Today at Foster Center I had 10 kids knitting, and just myself to help them out. I had two totally new knitters, and two who started last week. I also was thrilled to see that one of my older and more accomplished knitters had finished the backpack from Melanie Falick’s Kids’ Knitting book. She did a great job, it looked great. I didn’t have a camera today and couldn’t leave all those kids to go to the office and get one. I asked her to bring her backpack again next time so that we could get proper pictures.

I’m soooo proud of her! Last time I saw her, she had knit the bottom of the pack and we determined she would pick up stitches and knit circularly around it, rather than casting on a new piece and stitching together later. Next thing I see her (two weeks later), she had the whole thing assembled (thanks to Mom’s help). It took her only three weeks from start to finish, a pretty quick pace for a kid who had only started knitting this fall, and only done a few small projects before.

I have been knitting a few rows here and there again, on my Peace Fleece rug. I’m allergic to sheep and alfalfa, and this yarn has a little of both in it, so my eyes itch soon after starting on the project. I decided to take the project to Foster center so I can knit two or three rows when possible. I think I’ll finish it faster if I knit on it there. At home I have so many other things to distract me.

I also finished the babysox for Anne’s little girl. I have a few more ends to work in. I measured my gauge before and after washing (I’m using Fixation cotton/elastic yarn) and it changed a bit afterward. Very interesting stuff, this yarn. I do like it much more than other cottons, though, and the colors make me happy.

My “knit in line” project again is a pair of somewhat bland purple-gray sox. I thought the seller told me they were wool/alpaca but the more I knit with this yarn the more it feels like wool/mohair instead. These are perhaps sportweight yarn (no ball band, got them in trade online) on size 1 needles, and I knit tightly… so these are something like a bulletproof sock!

I think they will be warm and comfy when complete, but they are not fun to knit at all. The purple isn’t intense enough for my eyes, the yarn is a little scratchier than I like, the gauge is a bit too tight to be comfortable on the wrists. But it’s way better to have knitting in the bag available at a moment’s notice, than to stand in line with no knitting at all. These will be complete someday, just because of that. In fact, I’m about 3/4 the way through the heel flaps right now, so they are coming right along.

I’m still waiting on Diana’s ball-of-foot measurement for her two pair of half-knit sox, and I still haven’t finished the handpaints for the next 2 projects. Therefore, for now this is what I’ll knit until I get into the dyeing studio.

I would love to start a random-yarn stole but that takes more thinking than I usually dedicate to knitting at night after work. As it is, I have so many things already started, it would not be a great idea. I just keep realizing how much I wear the items I knit which are NOT sox. I wear my purple mohair beret several times a week, my legwarmers (alternating between 3 pair) almost every day fall/winter/spring, and I’m going to wear out my half-finger alpaca gloves if I don’t watch it! A stole I’d use a lot, but it just needs to wait a while while I shovel through the other unfinished promises, to others and myself.

I’m thinking spinning today. It’s beautiful enough to go out on the porch, at least while the sun shines, and spin a bit. I slept in after 6 full workdays and two very short nights. Loved the luxury of sleeping and sleeping and sleeping…

Once I awoke, Brian took me to breakfast at the Travelers’ Club and Tuba Museum this morning. I love going there, and we don’t go as often anymore since my food is so limited. I get tired of going to breakfast and ordering oatmeal with bananas, which seems to be my only choice at most breakfast restaurants… sigh. Usually we see someone we know at Travelers’ Club but we knew only one waitress today, Ana (she hangs out in the local music crowd and has worked at the restaurant for at least a dozen years).

On the way home, we stopped at Oriental Mart. What a fine establishment! It has every asian food possible, lots of very interesting things (and fascinating packaging) for snack foods, and a whole aisle of teas and other hot drink mixes. For a tea fanatic, this is heaven. Someday I’m going to go there and get a bunch of ingredients for Indian food, they have things I adore eating but don’t know how to cook. I’ve had a few friends from India who have cooked for me, and it’s just wonderful stuff. Someday.

Back to fiber news: someone on one of my spinning lists posted this amazing link:
   2003 International Calendar of Fiber Events

It makes me inspired to go to a LOT of places, which of course can not fit into my life easily. Just the same, it really has a lot of information that will help me find things near my home. I hope you find something worthwhile as well!

Brian and I played as The Fabulous Heftones at Altu’s restaurant again tonight. It was great fun, the place was hopping most of the time, and the crowd was appreciative.

Every time we go to Altu’s we run into people we know. Tonight, a young man Brian used to work with was there. He sat with a table of eight young musicians who had been to Ladyfest (an arts/music festival) during the day.

Then Ulyana and Sofia walked in as well. Small town! It was great to see them. Sofia had wanted to learn to knit this spring break, but as things sometimes happen, her break got very busy. (She has one more day, maybe she’ll call… but I bet she’s already overbooked. We just can’t do everything that sounds fun, can we?)

I’m getting tired! Foster has had a lot of kids this week for spring break. By today, I had several kids really excited to do knitting (even though it was officially computer time). At one point I had five knitters and two computer kids. And two of the knitters were boys who are excited to come back again and knit wristbands and headbands to wear while playing sports. I’m happy they like it and see this as something that relates to their lives.

I had another elementary-aged girl come back for the third day in a row. On Wednesday she said she was not coming back this week, but then she begged her mother to come back for two more days. The first piece she did was just a mess, about 5″ wide at one point, then it sort of pulled in from both ends in sort of a “T” shape and ended about 3″ wide. I thought yesterday she would not be returning so I bound it off and gave the knitted shape to her to take home. She said her mother put it up for everyone to see her wonderful accomplishment (she told me this at least three times, so this was very big news).

Today she started in on a new piece with new yarn, with the goal of making a small purse like one she saw in a picture of a knitting kid from summer program. She did such a good job that I allowed her to take her knitting (including needles, in process) home. I did not expect this much progress in such a short time, she really had a hard time getting it right at first. She did about 8 rows of garter stitch today with almost no mistakes, and she noticed the “hiccups” as soon as they arrived on her needles, so I could fix them for her.

It was a very rewarding week, but I’m tired! Tomorrow I teach in the morning for 4 hours (adult computer novices) then get an hour break to run errands, then 2 hours computer lab and possible knitting, then a few hours before Brian and I perform at Altus. I’ll be ready for a day off this Sunday!

I finished the slouch sox made of Buttons DK yarn!!! I wore them today (see picture). Love this stuff, it’s just great. And the new hot blue-purple is much more interesting than the old dark reddish-plum they had about two years ago when I started knitting sox. I think I’ve got enough of this new yarn to make another pair in purple with turquoise accents. This will be fun!!!

The babysox for Anne’s baby are going well, too. I did have to rip out the whole foot on one (good thing the foot is only 32 stitches around and 3.5 inches long) but I’m now at the point where I need to just make the toes and they are done. Once they are published I can show you those pictures as well.

Today I got to knit a bit. I spent about 45 minutes at the allergist’s office, plus 3 hours at Foster Center, a little time at Altu’s Restaurant and a little at home.

First, I finished the ends on my Buttons yarn slouch sox. I can’t wait to wear these! I need to grab Brian’s camera before he leaves in the morning and get some pictures of those.

Then I tried to go back to the since-September sweater, and I forgot the reason I’d stopped was because of dye lots. I re-knit the part I had ripped out last time I knit it, then realized what I’d done and stuck it back in the bag for a better time. I just can’t seem to knit anything that takes a brain when I’m at Foster.

So I started a pair of sox for my friend Anne’s baby. I figure I’ll test knit my pattern for possible summer publication one more time. I created the pattern for size 0-1 infant to size ladies’ large, and I haven’t really done much knitting for kids before where it needs to be a specific size. Of course, I have reference materials which tell me how long a size 2 baby’s foot is, but I am happy to put theory to the real-life test.

Anne’s baby was born prematurely last May if I remember right (she was due in July), three pounds and one ounce. She is doing great. Anne just bought her some size 2 shoes last week. Perfect! I’m testing the sox for sweetie pie. She is still wearing the strawberry hat I knit for her last August, which is adorable on her. I swore I would not knit for children, it seemed such a guarantee that the clothes would get wrecked or underappreciated. However, Anne is totally appreciative and the baby deserves special things for being so strong after such a challenging start in life.

I’m ready to knit the toe on one of the babysox and just picked up for gusset stitches on the other. These will easily be finished tomorrow! Gotta love the speed of tiny projects! (Picture is some very tiny babysox I knit last August, with doubled yarn… Koigu and Jawoll.)

Oh, PS… Habibi Dancers had an extra glass jug for me to dance with, so that became a sort of non-issue other than my hurt pride. (See yesterday’s post.) Whew.

It was a long day. I had kids at Foster Center who did not know me and may not be back. They were not used to our boundaries and needed a lot of instruction in that area. They were a challenge, and the experience tired me out.

On top of that, later I was dancing with a glass jug on my head and it fell and broke (fortunately it was wrapped with a scarf so the clean up was not difficult). But it sort of bummed me out. The troupe did have a spare jug for me to use in the concert, nobody was particularly bummed at me for breaking it. But it broke in front of a preschooler who was sort of freaked out by the surprise of it all. We got her mellowed out OK, but it was just an unsettling day.

Habibi Dancers rehearsal went well, anyway. We have dress rehearsal next Wednesday and our performance is on Saturday the 19th, so this week we were working on final decisions with costumes and the like. I love the women I dance with, they were my saving grace at the end of a day that could have been better. I was glad to be there.

The good news in my day is that my turquoise Buttons DK sox are almost done. I have only the toes to do and I can wear them. Maybe I’ll wear them tomorrow! Off to knit toes… tomorrow is another day, right?

At least the snow is melting.

I worked at Foster Center today for four hours in the computer lab. Because there was a break between two 2-hour sessions, I found myself there in my lab before opening time.

Fortunately, I found my most constant and devoted knitter down in the library and invited her to come up and knit with me until computer time. We had a lovely time.

We never seem to have enough yarn of the same type, to do any project of substance in only one yarn. This has made for some very creative projects. My grrl decided she wanted to do a quick spring break project she can finish easily. She cast on for a skinny scarf after checking through the bin I keep with the extra-nice yarns people have donated.

Yesterday she fell in love with a variegated yarn in pinks, corals, and pale purple, then went home and found another solid skein of pink Dale Baby Ull where the colors worked pretty well together. Today she found two skeins of denim blue Wool-Ease and a skein of very soft white eyelash to pull it all together. We laughed because when she held the eyelash in her hand, it almost looked like a little white guinea pig! It’s a big luxury for her and she is really enjoying it.

This is looking good right away. She cast on with the pastel multi held together with the eyelash, knit an inch or two, switched to a stripe of denim (she has much more of this than any other yarn), then a stripe of the pink with eyelash, and back to the blue. I told her she’s making her own version of Jillian’s rockstar scarf Knitty.com featured last fall (see picture here). The difference is that in the Knitty scarf, the eyelash is the solid section and the other parts are variegated. In both cases, the look and feel of the scarf is luscious.

She loved it, she kept petting the eyelash sections and looking at how pretty it was. This is what it’s all about, you know?

This child (she is 11) is really loving what I love, yarn and knitting. It is such a joy to spend time with her. It is a delight to knit together and talk about knitting and yarn. She laughs about her “yarn store” at home (I have allowed some of my better knitters to take home a few skeins they adore as incentive to knit at home). That was where she got her Baby Ull, it was at home begging to be in the same project as the variegated pastel she is using with it now.

As for me, I knit about 4-5″ on each sock today. I finished the gussets (does anyone else dislike these more than turning heels the way I do?) and am making my way quickly to the toe. I may finish tomorrow since I’m at Foster for 3 hours again. It would be wonderful if it happened. We’ll see.

Icky day. It snowed on the first day of spring break. This is probably not news, because apparently half this country got the same thing we got. It was maybe 5 inches here, not as much as I had heard we would get.

I did spend a little time shoveling today. I rarely shovel, Brian usually does the job (lucky me). It was not a bad day for it to be my turn. By the time I got out, the snow had stopped coming down, the wind had stopped, it was a little warmer than freezing so it was melting just a little, and things were quiet, peaceful and calm.

If I could enjoy winter, today would be the day. I was warm enough in my handknit sox (the ones I pictured yesterday, actually), my excellent Lands End high-top shoes (I rarely wear them but they are great in wet weather), my cabled handknit legwarmers, and a long wool coat with wool scarf and mohair hat. And lambswool earmuffs Brian got me in Toronto just over a year ago. If I’m warm, I’m happy… and I was plenty warm enough outside today, for once.

It’s spring break, so I’m spending at least two hours a day at Foster Center with the kids. We had knitting today… had 3 boys for about 20 minutes before the gym opened, and three girls who are regulars, who stuck around. That was fun. We had a bunch of new kids for computer lab time so I had to get them adjusted to how I work. (Can you say “boundaries?” They learn about personal space in my room.) I didn’t get any knitting done in computer lab today, it was much too active. But I did knit a little in line at the Post Office later.

I’m going nuts because I haven’t finished knitting anything in a while. I guess I finished three sample sox for the possible publication, but when it’s not a pair it doesn’t feel done (even when I don’t ever plan to make the second sock). In process I have two pair for Diana, two pair for me, and a sweater, all just over halfway done, on the “current” list.

Then I have several other pair on the “not quite ignored” list. And I’ve got three swaps in the wings waiting for dyed yarn (I wound off a good number of skeins today for dyeing this week, that’s good progress). And what I really want to make is a purple and turquoise stole because I get so cold all the time… even in summer, because of air conditioning. I’ve picked out all the pretty randomly-colored yarns for the stole, but it must wait. I can not start one more thing, or I may break!

If I’m lucky, the new kids will adjust to me quickly and I’ll get some serious knitting done in computer lab this week. Cross fingers for me!!!

Little factoids about my weekend knitting experiences:

Altu showed me her first sock on Saturday, all it has left to do is close the toe. We have so much trouble connecting that she would wait forever if she had to wait for me to show her kitchener stitch. She could see that the pair I did for her, I worked down to 8 stitches and ran the yarn through the loops twice. However, her sock is the right length and has many more than 8 stitches so that won’t work.

She decided she will finish the sock with a three-needle bindoff. She knows how to do that already and this way she doesn’t have to wait for me to teach her. She is sure that the ridge on the end of the toe will not bother her at all (I did tell her that some folks turn the sock inside out to do this so the ridge is hidden). She is pretty excited about the sock. She’s a very busy woman, with not much time where she can knit, but it is so relaxing she really enjoys it. She learned to knit sweaters as a kid, but they take so much longer than sox it’s great she can learn the smaller project at this time in her life.

Oh, I spent the weekend doubting myself over a design I’d already thought was complete. I proofknit a second size for good measure, and found a small mistake which I fixed right away. Then when the sock was done, it looked totally out of proportion and I was devastated. Finally today I decided to block it anyway, and just dousing it in cool water (it’s cotton yarn) made it exactly the measurements I had expected it to have when I planned it. I’m telling you, blocking sox can make miracles happen. I’m so relieved!

I also worked a little this weekend on a pair of sox I’ve been carrying around as my “wait in line” sox. For some reason when I went to pick up stitches for the gusset, I could NOT get the number of stitches to match. I ripped out three times (I do 2 sox at a time, on 2 sets of DPNs) and re-turned one heel 3 times. I still was slightly off (one row in the heel flap, how did that happen?) but could not for the life of me figure out why, so I fudged it and picked up the same number of stitches even though I have a different number of rows. Thank goodness these are for me, because I won’t typically fudge for anyone else.

Fortunately, the heel flap is close stitch, my no-purl heel that I usually use, and it’s really stretchy. I’m figuring with all the stretch, my feet won’t feel the difference. But I don’ t know what happened, it’s very odd. I am now about 5 rows into the gusset decreases on both sox. Whew!

I’m eager to finish something, finally. I still have 2 pair for SIL Diana waiting for a measurement, and I have 2 pair for myself about halfway done, and that sweater where I just started on the sleeves last week. I have a few other projects promised but they need hand-dyed yarn before I can begin and I haven’t been in the studio lately (and the floor down there is very wet right now because of all the rain, but then again I make the floor wet when I dye wool anyway).

This week is spring break so my Foster Center schedule is off center a lot. I hope that will free up a few sections of time for dyeing. I tell you what, my schedule for summer is already determined but I will be making some major changes this fall. I have only one day to myself and that is just not enough. I need some long stretches of time, several per week, to get my dyeing done comfortably. And everyone needs at least one day a week to rest, or the brain and the schedule both get nutty from lack of self-care. I always overschedule myself and then wonder why it’s hard to get it all done. You’d think I would learn.

We are expecting 6-9 inches of snow between 5am and noon according to one radio station. I work at Foster Center at 1pm, so I’m hoping by then the roads are driveable, at least the 3 miles of ambulance route I drive from home to the center. There are definite advantages to living close to center city!

Off to bed. I’m such a night owl, and I just must force myself to get some sleep with this time change. (Oh, the photo is a pair I made for myself a year or so ago, of Dale Freestyle worsted weight washable yarn. They are great in this cold weather.)

Well, what an interesting evening. We went to Altu’s restaurant to hear Temesgen Hussein play tonight. We sat in the middle of the room at the wonderful Ethiopian basket/tables, and I sat next to Temesgen’s wife. I’d seen her many times, but always sort of waved hello and didn’t stop to chat. She’d always sort of smile back.

I had determined that next time I saw her, I’d go over and ask her name. So tonight we sat near one another and she leaned over and said: “Didn’t you used to work for ARC?” I said yes, I actually worked there for over 6 years (it is a corporate computer training company, where I mostly taught office workers how to use Microsoft Office products).

Well, it turns out that around 1998 or so, she and a few co-workers at a previous job, took my HTML web design class. After that, I went to their office a few times to do further training. I revamped the website they had at the time, and showed them how to update what I had done.

What a small world. I never would have made the connection, but she said she had been sure she remembered my voice and couldn’t remember from where since it was so out of context. Then this week, she was doing some HTML coding and it clicked, that I had been her HTML teacher. How amazing!

Not only that, but as we were walking in, Chris and Mary Lee were walking out. I knew them in my “former life,” so to speak. I met them first when Chris worked with my ex more than a decade ago. After that, Mary Lee also took a few classes I taught for ARC sometime before I left there in 1999. It was very good to see them.

This town gets smaller every minute.

Hi, all. My, I’ve been busy.

I meant to tell you about last Tuesday night at Borders in Arborland (Ann Arbor, Michigan… about an hour from my home). I just love that group.

I had to get there late because of a dance rehearsal. However, I got there in time to see several friends I hadn’t seen in two months. And I got to meet Jillian in person for the first time! It was so good to chat a bit after corresponding via email for so long. We’ll have to get together some time when there isn’t a group to distract, but it was fun.

I was busy showing off my recent stuff (I am the original show-and-tell queen… I think I’m still amazed that I can make things I really like, so I get excited and have to show people as a little kid might) while she helped someone learn to knit continental style (holding yarn in left hand). I knit continental, but I do hold my yarn different than most people I know. It was great to watch her teach and see how it works for others.

On the way home from Borders, I had the most wonderful time driving. I love driving alone in the dark, just love it. I’ve taken many, many road trips alone. Most of my long trips I took in my old car, Martha G., a 1985 VW Golf that I had for 14 years and a quarter-million miles. See picture taken around April 1999, and notice the three stars I painted on the back hatch.

Night is my time, it’s so peaceful. Tuesday night was just as perfect as it could be. The weather was wonderful for driving, the air was clear, my glasses were without glare, and I was playing a wonderful tape, Abdel Gadir Salim All-Stars. This is a 1991 Shanachie recording no longer in the Shanachie catalog (boo hoo). The band is from Sudan, and their music is just magical stuff: brilliantly played, passionate, rhythmic, soulful. It was just the most perfect hour alone I could have had.

Fast forward to Friday night. I got to dance as Eudora at New Aladdin’s Restaurant in Frandor (Lansing), with Sally (whose stage name is Sara). I just LOVE dancing there! Just love it.

Well, for the first time, I decided to dance to the Sudanese music I had listened to in the car on Tuesday night. It was the right choice. The music has a 6/8 beat, a very danceable, almost bouncing rhythm. The piece I danced to had a theme something like “You, my love, are driving me insane.” Very passionate stuff, with a great vocal plus excellent violin and saxophone solos. I enjoyed it very much, and the audiences for both performances seemed to really love the piece as much as me. Even Amal, the head chef and one of the owners of the restaurant, told me how much she enjoyed it.

At the second show, there was a very long table with a large group of diners. In the group there were several children, including two little girls perhaps around kindergarten age. They were fascinated with our dancing and our costumes. (Kids that age tend to love the shiny costumes.) They kept peeking around the corner when they couldn’t see us dance from their chairs (the restaurant seating area is in an “L” shape). It was so very fun!

Tonight Temesgen Hussein, an Ethiopian musician, is playing at Altu’s. I’m hoping Brian and I will get to go there and hear him at least for a short while. And next weekend, we get to perform there! I can’t wait.

My sister in law, Kathleen Alcocer, writes regarding my last entry:

I’ve got three of my “ancestors” in the juried student art show at my uinversity, even though we were only supposed to enter 2 things. I got around that by entering 2 of them as a diptych.

Plus, three of the body parts I did were juried into an exhibit in St. Augustine. So, even though I’ve only *just* finished all these works, they’re getting out there pretty fast. So, that’s nice.

You go grrrl!!! (Picture is of Kathleen and Pedro’s house… this place is art, too. See the archways, even for the parking area? And you should see inside, it’s so colorful. Kathleen’s favorite color is orange so the place is sunny inside and out.)

Socks and Sweater, Progress but Slow
On the knitting front: Sock for possible publication done and blocked, and it measures as expected (halleluia, I often have gauge problems).

Also, I worked just a little on my eternal sweater (started early September, put away for months at a time, resurrected last Saturday at the Yarn for Ewe Knitters’ night out). I did about 3-4 inches on one arm, then thought it smart to do a little on the other arm (gauge worries again) and realized that a) I am out of the purple yarn for that arm, and b) the yarn I was going to use is a different dye lot, which I knew a long time ago. So I un-knit four rows so that I can alternate skeins for a while but that made me worry about the other arm where I had knit at least 10-12 rows more, and whether I should change dye lots at the same place on both arms.

I have to remind myself that I swore I didn’t care how this sweater turned out, as long as it was reeeeeeeeally warm. It will be really warm. After all, it is two strands of worsted weight Lambs Pride wool/mohair, knit as one, at 2.85 sts/inch. It’s like a very thick blanket!

I could make one arm different than the other, as so many sport garments do, with a stripe of the turquoise on one arm perhaps. Or not. I have never had a dye lot problem before, because I do sox so much… and the one adult sweater I did, I had a whole bag of yarn when I needed less than half of a bag.

So here I am unsure of where to go. To the naked eye, indoors, the purple dye lots look very much the same, but I know that sunshine shows every difference. For now the sweater is back on the “sit and wait” burner. Again. And it was cold enough today that I could have worn the thing if it were done!!!

Dyeing Day Tomorrow
The good news is that my night computer class somehow has no students in it tomorrow and next Thursday. That’s not so great for my short-term cashflow, but it will allow me a night to dye yarns. I am still behind on production (there are at least three folks waiting for me to dye them some specific yarns that I haven’t yet dyed) and it will feel good to do what I must do to get that work done.

Plus, once I have a block of time that big (my afternoon class ends at 3pm) I can get real work done. I’m somewhat relieved to be given that block of time. I have to stop by Altu’s restaurant between Foster Center and home, but since I typically stay up until past midnight, this will be a nice chunk of dyeing time. Yippee!!!

Interesting Website: Mailart and More
Oh, if you feel like surfing a little, you might like to check out this site my brother’s wife Diana sent me. (Does anyone else dislike the phrase Sister in Law? It isn’t specific enough… Kathleen is my sister in law because she’s the sister of my husband… Diana is my sister in law because she married my brother. And Judy [I haven't mentioned her here before...her primary artform is quilting] is my sister in law because she married my husband’s brother! For some reason I really dislike the vagueness of the label “sister in law,” but as always, I digress.)

The site has some mail art, which is why Diana thought I would be interested. However, there are some other pretty interesting conceptual things there. Unfortunately, some of the pages are very hard to read, either because of tiny text or difficult color contrasts… but the pictures are worthy of some time, I think. Interesting point: I went to maybe 10 of the pages on this site, and it does not mention the name of the artist at all. That seems a bit in line with the mailart philosophy, where folks often take on a mailart pseudonym… there is a biographical paragraph but no name!

My sister in law, Kathleen Alcocer, has just put up her first draft of her first website. (No wonder she’s been on my mind in the last few days… I nearly called her yesterday but it was really too late to call.) I showed one painting of hers to you folks when I was visiting her (and hubby Pedro) not long ago.

She shows images from five different series. I had not seen her autobiographical collages or the Genetically Modified Ancestors Series, a series based on photos collected by my husband, Brian (her brother), in his genealogical research.

Kathleen is a full-time artist, but on top of that, she is incredibly prolific. There are all sorts of pieces here that she had not done when we visited!

I absolutely love her as a person, as much as I enjoy her artwork. Please go take a peek.

OK, yesterday I awoke to snow. Today it’s past noon and it’s 67 degrees. Much better.

Today I slept until 11:30 (after first being awakened by a sales call that hung up on me at 9) which I really needed. I seem to not let myself rest unless I’m actually sick, not a good thing. And even though I took a sick day yesterday, I thought I’d get a nap but pushed myself on the sock deadline instead.

Late evening yesterday, while I was proofknitting my pattern, I realized that I had made some choices early in the design that just would not work as far as explaining them in print. I would make them that way if I was knitting for myself, but this was not going to work. So I had to go back to the spreadsheet and start over. The numbers are my least favorite thing (how many inches around for 11 sizes, how many stitches is that, will that number of stitches work for the number of stitches in the repeat of the design, etc…). But I had to do it and so I did.

I’m nearly to the toe on the sample sock, so I’ll get the pattern and a scan of the sock out today, which was deadline day. Then I’ll send out the actual sock in case the publisher wants to take different photos than what I send. Whew!

If I feel better today (I’m mostly well, with small setbacks that don’t last long) I will go to Border’s “Common Thread” gathering tonight in Ann Arbor. I hope to meet Jillian tonight… we’ve been corresponding for a while (and reading each other’s blogs) and she moved to Ann Arbor maybe a month ago. Between illnesses and bad weather we haven’t met yet. Maybe tonight. Check out Jillian’s blog, Knittingfrau.

The picture is some tiny sox I did last summer out of leftover Regia Clown ringel along with a solid Regia melon color. Very fun.