Here is the oft-requested picture of my “new” Louet S10 wheel. Not really new… almost new but purchased used from my friend Tony, after I sold my Ashford Traditional to my friend Jacquie to raise the funds. It all worked out so well I am delighted. If you remember that I got the Ashford in trade with a friend for two pair of handknit socks about a year and a half ago, you can see I feel I live a charmed life sometimes! I definitely do have the right friends in my life!

Isn’t she beautiful? I love this wheel. It’s a very well-made machine, on a practical side. On top of that, I love clean, modern lines. I am *so* not a turned-wood person, *so* not a traditional person. I was raised with Danish modern furniture (oiled walnut with clean lines) and I find that less is more, for me. This wheel is just the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. (It was made in Holland.)

I appreciate the wheels other people go nuts over… the handmade, hand-carved ones… but I honestly like this one better for me. She doesn’t have a name yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long until she does.

Before I got this wheel, I was planning to get a clear purple wood finish and make this sweetheart purple (showing the grain). I may still do it, but now that I am face to face with this beautiful wood it seems a shame to do a thing to it. The grain actually flashes when I’m spinning, reflecting light. It’s a beautiful thing.

Lookie! I’ve filled my first (large) bobbin! It’s about 5 ounces of fiber on there. It would take maybe another half-ounce but I have lots of single-ounce samples and I want to keep each colorway an unbroken strand.

I really want to make these sample yarns into a rectangular stole with fringe. I am thinking I’ll use one strand of the handspun sample yarns, and one strand of (ideally) black brushed mohair, together as one, probably. I will use garter stitch probably, or seed stitch if that doesn’t work right. I like the stretchiness of these stitches and the fact that they sort of blend the colors from one row to another.

I like the idea of black because even pale colors shine through as if they are even more colorful, in contrast with black. I like mohair just because I love mohair, I guess… but it sort of fills in the holes and makes a lightweight item that is translucent but warm. And I’m just plain not a lace grrrl even if the yarns would let me knit them into lace.

It looks like maybe I will be able to take a six-week spinning course at the new East Lansing Hannah Center (I’m grieving for our beloved Bailey Center where classes used to be held, though). My schedule at Foster changes in the summer so this may work out. That would be lovely. I’ve only had two spinning classes so far, one for 4 hours and one for 1.5 hours. I’m generally pleased with the yarn I’m making, but more knowledge is always a good thing.

Now, May I Get Your Attention??
Tomorrow (Friday, May 23) is Sarah Peasley’s birthday! Why not go to her blog, Handknitter, and leave her a birthday greeting? Why not?

I’m a socknitting fool. I currently have two pair on the needles for Diana, my Sister-in-Law, three pair for Brian, and two pair for me. I would just as soon have fewer, but when I get to a point where I need information or a decision… or just plain need to pay attention more than I might be able to (decreasing for the gusset is my worst place for messing up) then I start another pair. That way, I can just knit without focus. You have seen my schedule! I can go days without much knitting at home at all. I knit in little bits and pieces of time between events, and waiting… we are always waiting, it seems.

In the end they will all be done and I’m not worrying too much about it. I seem to start a batch and then finish all pretty much at the same time. When it starts bothering me that I have too many Unfinished Objects (UFO’s), I usually have at least a pair or two that are close enough to finishing that I can dive in and make myself happy!

Last time I finished two purple solid pair and one striped pair at the same time. You’ve seen the first two so here is the third. It is from Heirloom EasyCare 8, a DK weight washable cabled yarn from Australia. I didn’t like knitting these but I *LOVE* wearing them. They are positively scrumptious. Maybe it’s the extra thickness, maybe it is the cabled yarn construction, but they sort of feel like little springs underfoot. And they are washable! I may go right ahead and order some of the turquoise (Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer of Heartstring Fiberearts carries it) and live with boring knitting again. For delightful wearing afterward!

For now, I have only one pair going that is solid colored. I stay more interested when there are colors to tease my eyes. However, the solid sox are much more wearable so I’m getting a lot of use from those which took more focus to complete.

I got so busy I didn’t post Monday. I was at Foster all day working on my computer classroom, preparing for summer session, less than a month away. My machines need a lot of tweaking so I keep plugging.

Then at CityKidz Knit! I had thirteen children, most of whom had already knit before, so it was very fun. Thank goodness Luann came to volunteer. I really appreciate her help. Some of my kids are starting to really crank out knitting when they are away from my room, and it is very exciting. One girl is more than half way on her second backpack, and it is gorgeous. We didn’t have bulky yarn so she is doubling some beautiful worsted-weight Rowan wool someone generously donated to the room (in several colors), and the color interplay with the two colors knit together, is really working out beautifully.

The girl who knits on pencils at times, finished her scarf from the cotton ribbon yarn she started last week. She had hoped it would be longer so Luann helped her pick up stitches at the ends and she will knit some lime green at either end (it was turquoise for the main stretch) to make it the right length.

Last night I went to a meeting at the new JoAnn’s super store in Frandor. It looks as though I will be teaching a few classes there starting in August. We don’t know exactly where I will fit in, as there is already a knit instructor but she also teaches sewing (Colleen, she is in the knit guild and is the one who suggested I contact JoAnn’s in the first place) but it looks as though I will teach a sock class and hopefully a polymer clay beads and buttons class. And anything else they can use me for.

I love teaching, and my computer work is slowing down significantly in my 8th year at Foster. It’s so discouraging to find that a class that used to have a long waiting list, now has zero people registered. So… It’s wonderful to think that I may have yet another venue for teaching. And it’s only about 4 blocks from Foster Center, so it is extremely convenient. I think they will have a different client base which could increase the number of knitters in Lansing, and this will be a good thing.

And I’m happy teaching, whether it be computers, art, knitting, whatever. I just belong at the front of a classroom. I believe it is my destiny. I figure that in the future I will have more places I work, all for fewer hours. For six years in the late 1990’s I was a nearly-full-time corporate computer software trainer for the same company, and now I can sometimes have five 1099/W2 forms at tax time, for all the places I’ve worked. I think this trend is continuing, maybe even intensifying. I’m clear I’m not in charge of the trends, but I need to ride the wave. The good thing is that the more places I work, the more people I meet. I like that a lot.

Tonight (Tuesday) is the final big meeting for Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild. We have a big meal and a “garage” sale where we sell yarns to one another. It should be fun. I love my guild.

I got to the East Lansing Art Fair around 2:30 today (I know, lazy me). It was Guild Day and I represented the Mid Michigan Knitting Guild. My timing was pretty good, though, in the end. There had been all sorts of knitters there before me, but when I got there it was just me and Jane (our President) for the rest of the day. I did see Sharon P., but I missed Krista who stopped by before I got there. I’ll have to see her on Tuesday at the guild meeting.

The fair ended at 5pm and I spent a good deal of the rest of my day organizing my yarn stash and, more importantly, my knitting publications. Brian got us a new bookshelf at MSU Salvage on Friday and my books all fit on the top shelf! Then my magazines and patterns, those problem children, fit on the bottom shelf of the unit in my office area (once I spent hours throwing away papers from a previous life I led… an old job I left in 1999… and other assorted and very dusty records). I have been storing my knitting books and magazines in piles on my floor, and I seem to never find what I am looking for. This is a great improvement.

The magazine shelf still has room for more magazines, actual empty space. This is good, because I adore knitting magazines. There is still plenty to do– for example, a pile of patterns printed from the internet to be filed in some binders I already have, plus some yarn in bags that needs to be tucked in to the proper boxes. However, all in all, this house looks so much better than it has in a good time. Maybe we will have a party after all! As if I have time to prepare for a party??!!! It has just been so long (two years), and it’s so fun to have a music gathering here.

The sox I knit last night and today (because I left my other knitting at work) went really fast. They are from Regia stretch, which seems to really like being knit on larger needles than the regular Regia. I knit tightly, but I was cranking away on size 2-1/2 Brittany (3mm) needles and they really felt good. Was ready to start the heel flaps. And oops! On one of the sox I had inserted a yarn over about halfway through the cuff.

The yarn over hole is right where it will be really obvious, and it did change the way the colors were pooling. I am probably going to bite the bullet and rip the wrong cuff out and knit it again. It went so fast, I can’t imagine it will take that long to catch up. Some mistakes I can fudge around. However, a hole right where the world will see, isn’t going to work. Good thing I have no emotional investment in finishing these at any given time. I just knit sox for Brian when I need to keep my hands busy, and in the end they all get finished. “If you liked knitting it, you will like knitting it again,” I always say.

The picture is Hershberger Art Kazoo #180, dated December 2001. It now resides in New Zeeland with friends of my spinning/knitting friend Marlene, and her musician hubby Art.

Well, it was 74 degrees F outside when I got home from work, so I promptly went out on the porch, hung up the hammock we bought in Mexico several years ago, and took a nap. Total luxury! Usually our street is pretty busy because of traffic between two related hospitals, and since houses are so close together you can usually hear a lawn mower or two, or five. But today, the traffic was quiet and there was not a single mower. I slept for, get this: one and a half hours! I was sooo tired! I did have to wrap up in a comforter because a hammock is really created for tropical weather and can get very chilly quickly… but I had the nap of my life. (Picture is one I took at least 4 years ago in Jamaica, it has nothing to do with today’s story other than it is tropical as well.)

Yesterday several of us from Habibi Dancers danced at the Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life” at Eaton Rapids High School. It was fun but freeeeezing cold out there on the track/football field at 60 degrees and a brisk breeze (that is, in dance costumes). We had some technical difficulties with the music (their tape player didn’t work so we danced as many things as we could to CDs we had with us). This required us to punt a bit to do the show, but the audience didn’t mind one bit. Some of the girls around perhaps 10-11 years old, asked us to autograph their T-Shirts. Very cute. I took a whole roll of regular film so I’ll share goodies from that here someday.

In minor-bummer news, I left my knitting at Foster Center, and they are now closed up tight until Monday morning. Pout! I had a bag with all my current knitting in it. A pair of sox in planning stages (the handpainted yarns for it) was in there, and a pair of sox for Brian, for waiting-in-line knitting, and my lovely Fortissima Colori Cabled Sweat Sox. Those are getting so beautiful! I was planning to take them to the East Lansing Art Fair tomorrow, but now I have to figure out a Plan B.

Off to find some knitting, because it is guild day at the East Lansing Art Fair tomorrow. Some of my fave local bands are playing, including Steppin’ in It (2:30 Main Stage) and Mystic Shake (Noon, Stage West). The Uptown Band is opening main stage at 11:30. The thought of rushing somewhere at 11:30 on my day off doesn’t appeal much but if I can get a cup of tea and run over there, I haven’t heard Uptown Band for a long time and they are fab. (I realize other people don’t think of 11:30 as an early start time, but remember that I typically go to bed between 1-2 a.m., and I do not wake up quickly.)

I think we will be knitting near the second stage (parking lot at Albert and Abbott), so that will be fun. Knitting, good conversation and live music. What a great combination!

Sharon P. writes that she will be there at 1pm. I don’t remember being assigned a time to be there, so will go when I am awake and alert. I’m pretty sure to close the event, in any case. Do stop over if you are in the area!

Wally Pleasant came over today. (OK, yes, I’m dropping names now, but Brian has been playing backup for Wally off and on for several years.) Brian will be backing up Wally for his concert at East Lansing Art Fair tomorrow (Saturday, May 17… which is also Norwegian Independence Day for those who are even slightly interested).

Wally gave us temporary tattoos for “No Pants Day.” Really. Apparently this is a holiday(!?!) in Austin, Texas, where you don’t wear pants or any pant substitute all day. Just underwear. Imagine!

I find this amazing, it seems that it must be subsidized by some underwear manufacturer somewhere, right? I must admit that if I lived in Austin, I would pass this particular holiday by… but I digress.

The reason Wally had the tattoos was that he had been asked to write the theme song for No Pants Day. What a one-of-a-kind thing to put on a resume! Makes me chuckle. If you want to hear the “No Pants Day Anthem” click on the No Pants Day link above, then click the music link on the left side. You’ll see a picture of Wally, read a little about him and the story behind how he got to write the song. And a link to download the song in MP3 format, as promised.

Yes, it’s real. Sometimes life is more like a surrealist painting than we realize.

If you get to East Lansing Art Fair Saturday, Wally is playing at 3:30. Check it out. It has been a while since he’s played there, and he is always a lot of fun.

Oh, and the Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild is having a little group there at the fair on Sunday. I’ll be there, so if you come to the fair please stop by and say hello.

I sat in a cafe in Haslett, Michigan today for several hours (that perhaps I didn’t have to spare, but took anyway) chatting with Sarah Peasley. I am so grateful for her companionship. We are so different, but we seem to balance well together. I think it’s great when friends can each learn different things from one another.

My schedule is really in flux, my life is changing drastically as the realm of computer training changes around me, and I need to totally redesign my weeks. It is somewhat overwhelming if I look at it from the big picture. Sarah really was helpful in letting me see the situation from different angles. I am not sure what will shake out, but it is so good to have someone who listens and then bounces things back to me with a different view. Thanks, Sarah!

Here’s the quote of the day:

She’s got everything she needs,
She’s an artist, she don’t look back.
She’s got everything she needs,
She’s an artist, she don’t look back.
She can take the dark out of the nighttime
And paint the daytime black.
— Bob Dylan, “She Belongs to Me“

It took me over 30 years to call myself an artist. When I hear this song, it reminds me that I have everything I need.

Have a wonderful evening.

It’s official! Dawn Brocco has put up a preview page of her Summer Heels and Toes Gazette. My “We Match!” sox are there, fourth picture from top.

They are knit in Cascade Fixation yarn (Cotton/Lycra) for summer. I created 11 sizes from baby 0-1 to Ladies’ Large. This means that mommy and baby, or grandma and baby, or all the kids, can match. Fun.

The sox feature a simple slip stitch pattern on the cuff for texture, and a non-binding tubular start rather than the familiar rib. I like how the contrasting top of the sock works with the heel and toe. Of course, I like any excuse for color playing against color! Oh, and you may have expected this by now, but the sock does feature the LynnH No-Purl heel as well.

I am just beaming here, I hope you like them. The gazette isn’t out quite yet but you can order one at Dawn’s website.

We had Mother’s day for my mom today. My brother Eric, and his wife Diana, came up from Ypsilanti. Brian (my husband) was able to coordinate his lunch hour to join us, as well. Mom and Fred don’t go to Aladdin’s restaurant too often, but they seemed to enjoy their meals.

Eric and Diana brought flowers they had picked from their garden, for Mom. Diana had wrapped up the flowers in a shiny sheer silver fabric, with a sort of pale turquoise sheer bow of vintage ribbon. I made mom a handmade card, also turquoise. I’ve given her many pair of lovely socks in the past but this time a card and a meal were her gifts. She appreciates a meal and time together more than anything else. It was perfect.

I’m so glad Mom is still with us. We might have lost her about seven years ago when she went through chemotherapy, but here she is, no sign of cancer after all these years. Cool!

Since we lost dad 30 years ago at age 40 (and we lost Eric’s first wife at the age of 27), we all know how fragile and precious life is. How every day is truly a gift. It was good to celebrate that our family is together and happy and reasonably healthy these days.

My family is small. Those six people at the table in Aladdins, are the only six in my family in the state of Michigan. Our geographically-closest relatives are distant cousins in Chicago, whom I have not met. Other than that, we have lots of relatives in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Georgia, and a few in Texas and California, plus a few others scattered here and there.

I enjoy my family small like this, it’s sort of peaceful to be able to listen to everyone at the same table without missing anything. I love my family; we’ve been through a lot and I think we got better from the journey.

Visiting with Ruth
Today I stopped by at Yarn for Ewe and saw Colleen (publicity person for Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild) and Ruth. Ruth was the woman working the shop when I walked in the first time and said “I want to knit socks, I haven’t knit in a dozen years, and I’ve never done anything but garter stitch scarves.” Two years ago this month, as a matter of fact. Seventy-eight pair of sox ago, amazingly.

It was a lucky day for me, because it was a slow day so I had time to chat with Ruth a bit. (Unlucky because I had gone there looking for solid black sockyarn and they did not have any, but the conversation made up for it.) Ruth told me she had visited my weblog lately, what a thrill it is to hear that! I really enjoy knowing who has stopped by. Comments posted here make me very happy, and comments from local folks just surprise me every time! I get hundreds of visitors per day, according to my web host, but that is just a sort of anonymous number. Having someone say… “Oh, yeah, I read that on your weblog” is just thrilling.

They had a pattern for a sleeveless top that I really liked. It looked like I could use it for some handpainted yarn or even some handspun if I did it just right. It was opaque throughout, with a v-neck and enough coverage at the armhole and shoulder seam to not show one’s foundation garments. Might be fun to try that one! I may go back and pick up that pattern.

My New “Baby”
Tony stopped by tonight after I got out of work. He brought a Louet S-10 wheel he has not been using, and I bought it from him right then and there. He will have to bring by the rest of his bobbins, because we both thought I might just check out the wheel and either wait or pass on the purchase. I love it, and I am thrilled I was able to raise the funds for it. I was only without a wheel for one full day and two partial days.

It is amazing how unsettled I was to be without any wheel at all. I guess I like spinning much more than I thought. And it is just getting to the time of year when it is perfect “spin on the porch with friends” season. Tony said he’d bring over his other wheel sometime and we can sip tea and spin and gab, as we like to do anyway. One of the women I dance with is also a spinner, and she lives five blocks down the road. I may invite her to pop over as well.

It was dark before I thought to take a pic of my new wheel, so that will have to wait for sunshine. Trust me, she’s gorgeous. I was just sure I wanted to paint her purple but she’s so beautiful (even to me, the woman who doesn’t like wood much) I wonder if I’ll ever do that now.

More CityKidz
CityKidz Knit! was not even officially today, but I was at the computer lab and I had four kids (out of eleven) knitting. I realized that of the eleven kids who came in today, nine have knit with me in the last few months. That felt really good.

Socknitting
I was going to run to Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild tonight for their final meeting of the year, but the wheel transaction won out. I’m continuing to plug away at self-patterning socks, two different pair for Brian, while I chat with friends, sit at Foster Center, and otherwise fill empty time. One pair is ready for heels but I don’t have solid black yarn in fingering weight (I have sportweight which I may end up using) so I focused on the other pair and those are 3/4 of the way done with the cuff as well.

I started one of the pairs for Brian Friday and another Saturday. I’m really sitting still a lot this week, I guess. I have had some computer work as well, so that tells me I’m busier than I thought.

Picture here is a pair of sox I knit in the method of Turkish socks: toe up, with afterthought heel. They were great fun but I had some trouble getting the heels to match (my everlasting gauge-of-the-hour problem again). I put them away months ago with heels knit but the stripes just wouldn’t match. I took them out maybe a month ago, ripped out both heels and did them both in the same sitting (they matched finally) and finished working in ends this week. I had fun working with where it was in the yarn I should start knitting for the heel. I like it that the stripes, at least to me, look like they repeat without any hiccup in color sequence. If I made these for anyone else, I would have made them with larger heels, and maybe on more than 50% of the total stitches. However, I was trying to be true to the Turkish authentic socks where they are on half the stitches, and the heel is a wedge-type toe.

I’m starting to really like peasant/afterthought heels for my own feet. They are fun to knit, for one thing, and allow me more time knitting “brainlessly” on the tube of the sock without interruption. I really like that feature.

A Second Mothers’ Day
Tomorrow we have Mother’s day with my mom. My brother, Eric, and his wife, Diana, will be driving up from Ypsilanti to have lunch with us at New Aladdin’s restaurant (where I sometimes dance). I am looking forward to it.

Off to touch some wool…

Here is a picture of the silver-purple rolled-top sox I finished about a week ago.

I think they are a mohair/wool blend, very shiny. I wore them yesterday to Grand Rapids and was very glad I did, since the weather was cold. I got the sportweight yarn in a swap online and don’t have ball bands, so it’s mystery yarn.

I liked the yarn just fine, really, although I knit them on too-small needles for the yarn. Finally I am tired of plain sox, though… especially purple. I’ve knit 4 pair of solid purple sox since Christmas… two pair alpaca, this pair and the Heirloom Easy Care pair I finished just a few days ago (pics taken but not edited yet). Last year it seemed I knit a zillion sox in raspberry-to-hot-pink shades, and this year it is the year for purple, I guess. I really needed nondescript sox to wear with my work clothes (and wild sweaters that I bought at the resale shops around town) so I think I’ve done a good job handling that problem.

My Beloved CityKidz
Today at CityKidz Knit! I had a blast. I had seven kids at one point or another, including one new knitter and one who had knit a year or so ago but needed a refresher. I had three boys during the course of the day, a wonderful thing. And we had three finished items between all the kids: two wristbands and one beanie baby blanket- garter stitch with stripes (she had to work those ends in and did a very good job of it). One girl learned to use a sewing needle today, to finish her wristband. Two kids learned to cast on and one to bind off.

I also got a HUGE box of yarns and needles from a weblog reader (sorry, I am at home and can’t look up the label on the box right now… there was no note in the box). There were at least three full bags of an icelandic lopi-like yarn, which will make wonderful backpacks. The kids are excited about this idea. And there were bits of an incredible mohair-looking blend, probably a Colinette yarn… enough for a good stripe at either end of a beautiful scarf perhaps, or the brim of a hat. And three balls of ribbon yarn… they went nuts over that. There were also two full hanks of Himalayan silk yarn in two colors, and a bit of leftover yarn that looked like Noro Kureyon or Silk Garden. There were a few other goodies as well, including two sets of Bryspun double-pointed needles in size 10, perfect for hats… thank you for the very wonderful goodies, kind reader!!!

My grrl who knits on pencils sometimes, had made three wristbands since I saw her last week. She fell in love with the turquoise ribbon and I suggested it might make a nice skinny scarf. We got her size 15 needles (could have gone even bigger with how tightly she knits) and she cast on merrily. She made the scarf *really* skinny, maybe 4 inches, but was really clear that was exactly how she wanted it to look. She had about 10 inches done by the time we were ready to wrap it all up. I bet she’ll have a scarf finished when I see her next week.

The elementary-aged girl who made the striped beanie blanket fell in love with the icelandic yarn and is eager to start a backpack. She had cast on a piece about 3″ wide this morning before school and had about 2.5″ knit on it before she got to knitting today, and that was on size 2 needles. Without a single mistake. I’m proud of her.

The kids who knit at home and/or school as well as at Foster Center are really making good progress, regardless of their age. I told this young lady that she would be very capable of knitting a backpack if she was willing for it to take a bit of time. Since she really plugs away at the knitting I think she will do it. Another girl finished a backpack in two weeks, because she knits a lot at home. We will see how it goes, but I am optimistic.

My most regularly-attending boy is still really an uneven knitter. He prefers cracking jokes to knitting accurately, and I really don’t mind much. However, he chose to learn how to bind off today and he will start over with a new ball of yarn. His piece had increased from about 10 stitches to over 30, so he has a lot of binding off to do!

As the night slowed down, I knit an amazing amount on the pair I started briefly at the Saturday evening Knit-In at Yarn for Ewe. I have finished about 6″ on two cuffs already (size 2.5mm or 1-1/2 US Brittany needles).

It is sort of amazing how fast my knitting goes with those patterned yarns. This is a multiple-gray/black Regia Ringel… the same subtle stripe patterning as Clown but no color per se. Predominantly taupe, with charcoal, cream, and light bluish-gray. Actually there is a lot of depth to this mostly un-colored yarn. I think Brian will wear them a lot, they will sort of go with everything (he wears jeans most of the time anyway). People laugh and guess right away that these are for Brian: they are not turquoise, purple or hot pink!!!

Busy Saturday
What a weekend! Saturday went as planned: Spinners Flock guild in the morning with Tony, fun as usual. Found the new Interweave Knits magazine that had not been available at Borders on Tuesday, yippee!

We ran back to Lansing barely in time to work my computer lab at Foster Center in the afternoon. Went to Altu’s restaurant, worked on her computer and took some photos, of her and some of the food (we are preparing for new menus and some other publicity).

Then I ran home, changed quickly and ran back to Altu’s to perform with Abbott Brothers. It went very, very well. I had worried that I had missed the deadline to get in the City Pulse paper, so I did a postcard mailing to about 30 addresses and sent out some email notices. My efforts created about a dozen folks who came out to hear us, and I know Barbara also had two tables come to see her as well. The place was hopping, a wonderful scene! I’m pleased. Picture of Abbott Brothers… Dick on guitar, Larry on harmonica, Brian on Ukulele, Barbara (hiding behind Brian) on piano, me on Heftone bass, and Bob on guitar. It was sooo hot up there, even I was baking. And then today it was cold and windy and rainy… almost like the heat had been a dream rather than reality. Odd.

In the picture I’m wearing the funky coatdress I got Friday at Plan B Apparel and Accessories, but you can see overall color and you miss out on the wonderful early-seventies print. I may try to scan in the fabric one of these days… or maybe not.

After the show, we had a feast thanks to Altu, and then I went to Yarn for Ewe for the 2nd Saturday Knitter’s night out. I was worried I would be too late so I called ahead (Sarah didn’t call or we would have arrived at about the same time… she wrote on her blog that she’d missed it because of the time).

I’m glad I called (and that Marcia encouraged me to come in at that late hour).. I got there around 10:30pm and stayed until 12:15. There were five of us: Wendy and Marcia (who work at Yarn for Ewe and are excellent company as well as resources for questions), Cheanne, a very active member of the MMKG, and Judy, someone I hadn’t met before who also is really into socks. She has a circular socknitting machine, very cool. I was very interested in what she had to say about the machine, socks in general, and yarn dyeing for socks. I’ll look forward to seeing her again, at the Michigan Fiber Festival.

I tried to take photos at the Knitters’ Night Out, but I had Brian’s digital and somehow it was not set for taking pictures. I couldn’t make it work for the life of me. I figured it was out of electronic “film” but that turned out not to be the case. I tried, really! I’ll give it another college try next month. I guess.

Sunday Running Around
Sunday I delivered my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel to its new owner, Jacquie. She’s a mom, so I teased her that she had acquired a new baby for her Mother’s day. She seemed pleased. Later (when I was out) Tony called to say that he had his Louet out so I could play with it to see if I want to buy it (I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t) so I’ll try to get with him this week on that. It feels odd to not own a spinning wheel, even though I can go weeks and even sometimes months without spinning. Lately I’ve been spinning more and enjoying it again. I loved the Louets I rented last summer from Spinners Flock so I’m really looking forward to my new Louet… whichever one I end up buying. (Picture of my Ashford the day before selling it, on my purple-painted porch.)

We spent the day today in Grand Rapids with Brian’s family. We hadn’t seen his folks since January when we visited them in Florida. We hadn’t seen his brothers and sisters since Christmas. It was fun, we played some music and sang and talked and I knit a bit. More socks. I have started three new pair sox in the last 2 days, sox for brainless knitting in line again. Well, two of the three anyway.

The third pair is the “Cabled Sweat Socks” from the Spin-Off Socks booklet, in Fortissima Colori (fingering weight wool/nylon sockyarn, two plies an aqua-turquoise and two plies rainbow, really lovely stuff that refused to be knit in stockinette stitch). The pattern is reasonably easy for me to keep track of, even though I don’t often do cables. I have to cross 10 cables once every 6 rows, half left and half right… and that isn’t too bad.

I made a little row counter out of cotton yarn to help me remember what row I am on (otherwise I just keep going happily on the simpler rib pattern for many extra rows, no fun to fix). I am in the first repeat on both socks, and these will be slow going because I’ll have to focus on them more than I typically concentrate. Knitting for at home, for sure. Right up there with the collar of my Since-September Sweater, which is still waiting for me. I don’t really enjoy “thinking knitting” most days.

I missed Working Women Artists tonight, I got free to go just as it would have been time to wrap it all up. It’s too bad, I love those women so much. I just couldn’t do it all on Sunday after doing 9:30am-12:15pm away from home on Saturday.

Brian crashed early tonight and I should have joined him. I’m wiped out. Yet Sunday is usually my only day off and since we were gone so much of the day I was sort of reluctant to end it early. And I really didn’t want to miss posting to my weblog two days in a row! There is so much to say!

P.S., Upcoming Events
We will celebrate Mother’s day with my own mother on Wednesday, since my brother, Eric, has Tues/Wed as his weekends. I must say, I’m so glad to still have my mom. My father died 30 years ago, and mom went through chemo about seven years ago, around when Brian and I got married. I really am glad we have her to celebrate one more year!

I’m so happy it’s spring. I really dislike Lansing when it stays gray and dreary for too many months. There is no color here for so long, the ColorJoy woman loses her Joy sometimes.

Today was different. I reveled in the color, both visual and human, in my town. I stopped at Lopez Bakery and got some wonderful Mexican Wedding Cookies as a treat. Mr. Lopez is just the finest man, and he offered again to make me tortillas to order. Fresh, made-to-order tortillas. I am not sure why I haven’t taken him up on this yet. I eat a lot of tortillas because I can’t eat yeast, and fresh ones would be the best, worth every cent. I just seem to not get organized enough to call him enough in advance that I could stop by and pick them up the same day. Silly me. I’ll need to keep trying.

I also stopped at Al-quds Halal Market on the same block. I had not been there before, for some reason. They seem to be open all the time, until 9pm most nights. I think I just happen to pass by that block going the wrong direction, always with a deadline, and then I go home a different way. The young man behind the counter was very courteous and helpful, and I really enjoyed my stop. I found canned fava beans (a meaty-tasting high-protein bean used in mideast cooking, which I don’t see in chain groceries), chick peas which my chain store doesn’t carry anymore, some raspberry jam from Turkey, and some black tea from India. I could have tried many more things but those will wait for another day.

The halal market is moving several blocks to Michigan and Marshall streets, the Riders Hobby shop now (next to Letts Bridal and across from KFC). That is a much larger space, so I am glad for them that business is apparently going well for them. I always prefer doing business with small business owners, where I sort of know the people who receive benefit from my purchases. I’m going to be sure to return there.

Then I stopped at Plan B Apparel and Accessories (Wally Pleasant’s store, where we performed a couple of months ago) just across the street, and found a very cool sort of coatdress from probably about 1972. Think Twiggy meets young Jackie Kennedy, in turquoise, emerald, raspberry and blue.

It’s a double-breasted 3/4 sleeved coatdress with covered buttons, and it was clearly hand-tailored. Bound buttonholes, lined, you name it. I think I’ll wear it as a duster or open-front coat rather than a dress, and I may need to hem the sleeves just a bit. There is nearly no hem fabric to turn the sleeves outward, and they are just long enough to look like too-short regular-length sleeves on me. Otherwise perfect, and very lightly worn (though quite wrinkled from being in storage too long, but I can handle that). The print is a sort of watercolor with stylized flowers (I call them “donut flowers” because the center is large like a donut hole). Those flowers were “it” when I was coming of age, and I still love them.

On the way home I thought how lucky I am to be in a town where the neighborhoods are so fun and you can get to know the shopkeepers as well. We sometimes walk to an asian market near our home, and we are excited about a few Cuban eateries cropping up in town recently. A new asian market is going in a block from Foster center, too. There are several good Mexican groceries (I go to La Perla a lot). Things are coming a long way especially in the food arena, in our town. I am very happy about it.

And the trees are green, and the dandelions gloriously yellow everywhere! People are starting to fuss in their yards, not gardening quite yet but preparing for the coming blooms. I’m starting to see geraniums for sale at local garden vendors, a good sign.

I may not post tomorrow (still feeling appropriately guilty about not yet posting all the pics and my story from the Iowa/Zilboorg trip, but offering this one pic of Anna wearing one and holding another of her sweater creations). Tomorrow I start early for me and end late, with spinning guild out of town in the am, work at Foster in early PM, photo shoot at Altu’s after work, possibly deliver my spinning wheel to its new owner/buyer, perform with Abbott Brothers at Altus (please stop and see us 6:30-8:30 at 1312 E Michigan if you are in town) until late and then possibly a knit-in at Yarn for Ewe if Abbott Brothers doesn’t do a late jam session post-performance. Whew. Might not get home until after midnight.

Seeya Sunday.

Kay wrote: What is City Kidz Knit?

I reply:

CityKidz Knit! is a program I run at Foster Community Center, a center owned by the city of Lansing, Michigan, where I work (I started out as a computer instructor in the community education night programs). It’s a drop in program, so I can have anywhere from one to 14 kids, and sometimes they are all new kids. My kids range from age 5 to about 17. Most of the kids are 8-12, though they seem to be getting younger every day.

I seem to average about 4-5 kids a session during the school year, and usually at least half of them have been to the program before. Several of my kids walk to the center, and they attend more irregularly. Some kids (more every week, it seems) are actually driven to the center by parents who really want the kids to have this experience. I have a few homeschooled kids who use knitting in part as math training, pretty cool indeed.

CityKidz Knit! is a very bare-bones program at a nonprofit center. They pay me to work one hour on Mondays and one hour on Wednesdays. Fortunately, I also supervise open computer labs 6 additional hours a week, and “my kids” have figured out they can come and knit with me during computer lab times if they desire.

Everything is donated, except my two hours a week. I have kept going by donated yarns and donated needles (the Socknitters yahoo group has been especially generous as well as my local guild)… and several volunteers from the Mid Michigan Knitting Guild sometimes come and help me out, especially in the summer. (Luann, who I mentioned this week, has been volunteering since last June.)

In the summer things explode: I typically have 10-14 kids, and in those sessions it can be as many as 75% newcomers. It’s a real challenge to get them all going before our time is up! They are so good, though, so patient waiting their turns. My new volunteers are always surprised at how good and patient our kids are.

I tell you what, I’ve never had so much fun in my life as teaching children to knit. It is so satisfying and they are such interesting people. It’s good for all of us!

Oh, I guess I will do some shameless begging again. I am running short on needles in sizes 6 to 11. They can be any length, any material. I usually use straight needles but can also take DPNs and circular needles if you have extras. If you have any needles you no longer want or need, you can send them to my program and we’ll send you a tax letter to use as a deduction in the USA, for next tax season. If you want an email reply as well as the letter, please make sure you include your email address as well as your mailing address, somewhere in or on the package.

We can also always use worsted to bulky yarns, particularly in bright colors, and honestly we really use up a lot of tiny balls of yarn, the leftovers you think are not worthy of anything. We use the small balls to knit wristbands or beanie-baby blankets, the two most popular first projects.

Also the more advanced knitters are learning to work in small bits of eyelash or other fun yarns to purses and scarves for accent. Therefore, even a few yards of those fun yarns are quite appreciated (they seem positively luxurious to an 11 year old, believe me… one girl told me “I feel so special” when I gave her a small ball of eyelash that had been donated).

If you feel like donating, the address is this:

Lynn Hershberger/CityKidz Knit!
Foster Community Center
200 N. Foster Avenue
Lansing, MI 48912

I would love to provide postage but I can not. Trust me, all donations go to good use. I go through oodles of small balls of yarn each month, or so it seems.

Do not feel in any way obligated. Yet if you have bits and pieces you are not using and want them to go to good use, I assure you this program will be a worthy recipient.

End of shameless begging. Kay, thanks for giving me a chance to brag again about “My Kids.” (Oh, picture was taken in August… sunglasses added to children’s faces by me. Woman in orange is my friend Mandy, who works with me and is the one who gave me that lovely yarn for Christmas. Drawing by a child who just turned six years old, and who lives very close to Foster Center.)