My true confession this time is until yesterday I haven't been able to knit or spin. Really, the healing power of fiber arts just skirted around my ass. The mother stress completely shut down the creative part of my brain.
How do I know for sure? I spent a blissful 4 days teaching in Austin (Word to the HCW-girls!)
happy & relaxed, playing with my friends - I managed to design 3 garments & start knitting on them. I got back home & the need and desire to work my little fingers stopped as abruptly as Coyote flaming out

Instead of knitting I've been controlling my stress by working out. For the past 2 or so months I've been working out every day, and I feel better, stronger inside and out.

So I'm taking all of this as a wake up call that really there's only so much time.
Really, I'm making a WTF list, more like a Why The Hell Not list, Carla's playing & Pippi and Amy.
It started with the unquenchable desire to learn to surf before I'm 50 (I'll be 44 next week) and if that little want didn't open all kinds of secret doors. I actually got to write things down and check them off - write and publish a book, check. Go to all of the States in the United Republic of George Bush Sucks Donkey's, well I've played in 48.

Then I watched the first two seasons of Buffy all in a row and KNIT, I knit until I could barely lift my arms, and it was good. Something for me, not for a book, magazine, or anything work or deadline related, just me.
Hee, hee, just for me

Ok, the stroke report

2007-03-13T14:05:00.000-04:00

It's been at least a month since my Mom had her mini stroke.
Physically she's doing great. Mentally, she's still losing, or not finding words & her memory seems as much as 25% worse.
Because she's doing so great physically, she's not eligible for Medicare/Medicaid services.
I haven't given up. I'm waiting for calls from 3 different social workers- to get their take on it.

So that leaves me as primary caregiver. She is staying at her own apartment with her little dog.
She's getting meals on wheels & I've stocked her fridge with yogurt and Ensure. She won't cook & can't figure out her microwave.

Here's my life for now:
Call her twice a day for wake up and medicine reminders
Take her to 2-3 appointments a week
Have her over for one whole day a week
Arrange all of her appointments Doctors, OT, Speech, etc. etc.
Manage all of her medicines -refills, pick ups, stocking her pill box weekly
Shop for her or with her

Andy does help but he's a working and traveling man

It sucks, but it is what it is. She may get better, she may get worse or she may stay the same.
She's still mean & now is very needy & depressed.

I am managably stressed ( good one!).
My stomach is a mess, so I've had to give up a lot of heavy foods.
Alcohol feeds anxiety attacks, especially the 3 am ones, so I'm not drinking now
I'm exercising to help cut the stress and it works - plus the husband of the gods rigged a way for me to watch movies on my computer on our recumbent bike : )

I am trying my damn best to focus on today, everyday, some days are better than others.
I've given up all of my knitting design work, and most of my school volunteering, which cut another type of stress.

It will get better or I'll get used to it.

Meanwhile I went shopping.
Target is either the best or worst place in the world.
Today I found this:

$25. It is unbelievably cute. I want to wear it with pink Converse.
This & the fact that it's 65 degrees makes me a happy woman today.

Also, Target has started carrying Kiehl's. It seems more expensive than the website, but it's right there!

I'm going to try to post destashing sale yarn every Monday. This is how I'm going to pay for going to SOAR this year. Hooray!

Let the destashing begin!

2007-03-12T16:26:00.000-04:00

On your mark, get set, go! First come, first served : )

Koigu

PPM
324/19

7 skeins
$60 - shipping included to US (more for the rest of the world)
Paypal only

email me:
jillian_morenoATyahoo.com

SOLD!!!!!!

Thanks for everyone's kind words about my mom & for sharing stories of other not-so-nice moms out there. I'll give you an update tomorrow.

Stroke

2007-02-26T07:21:00.000-05:00

My mother had a stroke- that's where
I've been. Hospitals, rehab, the medicare rat race. deciding what to do.
She's not bad enough to go to a nursing home, not good enough to live on her own and no money for assisted living.
Don't even go to the place where she would live with us. She's mean. One of those women who charm the world and torture their own.
She's miserable in her own skin and unhappy at the choices made in her life, which are, of course, someone else's fault.

What I've learned from her, because of her, really- is you own your own life, you can choose to be happy or not, no one will knock on your door and hand anything to you, especially the life you want, or think you want.

Other than the mother-bomb I'm on hella deadlines this week.
I did go to Toronto for a photoshoot, Amy has pictures - I'm the one braying.
The house continues to shed stuff. It still feels good.
Look for me after March 5th, when I start destashing.
I'll be starting with 2 10-skein bags of koigu.

CSI and I married Bigfoot

2007-02-09T09:23:00.000-05:00

Best CSI arc in a long time. I'll have to say I was getting bored with the old gang. Liev Schreiber did a fantastic job as a tortured cop looking for redemption. Kudos too to the writers who had the nads to actually end the arc.
Is it me (or the HD), or does he have the biggest pores on the planet?

I love my husband, but I am in knitting hell. I'm making him socks for St Val's & the man has size 12 feet & want 11" tops, and yes, 8 sts to the inch.
ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
All hail TiVo.

The Purge continues!

2007-02-05T13:17:00.000-05:00

I purged more than a pallet of books.
Gave away a bunch. Sold a bunch more.
That's close to 50% of our books.
The man & I are challenging ourselves & our (my) packrat ways to get rid of 50% of a lot of our stuff, including:
books
clothes, including shoes
toys (don't tell the kids)
stash
stuff in the basement

We're even getting rid of a bookcase.
Carla will fill this with lovely yarn at her house.

We did a smackdown on the kitchen.
Look past the enchanting child to the overfull shelves & kitchen table that holds nothing but piles. There are even piles on the kitchen stools.

Lookie, space. Even Totoro is happy.

To prove I still knit, even if it is for other people.
Bulky knittin' in the most perfect red. Needful Yarns Super merino, doubled.

NO!

2007-02-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Molly Ivins died of breast cancer today.
Goddamn it.

Teeny-tiny

2007-01-31T10:44:00.000-05:00

Right now I'm working on a project for someone else's book.
I'm trying to use Habu silk & steel - the stuff on the thumb. I can't get a gauge I like.
I'm currently on 3-0 with 3 strands of yarn & still can't get a stitch pattern to show.
I'll go as low 4-0, but if that doesn't work, I'm switching yarns.

The other yarn in the photo? Nettle from Habu.

My plates are all back up in the air & spinning. I twas good to take a break and let the world simmer back down to a rolling boil.

The balance - sometimes sick is good

2007-01-25T10:31:00.000-05:00

Mostly I feel like the Cat in the Hat, balancing a variety of people, places and things.
Lately, I've been thrown a curve or two - my mother's dementia worsening due to a drug issue, Andy's traveling schedule ramping up.

We all know what happens in the next picture of the Cat, he adds more things and everything crashes down into a huge mess.
It's taken me many years to figure it out, but finally I've figured out just how many curve balls I can hit & keep going.

Isobel woke up last night with a stomach bug, it kept us up until 2. I woke up this morning & started my period.

I decided to step off of the balancing ball for the day. I canceled my mother's doctor's appointment, canceled play dates, meetings, everything.

Instead, I'm caring for the kiddo, and doing little projects around the house. Stressing 0%.

I put everything down instead of letting it crash around me. It's good.

The Haul - photo heavy

2007-01-23T08:28:00.000-05:00

30 knitting magazine & pamphlets from the late 50's - 1972

A treasure of the good & goofy.

Knitted suits on size US#6 needles - 6 sts to the inch.
Note the holy (to me) ruffle on the orange suit,

Boys, boys boys! With manly objects, of course.

I actually like this sweater. But, what I really like is that he's decked out to ski & is standing next to a barbecue in someone's backyard.

Is that a knitting needle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

The knitted bun cover.

Always tuck your sweaters into your pleated dress pants to ski!

Vogue from 1968. Chunky knits were big. Is "Instant Fashion" is the 1968 code for "Quick and Easy"?

Please note the cost of the magazine 75 cents.
I just bought Vogue Knitting - $6.99. WTF? No I didn't look at the price before I checked out & no I wouldn't have bought it, had I seen it.
I've been ranting about the price of knitting magazines (and books) to my near & dear- like they care. But who can afford to knit these days?
Please no speeches or spreadsheets on the cost of producing magazines & books. Who's making the mad cash? Not any designer, knitter or editor that I know.

Sorry, off of the soapbox.

Eddie Albert got tired of his Green Acres.

Love, love , love this photo (sweater's cute too). She looks like her girdle is so tight she can't sit up all the way.

The best? If you loose a knitting needle you could use one of her eyebrows - ummmm pointy!

Deadline approaching

2007-01-18T09:05:00.000-05:00

The deadline for Big Girl Knits 2 manuscript is is fast approaching. I'm in my part of writing mode (Amy & pass all back & forth - including neurosis).

For whatever the reason I can only actually 'write' - letters on the page for 2 hours - no more I just shut down.
But I am constantly writing & thinking & rearranging in my head. So I am and will be a walking talking space cadet until the manuscript is out of our hands. I frequently find my lost keys in the fridge, for example.

Do not expect sense out of me unless you ask me if a particular sweater will make your ass look fat - then expect at least an hour's explanation of why & what you can do about it, and of course ,why you need a new bra.

I was the recipient of an incredibly generous knitting gift. My blogless friend and uber lactation consultant, Barbara, gifted me at least 30 knitting pattern pamphlets from the 60's that were once her aunt's.
Here's one - the cover is the best thing. There's more, but that's for tomorrow, Scarlett.

ROTFL

2007-01-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

This was in our paper tonight : )

Behold the Lady B

2007-01-12T16:35:00.000-05:00

Behold the greatest knitting bag - the Lady B by Lexie Barnes

It's $130, but worth every penny.

It looks like a post-mod bowling bag.
It's big, but not schlumpy.
Handles long enough to go on your shoulder.
Big outside pocket - big enough for a magazine or a skinny-ish book.

This color is called Viona. I call it Gauguin visits my Avocado kitchen.

Tons of pockets inside. Here's one side. The inside color is shiny penny. See the flap at the top? When you overstuff your your bag (who me?) this flap protects your knitting from the zipper. sweet!

More pockets on the other side, for needles or.....

Oh, yes! That's an 8 inch handspindle (Grafton)

The bag is big enough to hold a whole sweater, even a jacket, maybe a coat with some amount of stuffing.

What's in it in this picture - 3 stitch guides (8.5x11), my big Abra circ holder, a sock in progress & a lonely ball of Koigu. The bottom of the bag isn't even unfolded all the way.

I *heart* this bag.

The count is over 500

2007-01-10T09:06:00.000-05:00

Here's my damage from yesterday - it's all fiction.
Next up art books, kids books & the stacks in the bedroom.

Here's the total so far, way over 500 books

I'm sure there's some deep psychological reason I'm doing this, but all I know is that it feels good.
And now I have room for different books. : )

Behold, empty shelves!

The best knitting bag EVER & I'm lucky enough to have a friend who gave me one for Christmas!
I'll give you a tour tomorrow.

Nursing humor

2007-01-09T09:09:00.000-05:00

I love these photos. The sincerity on the baby's face just kills me.

Today I'm culling fiction books.

Book & lace report

2007-01-08T15:10:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not - that stack is almost 200 books.
Even better it's almost all cooking & house/interior design books.
All going. There's a separate stack for giveaways for specific people.
Our cookbooks went from 6 shelves to 2. It feels good.
We've both been in the book business for 15 years (read free books). I still can't say no to freebies , and don't really feel right unless every room in the house has book shelves filled with books. Next fiction & kids.

On the lace jacket front, I'm up to 14 different pattern swatches. I held a few open for you below. Yes, I will block when I'm done & I'll even reknit the ones I really like on different sized needles.
I love this yarn, but it's proving challenging because it's dark & it's variegated. But I will win.
I've got some cable/lace swatching to do next.
I want to use several different stitch patterns in the jacket.
All the lace patterns are from Japanese stitch books ( I have 3).
No, Shannon, you may not have them.

When you can't knit - read!

2007-01-05T12:28:00.000-05:00

My overclogged head won't allow me to look down to knit. So I've been reading like crazy

St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.

Southern Gothic with adolescent angst, more than a wink to Geek Love, and it's set in the Florida Everglades.
I limit myself to one story a day.

Micro fables, fiercely articulate & totally bitchy

Patricia Wentworth was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, her Maude Silver is a retired governess & obsessive knitter. People tend to get murdered when she's around.

I've also been listening to all of the Artemis Fowl series. I thoroughly enjoy reading fantasy aimed at the 8-12 range.

The entire series is ready by Nathaniel Parker.
A.k.a Eliz George's Lynley on PBS.
He does a mighty fine Irish accent.

I decided this is the year to really cull my books. Any tips to part with my paper babies? I usually pare down by subject, but I'm not sure that will work this time. I do know that I will probably never read a 600 page bio of James Joyce again & I think I'm willing to part with it : ).

Threadbear take me away!

2007-01-04T07:38:00.000-05:00

By last Friday Carla & I were thoroughly sick of the holidays & our families so we escaped to our favorite oasis , Threadbear.

We brought the essentials - Zingerman's & Guinness.

We bitched & moaned & laughed with Rob & Matt for half the day & went home relaxed.
Ahhhhhhh.

Of course I bought yarn! Enough to make a lacy jacket out of Jitterbug in Copperbeach. I even crawled around on the floor at the shop until I found Rob's secret back stock stash.

The photo doesn't do the color justice, but I wasn't going to miss out on sunshine in Michigan in December.

No, that's not a scarf that's several days worth of swatching lace patterns. I started with koigu before I had the Jitterbug. I haven't hit on the one yet.

The kiddos have bestowed a rotten achy, mucusy funk on me. The one that starts by filling your ears & ends up a big cough. Hub's out of town, so I've been doing caffeine during the day & hitting the NyQuil at night - I love that stuff. I love the moment you can finally breathe & the feeling that you're sinking into your mattress as you fall asleep.

Welcome 2007!

2007-01-02T13:12:00.000-05:00

Well, hell it's 2007!

I have New Year's Inertia & so do all of my friends. Complete & totally inability( and desire) to get back in the swing after the hols.

Yesterday I sat on the couch for the entire day, actually the entire family sat or draped themselves on the couch. We started with the Rose Parade, moved to a variety of British mysteries (me), then Ninja Warrior, then the Rose Bowl.

Granted I had those kind of womanly cramps that you get when you haven't exercised in a month and are sliding into home with the perimenopause. My heating pad is my best friend.

I'm with the other million bloggers who cite the Wonderful World of Knitting as my favorite thing of 2006 - the people, the yarn, the book Amy & I published.

What will 2007 bring? Another book is due, that's my only for sure. Not going to do resolutions this year. I know I'm going for all around health, as usual. I want to go to SOAR. I want to clean out my stash & my books. I want to cook new things. I want to spin & knit more. You know same as it ever was.

I have yarn whorish photos to share & some vintage knitting love, but I'll think about it tomorrow!

Mom, it's 9:30!

2006-12-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

No, it's 5:30.
Moooooommmm.
Go down & see if Santa came.
1 minute later
Mom,mom,mom,there'spresentsandcandyandsantaatethecookiesandthereindeerspilledoatsandthere'spresents
Crawls into my bed, presses her nose against mine & smiles HUGE - Mom?

Before

After.
It was a fruitful,and noisy Christmas chez Frau.
Yes, we got up at 5:30 - how could I say no?
Henry took two naps during the day. Isobel was carried along by chocolate & the prospect of the next gift.

I was fortified with chocolate and beer.
Ho,ho,ho!

Like I said, noisy

The king of all things Star Wars.

They are the only grandchildren on both sides and the only niece & neph to Andy's two bros.
They still haven't played with all of their toys.

We've been wearing our pjs for two days, I love Christmas!

Rob, you are killing me!!!!!

2006-12-21T14:30:00.000-05:00

Rob won't quit posting about Jitterbug, the newish Colinette sock yarn. God knows he's the number one Colinette 'ho, but I gotta go fondle some Jitterbug.

Here are the colors I like:

Castagna (Italian for Chestnut) & Copperbeach.
Rob calls them masculine and neutral, so that must mean I'm his butch b*tch.
Forever & always, Rob : )

I have no intention of making socks out of this stuff, I'm dreaming of a long fitted lacy cardigan/jacket thing. It will break the bank won't it?

Carla, Mistress of Public Policy, & I will go on a Jitterbug hunt after Christmas, we'll bring Zingerman's & we might bring beer.

I spent a good portion of the morning making wee felted snowballs with third graders & tomorrow I felt with second graders, so now I'm going to cuss like a drunken sailor on leave & crack a Guinness. Brilliant!

Master Carla

2006-12-18T12:37:00.000-05:00

My partner in fiber crime graduated Sunday with a Masters in Public Policy. Everyone say Whoo-hoo!

Here's she is on the big board at Crisler Arena (Go Blue)

Hugging the head of the school. Carla's crying & I was too. I'm so proud of her.

Carla & her kiddos & her nieces.

One happy woman!

The LOTR scarf is done & winging it's way with a 12-disc set of the trilogy to a 6'4" hobbit.

A couple of Christmas notes

2006-12-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

No one but the divine Eartha Kitt should sing Santa Baby.
Every other version just sucks.
Yes, she was my favorite Cat Woman too.

There is only one true Grinch.

Jim Carrey's Jimmy- Stewart- sounding, alpaca- suit- wearing Grinch, just doesn't count & is really creepy.

Ditto with Cat in the Hat.

Whew! I feel better now. I fester & rant over those two things every Christmas.

Anyone with small kiddos looking for a non-skin-scorching space heater. Try the Vornado, warms a room but doesn't get too hot. As bonus for impatient spinners, use it to blow warm air on damp skeins that you're in a hurry to knit with, they dry in a jiff.

HolidAAAAAys

2006-12-16T10:58:00.000-05:00

I spelled Holidays wrong on our Christmas cards - what an ass. Of course the hub proofed it too.
Goes to show, yet again, details are not my thing. Picture is adorable though.
on the craft front. I ran out of gotland & am spinning like crazy to make up for it - must ship by midweek.
My brain is trying hard to come down form 11 days of hyper parenting vigilance while the husband was away. Def feel less stressed, but I found my car keys in the fridge.

What is going on with the tv show Numb3rs? I used to love it now, eh. It seems like 1) they're making it unnecessarily violent 2) they're trying to making the main characters more individuals & losing the connection between them. Just my thoughts.

Yarn opinion please. Has anyone used the Colinette superwash merino sock yarn, Jitterbug? I just saw it online & got a brain flash for a garment.................

Day 8

2006-12-12T08:25:00.000-05:00

My hub has been gone on a business trip for 9 days with 2 more to go. I am a fried mama.
We're eating a lot of packaged food from Trader Joe's and watching every Christmas special on tv, more than once.
I'm pretty much going ot bed with the kids ,so not much fiber has been going on here.

I spun my gotland for the LOTR scarf

I swatched for a while & decided on a mistake rib. I wanted a woven stitch, but it got cardboard stiff very quickly.

I managed to find a great deal on the extended version boxed set of all 3 movies. The one that has the Peter Jackson commentary, not the new one. The recipient of this gift pack is going to be one happy guy.

Plus the hunt and the process of this has been a lot of fun.

Working on socks for the girlie and matching ones for her American Girl doll.
There are great AG sock instructions here.
They take about a second.

I decided that a pineapple would make a great colorway

Then there's this.
I've always loved James Bond, but the new thuggy James has me over the moon.
Having an actor that can do more than one emotion makes this Bond more than things blowing up - but the blowing up is good too.
I've always loved the underlying menace that Daniel Craig does so well.

Watch Layer Cake.

He's also going to be Lord Asriel in the Golden Compass.

You're welcome.

New Knitty is ALIVE!

2006-12-09T09:22:00.000-05:00

New Knitty! New Knitty!

And my new pattern Lauren.
It's Morehouse Merino & handspun BFL from fiber dyed my the uber talented Spunky Eclectic. Yummy!

Lucky ,lucky spinning woman

2006-11-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

Not only do we in SE Michigan have a shameless number of knitting stores at our doorstep.
We have one of the biggest spinning guilds in the country Spinner's Flock.
Really I don't know if it's one the biggest, but I want it to be. I think we have 250 active members.
That's how I am, I want something to be therefore it becomes fact.
But now we have a not so new but improved spinning store 30 minutes away.
Spinning Loft
123 Mason Road
Howell, Michigan 48843
517-540-1344

There's a Grand Reopening Party there this Saturday 10-5.
There will be snacks & prizes.
You better get there early before Carla & I buy everything.

I may be shooting my latest project for Winter Knittyspin there, depending on the crowds.

Does anyone think there's a chance in hell that Schacht will ever make a gorgeous foldy portable wheel?
How's that for random?

One worder

2006-11-27T09:16:00.000-05:00

Snitched from Julia

1. Yourself: Centering
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): Beloved
3. Your hair: Goddess
4. Your mother: Trial
5. Your Father: Nuts
6. Your Favorite Item: Children
7. Your dream last night:Podcast
8. Your Favorite drink: Guinness
9. Your Dream Car:VW
10. The room you are in:Family
11. Your Ex: BR-549
12. Your fear:Failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years?:Balanced
14. Who you hung out with last night? Family
15. What You're Not?:Conservative
16. Muffins:Poppyseed
17. One of Your Wish List Items: Nap
18. Time: Fluid
19. The Last Thing You Did: Write
20. What You Are Wearing: Rowan
21. Your Favorite Weather: Sun
22. Your Favorite Book:Dahl
23. The Last Thing You Ate:Chocolate
24. Your Life: Full
25. Your Mood:Shifting
26. Your best friend:Necessary
27. What are you thinking about right now?:Book
28. Your car:Wagon
29. What are you doing at the moment?:Work
30. Your summer:Simple
31. Your relationship status:Unified
32. What is on your TV?:Murder
33. What is the weather like?:Sun
34. When is the last time you laughed?:Now

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

The best part of Thanksgiving? Stuffing/Dressing!
We make it in muffin tins for single serving goodness.

Topped with a fried egg it makes my favorite cholesterol heavy breakfast.

It's an all fiber day for me. Sock s to knit at the in-laws later, but now, while the kiddies are watching the parade & Andy reads ads, I'm blissfully spinning gotland/alpaca. All is bliss. I'm most thankful for the small moments in between , we breathe ,we smile, we love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

R.I.P Robert Altman

2006-11-21T12:14:00.000-05:00

Brilliant, just brilliant.
He blew my mind as an 20 year old film student.
He changed the way I thought film should & could be.
Thanks Bob.

Picture of my brain

2006-11-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

No straight lines for me. Here's how my brain feels:

Every year the holidaze throws me for a loop. The husband goes away for ten days around the first of December every year for work. I aim to be done with all things Christmas* before he leaves & preferably by Thanksgiving. It makes us (mostly me) less nuts when he gets back, mentally fried by 12 hour days of work meetings.

Really, he doesn't have the mental acuity at that point for big questions like: does Isobel really need more Polly Pocket toys? Henry's Star Wars obsession is starting to freak me out, is it freaking you out? Did we buy the kids too much stuff? Did we buy the kids enough stuff? Did you buy your mother a present she won't hate? etc.

Shopping to support the economy, and generally making small tasks verrry important is also a great way to avoid doing the work I should be doing - editing Knittyspin, Knitty reviews, and writing BGK2 (due at the publisher Febuary-ish).

I love to avoid, sidestep, procrastinate - a little is good, it creates adrenaline, too much & I'm beating myself up because I'm not even working TOWARD, much less UP to that secret potential everyone envisioned for me while I was growing up.
All of you neurotics out there understand.

Back to the work I must do & maybe a little spinning to keep it light.

*not knitted gifts, those go right up to the 23rd then get overnighted