There is so much to think about today… a class I finished teaching yesterday, toe-up socks, at Foster Center, was great fun. Here is a picture of Anna and Moni showing off their socks. Anna is knitting with yarn dyed by Nancy McRay of Woven Art. Moni’s blue sock is my Cushy ColorSox which I had dyed as flammegarn, a technique of tie-dyeing that was done a lot in Norway (and perhaps other scandinavian countries) back a good number of years ago. I learned about it in Nancy Bush’s book, Folk Socks. Moni’s neutral-colored sox are commercial yarn, I don’t recall what it was.
Moni finished the blue pair in the three week course of the class, and she also finished one of her neutral-colored socks as well. She had made a Christmas stocking once, and has been knitting for years, so she was able to work quickly. Anna finished her first sock, her first ever, and she is a relatively new knitter who is also a busy Graduate student who chooses to take knitting classes on top of her regular schedule! I admire her.
I had such fun with these two ladies, that I hated to see the class end. I told them about all the knit-in’s around town, both at yarn shops and guilds, and I hope that I will see them at those gatherings some time.
I had 15 kids today at CityKidz Knit! I think that is a record, at least since September. About half of the children have only knit a few times, but it went OK. A few of the younger ones get very distracted when there is a lot going on in the room. They do really well when they say the poem that reminds them of the proper movements, but when they look up they forget where they are and they just start wrapping that yarn around the needle… several times. They end up with a triangle because of all the increases, but they seem to not mind at all. As long as they are having fun, I’m OK with it, but I do encourage them to say the poem out loud if they need to do so.
After Foster Center tonight, I went to help Habibi Dancers prepare for the concert on this Saturday. We did physical work today, setting up the stage set.
If anyone in town is interested in coming to the show, I do have tickets today but may not have many in a few days. The concert is at Hannah center, doors open at 7:30 and concert starts at 8pm. We expect it may sell out, so having a ticket before Saturday would be a smart idea, or I can leave them in an envelope with your name on them at the door if need be. It is sure to be an excellent show. I’m always proud when it is done.
When I got home, Brian was recording music again. We are actually working on two different CD concepts right now, and the one we are focusing on most is music from 1890 to 1923 or so, especially if they fit into the Moon/swoon sort of genre. A few days ago we did “Come, Josephine, in my Flying Machine.” Fun song, that nobody knows anymore. However, it is amazing how many of these songs we are doing are still hanging around… people know them after all these years!
After dinner tonight, Brian had me record the bass for “Shine on Harvest Moon” and the vocal for “By the Light of the Silvery Moon.” That last one is the mother of all Moon/June/Spoon songs. Here are the words to the chorus:
By the light of the silvery moon,
I want to spoon,
To my honey I’ll croon love’s tune,
Honeymoon, keep a shining in June,
Your silv’ry beams will bring love dreams,
We’ll be cuddling soon,
By the silvery moon.
That is eight times a word that rhymes with moon appears, in seven lines of text. It is impressive, even if it makes only some sense. I’m enjoying the singing of this one, though. It not only has enjoyable lyrics but a sweet melody. I just love singing this stuff! And I am counting my blessings every day that my voice is doing so much better that I can actually record now!
Last but not least, here is a picture of the yarn I spun Monday at Marlene C.’s. I measured about 182 yards/166 meters, *before* I washed and dried it. That would be enough only for some pretty short socks, although I am not opposed to that plan.
I *am* considering spinning some of my hot purple-red New Zeeland Romney wool as sock heels. I haven’t dug out the Romney yet to see if the colors will work together. It is more purple than the fuschia in this yarn. I’m not big on matching things exactly, but I do want it to “go” together. We will see what we will see. I had fun spinning the first yarn. It’s pretty but imperfect… maybe more pretty because of the imperfections, it’s hard to know.
Maybe I’ll get another spinning night after the Habibi weekend is over. I would love to get right on to knitting this yarn before I get sidetracked by something else!!! One day at a time, as they say…