OK, this one is boring if you aren’t into problem solving or geeky stuff. Come on back tomorrow, if this is not your cup o’tea. OK? Yeah, the photo is a decoy and not about much in this column. (LynnH hugs you as you leave…)

Geek, Geek, Geek (again)

I spent much of 3 days trying to solve my problem saving Mom’s book #1 properly. I read the help files on the site I was planning to use to print her book, I read everything I could find on Google, asked a few friends who do similar work. No luck.

Then I wrote to an email group on Yahoogroups, where the members of that group do basically the same sort of work I do (writing/self-publishing patterns). I got several really helpful emails, some of which told me to do what I had already done.

The issue in particular, for those interested in details, was that I needed to create a .PDF file from Adobe InDesign, and it had to have the font fully embedded. The font I was using did not have restrictions on doing such a thing. Yet no matter what I did, I got the font embedded as a subset (not all the characters) rather than the full font. I must have tried to do it a dozen different times, with the same result.

When I tried to upload a PDF with a subsetted font (or no font embedded at all) just to see what happened, the site would error out and tell me I didn’t have proper embedding. Which was true, if I was to meet their specific requirements (and then be able to order copies of the book).

VISTA Woes… Again

With folks on my team (email list) who do this sort of thing every day, telling me I did it totally right, I took a bold sideways move. I installed the InDesign software on my old WindowsXP laptop which has been threatening to quit working for a year and a half.

I made the PDF according to the instructions I’d been following for 3 days on my VISTA machine. And I hate to say it, but it fully embedded my font the first time.

Apparently VISTA could/would not do what I told it to do, even when I ran the program “as administrator.” Even though the dialog boxes I had worked in, looked identical to those in Windows2000 where an internet tutorial said they would work properly.

Good News/Bad News

So the saving of the PDF properly is the good new piece of news. I was able to upload the inside of the book as specified. I uploaded a front and back cover. I clicked “Save and Finish.”

And then something happened and the site I’m working with for printing (lulu.com) would time out/freeze before saying I had “finished.” So I waited. For hours. No response, never a “finished” message.

I tried it with more than one browser, more than one operating system, two different computers. Still a time out.

So Saturday night I had Brian watch me and he could figure out nothing I did that would be wrong. And he found a “live support chat” link on the site. I mean, at 11:30pm on a Saturday. And we clicked, and I had a live chat with someone who confirmed I was on the right track but something was not working. So I now have a tracking number for the unusual website response.

They will contact me probably by Tuesday with a technician letting me know what is up there. So for now I can go forward on other things. Brian and I have our anniversary on Sunday, which is also his mother’s birthday, so we will go visit her and some of the family out of town for the day.

The Ones We Love

Brian and I had dinner together and a concert, on Saturday, for our time alone together. His family is pleasant company, and we will play music and chat and knit with them on our actual anniversary. I will enjoy the change of pace, will work in the car and relax when we are there. I usually work on Sundays so I will plug away on things when it is reasonable, and enjoy family when that is the focus.

Pair #163 and Hat Knitting

For the record, I have been knitting. I just bound off my 163rd pair of socks since Spring 2001. I’m also working very slowly on my chevron lace hat. It is ridiculously simple if you are a lace knitter, a 10-stitch, 4-row pattern where every other row is “knit all stitches.”

There are only 6 repeats, a total of 24 rounds with about 100 stitches per round. Yet I’m not much of a lace knitter and it is easy for me to mess up if I try to knit it while with other people. I am eager to wear the hat but I’m in the middle of repeat #5 and have a hiccup from a previous row to fix. That one is waiting for a quiet time with good lighting.

I guess I should be working on a pair for Brian if it’s our anniversary, huh? I do have a pair or two started for him, waiting for me to pay attention to a turned heel or some thing of that sort. Maybe I need to pay attention again, huh?

Oh, the photo? I spent several hours Saturday knitting and doing my best to mellow out with Kristi, mom of these two incredible almost-two-year-old boys. This photo was taken in May at East Lansing Art Fair, it’s my most recent photo of them even though I saw them when we sang at JazzFest in August.

The photo isn’t really much about this post other than seeing Kristi, though the boys are expert at crawling… quickly, not slowly!

One More Try, One More Time

My friend Deb Robson/The Independent Stitch has had computer problems for weeks and weeks. Her tech support has been able to confirm that there is a problem but no help fixing it.

One day as she posted about this situation, she talked about how she has been working around the issues in what seems to be a corrupt file (this is a complete book, a very complex document). In essence, when something does not work she asks herself what else she can do that she has not tried yet.

I am working on a much smaller book project, four small children’s learn-to-read books for my mother. I had the disadvantage of having to learn how to use the document layout program at the same time as creating the first book. Mom and I had to learn to speak the same language in order to make sure I was producing what she envisioned.

Now I have a book that prints perfectly from my production printer in my home. I “only” have to upload the document to a high-speed printing house and then she can have one proof copy printed to see if it translated properly. I can’t upload. It is complaining about something I did wrong.

I go look at the “how to do this right” pages that they provide, and do it exactly as they say, and it does not work the way they say it will. I have been going around on this for far too long, and Googling when the site in question could not give me any more hints.

Today I broke through. I did not get it exactly as they want it, but I did get a different result after dozens of tries that previously got the same result.

So I’m learning to use Deb’s “What else can I do?” method. I feel like I am crawling but I guess I am not sitting still.

The Autumn Blues: a Cure?

In other news, it is fully autumn in Michigan. I am totally a summer girl, I thrive when I can open doors and windows in my car and home. I do not move as fast when it is over 90F, but I enjoy the slower pace and stay in the shade, while drinking in the sunshine and the green landscape.

I actually get a bit of an adrenaline rush when I see the temperature has reached 84F (29C) or more. Love it! My health thrives on warmth and sunshine.

This summer, if you ask me, was perfect. I have been well since March and had a ton of energy. I rode my bike and got a lot of work done. After a bad year last year, where I was even tired during summer (too tired to ride the bike even once), I am letting go of this year’s summer with reluctance.

Yesterday it was cold and rainy and gray. I was so down in the blues that I could have kicked a dog if I had one. I was not just blue, I was angry like a toddler who can’t have another piece of candy.

It might be better if I did not get sick outdoors in the fall. Hay and wet leaves are horrible for my allergies, they really drain my energy. A sunny day on a porch will work, when the sun decides to shine. But I have really enjoyed walking and bicycling and porch-sitting this summer, and here comes 9 months of waiting for that joy again.

Now, I am generally an optimist and I tend to be in a good mood much of the time. When I complain it does not last long (unless the subject is cold weather), and I go on to other things. I don’t LIKE myself when I’m a grumpy grrl.

A Contest!

So now I need you to help me. The one thing I do to turn it around, is to play Kitty Donohoe’s song “Autumn Dance” on repeat, until I have the words memorized again for the season. It also helps to get out my favorite alpaca sweater which is far too big but extra-warm. Sort of a “boyfriend sweater” except I got it from a resale shop rather than from Brian.

But I’m going to start a contest. I don’t know what the prize(s) will be, but I will dive into my stash for knitting prizes that are lovely, and if you are not a knitter I will send you a Fabulous Heftones CD. OK? I will give at least two prizes, one for the submission that helps me the most and one picked at random.

Here is all it takes to be entered into my contest:

Comment (make sure you enter your proper email address so I can reply to you), with one more thing I can do to turn my end-of-summer blues around.

Oh… (added later)… The contest closes at midnight Eastern Time on Monday. I will pick winners Tuesday, October 7 and announce them here on my blog.

That’s all. Will you help me? Thanks.

Photo: 1) Sap bucket bouquet at Harvest Gathering, during the daytime. I showed it at night during Jen Sygit’s concert, here. Notice the peacock feather! 2) Autumn leaf from previous year. 3) Yarn I dyed in Seaside colorway, to represent yarn that might be a prize, though I don’t have any of this colorway right now.

Geek, Geek, Geek

My computer-database client (originally from Y2K) is happy. They have not needed to call me since November 2006, but something happened and their database corrupted. I was able to combine the structure of an older backup, with the current data in the corrupted database. (Luckily, the data was intact, though the forms and menus were toast.)

They are back in business, and they did not lose a single record. Yippee!

I guess anything you do 40-60 hours a week for a handful of years, will be in the cellular memory of your body. I had not seen this in about two years, but it all came back.

Hats, Hats, Hats

What am I doing to celebrate? I’m knitting. It’s hat month, I guess. I am putting together a top down hat pattern so have knit two of that design while writing up the pattern (see striped hat in gray/green here). It amazes me how different the same pattern can be when knit in different yarns.

Lace… yes, me.

Then I started a (gasp) lace chevron hat in turquoise angora, pattern by Louisa Harding (it has the look of a beret but is knit in rounds rather than short rows). I tried on a sample of this hat when Louisa was at Rae’s this summer, and it’s just right for me. (No photo yet on this one.)

I usually do not like lace… I don’t typically like skin peeking through a bodice, and I tend to be cold anyway. On top of that, most lace is feminine on the girly side. I favor geometrics: triangles, circles, squares and zigzags.

This hat is chevrons, a type of zigzag. No flowers or flounces, though the fabric is ultra-soft and feminine because of the fiber. I have a few angora berets already, and they drape so well and are so warm, that this design is not as far of a stretch as other lace items might be for me.

The angora hat is going pretty well, I am on the fourth repeat of six (four rows per repeat) in the lace pattern. I dropped some stitches while toting the hat in my purse so I’ll ask Rae if she can figure it out. If not, I’ll rip back 4 rows and I’ll be fine. I am pleased that I got this far without needing assistance, since I’m really not an experienced lace knitter.

Does anyone else out there find that the stitch manipulations required by lace just feel tense in the hands? It seems I’m always tugging and manipulating in a way the fabric does not want me to go. For some reason, I don’t like that feeling.

In the end, the fabric will be fine, but on the needles it feels strained and unnatural. Maybe experienced lace knitters get used to that, but I keep noticing it. I definitely wish I had sharper tips on my needles when I’m pushing the yarn around in this way. Usually sharper tips mean split yarn to me… but in this case, they sound like a good choice.

Flat Hat

I needed to cast on something else, until I could fix that. And then I had a “I wonder what would happen if…” moment when casting on a project intended to just keep my hands busy. I had one ball of slowly-color-changing yarn and needles to work with it, so I started a hat. It was also top down but with a very flat top, starting with a square.

If I did it again, I’d do it differently, with a smaller square, as the top did not transition well enough from square to round. However, the top is indeed flat and the sides look good.

Last night I realized that today was the deadline in my guild to donate to Afghans for Afghans, and maybe the hat would be a good contribution. Except they want as much animal fiber as possible (they do not have automatic clothing washers nor do they have furnaces to stay warm). This yarn is 55% wool and 45% acrylic, really not warm enough for that sort of environment.

Sharing Warmth

So I decided first to knit it as long as possible to cover chilled ears. Then I planned to line the hat with a loose knit of angora, which is really warm. I can do it on larger needles and thus finish in the available time. Angora is so warm, it does not need to be super densely knit if it’s the inner layer. I’m knitting the angora right now.

It is nice to work on something that does not need to be documented for a pattern or a class or anything. Maybe this idea will turn into something else that is more well-thought-out, but meanwhile someone cold in Afghanistan will be less cold wearing the hat. As someone who believes we’re all related no matter where we live, I’m happy to have time right now to do something for this charity. I’ve donated before but it has been a while since I had time to knit for charity.

One summer I taught CityKidz Knit! at Foster Center and I had two young Afghani immigrants in my class, very nice sisters who knit well. They were here with their mom and brother, and had not been here very long. They did not know what had happened to their father. I think of these girls when I knit for this charity.

Wet but not cold here, yet.

It’s sprinkling rain outside, though I did take a 10-block walk anyway to celebrate the computer repair. I’m glad to have a day without any appointments. I’ll knit a bit, make some food, and then get back to the project for my Mom that I was working on when the computer call came in…

Happy Tuesday!

For my local readers near Lansing, Michigan, I have two new classes coming up in the next several days. Please register at least by early afternoon on the day before the class, so I am sure to be there when you expect me.

Rainbow-Striped Socks Thursdays 6-8pm, Starts October 2 (three Thurs. nights in a row)

At Rae’s Yarn Boutique, I will be doing the first session, ever, of Rainbow Striped Socks. This uses the new sockyarn from Noro yarn company (I used Kureyon Sockyarn but you could use Silk Garden Sockyarn instead).

The leg is striped from both ends of the same skein (or two different colorways if you prefer). You could stripe the foot as well, if you were so inclined. With so many beautiful colorways, you could do this sock many times and have very different looks with not much effort.

The structure uses a Toe Up structure, what I think is an improved twist on the First-Time Toe Up sock. It has a heel flap and gusset, which fits quite well on my foot and probably yours as well. I use DPNs but you could just use them for the toe and heel if you know how to use a circular method and prefer that for the tube knitting on the foot and cuff.

Wet Felting, Friday October 3, 6-8pm (one session)

At Threadbear Fiberarts, I’m offering my popular wet felting class. We will start by making a small square which can be used as a “mug rug” as a way to understand the process. Then we will dive in to what interests the students.

We can make large felt balls (they make good pincushions), cover a beautifully-shaped glass or ceramic object, or cover soaps. I will bring basic supplies for that session, and more beautifully-colored wool rovings can be purchased at the store if you wish to continue past the class. If you know you want to make a specific thing, you can bring a base object for that.

Please, if you bring your own soap, choose ones scented as food rather than flowers… I am allergic to most perfume, but tolerate fruit, herb and spice scents well. Thank you for your consideration.

I hope that one of these classes might interest a few of you. Teaching is such joy for me, and I’m a lucky woman to make this my livelihood. You make it happen! Thanks.

Running in Circles

What a crazy time it is to start the school year. I do not have children and do not teach in a school classroom, but it still impacts my life. One night a week, I teach community ed Computer classes, but it seems other things in my life also revolve around the seasons, starting in autumn.

I have been doing without sleep trying to catch up on a backlog of computer/desk work. I’m still working on things I thought I’d finish long ago. Time to be living in the present! At least I’m never bored.

Change, and more Change

So much in my life is changing right now. As they say, there is nothing certain in life except change. I discontinued the very-very-beginner computer class, which I’ve been teaching since probably 1993 in one or more locations. It is puzzling to me how hard it was to let go of that.

I have continued with the “exploration” class which reviews basics and then proceeds forward, depending on the interests of the actual students that term. I punt a lot and go where their questions lead, and it works very well. I have sixteen students in that night class, and they take turns thanking me as they leave at the end of the night, waiting in line to say goodbye. I love it.

In Praise of Care

And I have found a wonderful new doctor. My health was very rough last year and I felt I had almost no support. Now I have a new allergist who turned things around for me early this year, and now a new GP.

May I sing the praises of caring health professionals? We hear so many complaints, and I have complained a bit myself, but I can make a list of healthcare people over the years who have changed my life and who have truly loved me with their actions. It is good to feel I’m in that situation again. I know it’s not a bed of roses in that field sometimes, and I really appreciate the caring folks I’ve had the joy to work with.

Don’t Faint

Also, the big news: I am no longer working for my beloved Foster Community Center. This is where I started teaching computers and then got into teaching knitting. I ran my CityKidz Knit! program there for I think six years.

They still love me, and I love them, but between extra paperwork to be re-hired again (I have been a temporary employee, rehired every year since 1993 or 1994), and other considerations, I decided now was the right time to bow out gently.

The yarns still at Foster center will be available to all the kids I’ve knit with thus far, my boss will take them into my old room and let them stock up on yarn and needles and bags. And my program that I’ve had at Rae’s Yarn Boutique this summer will continue at that location.

Sniff… Some Things Say Goodbye

I moved out of my classroom today, with the assistance of one of my knitters and two of her family members. Also I had three kids from CityKidz last spring, who came to collect yarn and needles in bags so they can knit on their own. I have photos of my last day at Foster, and stories to tell but it has been an exhausting day. I need to delay that for now. No photos…hence the title of this post.

…and Some Surprising Things Return

And speaking of change… I started my Friday back at a location where I used to do computer consulting (in 1999, for Y2K). I’ve discontinued my computer consulting (custom databases, corporate training and web design) for at least 4 years now. However, I designed a complex system in Microsoft Access 9 years ago, for them to run their business. It contains dozens of tables, forms and reports. Parts of the system have become corrupt overnight, but the data is still there safe and sound (sigh of relief here).

So I get a call out of the blue, for help. The good part is that I’m back temporarily working with people I really like and haven’t seen much in the last few years. The harder part is to make sure they are ready to go for their deadline October 1.

Whew. It is a little like going to Mexico years after your last Spanish class.`You know how to do it, but you need to think as you proceed for a while. I fixed the first big part but will spend some more time this week getting that healed and happy. Healthcare for the computer, I guess.

Color, Color, Color!

In ColorJoy news, Lansing has turned red and yellow and orange on the edges this week. I noticed my first electric-red tree on Thursday (across from Sansu sushi restaurant on Hagadorn in E. Lansing). Now color is everywhere. It’s still mostly green, but the colors really pop at this early part of the season. Lovely.

…and Eternal Hope on the Part of my Tomato Plants

I have maybe 2 dozen green tomatoes in the three pots on the back step. This happens every year. I have literally picked 3 tomatoes all year, and now one plant has 9 fruits at one time! They sort of crack me up, they are so optimistic! I keep watering them and will do my best to help them along while it is feasible.

Photos tomorrow… I have so many, but no time to develop them properly for the website.

I love to read Kristin Nicholas’ blog, Getting Stitched on the Farm. In recent weeks, I have not been able to read many blogs at all. In fact, I was 11 entries behind on my first-choice read: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Yarn Harlot, which she updates regularly. I have been nose to the grindstone on several projects. All good, but it has kept me from leisure activities for a while.

So when I finally got back to Kristin’s blog, she had several postings about her sunflowers. It makes me almost want more land. Not enough to buy it and tend it and live away from city conveniences, but enough to want more gardening. That’s saying something, as often I am a reluctant gardener.

Kristin is modest, but when she showed a photo of her huge bouquet arranged in a sap bucket at the fair, I could not help but notice a ribbon hanging from one of the flowers. I’m thinking she won an award? She doesn’t say a thing.

I had not thought about that bucket shape before, but once she called it a sap bucket, I imagined it was probably for maple sap collection. I used Google’s image search feature to confirm that idea, and it appears I am on track.

So then this last weekend when we headed up north one last time for the final music festival of the year, I noticed an area where they were storing many, many sap buckets. I wonder how many times I’ve seen them and not realized what it was I was seeing?

Then in front of the Cedar Stage while Jen Sygit was playing, I noticed this arrangement (shown above) just on the ground by the bass player’s feet. In a sap bucket! (I think in my small yard the only thing I grow enough of to fill one of these, is daylilies.)

It’s a little stretch to put these two photos in one blog entry, but I will try. I took this second photo at Yarn Garden in Charlotte. Lindsay decorated the pitcher at one of those party/ceramic shops, and she knit the flowers and felted them. She says they are influenced by several patterns but do not exactly follow any one pattern. Nice job!

What a productive bunch my students have been lately! I have photos here, as proof.

Above is Dorene’s first pair of socks (she did finish both by the end of the night). These are Nashua Snowbird, a bulky alpaca/wool blend that is machine wash/air dry. Personally, I have two pairs I made for myself from this yarn, yum!

The pattern is my First-Time Toe-Up Socks. I am assembling a list of folks who want to take this class and will offer it again as soon as I can find a good time for the group. If you are near enough to Lansing and want to take the class, send me an email at Lynn AT ColorJoyDOTcom

Next is Carol’s first sock. She was in the class with Dorene, same pattern of course.

She chose Louisa Harding Kashmir DK for her socks, an excellent choice. These are thinner than worsted weight but still big enough to see stitches easily while learning a new skill (double-pointed needles). The yarn is great for socks, it wears like iron, and washes/dries in the machine a zillion times without shrinking or stiffening up. I own three pair of this yarn (both Aran and DK weights) and I’ve made Brian a pair or two from it as well.

Next is Teri’s first project ever, her 3rd class/week with me. Pattern, Wee Welcome Set (which also includes booties and newborn baby sweater) by Knitting at Knoon). Yarn, Berocco Comfort DK, a chained or cabled microfiber nylon/microfiber acrylic yarn which washes well for kids’ wear.

Last (for today, anyway) is Dawne’s (Dawn’s?) sock made of my TipToe Sockyarn, colorway When You’re Smiling. I am smiling, just looking at these.

No, unfortunately there is no more of the colorway at this time and may not be again (I don’t repeat colorways very often, and I only dye yarn a few times a year). In fact, right now I am out of this yarn and Rae had one skein left last I looked. (I will be having a dyeing frenzy soon and then will have a big event at Rae’s to celebrate the new yarns, on Sunday November 2, from 11-3. More on that as it gets closer…)

The pattern is by Rae Blackledge of Rae’s Yarn Boutique, a short-row toe/short-row heel much like a commercial sock but without the bumpy toe seam.

Nice job, everyone! This sort of report makes me very sure I am in the right business. Lovely work, every one.

I have been struggling with my new Palm Pilot since I got Windows VISTA (it would not work with my Handspring Visor NEO and Lotus Organizer, sigh… I loved them). I was learning bad words every time I brought the thing out. Finally I went looking for something else to handle my calendar.

Another issue I’ve been fighting is that I’d schedule all my classes on my Palm/Desktop, for my own use, but then I had a Google Calendar that Rae, Brian, Mom, Diana and a few others would check, and it was never updated. I could not find a way to synchronize my palm to Google Calendar (and I really really tried) so I had to re-type every class into Google after entering them into my private program.

There are a few things I wish had gone better, but in the end I am happy to announce that my own calendar on my computer now talks to the Google Calendar. This means that my entire teaching schedule is on my website right now, and as I add new classes they will be updated the same day on my site. Woohoo!

You can find the calendar any time you want, by going to any page on the ColorJoy website and clicking the link at the top of the page which says “Schedule.” Or if you make bookmarks/favorites in your browser to get places more quickly, the page address is this:

http://colorjoy.com/weblog/calendar-colorjoy

Rita/Yarnhollow just wrote me to say she wanted to join in on the Polymer Clay Buttons class but can not make it this weekend. Now she can just go and check that calendar and see if she can find something else that works for her.

The down side here is that Google will only synchronize one calendar per person. This means my private appointments (doctor visits, lunch with friends) are on the same system. I have marked those “private” and that means they show up to you as “busy.” This is a bit of a hassle since I am a person with many appointments sometimes.

However, just scan your eyes past anything that says busy and try to be as happy as I am that the calendar typed in all those class entries automatically for your benefit. I think the compromise is worthwhile. (That is, until I have the funds to hire a secretary or webmaster to update things manually for me, right?)

It is in “agenda” format when you first get there. That lets you see the nearest events at the top, and you can read more words about the event that way.

However, if you want to look at a month style so you can find a weekend class, for example, you can go to the top right corner of the calendar display section and click the “Month” tab. Once you find the day you want, it will be hard to read much about any appointment but you can just click on the words and it will pop up a little box with all the text in a readable size.

I hope this will help you find what you want. If there is a class you want to take and you can not find it, let me know and I’ll see if it can be worked into my schedule at some time. My email is Lynn AT ColorJoy DOTcom

Oh, and as always, if you know a place I should be teaching (or you want them to carry my patterns), let them know, let me know. Yes, I travel.

Images, all fun classes coming up in the Lansing area.:

• ZigBagZ Bottle. (Sun. 9/28, Rae’s.)
• Chippy Socks worn by the incredible Isabel (one each from two sets knit in different colorways). (Choose 3 Friday nights starting Nov., 7 at Rae’s, or a one-day workshop Nov. 8 at Yarn Garden.)
• Toe Up Mittens (no gauge swatch necessary). (2 sessions start Thurs. Nov. 13, Rae’s)
• Rainbow Double-Stripe Socks (Starts Thurs. 10/2, three sessions, Rae’s.)
• Needlefelted Embellishments. (9/25, Rae’s.)
• Wet Felting (just examples, will do soaps also). (Friday October 3, Threadbear.)

I worked with Polymer clay exclusively for almost 10 years, before I picked up the knitting needles again. I made all sorts of fun things, including Hershberger Art Kazoos (TM). I have made nearly 200 kazoos and I think I’m not done yet, though I’m mostly focused on knitting these days.

I still teach polymer, but now I teach it mostly to knitters who make buttons to go with their precious handknits. The techniques most useful in buttonmaking are not the same as those most useful in jewelry or sculpture making.

I’ll be teaching buttons at Rae’s again this Sunday, September 21, from 1-5pm. Learn a good solid handful of techniques. Take a handful of goodies home with you, and inspiration to make more when you get there. Email infoAT raesyarnboutique DOT com to register.

I’d love to have you join me.

Left photo is one of many trays from students when I taught at Dallas-Ft. Worth Fiberfest. Top photo is a favorite button I made myself and kept just for me. It’s still waiting for the perfect felted bag.

The other day Rae and I had some fun at her shop putting fluffy, colorful wool around soap and felting it. It’s the softest wool, a really luxurious sort of washcloth substitute. When the soap is gone (this takes a while) the felt can still be used as a soft cleaning item, or slit on one side and stuffed with a slightly smaller soap to be re-used.

Honestly, just the process of making these is reward enough. Choosing wool colors, how to wrap for a nice impression, and deciding which yarn to wrap the outside with, was much fun. They are so soft and lovely! Rae has these three soaps as samples in the shop now, and she got so excited about them that she made little kits for folks to take home all the supplies needed in one bag.

I will be teaching a class/gift-making session at Rae’s on this process very close to Christmas. We will enough time together so that several gifts can be created and finished right in class. I think they would make a good gift for that person in the office you drew a name for, or maybe someone who resists receiving gifts.

I know that many retirees in my life are reducing the number of possessions they keep. They do not want something that they will have to store, so something that can be used and enjoyed is a great idea. I also know some teens who would love anything colorful, unique and luxurious.

The class is Saturday, December 13 from 11-1. You can stop by the shop or you can email Rae at info AT raesyarnboutique DOT com if you want to sign up.

I am also teaching a more varied, less gift-focused wet felting class on a Friday at Threadbear, where felted soaps will be one option. That class will be on October 3 from 6-8pm. Call 517.703.YARN (or 866.939.BEAR toll-free outside the Lansing area) if you wish to register.

Or not. Your choice. You can just look at the beautiful colors here and enjoy that all by itself!

The Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild will have their first monthly meeting this week, Tuesday night, from 7-9pm. The location is the Haslett Schools Administration building.

Haslett is just east of East Lansing. The meeting place is essentially a few blocks behind the Meridian Mall. It is just off Marsh Road, turn east at the light by the Middle School, park at the middle school (unless you need handicapper parking, etc.) and cross the street to the lovely new building. For those who know the library, you would just zigzag past Meridian High School/Community Ed Building and turn left and you’d see the library. Click the Admin. Building link and see a Google map.

The address is 5593 Franklin Street (very near Nemoke Trail). Our meeting room is downstairs. It’s a new building, I’m sure there is an elevator though I did not use it myself last time.

This is a guild for anyone who enjoys working with yarn or fiber. You can knit, you can crochet, you can weave, make felt, spin… you can wish you knew how to do any of those things but not know how yet. All ages, cultural backgrounds, men and women are welcome. No fee to walk in the door… though we who return each month do pay a small fee for dues to help the group continue.

We would love to see new faces. Just walk in and say “hi, I’m new, my name is….” and you will be welcomed. Please, if you are in Lansing and haven’t come yet, consider it this Tuesday.

Oh, the photo was taken in 2005… that is Rob from Threadbear holding up some lace he knit. He does not love photos, and it seems every shot I have of him he is covering up his face with some knitting. Nevertheless, I did not have an easy time finding a photo of guild meeting, even though I swear I take pictures at every meeting I attend!

PS: Anyone reading this who goes to the meeting and has a blog, please repost this entry on your own blog if you will. The papers did not get notice this month (my fault, I had the meeting on my calendar for  next week) and so we are depending on word of mouth and previous members this time.

1. First things first. I guess I need to knit more garments, you guys are wonderful. I have not had this many comments in a long while. Loving every word, thank you.
I think I do look happy in that photo, which is super cool since I seem to have many moods since the weather turned cold. It’s really great to finish something and have it work out that well.

Now the sad part. I heard on Tuesday about the deaths of two acquaintances. One day, two people. Ugh. But I will celebrate each briefly. And post photos of growing things. My tomato plants are optimists, making flowers like crazy as the weather turns chilly. I love that about tomatoes, they seem to do it every year. Grow, fruits, grow!

Here is my small attempt at honoring two people who worked and didn’t complain. Good folks who are gone now, sigh:

2. Jean Lutz was someone I met through the Mid-Michigan Knitters Guild. She volunteered with my CityKidz Knit! program at Foster Community Center the first two summers, along with Luann C.

I could not have made CityKidz happen without them. I had a LOT of kids and needed as many helpers as I could get, and they worked without complaint.

I remember we would get yarn donated in tangled messes, and then the kids would tangle it more. Jean would take that yarn home and untangle it, rewinding it by hand into center-pull balls for the kids. They thought those balls were just magical, with the yarn coming out of the middle. I thought *she* was magical for doing all that work!

Jean also volunteered at Potter Park Zoo. I know she took animals to the schools for them. I’m sure they will miss her very much over there. Good folks are worth celebrating, you know? Thanks to Jean for the work she did for me personally, and for the kids of Lansing in general.

3. Phil Wintermute was a musician in Lansing. He worked at Elderly Instruments and recorded an album under Earthwork Music’s label. I met him at his CD release party a handful of years ago, though Brian knew him before that.

His album’s name was “A Handful of Dirt.” As a happy city girl, it took me a while to understand why someone would name anything like that!

In the end, I heard the song of the same name and realized that it was about the holiness of growing things. “There is nothing so sacred as a handful of dirt” is how his lyric went.

I would always ask Phil how his garden was. We shared a love of Swiss Chard, among other things.

He was one of the most grounded, peaceful people I knew. You know, there are some people I just want to stand next to, so I can sort of get more peaceful from their vibes. Phil was one of those people.

I just wrote about Phil in the wee hours this Monday when talking about the fun at Dagwoods. I linked to his MySpace page where you can still listen to some of his songs from that album.

Phil was one half of the band “Scratch and Sniff.” It was two guys with gray hair playing mostly old time music. The other guy is Paul. The joke was: Who is Scratch and who is Sniff? The answer? Phil was “and,” and Paul was “Scratch, Sniff.” That still cracks me up. For those who knew them, it sort of fit and neither minded the joke. Here is a photo of Scratch and Sniff, Phil on left and Paul at right. I took this at Rendezvous on the Grand while they were on stage.

Here is a photo I took at Dagwoods when our friend Aki was visiting in August. The blur at left is Phil dancing with someone who I do not know. On stage is Aki at center photo and Brian at right.

4. Now the fourth thing, the hopeful thing. Kitty Donahoe, singer/songwriter once from Lansing, now from Ann Arbor, played her song “There are No Words” at the Pentagon today. The occasion was the dedication of the 9/11 memorial there. She was accompanied by two other Michigan musicians.

She won an Emmy for this song in 2002. If you want to see a web page with a video of her singing the song solo with her guitar, you can click here.

If you would like to hear an interview with Kitty, aired on WJR Detroit today while Kitty was still on the Pentagon grounds, you can go here:

http://wjr.com/Article.asp?id=883083&spid=6552

I always used to say that Kitty had the most beautiful voice in Lansing. I only stopped saying that when she moved away.

And not only is her voice beautiful, but she has this natural beauty that makes me sometimes stare at her just a little too long. She’s glowingly pretty in a relaxed, Irish sort of way, and she moves beautifully. I think sometimes she wonders why I’m looking at her! I’m an artist; I don’t paint or I might like to paint her.

But that is merely skin deep, and she’s best known as a powerful songwriter, wonderful singer and performer. It is great to see that she is being honored for that, even if the occasion might be a sad one. She found words somehow, and her song has helped a lot of folks.

—
Now, turn your focus to these lovely tomato plants who are trying to make some fruit in spite of a chill. Poor plants, they really love hot sun and now the furnace runs in the mornings.

Maybe I will bring one plant inside again this year when the frost arrives. One time I got red tomatoes in November. That was wonderful! Talk about hopefulness. We all need a little of that sometimes!

I am delighted with my Nanette Tee. It’s done, and I even wore it on Tuesday… first to Rae’s and then to Dagwoods. I love this top! It was fast to knit, it looks good, feels good, and is washable/wearable. My kind of project!

I had a spectacular mistake on another project which will cost me thousands of stitches and over 3 weeks of concentrated knitting. I will detail that big oops when I get a little time. At this point, suffice it to say that I needed a quick successful project.

This top has a gauge of 3.5 stitches per inch, huge yarn (in my case, three yarns held together which makes a flatter fabric than one fat yarn). It started by saying “Cast on 50 stitches.” Yes, that was the right way to start after the knitting letdown of the year.

I held together a cotton/acrylic aran-weight tube yarn called “Kim” (related to Kelly which I have used before, but a solid color), plus a cotton/lycra DK weight yarn called Fixation, and then a strand of a fingering/sockweight yarn in soy silk, wool and a few other fibers, handpainted by Ellen’s Half-Pint Farm.

The Kim was raspberry, the Fixation was hot yellow-green, and the sockyarn was in tropical shades from deep blue to turquoise to green to yellow-green, with one strand of white throughout the skein. Very ColorJoy!

The pattern was written by Joan McGowan-Michael of White Lies Designs. I really love the way she shapes her designs for the actual shape of a woman. I’m not a large woman but I have a few curves and she built in hip, waist and bust shaping so that it fits very comfortably (despite the thick fabric) and looks great.

I love the shoulder shaping on this. It reminds me of Judy Jetson, which for me is a very positive statement. Love that futuristic idea! I have small, rounded shoulders and this shape really looks great on me because of that.

The pattern called for me to gather it at bust level, pulling down the neckline a bit into a sweetheart neckline. As lovely as it really would be, it just is not my style. It was just a little more girly/frilly to gather it than I liked.

I showed it both ways to a handful of folks and all agreed that the square neckline was more “me” than the neckline as written. I went with it. I think I will wear it more this way.

It is interesting to see what I do and do not know about knitting. For the record, I’m over 160 pairs of socks but I’ve knit exactly one long-sleeved sweater. I also have made a summer tee, a tank top (plus this one), and a dance top (cropped). This paragraph contains the entire list of garments made for my torso. And three of those five I did not use a standard pattern, instead I did a knit-to-fit procedure. This was printed pattern #2 for me, for an upper-body garment.

Therefore, I had a few questions every once in a while, which I asked of Rae. I have knit a number of baby garments but they apparently did not have as much shaping!

I would knit this again. It does call for a lot of stretch in whatever yarn is used, so I would have to think carefully about what to knit it in next. This combination was literally what I had in the cotton-realm, already purchased and ready to go. The Fixation is really stretchy so adding that made it fit right.

I must add for the knitters out there, that having two not-very-stretchy yarns and one very-stretchy yarn was a bit of a hassle. Not enough to stop me, and I have used Fixation enough to not worry about it. However, those who are not as confident as I am about holding three yarns together might wonder if they had made the right choice.

But look at these photos… can’t you see? Definitely the right choice this time.

Oh… I used 3 balls Kim, 3 balls Fixation and one hank Ellen’s. (Actually, I barely used any of the 3rd ball of Fixation.) I used size 10 needles and then my gauge tightened up so I cast on 5 extra stitches on the back of the top to add some width (doesn’t show when wearing). I shortened the length of the waist (between hip and bust shaping) and probably needed to knit more between the hem and the first hip shaping but it’s OK with a high-waisted skirt.

How long did it take? I started swatching on August 21, cast on perhaps August 22 or 23, blocked and finished all ends on September 8 and wore it on the 9th. Two and a half weeks? That is just what I needed.

It is Tuesday again. This is a good day of the week, in my life. Tuesday nights I can go to Dagwoods (with Brian, and often with Rae) for the open mic which is hosted by Jen Sygit.

Dagwoods is an institution in Lansing, it was started in the 1940’s. This was a time when East Lansing was a dry town, so bars just outside the East Lansing City Limits did well. Somewhere in the early 1970s, they changed all that (maybe late 60s) and the places which had thrived had a rough time. Dagwoods was one of those places.

Luckily for us, it looks about the way it did when my father went there in the dry days of East Lansing. It is a tiny, crowded place, but full of great folks. The bartender is a friend, who once worked with Brian. The musicians and customers are also friends/acquaintances.

Last time we went, I had a chance to chat with Jeremy Herliczek, photographer for the NOISE newspaper. I met him when the paper sent him to my house years ago. He was to take photos when they ran an article on me and my socknitting. We talked and laughed much longer than expected, we had such fun.

Jeremy owns a blockprint I created for a Working Women Artists group show. He walked into my house and saw another from the same series on my wall, saying “I have that print, too.” I was honored. It was wonderful to see him again at Dagwoods. There is always someone I’m glad I ran into, at the Open Mic night.

It’s an excellent Open Mic. There are so many good local musicians who love Jen, that they turn out in force. It can be a roll call of Lansing talent on a busy night. I have seen Mike Ross (of Scarlet Runner Stringband), Phil Wintemute, Paul Bennett (of Scratch ‘n Sniff), the Flatbellys, Andy Wilson (of Steppin’ in It), Susan Fawcett, Tamineh Gueramy, Luke Winslow-King, Chris Dorman, Cindy Lehmkuhle and more. Every night is a different mix but it stays a quality show.

I love the whole thing. I don’t drink at all, am not a bar sort of grrl, but this is an East Side landmark with a scene I adore.

I’ve never been to Dagwoods on a night other than Tuesday. I am sure each time of the week has its own regulars and its own flavor. Tuesday nights? it’s a young, creative, funky sort of crowd. I don’t fit that description but these are my friends so I belong anyway.

Brian took a few photos of Rae and I knitting together. Rae doesn’t perform but Brian and I usually do… this was while waiting our turn. I had somehow brought my purse without any knitting in it at all. Rae had emergency yarn in her car. I had needles. I started a pair of wristwarmers in cobalt blue Ella Rae classic worsted weight wool. They might come in handy very soon!

Photos: The Flatbellys minus one, plus my Brian (peeking through from the back); me knitting with Raein a relatively quiet moment.