I didn't actually intend to buy anything

But hey, that never stopped me.

I taught a Fair Isle knitting class this morning at the Yarn Basket-- we were covering knitting with a color in each hand, tension, weaving in ends. For Corey and Michele, it was also a chance to learn continental style knitting -- which they did in, like, a minute. They're busily making the White Witch mitts from Knitting Daily. Of course, having spent the morning looking at the mitten pattern, seeing the pretty colors people chose, etc. -- I'm feeling the need to make a pair. So I told Beth I'd take my earnings in yarn, please. I'm going in this week to pick out some.

I didn't have time to choose any today, because Scott and I drove down to Bowling Green to the Black Swamp Spinning Guild's Market Days. They had lots of fiber --

I brought some home --

It's Polwarth, tussah silk and angora from Linden Lane Farms -- Liz Cowdery is a member of my spinning guild, so I was happy to give her the business. (You can probably assume that I mean that in both senses of the phrase)

I also picked up a couple of magazines and some information about historical re-enacting events taking place over the course of the next few months. I've done a little Civil War-era demonstrating, and I like it. Except I don't really like the battle re-enactments, so that does limit things a bit.

I'm beginning to develop an interest in the early American/Voyageur era -- feeling the need for a new costume. I'm abysmally uninterested in current fashion, but hey, let's talk bonnet styles of the 19th century, and I'm right there.

I'm dreaming of a white ... summer?

Sigh.

We woke to this --

It's pretty. I guess. But really, right now, I'm looking more for ...oh, I don't know....

SPRING!

The mail brought my fiber from Sivia Harding's auction -- it's organic cotton that is naturally colored. Pretty. And it will give me something to do with my little charkha. I don't knit that much with cotton, though, so I'm not sure what to make with this. I don't think it's enough for anything too large.

I'm working at home today, so at least I didn't have my usual 1 1/2 hours of driving each way. And of course, during lunch, I had time to finish these.

Wool socks. I'll be wearing them in July at this rate.

A very good fiber day

Today was a very good day -- for friends and fiber.

I got an e-mail from Sivia Harding saying that I was the high bidder for two balls of Fox Fibre organic colored cotton she was auctioning off, along with other stash items, in memory of her father. All proceeds are being donated to Doctors without Borders, an organization I wholeheartedly support. As a thank-you, she very generously threw in a free pattern of the bidder's choice -- I'll be casting on the Shetland Garden shawl before you know it.

Tonight was my wonderful knitting group meeting at Trees of a Feather. This is like walking into Cheers -- if they don't already "know your name", they'll find it out quickly. It's fun, it's about fiber; what more could you ask?

Then, I got home to find that Scott had purchased this -- Nice detail on the mother-of-all --

Scott is a woodturner, so he appreciates the craftsmanship of old spinning wheels, and he's getting into repair and creation of wheels. (At this point, imagine my fist thrust into the air accompanied by a resounding, "Yesss!") He found this wheel at a local antique mall -- and it was underpriced. (Again with the "yes") It needs a little bit of work, but it should be ready for me to use it at a historical re-enactment in May.

We are trying to figure out a little history about it, though. It's not in Spinning Wheels and Accessories by Pennington and Taylor, as nearly as we can tell. It appears to have the mark, "I HOAR" or "F: HOAR" on the end of the table --
It's not a great photo, but it gives you the general idea. Any thoughts?

See? Good fiber and friends day -- I'm especially appreciative of my best friend, who knows that the way to my heart is woolly.

Happy spring? Not so much ...

Remember the robin? Spring? I shouldn't have knitted the d*mn spring socks -- obviously a jinx. We woke to this --

a foot of snow.

I watched a squirrel doing the breast stroke through it to get near the bird feeder. He looked so hungry, I couldn't resist --

Sorry Steph.

So, I pulled out a skein of Trekking XXL and started on another pair of wool socks.

Which brings me to this -- my profound philosophical ruminations on socks, knitting and the nature of the universe. I bought Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters, on my birthday last year. It's a great book --I have deep, deep admiration for the way this woman's mind works. I'm glad I have the book and I would recommend it to everyknitter. So, yesterday, I sat down to make socks and looked through the book to decide which pattern I'd like to try.

Here's the thing -- the socks are great, the "engineering" is amazing, but I found that I don't want to actually make any of them. I knit a lot of socks; I love knitting socks. I really love wearing handknit socks. But, for me, part of the joy of making socks is the almost total mindlessness of them. They are the vanilla ice cream, black coffee, white bread of my knitting life.

Sure, I may put a stitch pattern in the leg -- note the spiral rib in the Trekking socks. But basically, they are just socks. I don't need to think about what I'm doing -- knit the cuff, knit the leg, make a square heel flap, turn the heel, knit a foot, make a toe. Et voila, sock! And they are perfect because just when one part gets boring, it's time to do the next part.

So, no disrespect to Cat Bordhi, but I think when I want challenging knitting, I'll stick with the Shetland lace shawl I'm making from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting. I think it will be beautiful, and I won't wear a hole in its heel.

Insomnia knitting

Once again, I am out of bed in the middle of the night. And here I was having such a lovely time staring at the ceiling and worrying about work. There is nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of a looming deadline, the panic over whether photography is in, the mental proofreading where you wonder if you had the details of the cover story adequately fact checked. Ah, the glamor of publishing.

My solution? A trip through Ravelry -- in many ways, it's like spending time in a small city. Where everyone likes to knit.

I can check out other people's patterns and get inspired. Check out Phazelia's work -- just beautiful. And there are beginners who need a helping hand. There are the dramas about a yarn supplier who has possibly faked her own death,

and there are the knitting celebrities.

Now, of course, I should probably get to work on some actual knitting -- but if you don't see me with needles in hand, you'll see me at Ravelry. If you haven't joined yet, please come on over and check it out -- we're having a great party here.

It's Spring, and the world is mud-luscious ...

i love ee cummings and that is one of my favorite of his poems -- and today the world is indeed mud-luscious. It's everywhere -- including my entryway. But mud brings these --

and for me, there is nothing at all that says "spring" like a robin. I'm feeling a twinge of hope that we may also have sunshine and warmth at some point.

I've finished my Tofutsies socks. They're just a Quaker rib-type top with a plain foot. Mindless knitting for the train. The yarn is OK knitting -- nothing spectacular, but I am very happy with the finished results: the socks are light and very comfortable. Perfect for slightly warmer weather. (If I knit spring socks, spring will come?)

And when I was in Chicago, I bought some merino laceweight at Loopy Yarns -- I want to make a shawl for spring -- any suggestions? I'm thinking maybe something from Victorian Lace Today? Or Stephanie's dewdrop shawl. But I'm open to other ideas ...

I also got some Trekking XXL -- it was a 60% off sale and really, can you ever knit enough socks?

Right Brain, Left Brain?

If you have not seen this yet, go check it out. Is the dancer spinning clockwise or counterclockwise for you? I have always thought of myself as left-brained (you know, the whole word/language thing), but I am telling you, this girl spins clockwise when I look at her -- which is supposed to be a sign of right-brain dominance. In fact, I really thought my sister was pulling my leg when she said she saw her spinning both ways, depending on what she was thinking. Finally, I took her suggestion and did some math calculations while I was looking at her, and there she was, spinning counterclockwise! Go check it out and tell me what happens for you!

We were in Chicago last weekend -- did I bring a camera? Of course not. But we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Cultural Center. The latter, housed in the former Chicago Public Library, is a tribute to language, to poetry, to books. That people spent the money and artistic effort to build this paean to the written word warmed my soul.

Of course, we had to find a yarn store. So we headed to Loopy Yarns on Wabash. I bought sock yarn and some lace weight for a summer shawl. And a cute little knitting pin. Everyone who worked there was delightful, the double entendres and laughter were flying around the cash registers -- I'll be back next time I head west.

Better Together

Have I mentioned that Scott is a woodturner? (If you've talked to me for five minutes, I'm sure I have.) In fact, his woodturning is what brought us together -- in a way.

Picture a funeral, a hand-turned urn -- the need to transfer ashes from the utilitarian box to the urn. Trust me when I tell you that you need two hands for this. Enter Scott with the urn and me with a paper funnel. This would be the Readers' Digest version of our first date.

So anyway, Scott is a woodturner. His woodturning group issues a monthly themed challenge -- this month it was to make a collaborative turning with someone else. Scott and I have collaborated before; remember the Christmas ornaments ? For this challenge, we decided to do something that reminded us of trees at sunset --

The base is turned cedar, the vessel is felted from Cascade and then needlefelted with hand-dyed roving (Corriedale).

Unfortunately, we were out of town during the woodturning meeting, so we have no idea whether anyone liked it. Fortunately, we were out of town in Chicago -- more later.

Time alone

I was just reading Stephanie's blog about being alone in the woods and it brought back memories of my time at Visitation at the IHM motherhouse in Monroe. I stayed in one of the tiny hermitages to get some writing done. And I did -- it was wonderful.
It was also the first time I had ever been alone for that long. I actually lived with my parents until I married the first time. After I divorced, my children were always (thankfully) with me. And then I married the man who is my love, my life partner. So being alone for more than about a day was not something I'd done.

What I discovered was not only that I am pretty decent company; I more profoundly found time to play. I wandered down to the pond and spent a long time really watching the tadpoles, wading in after them. There were no set times for anything -- meals, bed, waking. I painted really bad pictures, I watched the moon rise, I wrote in the middle of the night, I ate dinner in the middle of the day.

Although I haven't done it again recently, I have carried the memory of play with me and I find it now and then in my "real" life.

Harbingers of spring

The last issue of Piecework reminded me that I had knit the cover mittens 12 years ago for a friend's 40th birthday. The gauge is off -- I'm a better knitter now than I was then.

But the project was truly a labor of love, and had its own challenges -- mostly, charting a poem or saying that would fit into the mitten graph and make sense. Although it's hard to see in the photo, these read:

Through winter storms'

bluster and blowing snow

drifts piled mountain-high

to touch the ice-blue heavens

true friends bring us

the warmth of blazing hearth,

outstretched hands and laughter.

(My friend's name and birthdate)

On another note, the snow is still thick on the ground. I slid off the icy roads yesterday (no damage, no worries, just a little adrenaline rush). But spring is just around the corner.

How do I know?

That's how.
So festive, so cheerful.

And yet, so inciting violence.

Happy thoughts of spring.

Teaching lace ...

On Saturday, I'm scheduled to teach a class on knitting the Ice Queen. The people who are currently signed up for the class are experienced knitters -- just not with lace. And while I may knit a lot, I'm not necessarily an experienced teacher.

So, I have a question -- if you were taking a class in lace knitting, what would you be looking for? Chart reading? How to "read" what you've knitted? Fixing mistakes?

And what little bits of information, tips or tricks do you think it's essential to pass along?

Any advice will be gratefully accepted.

And possibly followed.

I am... the fleece police!

OK, now doesn't that give you visions of me in a shepherdess outfit, brandishing a shepherd's hook as if it's a billy club? The reality is a tiny bit different ...

Yesterday was the Spinner's Flock Fleece Fair -- for spinners and knitters, the equivalent of being a squirrel let loose in a peanut factory. (Yes, I know it's an odd analogy, but I didn't want to use the cliched kid in a candy store, and my brain is a little fried from hours at the emergency room this weekend with my brother.)

There was roving ---

There were spinning wheels -- There was handspun yarn ---

Spinners, teachers and shoppers --


And miscellaneous "stuff" --

It was great!

So what does this have to do with fleece police? Well, someone needs to make sure the products are all really handspun, that nobody has hung his or her skeins of yarn over someone else's, that the fibers are all grouped together appropriately, etc. Mostly, it's a great excuse to do some early shopping.

Which, of course, I did.
I scored several balls of roving --
I really like this one from Spinning Moon Farms -- it's 70% Corriedale and 30% mohair. I think it will make fabulous socks. I've spun Edie's roving before to make my daughter a hat, and the colors were amazing. Meet Janice -- a lovely and clean (I mean amazingly clean) Border Leicester fleece from Linda Koeppel's flock. I think I could just shake out the little bit of chaff that is in this. I'm really looking forward to processing it -- but since I only wash wool outside, it will have to wait for spring.

Spring is coming at some point, right?
I also succumbed to the temptation to try needle felting. A couple of the members were demonstrating -- And so I bought some foam and needles to get started. Actually, Scott and I are working on a collaborative project for his next woodturners' guild meeting, and I want to needlefelt a bowl.

I'll keep you posted how that turns out -- those of you who know me know that I am a bit of a klutz, and these needles came with warnings about tetanus shots. I just hope I don't bloodstain everything I try to make.

And my real score were these --
A boatload of old Spin-Off magazines. The earliest is from winter of 1985, before I had started spinning. I cannot wait to go through all of them -- not only as a spinner, but as a magazine editor. I'm fascinated with the design upgrades and changes throughout the years.

So, you can see that my Sunday afternoon is well spoken for. If only I didn't have that pesky work thing tomorrow -- I could spend the whole day in fiber heaven.

A few of my favorite things ...

In a shameless, admitted attempt to be the number one item on my blog, Scott went out of his way to make Valentine's Day lovely. Usually, we go out for a great dinner at the Evan's Street Station and exchange cards. This year, when we got to our table at the restaurant, this was on the table ---

A little bit of springtime in the midst of this. See the little flakes falling?

Well, maybe not. But trust me, they're falling. Again.

And then he gave me this ---

He knows I'm a sucker for dichroic glass. This man -- my partner, lover, best friend -- has really made me aware of how blessed and lucky we are in our marriage. We both have previous bases of comparison -- this relationship really is my favorite Valentine's gift.

I also finished this --

I was totally charmed knitting the Flower Basket shawl by Evelyn Clark. It's a Fiber Trends pattern and is simple, easy to "read" your lace so that you can fix mistakes, and was a pretty quick knit. I used two skeins of Schaefer Heather in the Margo Jones colorway. I loved the yarn and loved the color -- my only complaint was that there were several areas where a ply of the yarn had broken and frayed. Other than that, though, it was really lovely.

Last, but not least, in my book, is this ---

All the members of my knitting group have used these as knitting gadget cases for the past two years, and Brenda bought me three of them the other day. These little pencil cases are the absolute BEST knitting tool cases I have ever used. The fine mesh at the bottom keeps everything in, but is transparent so that you can see your stuff; there is a little pocket on the inside at the top where you can keep small or often-grabbed things like folding scissors, sticky notes and darning needles; and it sits upright on the table. I love it. Sad, isn't it, the little things over which I can geek?

Tomorrow is the Fleece Fair in Chelsea -- lots of stuff to buy, lots of fiber to fondle. I'll be working as the "fleece police" -- hope to see you there!

Old tools, new tools

It's official -- my computer has died. Luckily, its precious memories live on in its child -- our external hard drive. However, one cannot live on memories alone. I need a replacement.

This is not an exciting purchase for me to contemplate -- it does not compare to, say, a trip to Threadbear in Lansing. This is more like replacing the water heater -- an expensive necessity. But it is a necessity -- I cannot keep working from Scott's computer whenever it's not busy doing his actual business stuff.

I have to say, I'm also feeling annoyed. Irritated. Ticked. The late computer was only 3 and a half. I know the computer geeks out there (like my son) will assure me that that is old for a computer. But, see, for $1,500, I expected a longer time together.

This has prompted comparisons between this tool -- so necessary when one's profession is that of editor -- and the tools I use in the other, unpaid part of my life. I have knitting needles that are older than my children. They have never broken. In fact, I think I've only ever broken a couple of Brittany Birches and the cable ends from one KnitPicks Options cable. Not bad for more than 24 years of knitting. And we're talking, what -- $10?

I also have a couple of spinning wheels. I've had them for a long time. I understand them. In sentimental moments, I like to think they understand me. It's a beautiful relationship -- when I am stressed, they help calm me; when they have a problem, I can actually make them better. They do not require an examination by a computer student, followed by a terminal diagnosis I can barely understand.

And I have to say that I think my knitting and spinning tools help me produce things of beauty. Colorful yarns, cabled sweaters, lace, the top for my wedding dress.

I'm not sure that anything I produce on the computer, this much more expensive and complicated tool, ever compares.

Well, maybe the occasional poem.

Maybe.

Too sick to knit

Scott and I have both been down with a flu so nasty that we've each had to take an entire week off from work. I don't think I've ever done that before. However, it's hard to be productive when you're underneath the wheels of the truck that's running you over every day. I didn't even have the energy to knit until today. However, now that I'm back at it, I'm working on the Flower Basket shawl in Schaeffer Heather. Great yarn, lovely to knit -- and I would show you some pictures, except ...

My computer has also been sick for a week. It kept shutting itself down with a long Windows error message. One of my son's friends thinks it's a Windows update problem and is trying to fix it. For now, I'm on a borrowed computer, and no pix. But soon. Sigh.

Tomorrow, I'm going to summon up the energy to go to the Spinner's Flock meeting. I'm not sure I can muster up enough zip to take the spinning wheel along, but I can at least knit.

If you're in the Ann Arbor area and want to spin, maybe I'll see you there.

Can I knit a cocoon?

This week, my baby got her driver’s license. For her, a milestone in freedom and independence. And, as we remind her often, in responsibility. For me, the next step in the “mother journey” – the continual exercise of letting go.

I’m happy for her, really; and I’m proud of her ability and her new skills. But there is a place deep inside me that wants to knit her a cocoon to keep her safe – from other drivers, from herself – and, heck – from the whole world. I want to wrap her in something thick and soft that will shield her from any harm. Like woolly bubble wrap. But little butterfly that she is, I know she’d eventually find her way out. And that’s as it should be.

Perhaps what I really want is not to knit, but to unravel. If life were more like knitting, I could gently pull the yarn of time and go back – to hold the tiny baby she was (and will always be to me) and to be able to control so much more of life’s dangers. I could re-knit the same pattern, but omit some of the mistakes I made along the way.

Life is not a sweater, however. Her life is changing, and so is mine. I wouldn’t have it any other way. But if you see my baby out there, treat her carefully. She’s precious.

Franklin in Michigan!

The weather was snowy -- the driving was terrible.

But I was first in line in the Threadbear parking lot yesterday to meet Franklin Habit. Which was good, because I had a baby shower to attend and the line got long fast.
See, this is how I know I am officially middle-aged -- my biggest celebrity crush is on a knitter. Who, by the way, is delightful in person. He does a great job of making his photo subjects feel completely at ease. Which is a real gift.

I knit on the scarf for the 1,000 Knitters project.

I talked to Franklin.

I watched him work.
I got my picture taken with him.
I was smitten. I want to fix him up with my brother.

Then I went to my sister-in-law's baby shower for another dose of feeling old. I actually heard myself saying things like, "Wow, they didn't have those (insert name of coolest new baby gadget) when I was having babies." Oh my God, it's exactly what my mother used to say when I was pregnant.

There was a lively conversation about the value of disposable vs. cloth diapers. I suggested to the women on the cloth side of the debate that I think we should return to cloth diapers as soon as all women are also ready to return to torn rags for sanitary feminine products. Not so many takers on that idea. Ah well, it's tough to be cutting edge.

Laura looked beautiful.

And she loved the peapod sweater set. Now, I just have to deal with my daughter and her friends who want them knitted up in their sizes.