Drat! I answered a question on the Knitlist about tams versus berets, and got into an offline chat about hats. Kathy from Minxknits had knit one hat already from Jacquie Erickson-Schweitzer’s very nice (and free) felted beret pattern and had a few questions (she wanted it to drape more than felted fabric does, for example).

Well, now I’m all hyped to maybe make a hat or two. The problem with a beret is that you can not tell if it fits well until you are all done. The good part is that they take very little time to knit. Except I’m more into trying to do some hats in smaller gauges of yarn, which will take longer to knit but drape better.

I have some Diamante which is a one-ply thinnish worsted weight yarn with long color repeats (color something like Noro Kureyon but the yarn is much more refined and smooth) which I got at Yarn for Ewe with my last yarn card. That yarn is interested in being a hat. I also have some sportweight yarn which is hiding somewhere, in multicolors (maybe the same manufacturer as diamante but it’s plied with each ply a different changing color) that I got at Threadbear. That one is also screaming “beret” to me. And I’d love to try knitting fingering yarn and felting it just a little, so that it still drapes well. Someday.

But I have other things to do. I’m not even knitting much these days, and the last 2 days I somehow left my sock box at home, the one containing my current socks-in-progress, that belongs in my bag to take on the road.

Therefore, when I was at Foster the last two days, when I had time to knit (not much) I knit on a beautiful thing someone donated to CityKidz Knit, half-knit. I think it was supposed to be a baby sweater but it’s pretty scratchy. It’s in fairisle patterning in wonderful colors, knit from what looks to be warp ends from a weaving project. It fits my head like a hat, so I’m pretending that is what it was all along and knitting away. I love colorwork and don’t do it near enough, so that is fun but it sure doesn’t make a dent on my current projects.

Thursday two of my adult knitting students (one from Foster, one from Threadbear) popped by during my time in the computer lab. I have a public computer lab open from 4-6 every Thursday, and the kids from the neighborhood play computer games while I knit. Sometimes I have a few kids who also knit, and I have let my adult knitting students know that if they need to come by with any questions on their project outside of knitting class, they can come by and see me.

It seemed Thursday that all the parts of my life all came together in that one room. I taught an adult computer class, then I taught kids to knit, then I had computer lab where some kids knit and some kids did somputers, and I had two adult knitting students there from two different places where I teach. After that, I taught another computer class. Although I didn’t sing or dance, I played our CD for a short while in computer lab, and I ran into my dance teacher on the way out of the building.

Actually, Thursday’s schedule sort of over-emphasizes my computer realm, because that part is slowing down for me this last couple of years. I still do it, because I’m good at it and my students are really appreciative, but I used to fill 5 classes with beginning adult students at Foster and now I don’t even fill one (although this term I’m teaching a second one at Haslett Community Ed.). It’s still great fun and they are so grateful for someone who can teach computers in English rather than Computerese (I call it Martian, because that’s how different computer language is from English).

Back to my administrative work. I can’t knit a hat right now. However, I can sing the song… “…but I can dream, can’t I?” (Does anyone know that song? I know it from that phrase to the end, but can’t remember the beginning and would love to find a record somewhere. I don’t remember where I learned it. It’s a torch song, perhaps from the 1940’s? Any help is appreciated.)

At least while I pound away at my schedule for January through April, and do boring financial paperwork, I am listening to Brian working on our new CD. It’s coming together very nicely, I must say. I am getting used to recording and Brian is really getting good at editing, so this one is going much faster than our first CD.

Now when will I ever get time to work on the cover art? I told Brian I wanted to do that this time (he has done the cover art for his first 5 CDs and our joint CD), but if I can’t catch up on my work I may have to let him do it. I am really enjoying listening to this CD while it’s being built… the last one was painful for me so I’m encouraged that this one will go over well.

OK, back to work. At least today I get to work at home by this nice window looking out at autumn color, and I can wear my comfy clothes today. It could be much worse. Cup O’Tea, anyone?

Photos are fall in Lansing, Michigan. I took the photos in the last week. Park not far from my home, between Pennsylvania and Cedar near where Holmes ends; Foster center with autumn color near front entrance; neighborhood behind Foster Center (street view and closeup of one of the trees there)… actually if you drove straight down that street and kept going through 2 yards where the street ends, you would be almost in the back yard of the house I owned when I was single, before I married Brian. It’s a great neighborhood (this part of the neighborhood was built in the 1940’s and later, the next street over where I lived was built in the early 1920’s, and is mostly bungalows with very narrow yards… I loved that ‘hood).

What is more beautiful, more fully artful, than a happy child? I am still trying to stay on non-computer tasks and so this post will be brief. However, I did go to Habibi Dancers’ practice on Wednesday. Who was there? April and Isabel! Isabel is wearing the hat I knit for her when it was too big and the weather not yet chilly. Now both the size and the warmth-factor are perfect.

And isn’t this child a prize? April is just beautiful, as the mommy of a content and healthy baby. What a gift these two are to me, and to this world. I think the good karma of a happy child spreads for miles around. I know that there is a lot of effort put into helping a child feel secure, and I know that parents of newborns get very tired. But at least in this photo you can tell that the rewards are there, as well.

Little Isabel is clearly recognizing me lately. It makes me feel good. She knows my voice, if not my face yet. I sure have fun cooing at her when I can, telling her how pretty she is! It’s good for us all.

I’m still plugging along on my not-very-interesting projects. Therefore, I will offer you three photographs I took last week.

We had a frost in the middle of last week. We were warned ahead of time… I got home late, past dark, and realized that I did not want to lose the remaining produce in my garden. So I put my flashlight on my head (it looks a bit like a miner’s hat) and my raincoat (it was cold) and went out in the garden, in the dark.

There I was in the dark, on my knees, harvesting what was left… which was not much. I had a little bit of good leaf lettuce in the one small container I’d grown it in… most of the leaves were tiny but it added up to about half a salad.

Then I went to the next bed, where the swiss chard never did much of anything because it was shaded by the giant parsley! I harvested what was left of the chard. It sure is pretty… the seeds I got had three different varieties, each a different color stem.

I got a little of the parsley, and then I dug out a few of the carrots that also did not do very well. I had never grown carrots and I just did it all wrong, not thinning them until too late, and not watering them much at the end of the summer. But I got a few that were almost as big around as my thumb… but much, much shorter.

Honestly, the carrots were not very tasty but I cut them into little slices and put them in a blackeyed pea salad for lunch last week. The lettuce was fine. The chard, when it is young leaves, is a good addition to a lettuce salad. I tried that now, and the chard was very tough and should have been cooked like spinach. That was a pretty unsatisfying salad, but I did grow it myself.

The last tomato looked so beautiful, on a very sad and yellowed plant. I picked it and Brian ate it (I don’t like fresh tomatoes) and he said it was delicious. We really had good luck with my first try at tomatoes! I got ten tomatoes from the one plant, and it started fruiting early. Altu got two whole, fresh, fruits she ate unadorned. Brian got two, and the rest I used for cooking and salads. I enjoyed having the plant on the landing, just because it was so pretty. I will definitely do a tomato container again next year.

A week ago I taught the last session of my New-or-Returning Knitter Class for adults, at Foster Center. I never showed you the photo I took of Karen’s project.

She chose to make the body of her pouch in garter stitch rather than stockinette, and since her yarn was very thick-and-thin I think it really looks good that way. She felted it just barely, by hand, but liked the size and texture of it not long after starting so she stopped before the fabric was too rigid. I think it turned out well. She picked a very beautiful mother-of-pearl button for the project, which really makes the pouch look special. Good job, Karen! The other three students wanted to work a little more on their projects at home before felting (or not) so I just got one photo in that class.

They all got to try felting by hand, as I brought little swatches for them to try. This is a lot of fun! I’m glad we ended the class with these lovely shrunken swatches. We had a good time.

I didn’t get any photos of my rug knitting class (last Friday at Threadbear), and it is a shame because they all chose such different yet beautiful colorways. Petra chose three different variations on brown… a dark, almost chocolate brown, a reddish-rust color, and a vanilla with bits of darker fibers in it. Rob told me that she decided to make a bigger rug than originilly planned, because she is so pleased with the project. She was in Threadbear showing folks her rug. Too bad I wasn’t there to see it!!!

No more photos of beautiful trees. It seems every time I go out, I forget my camera or the sky is dark. I’ll keep trying.

However, I’m distracted by some time-consuming tasks that are not related to knitting or art or business. For now, I’m sorry to give you a short post…

At least I’m knitting, on socks and that crazy grass skirt, both for me for a change. Most of the knitting I’m doing is while I am in line at the Post Office or the bank, or a doctor’s office. Today I’ve been to two post offices and now I realize I forgot to take a package I must mail, so I need to go yet again. And since yesterday was a postal holiday, the lines were really long at lunchtime. I’ll hope I catch it at a slower time this last visit!

Photographing Trees
Well, I tried to get to some parks Sunday to take photos of colorful trees here. I did get to Moores’ Park but the colors did not show up well on my photos.

I went to Reutter Park and was disappointed… one year about a decade ago, I went there this time of year and they had filled the fountain with potted mums… it was absolutely gorgeous. Well, today it was Sunday night in downtown Lansing, in a park not kept up quite enough (no flowers to be seen anywhere, I’m sure this is related to the city’s cash crunch), and there were a bunch of men (perhaps they stay at the YMCA which is on that block) hanging out, sitting on park benches. With nothing to really photograph, I didn’t even get out of my car. Sigh…

I didn’t get to Frances Park. This park is truly gorgeous all year. They have a formal rose garden where many weddings take place. In fact, the photograph Brian and I use for publicity for The Fabulous Heftones, we took at Frances Park, in the garden. I just plain ran out of time today so I’ll hope the colors are just as beautiful when I can get there.

I tried the grounds of the State Capitol building, but none of those trees have turned colors yet. The square is surrounded with pretty tall buildings, so maybe there is a protected weather area there, or maybe those types of trees don’t turn yellow or orange. In any case, that was also a bust.

The tree photographed here is about three blocks from my house. I like it when one tree has many colors on it, and sometimes the sugar maples do that. We have a lot of different types of maple trees in our neighborhood, so there is much color right now.

A True Day Off
How did my Sunday go? Great. I had a late breakfast with Brian at the Fleetwood Diner about 5 blocks from our house (we walked there and home). Then I came home, read some email, wrote my blog entry, had cups of tea, and eventually went to Threadbear to see Sharon P.

At Threadbear I ran into so many people I knew! It was hopping as usual. Lots of folks from the local knitting guild, and a woman I met through Kim at Yarn Garden in Charlotte. A young lady I met online who now goes to guild. Emily, who was in my pilot ColorJoy Stole class and who said she gave her first stole to a grand-neice who just absolutely loved it and is planning to wear it to a wedding this coming weekend.

Tea with Sharon P
Sharon said she had never been to Fleetwood Diner and maybe we could go there for our cup of tea. So back I went, a few hours after I left there with Brian, and we knitted and chatted and sipped our tea. She is knitting a scarf as a gift and I was knitting (again) on my “grass skirt.”

I’m getting less confident in the skirt the longer I knit. It is a beautiful fabric but may be too large. It is the size I planned for, but now I wonder if I don’t really want any ease in a knit skirt. It seems loose at the bottom edge. If I must, I will steek and cut/sew this skirt so it fits right. My friend Marie said she is willing to support me in the cutting/sewing if I need her, bless her heart. So I’m knitting away. I finished another skein of eyelash on it so that is good! Midwest Ukefest is October 28-31 and I really would love to wear this there, since I didn’t finish it for Uke Expo in the Pocanos last month.

WWA Show and Tell
Oh, and the Working Women Artists meeting was just wonderful. There were no new faces, unfortunately… but we aren’t giving up on that yet. However, the folks who came brought very different artworks to show and tell. Margabeth just painted her house two shades of purple, and was working on a glass and wire hanging piece for a church meditation garden.

My mother, Liz, brought her handmade envelopes and read us some very funny passages from her almost-weekly letters that she sends out to family, friends and shut-ins. Regina brought in two paintings (acrylic figure paintings) that she has done fairly recently, and told us about her process and how she came to change the look of her work since we all met her.

Maureen, who makes a good portion of her income selling handmade pottery, brought in two watercolors. I just love her two-dimensional works (she has done collage before as well, and I really thought the collage was extrordinary). Marian brought some digital photography she has been working with, and told us of a new body of work she is planning to pursue with her camera. I brought my series of three turkish-inspired sock patterns for Heels and Toes Gazette. Everybody learned something, everybody taught something, and we laughed and we were inspired and we enjoyed one another’s company. And enjoyed the food, too! (For one thing, Mom brought deviled eggs, which are such a treat!)

Photos are: tree in my neighborhood; and view of downtown (can you see the capitol dome straight ahead?) from the riverwalk at Adado Riverfront Park. I took the first picture Sunday, and the skyline I took last Tuesday when Brian and I took a walk after our lunch date. I’m just amazed at how many autumn colors came out between Wednesday and Saturday, it’s like a new city sprung up overnight!

Time to Rest
Wow… It is Sunday and I have no work, no classes scheduled, no appointments related to my business. No real deadlines, although I still don’t have the pictures of my new yarns (which I dyed on Labor day) up for sale, and that needs doing.

Yet today I have given myself permission to do no work for an income. It will be a day of rest, at least of rest from my business.

Today I slept in, I had a cup of tea, checked emails, even allowed myself to read some of the posts to my favorite email lists and even post a few replies. I haven’t read my lists for a week at least, I have been so focused on work activities. It was lovely to be part of the online community again.

I *just* got a spur-of-the-moment note from Sharon P of Knitknacks and she wants to meet me this afternoon at Threadbear and then go out for a cup of tea. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon. I’m planning to take a few photos of the gorgeous trees and the amazing blue sky today, if I can, on the way over to see her. I am really looking forward to quiet time with one friend. I had time with Tony in the car yesterday, which was a breath of fresh air, and now time with Sharon, a first since school started. Aaaahhh…

*Then* at 6pm I have Working Women Artists (WWA, pronounced WAAH-waah, like the mute on a trumpet). I missed last month because we were at Wheatland Music Festival. This month at WWA we are hoping to get some new folks there. We are encouraging people to bring a friend, or two or three. I’ve been asking a lot at my knitting circles, and I hope that at least Helen from Threadbear will come, maybe also others. I left a pile of notices about the meeting at the cash register at Threadbear at Helen’s suggestion, so maybe we’ll have some new blood infused this year.

Calling Ourselves Artists
I realize that many folks stay away from the group because of its name. They think that they need to work full time as an artist to be in the group, which as far as I know has never been true.

Also, I find that in this society we have a hard time calling ourselves artists. Part of that is the idea that artists paint and draw, and perhaps not much else. If we can’t draw well, we believe we are not the gifted, the blessed, the artist. Nonsense! If you are artful, you are an artist. Perhaps not a full-time artist, but an artist nonetheless!

It took me until I was in my mid-30s before I realized that I was an artist. I’d always been artful. I always cared about how I dressed (costuming is definitely an art), I had handpainted motifs in my bathroom on the walls, rather than buying wallpaper that wasn’t what I wanted. I chose items for my home artfully, I made good meals with an artful eye, I cared about my yard (though I didn’t do gardening until just recently).

I usually worked in three dimensions, and mostly in practical ways. I sewed… first for the home and then for my wardrobe. I “decorated” my house (what a word we use, it sounds so frivolous… decorated indeed, as if we hang tinsel on the walls).

I then learned polymer clay and “eraser carving” which also can be called soft-block printing. And yet I didn’t think I was an artist until I had a beau insist on calling me Artist as often as he possibly could. I really thought I had to draw and paint to be a “real artist.”

Everyday Artforms
This is why on this weblog I specifically focus on artforms that are not usually drawing or painting. Yes, two-dimensional expressions are art, but they get enough press without me. I say: “Art as an everyday attitude.” That is how I experience being an artist. Not as someone with a gift that landed on me at birth, but as someone who explores the artfulness available in ordinary life on ordinary days… every day. Yes, it’s magic, but it does not come from the outside in some magical way, without effort. It comes from the inside, from our heart and our mind, and the action steps we choose to take each day.

I hope that you folks who read this locally, will feel that you might like to come to the group. It’s inclusive… all artful expressions welcome, all ages. Honestly, we have had honorary dudes attend the WWA group at times… though of course the group started because women for some reason find little support for being an artist, in any but the most frivolous ways.

SO: Details are this…

Working Women Artists
(October Meeting is Show and Tell 1 or 2 items you created, be they poetry, cookies, a scarf or a sculpture)
6pm – 8pm Second Sunday each month
Bare Bone Studios for Women’s Art
1236 Turner Street (about a block North of North Grand River)
Lansing, MI 48906
Enter through Right-Hand door, go to back of building.

If you want to be on the mailing list, please email me privately at Lynn@ColorJoy.com and I’ll make sure you get notices of future meetings.

Even if you are not in Lansing… I challenge you to start trying on the word “Artist” as it belongs to you. Most of those who read this blog are knitters. Knitters must make choices as to what to make, what fiber to use, what changes or not to make to the original plan/pattern. Knitters are forced to make creative choices because almost never can we get exactly the supplies specified in any pattern, and often the pattern will not fit us (or please us) properly, as it is written. This forces us to be creative make choices that may be more suited to us anyway. So I dare you: call yourself “Artist,” and see how it feels. It might surprise you, when it fits. If it doesn’t feel right yet, keep trying it on… one day I bet it will.

Photos are April 2004 meeting of WWA, and the casual WWA Holiday event (we decorated cookies) in 2004. You will find three generations of creative women in both of these pictures. Please, come and join us!

Saturday was jam-packed and fun. I really enjoyed myself.

Tony came over at 9am and we had a cup of tea on our way to Spinners Flock guild. There are so many people there that it is hard to say hello to everyone whose company I enjoy. I did wave at Sue from Marshall, and briefly said hi to Mary S and Patty from Ann Arbor. I ended up sitting with a group of women I met when I taught at Heritage Spinning, and we had a great talk about domino knitting techniques and patterns. I’ve not done it yet but there are so many ways to do modular knitting, some so colorful and some so sophisticated, that I am definitely intrigued.

Tony found a book or two, and I didn’t buy anything. That was just fine, actually… I have enough fiber stuff at home to keep me occupied for a long while.

Tony had to work in the afternoon, so we drove home and got him to work. I was tired so I took a lovely leisurely nap for an hour and a half (luxury!) until my friend Ulyana called and we chatted for a while. I haven’t seen her in far too long, and it was great to finally connect. I forgot to tell her how much we are enjoying the Morning Glories she gave me this year. Even at 51 degrees F we will have 5 or 6 flowers just beaming color all the way to the street! That was a wonderful gift, indeed.

Around 5:30 Brian came home from work. It was time to load the car with instruments and a microphone system, and run over to Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine for our Abbott Brothers band gig. What fun we had!!!

Mom, as usual, had an overflowing table of music fans with her. Thanks to Mom, all our shows are well-attended! Then Dave Talsma (ukulele maker from Swartz Creek near Flint, who we met at Uke Expo in Pennsylvania a few weeks back) and his wife (she told me her name twice, I can see her face but I can’t remember her name) came in, and Randy and Gail who are from Hartland (just under an hour away) who we also met at Uke Expo. And later, Regina came in (from Working Women Artists) and later yet, Bonnie and Hanno who we know from the contradancing community came as well. Barbara Abbott had a few visitors, too. It was a great crowd!!!

One of the ladies at Mom’s table, Marilyn, brought me a small pile of old sheet music that belonged to her parents, as a gift. You know, there is a lot of sheet music out there, and we are interested in just a small sliver of what is available. However, for some wonderful reason, that music was just right for our style. In fact, there were two songs in the pile that Brian has recorded already (Peggy O’Neil and Aloha Oe) and a good group more that we knew but hadn’t recorded yet. We are going to enjoy exploring this small but generous gift of music in more depth.

I was having so much fun that I forgot to give my camera to someone. No photos of the show, boo hoo! But trust me on it, this was a grand way to end the day… tunes and great food from Altu when the music ended. Wonderful.

Since I don’t have photos of Spinners Flock or Abbott Brothers at Altus, here is a beautiful Thunderbird I found in a parking lot near Frandor shopping center in Lansing, last week some time. This car is definitely art!!!

I was busy Thursday, at Foster Center for 8 hours straight… then home to finish knitting my sample rug and complete the pattern, for Friday’s class. Then Friday I got up (early for me) and taught the class, which was really great fun… then I had a series of other tasks and appointments which kept me from going home until about 10:30pm. I’m really wiped out!

It sure is hard to write a weblog entry when I’m not even at home! However, I always *do* have something to say.

I’ve really been yarnstore-hopping recently. I spent some time talking to Linda at Little Red Schoolhouse a few weeks ago, and it looks like I will be teaching some things for her in 2005. I also went to Heritage Spinning last week to connect with my friend Deb of Scarlet Zebra. I’ve been in and out of Threadbear preparing for classes, including today’s rug class (which was seriously fun, I loved every second of it).

I was in Yarn for Ewe today again (I’m a night person, Marlene who owns the shop is a morning person, and we have a hard time connecting sometimes when she needs me to do web work for her) She has some seriously lovely new yarns for stoles as well as the elegant Adrienne Vittadini yarns that make me want to take home some charcoal and navy, for some reason.

And I’ve been in Charlotte, Michigan a few times in the last few weeks helping Kim of Yarn Garden create her first website. She will be doing most of her own updating, but I got her going, found her some space on the web and did a bunch of photo editing for the first edition of the site. Her website, http://yarngardencharlotte.com, just went public this last Monday. You might want to check it out.

Photo is a beautiful house I found in Charlotte on the way home when I took a wrong turn. I was quite happy with that wrong turn… not only did I get this photo, but I found a garage sale where I got easter egg dye for $0.25 that I can play with, dyeing wool. I am excited to try that out!

I’m teaching a one-session rug-knitting class this Friday, from 11am – 1:30pm. It will be at Threadbear Fiberarts.

I have been knitting and ripping and knitting again on this sample rug. Ripping not because it is difficult, but because I’m designing it on the needles as is my typical style, and I keep changing my mind. (You are actually seeing just half a rug, because it’s not done and is still on the needles. I’ll finish it tonight, this is a very quick knit at about 2.5 stitches to the inch.)

I knit a rug similar to this one before, but do you think I can find it anywhere? Not a chance! This one is better, anyway… It’s Brown Sheep Burly Spun, which I am totally enjoying. I stood on this rug today in bare feet and it is absolutely delicious. The yarn is partly felted already so it’s toughened for rug use, but it still has that spring we expect from wool. And these colors… aaaahhhh.

There will be a one-color rug available, and a rug knit in multiple strands of Brown Sheep Lambs Pride Worsted. I am pretty excited about this, and enough others are also intrigued that the class is definitely a “go.”

If you are interested, email Rob@threadbearfiberarts.com

Today is the eighth anniversary of our marriage. What a wonderful thing to reflect upon as I start my day, and work through it.

My life is so different now. I had many unhappy times in my early life, and when I got divorced at age 32 I had to figure out who I was. I spent several years driving all over the country alone when I could (I figured out one thing about me is that I love big cities, and particularly art museums/galleries)… adventuring, exploring, and finding out that I didn’t need anyone else to make me happy with myself.

Then Brian found me, when I was pretty much looking the other way (I was 38 when we married, he was 36). I’d known of him since about 1989 when I worked with Edna, another musician in the local scene. She’d invite me to this or that concert, and often Brian would be playing. I loved his music, and I would go to any concert I saw advertised with “that ukulele player.”

So here I was… single and independent, with my own house I bought for my own self, content to go it alone if need be. Yet being with Brian has taken my life to a level of contentment I didn’t know I could find. Yes, I’m still moody, I still go up and down like a roller coaster. But Brian is always there, watching me go up and down and waiting for me to get off the ride so we can be together. Lucky me.

And since we have been performing together, especially since we have been recording CDs together, I feel another layer of unity that I did not feel before. We are creating as a team, and it makes me feel more married than ever.

I would have been fine without Brian, but I can’t imagine life without him now. That sort of love is not found every day. What a lucky woman I am!

Wednesday this week, I have my first session of CityKidz Knit! at Foster Community Center for this school year.

I teach kids from about age 7 to 11 (one or two have been as old as 17 and a handful as young as 5). The center has them register to participate, but it is free to the kids.

They start by making a garter-stitch wristband. I cast on for them, they knit until they have the right length, then I teach them to bind off (a knit-two-together bind off, because it’s familiar to them) and sew it together. Once they have finished one, I teach them a knit-on cast on and they continue with wristbands until I determine they are competent to go on to other things. They prefer small pouches/purses for the most part, and a few bean bags and other very small projects. Most of the kids don’t have any interest in “big projects” which includes things adults would classify as a small project (hats or wristwarmers, for example).

The first day I sometimes end up with 16 kids who have never knit a stitch before. This causes some of the kids to wait a long time. I have learned to teach the older ones first, because they are more likely to have good fine-motor skills, but you can’t be sure of anything when you teach.

I can really use volunteers this week. It is Wednesday (two days from now) and it’s only one hour, from 4pm to 5pm. I also have a session Thursday from 3 to 4pm, but that one doesn’t fill because so many kids can’t get to Foster in time for that timeslot. I end up with walk-in’s from the neighborhood on Thursdays, usually… and a smaller group.

You can send me an email at Lynn@ColorJoy.com and let me know you are coming… or you can just come by. It’s at 200 N. Foster Street, about 4 blocks west of Frandor and one block North of Michigan Avenue (just behind the Blimpies). I’m in the very center of the first floor, in room 111. I’d love to have any assistance I can get. Even if you can’t come back again this year, just the first day I get the kids is really a challenge and one hour would make me a big difference.

Thanks to anyone who might consider this (assuming you might actually be reading this in the Lansing, Michigan area). Truly, the coolest thing I’ve ever done in years, is teaching children to knit. They are quite aware of how magical it is to turn a floppy strand of acrylic into a wristband. Very very cool. I adore these children. Perhaps you’d like to learn to know them, too.

First Photograph is CityKidz Knit! in January of this year. Just look at those kids! Aren’t they great? Second photo is Foster Center. It’s a glorious old 1920’s red brick school, with a wonderful soul.

I’m just checking in here this morning to tell you about several upcoming events. Perhaps some of you folks out there would like to join me.

This Friday, October 8, from 11am to 1:30pm , I will be teaching a knitted rug class at Threadbear Fiberarts. It’s a fun, quick knit on 50 stitches, using the very bulky Brown Sheep Burly Spun yarn (a yarn I really enjoy using). There is only one session, so it won’t take much time away from your busy life. Contact Rob@threadbearfiberarts.com for details.

Saturday, October 9, from 6:30 to 8:30pm, our band Abbott Brothers will be performing at Altus Ethiopian Cuisine, 1312 Michigan Avenue in East Lansing (just east of the Silver Dollar). It’s always a good time with Abbott Brothers, and the food is out of this world. (See photo of us performing at Altus last June… that’s me on the bass banjo, with hair in a bun.)

Sunday, October 10, from 6pm to about 8-9pm, is Working Women Artists’ first meeting of the year. If you are a woman of any age, and you work (at life, art, job, parenting), and do artful things (knitting included, but also other traditional and nontraditional creative outlets), then you will fit right in.

This meeting will be a show-and-tell session, so bring one or two items you created and get to know others when they tell about theirs. Also consider bringing a simple finger food if you desire. Location is Bare Bone Studios on Turner Street in Old Town (a red brick building on the east side of the street, on the far north end of the main business block). The right hand front door will be open and go all the way back to the far studion on the right. We are actively encouraging folks who have never come before, to join us. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a note at Lynn@ColorJoy.com

It has turned chilly here, both day and night. Yesterday (Saturday) the sun shone much of the beautiful afternoon. However, the breeze blew right through my full-length wool knit coat (purchased, it’s like a thick wool jersey fabruc rather than a sweater). I wore my hat, my legwarmers, and my handwarmers, and I still had to pull my hat over my ears on the way back to my car.

A Day at the Sewing Expo
I did actually do some reasonable work Saturday. My Heritage Heirloom Sock class at Heritage Spinning didn’t “go,” so I changed plans. My friend, Deb (Scarlet Zebra) had a booth at the sewing/quilting expo at the Novi Convention Center, just over an hour from Lansing. I went down there and worked 5 hours in her booth so she could get restroom breaks and a lunch break. She was selling a few kits I made up of my yarns and sock patterns, and they did well enough I wished I’d brought a few more down. That’s life, I guess.

I did enjoy the people I met at the center. I saw Dr. Maggie, who is a friend of my Sis-in-Law, Diana… and who is on several of my online lists. I saw a friend of my mom’s, and Jane S, former president of my Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild. I saw a woman I’ve known for years socially (her husband works with Brian) who works for Country Stitches, a quilting shop in Lansing. And a computer student of mine (from Foster Center) who is also a knitter and quilter, happened by the Scarlet Zebra booth and we had a nice chat.

I also met a few folks when walking around the center, especially Karen of City Knits (Fisher Building, downtown Detroit), who I’d met online but never met in person. And at the City Knits booth was Liz C., who I know from the Spinners Flock guild (which meets in Chelsea on the 2nd Saturday each month). I was wearing my ColorJoy stole, and that did receive a good bit of attention. Sometimes people were talking to me and I didn’t realize they were! It was fun to talk about it.

The Arrival of Hibernation Season
The real change for me right now, is that I am just overwhelmed with the need to nap since it turned cold. I had that 40 minute nap a few days ago on the hammock, but that day I only needed a good sweater and one comforter.

Well, yesterday on the way home from Novi, I was so tired I was worried I would fall asleep at the wheel. As soon as I got home, I put on layer after layer of wool, then wrapped myself up in two wool blankets and a comforter, and slept on the porch. And even though it was something like 58 degrees F outdoors, I slept for nearly two hours without waking up from the cold. Wool is my friend!

It’s ironic that I spent almost no time on the porch this summer. Hammocks are perfect for weather over 85F, they have their own air conditioning because the wind blows over you as well as under you. It makes a lot of sense that many cultures sleep in these rather than beds, in tropical climates.

My hammock is my comfort spot when the weather is good. My huge heatvent on the floor is my comfort spot in the winter. I prefer the porch every time, though, as I am not a cold-weather girl. In typical years, I’ll eat lunch and dinner on the porch for months at a time.

This year, I didn’t get any time on the porch during our incredibly rainy spring, because for once we had hordes of mosquitos (we usually don’t get any until the sun goes down). Then when it dried out and got warmer, I had one or two days where I got out there for 15 minutes or so. And then I didn’t get out there again until it has turned so cold I need blankets.

I’m not complaining. I finally am getting some down time. It may be only an hour or two here and there, but I have pushed myself very hard lately. I’m working as a computer teacher, knitting teacher, singer, dancer, web page author and hand-dyer. I’ve had concerts to promote, a CD to record, samples to knit for stores, and students to teach.

I overschedule the teaching part of my life, because some classes don’t “go,” but sometimes they all happen and I have a very hectic week or two.

But yesterday I got a 2 hour nap. And this morning I got to sleep in until about 11am. I am so grateful. I’m going to spend some time with my friend Anne, and then some time with my sweetheart, Brian.

I *am* doing a little work today. I’m doing a sample for my rug class which will be this Friday at Threadbear. This class already has enough folks in it for me to go ahead and teach it, so the sample is more important than ever (I’m writing the class pattern from the sample, since the last rug I did was from different yarn).

I’m using Brown Sheep Burly Spun, a really fat yarn that feels partly felted. It’s so fat, the rug takes very few stitches. Although I swore I was going to take a whole day off, the knitting is so pleasant I don’t mind.

Here’s for hibernation season! Long live naps! I can’t believe how much more sleep I seem to take at this time of year, but I suspect it is because the things I’m allergic to in the air change when the furnace goes on and leaves start turning to mildew in the yarrd. Whatever the cause, I’m determined to enjoy the extra sleep I’m getting. It’s such a luxury.

Images are actually to illustrate my post of September 25, about my Gramma Illa’s quilt. Here is a picture of Gramma Illa as a young woman, and a photo of the farm in 1955. (My grandfather built the buildings, with the help of his two oldest children.)

I tell you, I’ve had so much going I’m behind here telling you all the things I want to say! I guess that is a high-class problem, being so passionate about life that I’m busy doing things I love. It could be much worse, certainly.

I made a scarf for my friend Altu, and gave it to her in honor of her Birthday (she did get it late). I used Crystal Palace Fizz in purple and Crystal Palace Squiggle, in my favorite colorway which includes purple, hot green, aqua and a blue that is a little dark and a little on the turquoise side. I have used this wonderful colorway in the yarn called Splash, in the stole I wear every day (I call it my Yarn for Ewe stole since I got all but one of the yarns at that shop).

I love Squiggle. I’ve bought it 4 different times (at three different shops). Yet I don’t have any in my stash right now. For some reason I never seem to get to keep it and knit with it for myself. I’m putting that on the list of things to do for myself once my to-do list gets shorter. (As if that will ever happen… I’m an optimist, I guess.)

Meanwhile, Altu loved her scarf. I was sure she would.

I also gave her another one of my tomatoes that I grew on the one small bush in a container on my step. I loved having that plant this year. It yielded 10 tomatoes if I counted right. I gave two of them to Altu and she really savored every bite.

I don’t really like raw tomatoes much so I’d rather give them to someone who really appreciates a home-grown fresh tomato. I just liked having the plant on the top landing where I enter the house every day. I watched it bloom, and grow tomatoes from small green globes to medium-sized red fruit. I watered it and enjoyed the shape of the plant in the pot on my steps. I didn’t need to eat the fruit to enjoy the plant (though I did use the first one in a fava bean salad, and that was good).

Photos: Scarf I made for Altu, ball of Squiggle in blue/green colorway (different than in the scarf), tomato just before I gave it to Altu.