The sun shone beautifully today. It was cold but not dead-frigid as it has been lately.

I swear I turned into a cat for an afternoon. I remember my cat Muffett was the ultimate pleasure-seeking being. He looked for comfort, and only moved when something else seemed more pleasurable than what he was currently doing. He loved sunshine and would move with the sunbeams all day to stay warm and happy.

I moved my laptop around the house and followed the sun today. I sat in my office in the chair until the sun was mostly hidden behind a tree. Then I moved to the living room floor (on a pillow to be nicer to my joints when I had to get up). Then the sun would move and I’d move the pillow. I wanted happy sun in my face, and vitamin D in my skin. It was a winning combination.

I’ve made a choice to put something in the ZigBagZ patterns which I had originally planned not to include. (Text description for the Zig Chart, for those who do not like working from charts.) I’ve included both charts and text in previous patterns and I”m thinking folks may expect it. This is a lot of detail work late in the game but I think it is worthwhle. This means pulling out some other explanatory text later in the pattern (to keep it to 8 pages, gasp) and I think this is a better balance overall.

I tell you what, when I’m done with this I will be craving a garter-stitch scarf, the most simple knitting ever. Something that takes no brain for a while. The brain cells are screaming for a vacation!

Luckily for me, my friend Cynthia is going to look over this latest inclusion as a proofreader. I’m too close tot he project at this point to trust myself with entirely new text.

And with that I’m back to converting a knitting chart to text…

Photo of my only pet ever, Muffett, 1979-1996. He was so friendly and special that my friends cried when he died.

I got word this week from Kerrie at MagKnits, somehow I didn’t get the original notice that the February issue has been delayed until March. It was an oversight, she sent out notice to thousands of people and somehow I was not on the list. Either that, or my spam filter ate her note.

For those of you asking about my upcoming MagKnits pattern (detail above), it is still coming but just not for another week or so. Thank you for asking, it makes me understand that you are reading this and that you are excited with me about the publication.

Second, I’m plugging away on the two ZigBagZ collections. There will be one pattern (Maxi Collection) of the two large carry-all patterns, the Biggie and the Burly.

There will be a different pattern (Mini Collection) with three smaller bags… one tube for a half-liter water bottle, one larger tube for a caribiner-style water bottle or a small Aladdin Stanley Thermos, and a small pocketbook so to speak, a little cute rectangular bag which can easily hold a cell phone, a wallet, sunglasses, the basics when you want to travel light.

In the above photo, you see “before” and “after.” I’m holding open the pre-felted Burly Bag that Diana knit as a sample for Rae’s shop (the checkerboard section is actually the base of the bag). Sitting next to me on the floor is the Burly Bag that cousin Karen knit and felted and shrunk and shrunk. It’s really wonderful fabric, really dense and durable.

I’ve been testing out this bag and the straps are strong enough to carry the weight in there even when it includes two knitting books, a camera, cell phone, palm pilot, wallet, bottle of water and the other zillion knitting supplies I always carry with me. I am very pleased with the useability of the bag.

I tend to under-felt things. My bag that I had knit for myself as a prototype (at right) is much more springy and soft-sided (and taller) than the one Karen made. Both are very useable and wonderful to wear and tote things in. I have determined to shrink mine just a little more after using Karen’s for a while.

Anyway I am now taking pre-orders for both collections on my website shop. Local folks, do hang tight because the local shops who carry my patterns will be carrying these. Please support your local shops when you can.

Out of town folks, I’m delighted to take orders or you can wait. Or even better, tell your local shop that I am accepting new shop orders out of my area. My goal is to ship to everyone (shops included) by Wednesday, February 27.

Thank you for your continued interest in my work. I have been so sick I have not been able to focus much on detailed text, really since the 4th of February. I’m much better but still fighting off a cough and tiredness.

Actually, this flu thing is going around so fast that the three main employees at Rae’s shop (including Rae), are all sick at the same time. I’m going to do my best to open/run the shop for Rae tomorrow while everyone else is working on their own healing. If you come by, please be nice to me while I do my best.

I’m not the most experienced shop employee. I am a teacher, primarily. I do pretty well with the computer part, anyway. And hey, I know what it’s like to be self-employed and have nobody to rescue you.

It’s my honor to help. People have been so good to me while I’ve been slowly coming back to almost-normal. It’s my turn to put out a little effort in thanks.

Now, back to that pattern…

It is 13F outdoors (-10.5C) and we are having a lunar eclipse as I type this. It started at 8:45 and was supposed to be most beautiful around 11. At about 10:30 I decided to brave the cold and go out to get a photo.

My night-landscape setting did allow me to get the photo. The moon is flanked by one planet and one star (I did not do my homework on what they are) which look here like little white scribbles. I had to prop the camera on the top of Brian’s car and try really hard not to wiggle or breathe for many, many seconds while the camera tried to drink in as much light as it possibly could.

So my moon and my planet and my star are all a little fuzzy here, but you can see how the left side was starting to become a sort of dark orange where the shadow of the earth was edging in sideways. So cool.

I think it is good to see how tiny we are. An eclipse *is* a big deal, a mini-miracle, and with the magic of modern science we know when it is coming and when to look. I think that is just wonderful.

May you have a wondrous and magical (but not too cold) day, night, week…

Don’t worry about me… there is a lot of sleep going on between the little work I’m doing out of the house. We sang Friday and Saturday, and then went home and crashed.

I am working as much as I can on the ZigBagZ patterns. I have put up pages on my shopping cart under accessory patterns, where folks can pre-order. I am doing whatever I can to get a well-thought pattern printed for you.

Right now I am separating the two large bags from the three smaller ones, I will be calling them the Maxi and Mini collections, sort of like skirts in 1970 if you remember. (I was a huge fan of the maxi, especially for winter coats.)

It was just too long and hard to follow with all the information I was trying to cram in there. Fifteen pages with five bag designs just cannot work in one $6 pattern. It needed to be split or turned into a brochure/booklet, and I am not prepared to have two pattern formats at this time.

I’m fine, thank you for caring about me so much. I work 2 hours Sunday and no classes Monday. Pattern should develop quickly without any interruption… or so is my plan. It sure is nice to have my good brain engaged again after all that foggy time.

Well, I guess I’m mostly of the living again. I worked for 2 hours Thursday night. Yes, I went home and promptly passed out on the couch but it was SO good to be out again. Work is like “Cheers.” I go places where I work and I know my place, I just belong. It is wonderful.

I was lucky… with all that illness I was fighting, it never messed with my voice. My singing voice is just as clear and strong as ever, and I am grateful. My legs are a bit wobbly still, so playing bass standing up may need to alternate with sitting on a stool from time to time, but that’s OK.

I have not known for sure if I would be well enough for this weekend’s events but now it seems clear that it will work out fine. Therefore I am announcing two Fabulous Heftones concerts, late but with full enthusiasm:

Friday night, 6-8pm, Rae’s Yarn Boutique Grand Re-Opening Gala.

She moved her shop, actually opened the doors at this location on January 2 but it takes a while to get settled in. Tonight is the night. Normally she closes at 6 on Friday, and this week she stays open an extra 2 hours. Those on her email list got a little coupon for the celebration in their email boxes this morning. We’re playing as The Fabulous Heftones from 6-8. It should be a fun time. The new location is 2004 East Michigan Avenue, a few doors down from Emil’s Italian Restaurant and across the street from the Green Door Lounge. This is between the Michigan Avenue Exit of 496, and the Capitol building, about 5 blocks west of the highway/Frandor.

Saturday night, 6:30-8:30pm, Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine, Valentine’s Weekend Event.

This is our home venue and it will be our 6th Valentine’s Weekend show for Altu. She insists that we are the only right act for the event. I have to say that we truly are “The Most Romantic Act in Lansing.” I’m not sure there is anyone else vying for the title so it’s an easy one to win, but we love that little niche of ours. And why not? Is there nothing more realistic than falling in love? It doesn’t always work out as we planned, but who does not understand that feeling? It is as normal and realistic as rain in April, in the USA. There is no cover, but on Valentines weekend sometimes you have to wait for a table which is unusual at Altu’s as a rule. Bring a friend, your kid, come alone with a book. We would love to sing some schmaltzy romance your way, and a few funny tunes as well.

I slept till 3pm Sunday. What a surprise. It didn’t start out a restful night, but when I finally opened my eyes I thought I might be Lynn again. I’m still weak, but the emotional me is beyond pleased.

Ice Queen Weather

The view from our living room Sunday was surreal. There was so much light coming in from everywhere! The sun shone, and it bounced around to the point where it seemed light came beaming in from every window at the same time, all three sides of the room. The sky was so clear and the air so cold that even when snow got into the air, the snowflakes turned into pulverized particles of ice, like fairy dust.

Saturday night at 6pm it was just barely under the freezing mark, and then it plummeted south quickly. Right now (writing this draft after 9pm Sunday) it is -5F, with a predicted -6F low tonight (-21C for my international readers). It was another good day for staying in. I am very, very happy for our Mail Carriers on foot, that it was a non-mail-delivery day.

My Incredible Support Team

Sunday the phone kept ringing. Friends who knew I had been ill spent time leaving me to heal but figured they should make sure I was on the mend by now.

Altu, April, a music friend, all made brief calls to hear my voice. That is where I really count my blessings. All week I had offers from local blogging friends, dance friends, other friends… did I need anything they could bring over? What could they do? Since Brian is so good to me I needed nothing, but it was lovely to have offers.

I have created the nicest possible community of friends I could have possibly asked for. No, it’s not just me creating it, but the space must be clear and warm for people to feel comfy joining in. Of course, nobody can join my circle if they have never met me, if I have never reached out or gone socializing in any way. That bit was on my own shoulders long before this week.

Knowing the Difference

I remember when my father died, my mom really did not have confidantes or buddies. She had co-workers. She knew people at church. We knew a group of neighborhood families. Mom had not totally isolated herself, but she also had so much to juggle in her life that she did not really have strong friendships that supported her well. With a career and an unwell husband, it left no time for nurturing personal friendships. She had our family, and when Daddy died the three of us did our best. We still feel like a powerful and loving team.

For the record, Mom is a social butterfly now, with so many friends and activities that she will never be alone. She will never want for someone who cares. Mom has done a bang-up job of becoming herself and I wish to emulate her strengths myself. At this point, Mom is one of my support folks from afar.

I, too, had a time in my life where I was quite isolated and had little time for building personal support friendships. When I lived half an hour from work and depended on my then partner to drive me to and from work, lunch hours were the only time for socializing. I could go to lunch with others who also worked downtown, mostly co-workers.

At least I had the phone, and I did use it… and I found respite in the independently-owned Fabric Gallery store, a tiny but super-high-quality sewing heaven which thankfully was walking distance from my house. I spent time there every Saturday, and it was rejuvenating. You do what you can with what you have. I discovered wool jersey fabric during those years… even when I sewed as my creative outlet, it was knit wool that made me happiest.

Counting Every Blessing

In my current life, I have the music community, dance, knitting, the East Side (Foster Center was important to me before I taught kids to knit there). All the yarn shops where I teach are full of friends, particularly the shop owners. Then there is Altu and the community centered around her restaurant and the music I coordinate for her there. Many of my students I now count also as friends. I have the blogging community which is local as well as international in scope. And now I have Ravelry on top of that.

After a week where it was just difficult to breathe, I am so happy to see what blessings (if I may call them that without sounding church-y) I have in my life. I am so happy to take a moment to make this gratitude list, not only of the things and people I am happy to have in my life, but where I stand in my life’s journey, as well. It seems appropriate to take in “the landscape” this early in the calendar year, as we proceed forward.

For the record, Brian is first on the list. I was happy single, but my life is magnified in all good ways since we joined forces. He was so helpful to me when I was so very sick the first 4 days. Unfortunately, he came down with an awful cold Friday and so now we are sort of parallel-sick trying not to pass our germs across the room. This, too, shall pass.

Permission to Knit for No Good Reason

In more frivolous pursuits, I have been afraid to try to knit anything Sunday, though it has been the first time my hands had the inclination to pick up needles in nearly a week. I do not want to make any mistakes and it seems I feel guilty doing a sock with no reason attached to it when I have pattern deadlines looming heavily at my schedule’s door.

I think I’ll shed that guilt and let myself knit a sock for the pure joy of one knit stitch after another. The value of that is in the repetitive joy of the knitting and its relaxation. Joy and relaxation might equal healing, right?

Tomorrow I will see if the knitting-editor brain has returned along with the more normal temp. It would be good if I could do some work, at least get started in a gentle way. I won’t be teaching tomorrow but perhaps I can do something useful on the computer.

Now where did I put that sock?

My town is amazing for the arts, I say that here often. For those who have read my blog for a while, a year ago Brian and I did a workshop for the local Mid-Winter Singing Festival which just happened again this year the first weekend in February. Lansing has it made in this area, all music is well-represented and there are community sings every month even when there is not a full-blown festival.

So today in the New York Times arts section there is an article about community singing, and most of the content comes from my own community. I know almost everyone who was interviewed, it’s home and I am proud.

Sally Potter is the woman whose energy started this local movement and keeps it moving forward. However, the numbers are so large at this point she has created an energy far larger than one… and she has always been one to give credit to others doing work by her side.

I highly recommend reading the article if you just want to feel better about humanity. Whether you like the music they sing or not, the fact that folks can come together when life is not going all that well, and then they can sing and make it matter less, well… it makes my heart glad.

On the top left sidebar of the article, there is a video if you click. The video is really well done, just beautifully assembled and produced. They actually show the church where Brian and I were married, if you are that kind of curious… Folk music concerts are held in that church and that series of concerts is where I first heard Brian sing, where I first discovered “that ukulele guy.” I didn’t know his name for years but it started with the Ten Pound Fiddle Coffeehouse, which is now presented in that church. It is a center for music, for the community as well as those who worship on Sunday mornings.

If you must live in the frigid cold of Lansing, in February, there is nothing like an article and video of this caliber to make you glad you are where you are.

Oh… a late add to the post… here is a Youtube video showing clips of many of the daytime workshops from the 2007 festival. Also well worth the view and enough to make you smile. My town is all right!

I feel luxurious today. I’m one who adores open windows, open doors. I even roll down the windows in my car, at least a little, most of the year.

So winter is really hard for me. I can’t hear the sounds of the outdoors, can’t feel the fresh air. Instead we have the hiss of a furnace, which for some reason is very distracting to me. (Am I the only one who counts one of the disadvantages of winter, as having a furnace blowing much of the time? The sound, not the warmth…)

Well, today it’s just around freezing, and there is no wind at all. In the areas of the house where heat rises through the roof, the snow is melting and there is a steady drip of water I can see through the window. There is the tiniest bit of snow coming down, and it is peaceful and beautiful.

The house just felt full of germs and stale air. So I turned down the thermostat, wrapped up in my Ethiopian blanket and opened the front door. Aaaahhh.

If it has to be winter, this is pretty good. OK, I can’t do it very long but I feel some relief.

It snowed and snowed today. Dance rehearsal was cancelled, something that almost never happens. It just stayed white all day.

I am sick (flu, ugh) but if I must be ill, might as well do it on a day when getting around would have been a hassle. I spent the day on the couch watching snow come down.

Tomorrow is my friend Rae’s 25th birthday. I wish I felt better, I’d get over to her shop and be part of celebrating. It’s convenient that her day is on the night when the shop is open late. I tell you, though, I won’t be leaving this couch.

Happy birthday, Rae!

I guess I had the right sick day. It was so cold here, only 3 school districts within the radio station’s reach were open. Not a snow day, a cold day, which just almost never happens here in mid-Michigan.

I didn’t leave the house all day, and now today it’s warmer. Still too cold but better. My car will want a long warm up today.

OK, I don’t have as much time for a long blog, so you get a list today. I have been sleeping off the cold which takes a lot of time! Now I’m up late and I will have to work for 3 hours teaching at Rae’s tonight, and believe me there are things to do before leaving home (even though I am moving slower than usual).

I’m much, much better than I was, although I still need a pack of trusty Kleenex everywhere I go. I will sit to teach tonight instead of stand, I bet, but I will teach.

Here are some bits of information you might like to know:

• I teach Sock Darning tonight (Thurs.) at Rae’s Yarn Boutique, 6-8pm. Merely $15 for one session. Bring your own wounded socks or I’ll have some you can practice with.
• I will have a design in the MagKnits issue which comes available tomorrow. Woohoo! (See photo tease above.)
• I put up six used knitting books on my shopping cart for sale, good pricing and $1 shipping.
• I am dancing at New Aladdin’s Restaurant on Friday night, half-hour shows 6:30 and 8:00 (Outer Frandor in Lansing, near video store and Sparty’s) No cover, tips welcome.
• Brian and I sing next Friday 2/8 at Foods for Living, 4-6pm, no cover
• Paz of “The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz” also has a photo blog, pics of New York City, called “Paz’s New York Minute“

When you have to slow down, the natural world becomes apparent. Even sitting on an artificial chrome couch with Naugahyde cover, in a wood box built to protect me from the elements, I can see a lot of the outdoors. One of the advantages of a small house is that this living room has windows on three sides, it is a lot like the proverbial goldfish bowl.

The Natural World on My Block

Yesterday it rained. This is January in Michigan, and rain is not unheard of (my friend Mike Ross wrote a song called January Rain, about a particularly bad day he had).

However, this is usually the season of snow and cold. Lansing tends toward piling up snow for several weeks, than a short melt, then more snow. This last few weeks has had more melt and less snow than feels normal.

I worked on the computer (thank goodness for wireless internet and laptops) sitting on the couch. I kept being distracted by movement outside the window. It was that dratted squirrel again. He’s so cute to watch and I do like him much better when he is outside of my house.

Clearly that one nook in the front tree is his favorite spot, because I’ve showed you two photos of him there and again yesterday he’d go there, then run up and down the diagonal tree branch, then sit for a moment longer. He didn’t stay up the branch long enough to do anything. I assume he was out looking for food while it was warm enough to do so.

Of course, I also saw him in the rain gutter, his avenue to the hole he chewed under the shingles to get into our attic. Ick. That’s where he ceases to be cute.

A Short Breath of Fresh Air and a Dose of Reality

At 7:30pm I realized it was 45F degrees outside and rainy. Since I’m fighting a bug, I’m even more aware of air quality issues and the lack of open windows in the winter. So I turned down the thermostat, wrapped up in some blankets, and opened the door for a few hours. I am a huge fan of open windows and doors, and it felt so good to not be locked up so tight.

It rained peacefullly and there was no wind at all, so it took a long time for the house to feel colder inside. The humidity was a nice change, too.

But something threw a switch and it got mean out there. It sounded like Dorothy from Kansas was going to land her house in the street at any moment. The National Weather Service says it was 45 degrees F (7.2C) at 10pm, and 19 degrees F (-7.2C) at midnight. Whew!

More Small Potatoes

I remind myself that I’m human on earth and that means I’m not in charge, and that many things don’t fit in easy boxes. Getting this nasty cold is reminding me of this idea more intensely these few days. Sitting still and watching the weather (and the squirrel) go by, reminds me how little I am in charge of my life.

But I’m doing better at remembering my Gramma Illa’s theory that many things are small potatoes. Really, everyone gets a cold sometimes and they do go away. They slow us down, they make us uncomfortable, we don’t enjoy it. In the big scheme of things, though… it’s small potatoes and it will be over soon enough.

I observe little Isabel, the 3-1/2 yr old toddler in my life, and I see how she really still believes that the world revolves around her, which is normal for her age. When things go wrong we have to explain to her that it isn’t her fault, because as the center of the universe she would believe it was. Really, we all are the center of our own universe… which explains a lot of confusing behaviors in others at times. Yet, as adults we know our power is not all-encompassing.

I Don’t Think We are in Kansas Anymore, Toto

The wind is so strong outside that it is blowing through the cracks between windows in this old house. It is not extreme most of the time, and I’m not asking for advice since a little fresh air is excellent.

A little airflow does not upset me at all, and the house is small enough (and the furnace efficient enough) that it is just fine the way it is. Our windows are varnished hardwood, very beautiful, and I value them as an artform… just the way they are.

We have 8 small windows and a door in the small L-shaped area that is our living room and my office. I did take some of that thick not-too-sticky plastic weather tape a year or two ago, and taped the larger crack that is between the upper and lower moving window parts.

Yesterday, when we would get a huge gust of wind, we would both jump from a very loud noise. A whoopie cushion, but louder!

It was one of the windows in my office. I’d opened it for Brian when we were dealing with telephone-line issues near that window. The tape is still sealed on one side but it broke its bond on the other.

Then the wind blew so hard that it pushed quickly through the crack, and the loose side vibrated. Instant whoopie cushion! Quite amusing when you are fully awake.

So, How is Your World?

Nothing new in this corner of the world, really. The world turns, the sun sets, we sleep, we wake up, we have a cup of tea, we work for a while. How about you?

(The photo? Beats me. I downloaded a bunch of photos and this one was in the middle for no apparent reason. I thought it was beautiful so I didn’t delete it. I call it “Wild Abandon.” It is so sunny I hought it appropriate to a winter day.)

I have put up a Flickr photo set which you can view as a slideshow… of the Stage 1210 concert last Friday.

For those who were there (or wish they had been), this does not take a very long time to view and will give a very nice feel for the event.

Hanno M. took many of the photos and he’s a very artful photo-reporter. Thanks again, Hanno!

On Friday, Brian and I (The Fabulous Heftones) played a shared show with The Motor City Sidestrokers. We did not know about this band before Ben Hassenger of Stage 1210 paired us. Wow, what a perfect combination it was!

I was quite complimented by hearing that the members of this band had heard of us… we have only once played in the metro Detroit area, and that was for a Banjo festival. Yet musicians move around the state relatively freely and these folks had heard of us from musicians I regard highly… and have not yet met personally. Cool.

Why is it that folks thought we should meet? Why should it feel like a great match? Well, we really do music that is of the same era, the same country, but with different focus. Our music is the pop music from mostly the mid-to-late 1920’s, which came mostly from New York City. It was the music on the radio during that timeframe.

They play a lot of music that our other band (now mostly defunct), Abbott Brothers, played. It’s mostly jug band, speakeasy, back room sort of music. Also the late 1920s and also into the 30’s a bit. Of course, I’m generalizing here in a big way but this gives the general idea of how our two bands fit on stage.

It was fun to be in the audience during their set… the crowd really loved every minute. At one point toward the end of the set they sang “Minnie the Moocher” and the crowd stood up and did their “hidey-hidey-hidey-ho” response in total enthusiasm. It was a spectacular example of total entertainment.

They are great musicians… one particular thing I noticed was that Doc/Bob the fiddle player has the sweetest tone quality out of that violin… yet he was totally into the swing, losing no soul underneath that beautiful sound. There are 5 musicians total, all dressed in garb reminiscent of the 30’s. They interact with the audience, they engage fully rather than being distant from the crowd. They sing with expression and excellent harmonies. Several play multiple instruments. And the songs they chose were just right for them.

We have determined that we would like to play some more shows together. At this point we are not sure where that will be… if anyone reading this has good ideas in that realm, somewhere approximately in the lower half of lower Michigan, we are all ears. Fun this big must be repeated.

Oh, and if you folks within driving distance of Lansing have not tried Stage 1210 yet, do check it out. By day it is Banyan Gallery at 1210 Turner Street, not far from the corner of Grand River Ave. in Old Town Lansing.

Ben Hassenger is the guy who makes this concert series happen. He is a member of the band Mystic Shake, and the duo Blue Jell-O which will have a CD release party there I think next month. He is a great guy to do a bit of business with (we have played for him before at his “Music in the Pines” outdoor house concert series, and his duo plays for Altu’s restaurant. If Ben is involved, it will go well and it’s worth checking out.

Photos: I took the shots of the Sidestrokers, Hanno M. took the photo of us as The Fab Heftones. Aaaah, the fun comes back when I view these shots.

Hanno took this photo of Brian playing uke Friday night:

It sounded like that at times, too. Thanks, Hanno.

I have not had this much trouble posting a column every day, in years. I am busy and distracted, mostly in working my business in a more committed/focused way but also in doing my best to change my routine and habits.

The blog has been a pleasant routine for years (I tend to write columns after midnight, when Brian goes to bed) but I’ve been pushing so hard during the day that I’ve been crashing early and not posting.

I hope to get going on a new routine here yet this month, not just for the blog but for my business/ professional life. (My goal is 28 posts a month and I almost always make it, this month I’m so short I won’t be able to make it up any possible way.) And with that, I’ve said enough in the navel-pondering realm…

My Kidz

I have taken many photos of my CityKidz Knit! program this year and some I took just Wednesday but haven’t developed yet. This one is from two weeks ago, I think. Sometimes working with this many kids is a LOT of work, sometimes it is pure joy. In either case, I’m “in love” with teaching these children and it’s good for them and for me both.

I have much deskwork today, I am working on getting some of my delayed pattern projects actually laid out and sellable. We played a concert last night and I haven’t even looked at the photos but it was a wonderful time. Will talk about that when I can write more.

A Question

I appreciate each and every one of you out there. You like questions from me sometimes. So I’ll ask this:

I find that teaching children is one of the most powerful experiences I’ve had interacting with other people. I am clear that the time I spend with the kids goes with them into their future without me. (In particular, one child moved out of state. I know that she had never felt like an expert before she got to knitting class, and she really was an expert far beyond her peers in school when it came to knitting. It really helped her feel confident about herself and I am sure that will not diminish as she moves into her new life.)

Is there any experience in your own life, now or in the past, which prompts you to feel the same… that your effort will grow after you leave the environment where your experience happened?

I posted a PhotoSet on Flickr of photos from the Scene Metrospace Folk Festival. There are photos from both Friday and Saturday, and they are not in the order they happened, but you can see the variety of people, the crowd, the spirit of the thing… and one photo of an almost-full moon we found on the way to the show from the alley, on Saturday.

Enjoy!

If you read here often, you know that I eat healthy (mostly because of a long list of food allergies and sensitivities). I buy fresh ingredients, very few canned or frozen items, and I make things myself so that I am very clear what I am eating. I feel well when I do this, and often if I give in and buy at a restaurant I regret the choice.

However, I learned to read labels on food when I was just a child, before my food sensitivities took over my life. I am discovering that many otherwise well-informed people in my life never really look at what is in their food, even though it is right there for the reading.

I am always on the lookout for foods with one or two ingredients in the package. I have written about this search before, if you want to read an archived column. The ones which come to mind are pumpkin (for pie, but not the pie filling version), and tomato paste.

Even tomato sauce usually has citric acid added, which is funny because tomatoes have some citric acid in them naturally. I am guessing they use it to regulate the exact level of acidity in each batch. At least one brand doesn’t use it so the theory it might be needed as preservative would not be valid.

Citric acid is not lemon juice (though it sometimes can come from citrus fruit, it can also come from fermented corn and I can’t have mold or corn). Bet you didn’t know that!

Just to illustrate how little most of us know (until health requires us to be informed), here’s one source supporting what I just said… according to a supplement-information web page by Ray Sahelian, MD:

How is Citric Acid made?
Citric and lactic acids are produced by fermentation which utilized a carbohydrate source such as corn based starch and sugar beet molasses… Fermentation yields a crude purity product which requires further refining. One refining technique utilities a precipitation process, this process first uses lime to produce calcium citrate solids, this is then contacted with sulfuric acid which produces a partially purified soluble citric acid and calcium sulfate by product. Another technique used is solvent extraction…

Citric acid can be extracted from the juice of citrus fruits by adding calcium oxide (lime) to form calcium citrate, an insoluble precipitate that can be collected by filtration; the citric acid can be recovered from its calcium salt by adding sulfuric acid… and can be obtained synthetically from acetone or glycerol.

Yum. Yum? Now, the point is that for most people this is not an issue, but if you make your own food you don’t get the synthetic citric acid made from acetone (fingernail polish remover). I don’t like making my own food, I do it kicking and screaming sometimes, but I am clear my system is happier when I do it.

(For the record, Eden Organic Foods has canned “crushed tomatoes” that contain tomatoes and nothing else. It is essentially thick, beautiful tomato sauce. They also have Buckwheat “Soba” noodles that are 100% buckwheat… which I order by the case through their website. I love Eden Foods!)

SO… I just was checking out the Schuler Books website (because I’m doing an in-house promotion on Designer One-Skein Wonders at Eastwood, on February 28 at 7:30pm). And what did I find? This Thursday, local author Kimberly Lord Stewart is doing a presentation on how to read food labels. It’s at 7:30pm. Here is what the Schuler books website says:

Learn to read food labels with Eating Between the Lines
Award winning journalist, natural foods expert, and Lansing native Kimberly Lord Stewart is returning to give us a lesson in reading food labels, a topic that is rapidly gaining importance through the rise of food allergies and genetically modified products.

Her new book, Eating Between the Lines: The Supermarket Shopper’s Guide to the Truth Behind Food Labels, tells readers how to be discerning shoppers by breaking down the mystery and the marketing behind the countless food labels touting the health benefits of every food from potatoes to potato chips. Learn the tricks of healthy grocery shopping and have your own questions about food labels answered by an expert!

Thursday. January 24. 7:30 p.m., Schuler Books, Eastwood Towne Center, Lansing

The photos are of foods I have made and shared with you readers over the last several years. All healthy and with as few ingredients as possible, yet still tasty. And beautiful, no?

Tech Woes

I think my computer and I need to break up our relationship. However, it’s sort of like that Supertramp song “not much of a girlfriend (computer); she’s the only one I’ve got.”

I lost my Palm desktop (my calendar program that runs on the computer when I’m home… which synchronizes to my palm device which I use when I’m not home). It doesn’t know about any real appointments after November 2.

This happened as I was preparing for Rev’s visit and I did not have time to deal with it, including the required backups and careful proceedings in the right order to get the program back without losing what is on the palm device.

So last night I typed in at least the appointment name and date/time for everything on my calendar from now through the future. I will need to uninstall the desktop program and reinstall.

Cross fingers for me. I need to do it when I have time and a focused mind, which means not first thing and not just before bed… and some days all the rest of the time I’m out of the house. One day at a time. I’m probably ready to do that Monday.

But then on Sunday my Eudora email program decided to flip out when I sent press releases, and now I don’t know if anyone but me got the release (for Altu’s Restaurant’s music series). It only goes to a small handful of addresses (reporters and DJs) so it should not have looked like spam but I don’t know what happened.

So I spent time today checking out the status of the rest of my folders in Eudora and it looks like really I have one uncertain message. It should look like a message that went out, and should have the content of the message I sent. It looks like a message intended to go out (but it’s not in the outbasket) and when I open it, I see the text of a message almost a year old. The table of contents is toast, but even this former tech doesn’t know how to figure it out, other than to just move forward.

I used to do computer tech work for a living. Right now, though, I am out of practice. My tolerance for imperfection in this area is getting thin. I will do the calendar reinstall tomorrow, and I did spend a lot of time cleaning up my malboxes/folders in Eudora so that none of them have over 3000 messages in them any more. We will hope that cleans up the issue for now.

Belonging, Lansing, Music

I did not get any photos downloaded from my camera from this weekend’s Scene Metrospace Folk Festival. We went both Friday and Saturday, and then the second night we went down to Rendezvous by the Grand in Old Town to hear friends from Steppin’ in It, which was also wonderful.

I hope to bring you enough photos for a slideshow but for now I need to do business-related things. I am woefully behind on getting all my classes scheduled for this term we are already in. I have classes scheduled at two of the 5 shops where I teach… because they were the ones who basically cornered me and said “Schedule. Today. Now.”

But I do want to just say that the Folk Festival was one of the most wonderful belonging experiences I have ever had. I have spent a lot of my life not fitting in. Just notice what colors I wear, and what city I live in, and that will give you a small idea of how I don’t really fit… I am often loved and appreciated but I am usually still a bit of “that colorful girl over there.” Not quite part of the crowd, though accepted at this point in the game.

But at the Fox on a Hill shows at Scene Metrospace Folk Festival? These amazing other musicians played and they really feel like peers though we all are different in style (as it should be).

We played Friday and one of the other musicians who played was Jen Sygit, who I totally admire in every way. I am deeply honored by sharing her stage, though she pooh-poohs this idea when I say this out loud.

When we played our set, Laura Bates (who has, arguably, the most beautiful voice on the circuit) spent the entire half hour dancing to our music. That may be the biggest compliment we have ever received, really.

It just felt like home. It was a place where we belonged, where the comfort level backstage was really high. Even the listeners/audience? The best.

As an adult, I find lately that I quite often hang out with a lot of creative folks who are younger than me. I expect to not fit in. I expect that I’ll again be accepted but outside the group. Again this weekend I was proven wrong.

Lansing is really a great town for artful folks. I really appreciate this town in that way.

And with that I will go sleep and anticipate a new day, with a new calendar install. I start teaching my new term (computer classes for beginners) at Haslett Community Ed tomorrow. Yes, even though it is a very fine holiday, we will honor Dr. King’s spirit by learning.

Goodnight.

The Lil’ Rev concert was really fun at Altu’s. We had a good crowd, and were very happy with a big photo of Rev and a nice writeup in Anne Erickson’s column in the Lansing State Journal’s What’s On section on Thursday. We love Anne! I hope sometime soon I can meet her in person.

I’m showing one photo of Rev in Concert (musicians are moving targets, and the lighting at Altu’s is great for mood lighting but not so for photos). I am also showing a photo of Rev and Brian jamming at our house.

This morning before Lil’ Rev went to Saginaw for his Friday concert, we jammed a bit on camera (digital video) in our living room. Brian posted them to YouTube so interested folks could enjoy it.

Brian and Rev did the How Long Blues and then I got to join them on Shake That Thing. Perhaps you would enjoy viewing these videos… I tried to embed them so you could click here and watch, but apparently my blogging software does not want to cooperate. You will need to click on the links earlier in this paragraph to go hear them.

I know that I have a few loyal readers from the music community, though most are from the knitting/art community. My friends, today’s post is for you!

I am here and happy and occupied. Our guest is here, and he is none other than Lil Rev, musician from Wisconsin.

We met Rev on the Ukulele Circuit, but he does not only play Ukulele. He plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, and a very fine (award-winning) harmonica.

He will be performing Today, Thursday January 17, at Altu’s restaurant. Show 6:30-8:30.

This is an unusual Thursday night show (he leaves town Friday morning and we did not want to miss out on this opportunity). He offered ukuele workshops at Elderly Instruments on Tuesday and Wednesday. We jammed and laughed and had a great time tonight here at casa de Heftone. Tomorrow is showtime and we are excited.

Anne Erickson of the Lansing State Journal, writes a column in the What’s On section each Thursday. A few weeks ago she wrote a bit about Temesgen Hussein, the Ethiopian musician who is Altus’ house musician. This week she writes that she will have an article about Lil’ Rev and his show at Altu’s, in the What’s On. Today, show day! I am excited about this.

Here is the information about the show which we sent to Altu’s customers:

We are excited to announce that musician Lil’ Rev of Wisconsin will return to our restaurant this month. For those of you who joined us for his show last September, you know what a warm and entertaining show Rev presents. For those of you who missed it, now is your chance!

We would love to have you join us.

*******************************
THURSDAY January 17, special event:

Lil’ Rev

Rev is an engaging entertainer; warm, enlightening, talented.
Rev celebrates the roots of his music, yet keeps a modern flair.
Rev has won numerous awards for his work including:

- Best Folk Singer in Wisconsin — WAMI 2004
- Inducted into The Traditional Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame - 2003
- Best Instrumentalist Harmonica — WAMI 2000
- Voted Best Acoustic Act in Milwaukee 1996-1997 Shepherd Express Reader’s Choice
- Hohner’s 1996 National Blues Harmonica Champion

Please join us, and bring the family!
No Cover, though CD’s will be available for sale, and tips are always appreciated.
Show 6:30-8:30pm

You can listen to some of Rev’s music on his website:
http://lilrev.com
********************************
As always, we will *not* accept reservations for the evening.

Friday night will be our turn. Brian and I as The Fabulous Heftones will perform at the Scene Metrospace Folk Festival in East Lansing, sometime after 7pm.

There is a wonderful lineup that night, we will be second in a long list of performers. I will make a separate post about that and our Stage 1210 show the following Friday, Jan 25. For now I’m going to sleep, but tune in again and I’ll get those shows up here Thursday.

At least a few of you do ask for this information when I run into you in person. So sorry to the out of town folks who read this but can not attend.

You all (in or out of town) are invited to visit the Fabulous Heftones website and listen and/or download a whole lot of songs for free. Does that make you far-away folks feel better?

I guess we are getting back into the swing of a busy life. I taught my “Toe Up Mittens” at Rae’s Sunday and then went directly to the Elderly Instruments holiday party. They always have it after the holiday crazy time is over, and I appreciate that.

(Now our holidays are officially done. Except for National Pie Day on January 23, but that is a new season, I’d say!)

We performed for the party (a music store has many musicians and we take turns entertaining). It is always fun.

Then back home to do more preparation for our guest. Mind you, I run a small yarn-dyeing, pattern-writing, knitting-instruction business out of this house… tucked into corners of the living room, the office, the eating area of the kitchen, the basement.

There is much good in right-sizing the business and getting papers where papers go, yarn where yarn goes, musical instruments where they go, and not mixing it all up and confusing things. And getting rid of items we do not use anymore, sending them on to where someone else can make use of them.

I am so grateful that I’ve had so much time to really work on re-organizing, tossing, giving away, letting go. With months of lead time I have been able to really look at how we use the house, not only when we have a guest but every day. (He is staying 3 days, and we have no guest room, so it takes a bit of preparation to make a living room into a guest room in a house this size.)

So this is all the time I have to type you a note for a while. I hope to unload the camera of its photos soon but for now it’s all about making our home comfy for a guest, for several days. It’s really worthwhile, and we will reap the benefits of this work for a long time after he leaves.

Don’t worry if I bow out for a few days, I’m fine and happy here (where the snow has returned and it looks like January again). Seeya!

Tonight the Habibi Dancers were part of a fundraiser for Nancy Brandon who had a stem cell transplant to fight her Parkinsons Disease. (Nancy is about my age and has been fighting this since before I knew her; she’s very involved in the creative community of Lansing.) We had a good number of dancers for the event, and we had a wonderful time.

I always say that Lansing is big enough that not everybody knows all your business, but it’s small enough that it seems all the creative folks in any realm, will know the others. I saw musicians, dancers, photographers, actors, community activists and more in that crowd. What a show of support for Nancy, who really is at the center of the community in more than a few ways.

We did quite a full concert, with group numbers and solo performers. Brian works on Saturday but he took photos as soon as he got there, and he is sharing these photos with us all here tonight. Thanks, Brian!

(The lighting was problematic so most of the shots are grainy and/or blurry, but I think they give a sense of the event anyway. I hope those who have Apple computers can see these, I know they display photos darker than my Windows machines and these are pretty dark already.)

Notice how there are two shots of the crowd at the end of our show. We danced out into the audience and invited those seated to stand and dance with us. A good handful did just that, and we had a great time indeed!

In the first photo, we were doing a cane dance, balancing canes on our heads as we move. I love cane dances. They are a bit hard to photograph but Brian did just fine!

The first solo photo is me as Eudora. This may be the only time you see me wearing black and gold, and no other colors! The other photos I will not identify, some of the dancers I do not know their dance names and in the crowd scenes of course I do not have all the names. Please enjoy the images, at any rate.

(For the record… in the preceding post, I am not advocating denial or encouraging folks to ignore feelings. I am trying to put things into their proper perspective. I’m talking about getting all frustrated about having to cook dinner, clean the kitchen after dinner, do laundry… normal, ordinary things.

I personally seem to think at times that the world should revolve around what I like to do and not “make me” do ordinary maintenance, never mind that all humans have maintenance tasks. In my case, my life is very good and I really have nothing to complain about, but I do it anyway. That’s why I want to put “small potatoes” in perspective. When they are truly small issues, that is. End of digression.)

Saturday was a work day. I am not ordinarily a tidy housekeeper. I would much rather focus on cool new creative projects all day, all week, all month, all year… than notice that things have gotten enough out of hand that I can’t find things anymore.

Well, we are delighted that a friend is coming in from out of town. He will stay with us for 3 nights. We do not have a guest room, just an air mattress on the living room floor. I want any guest to feel really comfortable and right at home. In order to do that, i want my mess to be enough contained to make things not feel like they will fall over when we breathe too much in the wrong direction, you know?

So Friday I spent a lot of time finishing up the clean-up of my yarn area, which occupies half of the living room. It was really worthwhile, taking that time. I did not just make it tidy, I went into boxes and sorted and tossed and gave away. Some things will leave the house never to be dealt with again, which is a relief.

Our kitchen mostly stays relatively tidy (although packed to the gills) all the time, and the bath is no big deal, but I still will need another day to work on my office. It is in the area that was once the dining room, when the house did not have eating space in the kitchen. It is the next room over from the living room and fully visible from any seat in that room.

Again, I tend to be relatively messy. This year, though, has been more extreme in that regard. The desk is piled with so many papers that I think I could lose a ball of yarn in the mess. So I’ll start working on that room tomorrow and finish it up on Monday (when I have no appointments on the calendar.

Meanwhile, tomorrow I will be dancing with the Habibi Dancers at the Cadillac Club in REOTown at 7pm. I think 9 of us are going to be dancing. I will be doing three numbers, as my alter-ego, Eudora.

The event is a fundraiser for Nancy, who is one of the partners in Magdalena’s Teahouse (where we had our CD Release party a year and a half ago). She’s been fighting Parkinsons since I have known her. She had a stem cell transplant earlier this year, and had to take out loans to do it, so this is to help handle those costs.

The performance is a multicultural dance event (we are not the only dance group involved), and I think it will be a really fine show. Nancy knows SO many performers in town.

Sunday I teach “Toe Up Mittens” at Rae’s Yarn shop, the first of two sessions 2 weeks apart. It’s an afterthought-thumb (like Norwegian mittens) with a knit-to-fit start similar to my First-Time Toe Up Socks pattern. Much fun.

After that class, Brian and I will go to the Elderly Instruments holiday gathering and we will perform for Brian’s co-workers (there are many musicians working there, so we will be one of many acts… and they are a very good audience! We got named The Fabulous Heftones when we performed at one of these parties, back when we were not yet married if I remember right.

It should be a good weekend. (I’m cheating right now and using old photos.)

What a strange weather day we have. We will not see a hint of sunshine today, even at noon it felt like dusk. The temperature is 60F/ 15.5C, unheard of in January in this area. The sky looks like a typical full-cloudcover December day. It’s almost surreal.

It rained two nights ago and started to melt in earnest around then. Our January 1 snowman has lost any resemblance to a snowman, it is now just an unusual pile of snow in the middle of the front lawn. He gave us (and some of you) much joy in his short existance, at any rate. We got about 3 good solid days out of his glory before things started getting warm.

I am sharing two photos with you today… Yesterday’s sad snowman-remains, and the glory of a perfect Michigan snow, from my mother’s front yard on the 2nd, just four days before. Sometimes the sun does come out, and if it is right after a lovely snow, you can get photos like this.

I think I’ll go for a walk today, anyway. It will be another day without appointments so I can play with my schedule a bit. There is SO much to do from my home office/studio, but if it is 60F, I just think it is imperative that I take a walk.

I hope your day is great. So many folks are going back to work and school today. I hope this brings the joy of reunion rather than a sadness at the routine. Remember, if you are one going back to work… income is definitely a wonderful thing, not everyone has work right now.

And truthfully? One must have a place to belong. I figured that out when I had too much alone time and not enough work, back when I lived alone. Peers are essential to a person’s life, particularly if you are like me and relatively social by nature.

(I’ve been knitting… photos tomorrow.)

Prepare for photographs… I am giving in to more than usual for this post. It was a special night, you know?

On New Year’s Eve we almost did not choose to go to the Contra Dance. It was supposed to snow a lot and I was enjoying the warmth of the house. Brian reminded me that I would have a good time once we got there, and he sort of wanted a date for the holiday, so we went. He was right. I was glad I went.

We know most of the folks in the Contra Dance community pretty well. These are people we very much enjoy and very much want to spend our time with. Some of them we see only at dances, but it’s amazing how many are in our regular circle of acquaintances (for starters, Sharon, Julie, Rae, and Cynthia are all knitters I see regularly and who also dance). It is such a warm community! There is just nothing like a New Year’s Contra dance.

I find it fun that at a Contra Dance you will inevitably find a corner of the room full of knitters. We end up talking and knitting, and watching dances, listening to the great live music, but not dancing much. I love that there are a few under-20 young folks who are part of the knitting corner. They are more likely to talk knitting between dances and still do a lot of dancing, but it is a lovely addition to the dynamic.

Just before midnight they had a big circle dance and that was a blast! We all grabbed hands at the end and made a huge spiral of people. We were almost in the center of the spiral and it was amazing how long we needed to spin before the whole line of dancers was wound up together. It sounds crowded but there was plenty of breathing room even at the center, the room is plenty large for this sort of fun.

The band for the dance was The Cosmic Otters, who are otherwise known as Two Sock Knitters, or Meg and Jonathan. It’s funny, I’ve been reading their blog at least a year now and I was sure of Meg’s name, not sure of Jonathan’s (because she refers to him as “the fiddling fool” or just “The Fool.” I was sure of how he looked but now how she looked. It must be that she takes more photos of him than he does of her.

I also did not realize that Meg and Jonathan *are* The Cosmic Otters. As I peek at the New Year’s Eve post by meg, she shows a photo of “the band” and it’s Jonathan and two friends of theirs who joined them for the second half of the dance. With Meg the unofficial photographer, it’s no wonder I didn’t realize she was half of the band!! And no wonder I did not know what she looked like.

After the dance, we proceeded over to the house where we’d spent lovely time just before Christmas, knitters and fiddlers. Meg and Jonathan were going to stay there for the night before heading home to Chicago (a 4-hour trek). So I sat next to Meg and we knit socks, while listening to a group of folks play old-time fiddle tunes. It gave us a little time to chat about knitting and Ravelry and sock yarn and all the things that internet-knitters might want to chat about. Much fun!

On the way home I noticed how beautiful the snow was. I also realized that it was a little above freezing. We drove past a house which had a snowman in it and I got this great idea that we should start the year with our own snowman. And so we did. I think it was a good way to start the year. We started with a play day together. Yup, the right choice.

Photos: The first six photos Brian took, the last is mine. (The musicians, left to right, are Sam from Lansing, Jonathan, Chirps from Chicago, Meg. Notice the otters perched on the monitors, front right. Dance committee member Bonnie even gave one of the otters a party hat!) Food, dance, music, fun.

I wish I’d taken photos of the fiddle jam session at the house. However, I was having too much time getting to know Meg to think of it.

You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone, they say. We just spent 36 hours without Internet service. We could not look up the weather report any time we wanted, could not look up any random question that came up by going to Wikipedia, could not use the internet to convert inches to centimeters, all sorts of things that we just do as a part of an ordinary day’s activities.

I ran into Julie at Rae’s shop and she is looking for photos of the contra dance on New Year’s Eve. However, I am actually typing this at Rae’s with wireless so that I can post something sooner. I will do New Years’ photos when I get time at home.

Meanwhile, the big excitement on Wed/Thurs this week is that Rae’s Yarn Boutique moved to a new location (click for map). It is just a few blocks from the old location, and is in my favorite block in my city of Lansing, Michigan. The space is about 2.5 times larger than the old one. The lighting is great, the seating is wonderful, and there are two spots for teaching classes so we can have concurrent schedules if need be.

I was there on the opening day and there was a rush in the afternoon, with folks waiting in line to check out. It was a festive atmosphere and I ran into a lot of folks I enjoy.

Thursday night we had nine folks for late hour knit-in, not all at the same time but we had a very pleasant time and plenty of elbow room.

Here are a few photos of her new shop. There is still a shelf unit or two needing to be moved from the old location to the new, but you can see the cheerful red and gray paint job and the roomy new space.

Congratulations to Rae on her new space. The East Side is getting more fun every day!

It snowed today, and snowed and snowed. At 11am there was just a dusting, but by 4:00 we had over 2 inches (5cm) on this car. It was not cold, in fact most of the time it was just above freezing. It was that perfect sort of snow that they try to re-create in movies and on TV. I was glad I only had to drive about 2.5 miles.

The tomatoes I pictured here on the Solstice (mostly green at the time), were joined by 2 more fruits I found on the bush almost a week after I took that photo. The new ones are the two at far left. One just was not ready for even a gentle nudge, apparently, but the other is doing great. When I put the first batch out, only two had any sense of color besides green. I am eager to make some sort of sauce for pasta perhaps. Either that or I’ll make some greens with tomatoes, another favorite of ours.

In other news, Altu asked me to walk her through a sweater pattern. She learned to knit in Ethiopia as a young person, and made a lot of sweaters. However, they had only one thickness of yarn and you could change the gauge by doubling it. So she learned how many stitches to cast on for herself, and she learned to make up the sweater as she went, shaping by instinct and experience. She has never followed a pattern.

So Rae helped me find a sweater that would work for both Altu and me. It’s the split-neck T Shirt from Knitting Pure and Simple. I will interpret the pattern for Altu and we will knit together on our regular Thursday afternoon lunch date each week until we have finished sweaters. This could be fun!

My size needs less than 850 yards and I happen to have four skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that add up to just a bit more than that. Funny, this yarn is supposed to be a worsted weight (5st/inch) but on size 8 needles after blocking I’m getting 4.5 stitches an inch which is the gauge the pattern wants.

I did not imagine this yarn could get that gauge, so I swatched like crazy. I held it together with sockyarn, and thicker alpaca lace yarn, and added yet another laceweight to the first. In the end, when I wet blocked, I got gauge with a single yarn strand of Cotton Fleece. This is very good, that makes the project more portable.

I looked on Ravelry for other folks’ versions of this sweater. One woman used a contrasting yarn for 2 garter ridges (four rows) on both the arm edges (instead of ribbing) and the neck. It looks wonderful, so I may do that. I have lots of yarns that might be just right with this cherry red, for an edge or two.

I’m going crazy with ideas for projects. I finished another pair of really-tiny-socklets for earrings. I keep looking at tiny toy projects like the heart I made recently. I still want to embroider. I did darn some socks and need to do some more. I love that I finished those 2 pairs of socks last week.

And my singing voice is so strong right now! We don’t have a concert scheduled until a few weeks into January and I wish I were singing tomorrow. In the wintertime I often have struggles with allergies and the inevitable bugs that go around. Right now we rehearse and I sing my heart out to the two of us. It’s really fun, but I love the stage. Soon enough, I guess.

What a good day Christmas Eve has been. I woke up early for me and got my tush on the road earlier than I normally might. I was at the grocery store at noon, and the line was not bad and it seemed most were in a good mood. I chatted with a boy in line in front of me about his new toy. Fascinating.

Planning just a little ahead

I determined to get whatever I needed to get through a day and a half of cooking, without going to the health food store. The one on my side of town is notorious for cash register slowdowns and long lines so I skipped that (the people are nice but sometimes that is not enough).

Kroger suits me fine, it’s an older store on the East side. It’s very culturally mixed and “just folks.” My favorite cashier is from Africa and I try to get in his line whenever I can. They had a Santa greeting children today which kids seemed to enjoy.

Pure entertainment

At that point I was done with obligations for the day. I went to Rae’s shop because it was literally a block from Kroger (same shopping complex) and I just enjoyed being there for a while. I knit a little and did show and tell a little, and hugged a bunch of friends. Met the sister of a knitter I know socially, and that sister is from over the pond as they say, so I was very interested in chatting for a while.

The “white tornado” returns

Starting then, and until past midnight, I seemed to have an energy I have been missing since before Thanksgiving when my sinuses started acting up. I must finally be well, because I could even sing without strain today. What a nice change! I was a “perpetual motion machine” as one friend puts it, or a “white tornado” as Brian says. I was grateful for the energy.

Good food

I came home and made a wonderful soup (food post probably tomorrow, including a recipe). I felted two bags that Diana had knit as samples (had felted a bowl the day before, big fun).

Catching up on small tasks and starting large ones

I made a bunch of sewing progress… wove/darned to repair a huge hole in a favorite pair of bulky socks, which I was really missing in this cold weather. I sewed handles on a Sassy Summer Handbag that has been waiting for those handles for maybe 6 months.

I also knit a small gift for Brian. We don’t really worry much about gifts but we sort of like to have something the other can open on Christmas day… not required but nice.

I even made some progress on the goal of a clean house. I did some in the office and some up in the bedroom, and I ran a few loads of clothes. Some of you have commented on this goal of mine, and I’m checking in with you on that. Progress, but not perfection, as they say.

Fun earring transformation

Actually, the item shown in today’s photo I completed yesterday. A dance friend got me sheep earrings for Christmas. They were shiny and fun but a little small for me and were missing the element of color.

I decided to add a few beads between the earwires and the sheep charm. It worked great! I think I’ll be wearing these a lot. They have a lot of different turquoises and greens in them, so they will “go” with lots of things (no need to match when there are that many colors). In the photo you see “before” at left and “after” at right.

Food for the holiday

Tomorrow Brian will put cornish hens and sweet potatoes in the crockpot when he gets up, and that will be our ultra-simple meal for dinner. I have been eating poultry/fish more because of my doctor’s insistance, and though I’m not fond of meat I really think I am feeling much better.

To reward myself for being a good girl, I am considering making a pumpkin pie or two. The down side would be that I would have to make the crust for the first time since the 1980s. I don’t enjoy that part much, I make too much of a mess and it’s the cleanup that makes cooking a chore to me.

Holiday thoughts and gratitude

So today was mostly relationship, with some food and knitting rolled in. I’d say that made an excellent day. I think it helps to have few expectations. I think it also helps to finally feel well.

I am really counting blessings today, friends. I’m thinking of all the folks in my life who really have made things nicer for me. There are so many I really love and who are a real part of my support system. I remember the years when I had precious little in the way of support, and I am filled with gratitude and contentment for the life I live now.