Today, Thursday, is going to be another busy one. I started with the annual meeting with the tax preparer, it’s good to have met with him. He gave me a little homework, and I will do that tomorrow. Today is already full!

I’m preparing more yarn for food-coloring dyes today at Foster Center. We used up all the light blue we had yesterday, and a little of the green. I’m not sure why, but the green didn’t take the dye as well as the blue, so I’m busy preparing as much blue as I can for the batch of kids I get today. I am counting my blessings, particularly this donation of yarn from Cyndy, because the kids really enjoy this project.

I have a very wonderful thing to do before Foster Center, though… I get to see my friend Ulyana. I knit her a pair of sox (too long ago, actually… we seem to never connect) and she is going to give me a massage. Not only will she give me the best massage I know about, but we also get to chat for a good hour or more. I will really enjoy that.

After the massage is CityKidz Knit! where we’ll do the magic dyeing thing. I have computer lab after knitting, and then I run to Little Red Schoolhouse to teach a Watercolor Bag class. I’m delighted to start my own bag during class… I have knit two of them, but one is at Little Red Schoolhouse and one is at Yarn Garden in Charlotte. Maybe it’s my turn!

Rob at Threadbear wrote yesterday to say that some of his customers (when they were in Indiana) tried to felt the Kujaku yarn I was hoping might make a good felted bag. I believe it might have a problem, because the wrap holds the wool in place so firmly that it would have a hard time migrating and grabbing hold of the neighboring fibers. I’ll figure out something!!!

Tonight I am definitely not going to cook dinner! I am planning to pick up some food, either at Altu’s or Aladdins depending on what time it is (Altus closes at 9, Aladdins 10). Then I crash early! I was up too late preparing for the tax preparer.

What a full day! I’m pleased. You know, I realized yesterday when talking to my friend April, that I do tend to worry and complain no matter what. But it’s just because I’m in the habit of worrying and complaining. My life is good, and the worries of today are insignificant in the big scheme of things.

It’s still spring here… we have cloudcover and it’s in the 50’s F instead of the 60’s but no snow and no hint of frost. I will take it!

Today I will have many people in my day. I start with a private knitting lesson… where my friend Yarnfairy sent my student, OfficiallyaKnitter, a package of knitting goodies. I got to open the package and they are truly goodies. That should be fun.

Then I go to Foster Center and the CityKidz will dye yarn with Kool-Aid or other food dye. And the yarn they are dyeing came from Cyndy, bless her heart. I just don’t usually get animal-fiber yarn donations, but Cyndy knew I needed it for this project and if it were not for her I think I would not have been able to do it. Thanks, Cyndy.

Then I go to Habibi Dancers practice. We are gearing up for the big spring show, which will be held April 9 (two Saturdays from now) at Hannah Auditorium in East Lansing.

Then home for dinner, and then Fabulous Heftones rehearsal in our living room. We’re polishing up for our Sunday performance (that is, this upcoming Sunday, April 3), in Ann Arbor.

I’m excited about this performance for many reasons. I adore Ann Arbor, and they have paired us with Gerald Ross, who is well known, respected and loved in ukulele/Hawaiian music circles. The AACTMAD group that is sponsoring this concert, has done “Dawn Dances” for years, and Brian’s band, Scarlet Runner String Band, has played for those dances for many years. It’s a well-known organization and we will be able to play for folks who have never heard us play before. I’m very excited about that.

It feels good that now we have such a good list of songs we can choose from, to perform. A year ago we did two concerts in early May, when our first CD came out, and it was really a stretch for us to play two hour gigs at Altus at that point. Now we get home from a performance at Altus and say “Gee, we forgot we could play this or that song.” I’m grateful for a full year of playing out and learning more tunes.

Oh, and I did it again. There is a thread now on the Knitlist, asking what inspires people to choose their next knitting project. For me, it’s about color… or more specifically, about yarn. Yarn just follows me home like a puppy!

So yesterday I went to Yarn for Ewe to show off my cute Strawberry hat and footies. Ruth was there, and since she’s a new grandmother she really enjoyed my strawberries! She suggested a little tie at the ankle, to hold them on when the baby squirms, so I’ll probably do that.

But then I got in big trouble. I’m already about seven projects behind, and no time to knit for Lynn. So this Noro Kujaku yarn screamed at me. I got two skeins of color 5 (turquoise/cool tones) and one skein of color 18 (pink/burgundy/green), and some Plymouth Galway as accent. I’m not 100% happy with the color of the Galway with the pink in the Noro, so I’ll go stash-diving before I start in. But wowie, is this stuff pretty. I’m thinking bag, but maybe not. I may knit a swatch with the most brown of the burgundy yarn and see how it felts, and if it looks good that way I may do a Watercolor Bag. If not, we’ll see what happens. I’ll think of something!

Sigh… like I needed another project? Ack. Maybe I can blame Ruth? I wish.

It is the second absolutely gorgeous day in a row! The trees are not green yet, but at this point I don’t care.

Recently, one by one, I’ve noticed the little ice cream stands in town open for the season. Actually, on Sunday I also heard an ice-cream truck go by the house.

Yesterday I drove to class at 3:30 with both windows down, and I left my coat in the car (although I missed it when I got out of class at 8:30pm). Right now, the sun is shining, it is 61 Degrees F, and kids are riding their bicycles down the street. I’m not sure why there are elementary-aged children out and about at noon on a Tuesday, but there are at least two that I can see from my window.

I just turned off the furnace and opened the front door. With all the stale air and dust of the winter inside, I always look forward to the first day I can do this. My feet get cold and I wear a hat while I air it out, but it really makes me happy.

It is not quite nice enough to take the spinning wheel on the porch yet, but it is good enough to take a walk. I went out, just walking around the block to inspect for signs of spring and found many! Three yards with blooming crocus flowers, birds, squirrels, kids on bikes and tricycles, and a man washing his car (well, truck). How lovely it is to see these things again!

They say if March comes in like a Lion (see pile of snow hiding my car on the March 2 ColorJoy! entry), it will go out like a lamb. It feels like a lamb today.

I have had fun showing off the strawberry hat/footie set the last few days. I’ll have a hard time giving them up when I can see my friend, but I know she will appreciate them.

Photos today: 1) Crocus blooming near melting snow pile (look for yellow flower in top right corner); 2) Mom with toddler on tricycle; 3) Squirrel in my backyard near pile of snow; 4) Man washing truck; 5) Shovel against fence near almost-melted snow.

Well, I’m trying to be my own best friend, I guess. Last night we had my famous Easy Pumpkin Soup (click link for recipe) for dinner. Thank goodness it is so easy and so fast to make. I make it when I just can’t deal with cooking.

It’s so good, we ate three portions between two of us. Then I made from-scratch applesauce spice cake. But I forgot the sugar until it had been in the oven just long enough to get warm, thus too late to mix in sugar at that point.

Brian was sure he would like his cake better without any sugar. I am absolutely sure that something more than no sugar at all and less than the cup it called for, would be better than how it tastes right now. Ugh. Like a spiced biscuit but without salt *or* sugar. I don’t like fussing in the kitchen, but I was craving something sweet so I put the cake together while stirring the soup. And then this!

This morning I crumbled some of the cake into a bowl, sprinkled brown sugar on the crumbs, crumbled more on top and repeated the sprinkles. Then I ate it with a spoon. Still more like biscuits than cake, but significantly more edible. What an odd breakfast! I hope I don’t repeat this one again!

It is clear that I’m just plain needing to rest more right now. It’s thawing season. That means it’s mildew season. I lose energy and need lots of sleep during thawing season. Last night I went to bed before 11pm (this is a good 2-3 hours before I usually sleep) and slept first until 5am when I woke and was sort of wired for an hour. I was smart enough to not get up, and I read a book until I was tired enough to sleep again. Until 11am. Amazing, but I needed it.

Since I work Monday from 3:30-8:00pm, it was OK to sleep in, as far as my schedule goes. I need to baby my body this week, because we have the big concert in Ann Arbor next Sunday! I want to be in top shape for that concert! I am doing my best to fight the allergies and stay away from Brian’s germs so I can sing my heart out this weekend.

I’m recycling a photo (from 2002) of the beautiful soup. It just takes too long to make the pictures pretty, and I lost too much time sleeping. (I know, this is a high-class problem.)

Brian and I stayed home today. He is getting over his cold still (although he did sit in a corner chair at Altu’s Saturday night for two hours and play ukulele with Barbara, Larry and me). I feel like I’m on the edge of getting something myself (this is the worst time of year for me). So Brian didn’t want to give anything to anyone and I didn’t want to push my luck. Staying home seemed the best plan.

I spent much of the day at my computer, scheduling my classes through July. I have four regular yarn shops I work with, (Threadbear, Little Red Schoolhouse, Yarn Garden, and Heritage Spinning) plus Foster Center, and a few places where I work maybe once a term. I had to sit and look at my calendar, and somehow make sense of all the choices. It’s not something my mind does easily.

Somehow, I got at least most of my classes penciled in, and I wrote to all my shops. Now I need to hear from them to see if the schedule I have proposed will work for them. I’m crossing my fingers now, folks.

I also updated my website. These are things that most visitors would not notice, but I had never listed my Wristwarmer pattern for sale, for example. I had the class written up, but not the pattern. There were three or four things like that I needed to handle, and I did what I could. I still have a couple of larger projects for my site, but I left those for a more focused day.

I finished my work as the sun was setting. As a reward, I picked up the baby socks I knit yesterday, finished all the ends, and took a stab at crocheting little leaves on the edges. It was not good enough at all, at least on the first try. I ripped it out, and did not look back. Maybe I will try again some other time, but today I’m really pleased at the look I got with just plain little roll-cuffed footies. Cute, eh? I think they are even the shape of a strawberry!

If you came here to ask me what pattern I used, the hat is the Ann Norling Fruit Cap pattern. It’s a brilliant design, easy, short, to the point, everything is right about this pattern. I didn’t write it. The socks I just made up as I went. They are very loosely based on the Fast Florida Footies, but they are different yarn, no purling of the sole, contrast cuff and added duplicate-stitch embellishment. No pattern, at least not today. I just followed my muse.

Why do I say all this? Because it seems that so much of my weblog correspondence is asking where I got this or that pattern… that is, when I didn’t write the pattern myself.

I sure enjoyed myself in the last few waking hours… I made a strawberry hat from the Ann Norling fruit hat pattern. It’s for my friend Mandy who had her little girl last week, maybe Monday? It’s adorable!

Now I think I’m going to make some matching Fast Florida Footies using the 8-size pattern I just wrote… where the foot is pink and the rolled cuff is green… and I’m going to try that crochet bobble edging on it, and see if it looks a little like strawberry leaves. Why not?

Baby socks take no time at all, and even if they don’t fit for long (the baby was just over 7 pounds, not big) they will make the grownups smile for a while. The only concern is how many stitches I need per bobble, I can’t remember that right now. If it needs a lot of stitches per bobble I might end up with 3 leaves per foot, and it would be cuter with five or more. I’ll have to go dig through my notes from my class last weekend. I’m looking forward to this.

Brian and I are scheduled to sing at Altu’s tonight as The Fabulous Heftones. I sent out a postcard mailing to about 120 people this week, which announces this performance and five others. Well, Brian has a pretty bad cold and won’t be able to sing today. We’re not even sure if he’ll feel like being on stage for 2 hours. So, I called our friends Barbara and Larry (they are in our band, Abbott Brothers), and they are going to join me on stage as a trio. We’ll make it work. We’ll have fun, there will be music, we know more than 2 hours’ worth of music that all 3 of us can play together as a team, and we’ll have a performance.

Actually, I’ve been coordinating the music for Altu now since February of 2003, and this is the first time I’ve had to scramble because of illness. Once before someone else had to bow out (not for illness) but he got his own substitute, another performer who had also already performed for us there, and it was a non-issue. We have been very lucky, I’d say. Well over 100 performances and two mini-hiccups is not bad.

I’ll miss Brian… I really lean on him. I learned how much when I tried to sing in Ann Arbor at the ukulele gathering that one weekend in January this year. I sometimes forget how to start some of my songs, but Brian just plunks it out on his uke and I’m off and running. With Barbara and Larry, who I’ve played music with for almost 10 years, I’ll be just fine and we’ll have a good show.

I lucked out… my camera had fallen out of my pocket in my car. It was between the seats so I didn’t find it when I looked on the floor. I’m pleased to know for sure what happened.

That means a few photos today! I get to show you my great kids from Foster Center. First, six kids I had for knitting on Wednesday (that is me in the middle with my hair down and no hat…that’s how I look when I’m fighting a headache, unfortunately… but the kidz told me I looked beautiful).

I had seven CityKidz that day, total. Then on Thursday I had ten kids, three of them boys. I love my boys, they make me proud. The two boys you see here can knit a whole wristband or nearly one (depending on needle size) in an hour session. The girls aren’t as quick, they are not as big into the speed thing as my boys. They love it as much or more, it’s just not speed that matters to them.

Second photo is four boys at the edge of the Foster Center parking lot, climbing the snow piles left from plowing the lot so many times this winter. You can see it was pretty warm that day, probably about 40F, and one child had shed a coat on the ground, some others have their coats open in front. What a normal kid thing to do… to climb a snowpile!

Friday I had a good day. I tried to sleep in but that did not happen. I woke up at 8am! What is that all about? I usually stay up till 1:30 and get up at 9:30 or 10. But I was so tired I fell asleep at midnight, and then I woke up (not quite rested enough but unable to go back to sleep) at eight. At least I got lots done.

I made Sara (my Goddaughter) a no-wheat (or egg, milk, corn, yeast, soy) applesauce cake I make when I want a snack. I even take it to gatherings, and people who can have most foods also enjoy this particular snack. Sara loved her cake.

Then Sara and I went to Altu’s for lunch. It is so good to talk with her. She showed me photos of her recent trip to New York City with a friend. I’m proud of her, she negotiates a city pretty well for a college freshman, thanks in part to our travels together in Montreal and Chicago. I loved hearing her tell her stories about the trip.

After I took Sara home, I went to Little Red Schoolhouse (ran into Lynette making her wonderful felted fish… Hi, Lynette!), dropped off a couple of samples for my toe-up sock class starting the first Monday in April. I hung out for a while and knit a bit on the dressy wrap/capelet I’m doing in yarns from that shop (the overall look is purple curly eyelash with some turquoise, spring green and raspberry peeking out. It’s sort of froofy and subtly sparkly and I like it a lot).

Then I hopped over to Threadbear (not that far away) and started scheduling my summer classes with them. I also sat and knit a bit on my dressy wrap/capelet that I’m doing from yarns I got at their shop. I get to keep that wrap since the shop already has one sample. It’s in springy greens and turquoises (cotton, brushed mohair and ribbon, a little more down to earth than the one mentioned above), and I love it. Turquoise mohair is about as good as it gets.

While I was there, I got some Mississippi 3 yarn (fingering weight cotton/acrylic, very nice) in hot pink and hot green, to make an Ann Norling fruit hat for my friend Mandy’s new baby girl. Mandy had her baby early this week and I had not planned ahead at all! I love these hats, I’m more than half done already and it’s absolutely darling. My friends seem to all have girls these days, and they really do love these fruit hats.

Speaking of people having girls, here is a picture of three little girls (one taking a nap on the floor in the background), at Habibi Dancers’ practice last Wednesday. Of all the children we twenty dancers in the troupe have, the last six born have been girls, and you are looking at the oldest of them all, if I have it right. There may be one a bit older than her, I can’t remember who came first. None of the girls are in school yet. How adorable are these sweethearts??? I’m in love with these sweet little girls.

Off to bed. Maybe since I’m going to bed at 1am, I can sleep a little longer tomorrow? I am planning to dye some yarn tomorrow, since my class is not a “go.” Wish me luck staying on track with that dyeing concept! Some days it’s lots harder to get down in the studio than others.

I think I left my camera at the allergist when I got my shot today, so all my great shots of the last few days are held hostage until Monday now. Bummer. You’ll have to just believe me that yesterday I got shots of kids climbing the huge snowbank at the edge of our large parking lot (at Foster Center), and I think the photos probably turned out great. It was sort of warm yesterday, and it was positively springlike today for the first time. I’m getting hopeful that the piles of snow will not last forever.

At Foster Center today I had ten kids at knitting, at least three of them boys. I just LOVE it when I have all those kids, and especially I love my boys. One boy hadn’t knit in at least 6 months, came in yesterday, knit a wristband (5 stitches in garter stitch) in 45 minutes on size 10 needles, and was pleased with the speed but wanted fabric with smaller stitches. So today he came and brought another boy with him. I don’t remember the boy but he swears I knit him a scarf once… That’s impossible, but I like it that he thinks I did.

CityKidz Knit! had a few more finished objects today. Next week we plan to do Kool-Aid dyeing in a crockpot or my turkey roaster pan… with yarn that Cyndy sent them not long ago. We all are very excited for next week to arrive!

I’m tired, tired, tired… today I knit a little on a new Dressy Wrap/Capelet in purples and turquoise, for Little Red Schoolhouse. I’m so tired of knitting on fat needles!!! My wrists get tired really fast on the big stuff. I love the wraps and stoles, but I miss my little, compact sock projects.

But just the same, if I can sell classes on fat needles and I can’t sell classes on size 0 needles, I’m really fine with making an honest living. The big-needle products are lovely, it’s just that I miss knitting my socks these days. I’m sad that so many people think socks are hard. Not!!! I had never done a purl in a real project before (I literally knit garter-stitch scarves for 20 years because I didn’t know how to do anything else), and I had put down my knitting needles for at least a decade, before I decided I wanted to knit socks. And in 10 days I had a pair of standard handknit socks! Nobody told me they would be hard to knit, so I just sat down and finished a pair.

But for now, I can not convert the world. At least it’s a great time in history for fun yarns that make the big needles very useful to make attractive items!

Friday I get to have lunch with my Goddaughter, Sara. She’s in college now, so I don’t see her nearly enough. She’s home for the weekend so we’ll be going to Altu’s for lunch. I had lunch with another friend at Altu’s on Thursday, and on Saturday Brian and I are performing there. So I’ll have Altu’s food three days in a row. Good thing I adore her food… I could eat it every day for 5 weeks (I nearly did on our trip) and never get tired of it!!!

Off to snuggle myself in a cotton blanket I got in Ethiopia, on top of the heat vent on the floor, and read Debbie New’s Unexpected Knitting book. I can’t think of a nicer luxury. Tonight I get a few minutes just for me.

Photos today… 1)Sara at about age 15, wearing my 5th pair of socks I ever knit, out of Koigu she picked out herself. 2)Sara at age 15 (about 2 weeks before the Twin Towers went down) when we took a trip to Montreal together. This photo was at a French Restaurant in the old downtown area. It was a very good meal! 3)Sara and I at her graduation open house last spring.

Oh, my… So much to tell you. Max (she of Canada) wrote and said she thinks the crochet picot edging on the shawl swatch #2 from my(March 21st post) would look fun on the Fast Florida Footies. She has this Jester Socklet idea going, and I can’t agree more. It would look just great! Now, when will I get a chance to try that? I don’t have any footies in the house that are mine so I need to knit some first. Maybe I’ll do one of my toe-up footie socks (the pattern I use for beginning socknitters) which is designed for fat yarn (like that I used in my shawl sample), and thus knits up really fast. Hmmm…

In additional news, my private knitting student, OfficiallyAKnitter, has not only started a knit blog but now a knitting-related Yahoo group. Her group is called PeacefulKnitters (I love that idea) and all of us, whether knitting-interested, knitting-curious and knitting-obsessed, are invited to join.

We have good musical news… we are already playing at Altu’s this Saturday, and on next weekend Sunday (April 3) we are playing in Ann Arbor for AACTMAD, but now we have also booked a concert in Charlotte, Michigan, on May 27 (a Friday). It’s a house concert, a private space and an intimate place with a fireplace for ambiance.

I’m getting ready to send out a postcard mailing for our next six scheduled concerts. If anyone wants me to put them on our music mailing list (assuming you are not already on it) feel free to send me email with your name/snailmail address, to Lynn AT ColorJoy DOT com and I’ll put you on the list starting now.

(Oh, as an aside… Altu was in the Lansing State Journal “Business Weekly” yesterday. When I just searched for it, I found an article that was printed while we were in Africa (they must have interviewed her before we left). However, even though I’m darned good at searching, I can not find the article which was on the front page of the Business Weekly insert. It has a nice, really big, photo of Altu making Ethiopian Bread. Trust me!

Back to catching up on photos taken earlier this week… My friend April, who I dance with and who also lives across the street, is learning to knit. She just had a baby about 8 months ago (delightful little Isabel), and now she has a large handful of friends having baby girls all in a little bunch. One is born already, several more on the way including triplets in one case.

April already knew how to crochet, but she wanted to make a hat like I’d made for her little girl (the ever-popular Ann Norling Fruit Hat). I got her a pattern at Yarn for Ewe, she got yarn and needles at Threadbear, and now she has finished her second hat, knit in the round on double-pointed needles. Just look at this! (Look bottom left, not on Isabel’s head.) Brian says it looks like strawberry shake and shamrock shake, it’s so icy. Good job, April!

The other two photos today are pics of last week’s CityKidz Knit! It was St. Patrick’s day so they were more creative in how they dressed than usual (so that they could wear green and not get pinched, an annoying custom that has been going on for decades in our schools on March 17). One girl goes to a school where they usually wear uniforms. They were allowed to wear street clothing in green that day, if they paid a quarter fine to do it. She paid the quarter and did not get pinched. Whatever works!

See here, two girls who finished their first wristbands that day. Last photo, a group shot on my slow day of the week. Not bad!

Well, finally I offer you photos of two socks, one knit by Cyndy in variegated pink Fixation and one by Luann in Zebra-colored Fixation. Nice job, don’t you think? I’m so grateful for the assistance of my online test-knitter friends. Hugs to you all!

Classes: I have three classes scheduled at Threadbear this week. The Tea Cosy tomorrow is cancelling. People like the sample, but after all, Tuesday mid-day is not a great time for a class offering and I’m not entirely surprised.

Friday night is Needlefelted Embellishments. Somehow the price of that class got posted as if it were a 6 hour class, so understandably only one person signed up at that price (bless you, you know who you are and you’ll get a refund). The class is 3 hours on Friday night from 6pm to 9pm, for $25, and I’d love to have a few more folks join us. Anyone want to join us?

Saturday is my Dressy Wrap/Capelet class, starting at Noon, also at Threadbear. This is such a cool, quick knit in three yarns with almost no leftovers. The yarn is pretty darned affordable for this, and it has no finishing, fringe is knotted as you go… anyone want to join me for that one?

You can bring a non-knitter friend and I’ll get them started on a project that is exciting, for their first project. This would be so perfect for a prom or wedding, I am excited to see how folks make it up, which combinations they choose.

Samples and patterns: I finished another rendition of my tea cosy last night (a small size) and although it fits, it’s not as cute as the first one. I think I know what I need to tweak, but I seem to not have my small teapot I once had in the dorm which would be the perfect size for it. Drat. It just doesn’t look cute on any of the pots I do have. And I have a LOT of pots, but since I’m a big tea drinker my pots tend on the large to extra-large size.

I’ll have to go haunt the dollar stores and see what I find… or Target, if that fails. Target is a lot dangerous for me, since they do color so well. I get sucked in every time, so I avoid going there as much as I can.

So… I finished all the changes on the Heritage Heirloom socks pattern and am digging out the addresses of those who have purchased it so I can send them the new rendition. Whew!

I also finished the Fast Florida Footies pattern in 8 sizes. My knitters were the best! The pattern got much more complicated when I had to say how many stitches here and there, and they helped me set up the formatting so it would make visual sense. I’m very pleased.

My Knitting: Now I’ve cast on for another Dressy Wrap/Capelet. It’s a gorgeous spring green with blues and turquoises for accent. This one will be for me, eventually… but since I need to go to Little Red Schoolhouse today and drop by a few samples and patterns, I probably will pick up the yarn for their sample Dressy Wrap and have to do that one first. Pout!

A Day Off (Not): Today I am supposed to have a “day off” but I’m teaching a two-hour make-up class for a computer class that was cancelled for Presidents’ Day. I love the students, they are wonderful, and I’ll have fun… but it is a chunk of time right in the middle of when I normally am starting to get on a roll.

I guess I’m day-off-impaired, I have a very hard time not working when I’m at home (where I work). I do sometimes make appointments to spend time with friends, usually elsewhere, and I can do a five-hour stretch that way with no guilt. Assuming I make the date, anyway!

So next, I’m off to deliver a sample or two of Heritage Heirloom sox to Threadbear and Little Red Schoolhouse, plus samples for my toe-up sock class (doesn’t have a pattern, just a handout at this time) and some patterns for LRSH as well. Then off to the post office to send packages, to test knitters and my beloved Goddaughter Sara, who’s in college about an hour north at CMU. And then off to Haslett to teach.

The good news is that it is a decent weather day. Other than the mud in the driveway, it’s warm and we have had bouts of sunshine between our normal clouds, enough that I’ve noticed.

Music: I’m listening to the Flaming Ukulele Radio Hour as I prepare to venture forth. I’ve had the *worst* trouble with staying connected to the show lately, even with a new DSL “fast” connection. Today I’m trying a different player and it seems to be working OK. One day I heard Uke Jackson start Brian’s tune, “Everybody’s Doin’ It” and by the time I called Brian to tell him he was on the air, I got disconnected and couldn’t get back on. Sooooo frustrating! I’m glad I tried it again today, because so far I’ve had decent luck.

Off to run errands!

What a good Sunday I had. Other than having to get up much earlier than I typically function well, it went great.

Morning with Melissa Leapman was “Fully Fashioned and Fabulous” which really showed how excellent a designer she is. The pieces we constructed using increases and decreases for interest and shaping, were absolutely brilliant. Now, it was far too much purling for my attention span… and since I’m not used to this sort of knitting (textures with knit and purl combinations), I did not get as far as other knitters who do it all the time. Just the same, I learned some very interesting concepts that will surely pay off in time.

I don’t knit sweaters much, but we learned a few tricks for really making a cohesive design between pattern stitch (lace or cables or rib) in the body of a garment, and splitting the neckline for a v-neck. Gorgeous, brilliant stuff. How will I use it? I’m not sure yet, since I can’t imagine right now designing a sweater with that much texture. Or for that matter, any sweater other than for my own consumption.

However, I’m designing a tea cosy right now. I am splitting for the openings for teapot spout and handle in the same way I did for my wristwarmer pattern. However, I could instead substitute one of these patterns with a “v-neck” split where the spout is. It would be gorgeous! I’m sure this will not be my first tea cosy, so the possibility is definitely there. And I could stand to do cables or lace on something as small as a tea cosy, too.

The afternoon class, however, was all I wanted it to be and more. It’s funny, because it was about crocheted shawls, or so the class description said. I don’t know if I’ll ever crochet a shawl (I don’t like lace, don’t like the look of double crochet, and I was a teen in the 1970s so a lot of crochet looks outdated to my eyes). However, I really, really, really wanted to understand crocheting and how to follow a crochet pattern.

Crochet is one of many tools available to those of us who love yarn. It makes excellent no-curl edgings, is dense and unstretchy most of the time (great for home decor and bags/purses) and I have already used a simple slip stitch edge called Bosnian Crochet for a few rounds to finish a Turkish-inspired pair of socks. I like how it’s easy to sort of change gears in the middle of a crocheted item, so it’s easy to fly by the seat of your pants. I made up a crocheted beret once, in single crochet, and darned if it didn’t fit way better than most berets I’ve knit. Even though theoretically I’m not a crocheter!

After the class, I still have to really think at the beginning and end of a row. For example, the first of three mini-shawls we made, I increased by 3 stitches in about 7 rows and that all happened at the edges of the swatch. But hey! I kept up with the class, I did all three projects, I learned to double-crochet (before, I could only remember by heart how to slip stitch and how to single-crochet) and how to follow patterns! You heard me right… now I know to follow crochet patterns!

I asked a LOT of questions but I got from the class what I wanted to get out of the class. After at least two sessions trying to learn crochet from teachers, and two sessions trying to learn out of books, I finally can do this. I do have to think, but that’s the nature of a new skill. I’m in business now!

Melissa is a really good teacher. She’s mellow, she has a sense of humor, she explains well, she re-explains if necessary (using different words… an important thing for a teacher to do) and she is a good cheerleader. I really enjoyed my day. Even in the morning, purling 32 stitches in a row!

Photos: 1) Cable with neckline divided with rolled stockinette edge. 2) Lace with neckline divided with K1P1K1 rib. 3) Shawl sample 1 with only some of the fringe we could add. I love this fabric. She calls it seed stitch, and it is a combination of single crochet and chain stitches. It lays really flat, would make a great rug or placemat. Perhaps a good purse/bag, as well. You can’t see through it, it’s not lacy and there is no double-crochet (I just do not like the texture of double crochet, I can’t help it). This is the one where I accidentally increased by 3 stitches, so it is not exactly rectangular but it still lays flat.

The last sample was some Lion Brand Fisherman Wool I dyed with Wiltons cake frosting dyes over a year ago. I dyed it still in the skein, one end spring green and one end turquoise. It looks just great in this sample, I think. After all, doesn’t a double-crocheted shawl beg to be multicolored?

I had a great time in a full day of Melissa Leapman’s classes. My swatches from her class are drying right now. I had almost no time between my classes and my rehearsal for our Abbott Brothers band, so I didn’t have time to write you and block/photograph before bedtime.

Monday, I’ll roll out the samples, and Tuesday I’ll get back to Fast Florida Footies and other things I’ve been delaying.

Thanks for coming by… tune in soon, and I’ll be back.

Sunday I will study with Melissa Leapman, thanks to the joint efforts of Rob, Matt (and Marcia) at Threadbear Fiberarts and Nancy McRay of Woven Art, who brought her to town for a weekend of workshops. I was going to just take the afternoon crochet class but at the last minute felt I was missing out to not take at least one knitting class from her. I signed up for a 9am Sunday morning class (what was I thinking? I usually wake up at 9:30am or later).

The morning is called Fully-Fashioned and Fabulous. It sounds like sweater stuff to me, so I’m not sure how much I’ll learn that is about my normal knitting. It’s sort of funny… we had 5 swatches as homework and they called for smooth worsted-weight (read: Sweater) yarn and appropriate needles. (The swatches look sweatery to me, except one would be a good hat, I think.)

Do you know how much I had to dig to find these things in my stash? I have loads of sockyarn and loads of novelty yarn, and a handful of super-bulky skeins for rug knitting. I have sock needles size 4 down to a 0. I have needles sizes 10.5 to 15 for making glitzy wraps/ColorJoy stoles and rugs, and fulling (for my watercolor bag). That means from size 5 to size 10 I don’t have much. Only things I inherited, and I have not been very careful about storing these things where I could find them, since they don’t fit my normal knitting routine.

I also got grumpy preparing my swatches. One of the swatches is 32 stitches wide, we’re supposed to knit 4 inches of a stitch pattern that is about 3/4 purls. I just don’t purl happily. I can do it, I know how, and I surely do it in my own designs when the look is called for. But I’d rather knit a few then purl a few then knit a few. I don’t mind ribbing much, but stockinette requires knitting in the round, in my book. Purling more than three stitches in a row is not my cup of tea, makes me agitated after a short while.

Purling all 32 stitches in a row, every other row (especially when row 1 is K3P2), makes me wonder why we didn’t knit it and turn the thing inside out when we were done, or knit in the round instead of flat. Makes me nuts, but that’s my problem and not Melissa’s. I’m going to class to learn so I need to adjust my attitude before I walk into that classroom. I hope that being tired and quiet as I often am in the morning, will be a calming thing for me rather than a grumpy one! I don’t want to say grumpy things I’d rather take back.

I did once learn to purl with the yarn held around my neck, and I do like that better than American, Continental or Combination purling, so for that particular mostly-purl swatch I did hold the yarn around my neck. I think my gauge is not very even but it isn’t even no matter how I knit or purl. I did not do 4 inches, though. I stopped just short of 2 inches, I couldn’t handle the stress. And I’m doing this because of my love of knitting, right? It will have to do.

For items that are more evenly distributed between knits and purls I think I’ll try to remember to stick with combination knitting (this is what Annie Modesitt teaches, where you purl by wrapping clockwise rather than counter-clockwise, then you knit through what is sometimes called “the back loop” to untwist the base of the stitch. It’s actually easier to purl evenly this way, when I remember to do it.

Combination knitting is a technique that is best for knitting flat pieces of fabric. Since I usually knit in the round (or knit flat garter stitch), I rarely find a time where this excellent technique is useful for me.

So…. I have 4 of 5 swatches done and it’s 2:15am on Sunday already (I’m manually setting the date of this post back so I can count it as my Saturday column… but I’m not fooling anybody). I need to just sleep and hope I can finish swatch 5 during breaks and slow time. Or not. This is what happens when I’m already too booked and then I sign up for a class with tons of homework on the day before the class!

The afternoon class has no homework. We’ll be crocheting mini-shawls. I am eager to see if finally I can learn to follow crochet patterns. I can use a crochet hook, can do many different stitches, but I have yet to be able to follow a “simple” crochet pattern (defined as simple by the author) further than a few paragraphs. Knitting patterns were so easy for me, from the very beginning!

I swear that there is something crocheters leave out so that they are an in club or something. I have taken two other crochet classes and had no luck learning pattern-reading so far. I’m hoping this class, which is focused on creating a product, will lift me to the next level. I’m not likely to follow a pattern much anyway, but sometimes my knitting students ask me crochet questions and I can not help them. I’d like that to be a problem of the past.

So… off I go to bed. No pictures, although right here on my desk sit Luann and Cyndy’s Fast Florida Footies, begging me to photograph them and put the pictures up for you. Another day, I’m afraid.

I do, however, have a photo I processed on March 9 but didn’t have time to post. These are some of my CityKidz, digging through a box of yarn goodies sent by Susan L., a blog reader who has really taken an interest in the CityKidz. She said they could root through the box (not my style, they can get wild as you can see) so I gave them permission to do so, as long as nobody grabbed from someone else or got pushy. They were good, though the yarn did get pretty tangled. They liked picking their favorite yarns out for the next project! Thanks, Susan.

Thursday is my busy day and this week was no exception. I had two girls at CityKidz Knit! finish their first wristbands, and I did get a photo but it’s still on the camera right now. I need to stay focused so I’ll give you that photo another day.

I found a “hiccup” in one of my patterns (Heritage Heirloom, my most recent sock design). I have been crazily working to make that right, by re-working the math and reknitting a sample. It drove me crazy for 2 days, but I think I’ve got an understanding of the answer now. I live in fear of mistakes. Fortunately, this one would not have thrown off an experienced socknitter, who would knit a heel to fit rather than following my specifications at that point.

I specified a heel flap height that was not tall enough. I used the row gauge from my stockinette swatch to figure the heel flap height, as far as I can figure. However, my no-purl heel flap is compressed vertically and so the flap was looking a bit short. Mystery solved… and I believe I can track all those who purchased that pattern and make it right. I’ll probably make an errata list on my patterns page as well. What a hassle, but if Sally Melville does it I guess I will also do it at times. I hope not often!

I’m also working on the Fast Florida Footies pattern in 8 sizes. My test knitters have been wonderful in providing feedback that makes the pattern better and better. The pattern has been out there for a long time on the Internet, in just a Ladies’ Extra-Small (I made them for my mom who wears a size 5 US shoe). Now I’m just making it more clean and more clear, for print. I’m loving this team process. I’m very grateful for the ladies who have been knitting for me, and giving me real feedback on the pattern.

Here are photos of Melissa’s sock, children’s size 8-9, and Selena’s sock, children’s size 10-11. Melissa used Cascade Fixation, and Selena used Regia Crazy 6-ply (sportweight).

I’m in the middle of four different design projects right now. My test knitters cranked out beautiful versions of my Fast Florida Footies for my new 8-size printed pattern soon to be available for sale. I’m collecting suggestions from the testers and hope to be finalizing that pattern this week.

I also finished that prototype tea cosy about a week ago, and have notes written but no formal pattern yet. I need that finalized and a second sample knit. The first “lives” at Threadbear for the time being, and the second will “live” at Little Red Schoolhouse (LRSH) when I finish it. I just finalized a few classes at LRSH and am finalizing a few more this week, so will post those here as soon as everything comes together more firmly

I am test knitting a second sample of my Heritage Heirloom socks and will make a few tweaks to the pattern text when that sample is done. The first was done in a cabled yarn in earth tones. This second is done in Magic Garden Buttons, a colorful kids’ yarn with little bits of color throughout. The look is so very different, with the same pattern specs. It’s sort of amazing how that works! I love that magic in the knitting process, the way yarn choice totally changes a project.

And… ta dah! I finished my Glitzy/Dressy Wrap (it turned out to be more of a capelet than a stole) today and it is just beautiful! It’s three different yarns, garter stitch, fringed in a rectangle, with a tie at the neck. And it’s shiny red with purple, one of my favorite color schemes (you would never know it, I don’t wear red, but I love these colors together).

I worked at making a simple project that has some depth, some interest to the flavor of the fabric. This one is Berroco Quest, Sari ribbon and a mercerized cotton, in garter stitch with fringe. I have two more planned versions. One is in pale spring greens (matte cotton, Sari ribbon and brushed mohair) for me, whenever I get to knit for myself. The other is in multicolors with a very fascinating ribbon, shiny cotton and I can’t remember the third yarns. That last one is for LRSH as a sample so that needs to be done yesterday. That is, as soon as my other projects are finished? The sock projects and the tea cosy, that is?

I think it’s really beautiful. First I took pictures of myself wearing it (using my new camera’s delay feature, very fun), but then when I took it to Threadbear, they put it on the front mannequin by the cash register. It looked so pretty there, I took more pictures while I could. They have the best lighting in the planet, so the colors just turned out great. It doesn’t look like a beginner project does it? I love that about this piece… It’s a quick knnit for an experienced knitter, and a rewarding but not frustrating project for a brand-new knitter. This type of success really makes me happy.

Pictures today: 1) Glitzy Wrap for Beginners and Friends as displayed at the cash register, Threadbear Fiberarts. 2) Infant size 0-1 sock knit by Rachel, in Cascade Fixation yarn. Isn’t it just as cute as a button?3) Infant size 2-3 sock knit by Julia, I’m not sure what yarn she used but it’s very effective. Isn’t it interesting how changing yarns really changes patterns?

I spent the whole day at my computer. Tuesday is supposed to be my day off, and I did get to go to Knitting Guild for an hour and a half, but otherwise I worked from the time I woke up until now, bedtime. However, I sure did get a lot done! I’m always wishing to do more in less time, but I think it was a productive day.

My website is set up now, with new pages to show you my New Yarns! That is what took the most time today. I had to photograph, process the photos so they look as close to the real-life colors as possible, write web pages, plunk the pictures into the web pages, copy the pages out to the web. I like the work, but it just takes a long time.

I hope you enjoy my new works of art. One thing to notice now… I am offering “short skeins,” some of them in semi-solid colors, to go with the full sized skeins I typically offer (225 yards, which is enough for one pair of stockinette small womens’ socks).

The small skeins happen when I encounter a knot in the yarn, or if the cone has more yarn on it than promised. I can’t guarantee I find all of them, but all the knots I find, I stop winding the skein right there and start over. Since my yarn usually comes in 1/2 lb cones (2 skeins), that means a lot of short skeins.

This new development (short skeins) can help those who need just a bit more yarn (I figure for heels/toes/possible rib at top of cuff) to make a pair, without forcing them to buy a second full skein. The possibility of a mini skein also invites stripe options, minisox, baby slippers, you name it.

So… keep going when the link at the bottom of a page says “Next,” and you will see the short skeins. Assuming you go there to peek at my new lovelies, that is.

Well, it’s time to show off a ColorJoy Stole that Esther made. Esther is in my life in many ways. She’s a friend of my Mom, she was a computer student of mine at Foster Center, and then a knitting student at Threadbear. Just look at her! Didn’t she pick the perfect color scheme for herself? She just glows.

In other news, I’m teaching knitting to a young woman, in private lessons. She started with me in January, the lessons an inspired gift from her mom who also knits. Mom thought she’d enjoy it. Mom was right.

My student is taking to knitting very well. I inadvertently gave her permission to make things up on the needles (while talking about how I was creating something, if I remember right), and a week later she had a headband finished. It didn’t take much permission to get her going, even though she is a very new knitter.

And now, she has recently started a knitting blog called Officially a Knitter. Go grrl!

Right now she’s discussing her two current projects, a diagonal-knit blanket for herself (on the order of a dishcloth but in variegated sweater yarn) and a pair of wristwarmers/handwarmers (my basic design, the garter-stitch ones, in Lamb’s Pride Worsted weight). I think the wristwarmers sound like they are nearly done, she probably will be wearing them shortly! And it’s a good thing, because her hands are often colder than mine, and that’s saying something!!! She is also planning at least one more project that I’m aware of, so she surely is one of us! Anyone with multiple projects going so they don’t need to wait for the teacher, is a real knitter indeed.

I also got an email today from one of my friends at the Bloomiefest. She bought my Handwarmer/Wristwarmer pattern and has already jumped in and started a pair. I am eager to see what they will look like, as she told me she has a plan for blending a whole bunch of oddments of leftover but related yarns in her warmers. I bet they will be great!

Happy me. I love it when I can inspire others to do wonderful work. They do the work… yet I get to be the fan club, the cheerleader, and if I’m lucky, the muse. It makes me very happy.

It was great fun! Just the same, I’m ready to be back and get a little sleep for a while now.

I did sell a lot of my work, which pleased me. I sold out of my wristwarmer pattern, and Bubbielove has already emailed to say she has cast on and started her first pair.

Since I made a “Make your own sock kit” special, I sold a bunch of Barberpole Socks patterns and a small handful of the Toe-Up Turkish Sox patterns. I was surprised that I sold all but 2 skeins of the solid yarns I dyed at the last minute, I’m very glad I did that, as it worked well for those interested in sock kits. The long hours with little sleep, in preparation, were worth it!

Thanks to everyone who purchased my merchandise, you really made it worthwhile. (For those who were not there, I’m taking the remaining yarns to Knitting Guild on Tuesday night this week, and what remains after that will go on my yarn sales web page as soon as I can get photos edited.)

I saw friends I met last year, and met people in person I’d only met online previously. I knit and knit and knit, and taught and taught. I finished some bulky Lamb’s Pride slipper footies, my 109th pair of socks thus far, almost finished my dressy (prom) wrap for displaying at Threadbear, knit a lot on my handpainted Opal toe up socks that I started in January but haven’t touched in maybe a month. I finished a zillion ends on pieces for a striped child’s sweater (I made it on the knitting machine a year ago, and Anne’s baby is going to grow too big for it if I don’t finish it soon).

I taught afterthought heels to a small group and I showed the non-figure-eight wrapped toe up method to one person individually. I taught a woman, Vernita, who stopped by to ask what we were doing, how to knit. She was with the group across the hall but was very excited to pick this up. She learned a cast on, knit stitch and bind off. She’s from Chicago so I encouraged her to find a yarn shop that feels like home and hang out there. I hope she does. She sure was smiling ear to ear after learning a bit, and she even stopped by the next day to say hello and emphasize how much she enjoyed knitting with us. How cool was that???

And on Sunday, we did Kool-Aid Dyeing. Actually, we did “flavored drink mix” dyeing because we used several brand names. In fact, Anne (who lives in Canada) brought us some Canadian red and purple colors since those dyes are different than those available in the USA.

Photos: 1) Group in conference room during a quiet time (from left to right, Sue C., Kathy from Cleveland, hiding behind Kathy is Anita…totally hidden, Karen, Cathy, Chappy, Fran… and yes, five out of six are wearing sequin “tiaras” which were the unofficial dress code of the weekend… got us a few odd looks and we didn’t mind at all), 2) Auction in action (seated are Fran, Bubbielove, Yarnfairy, Yvonne wearing shirt she made; and standing in back is D2 the auctioneer), 3) View of room with the two other booths…Sherry’s scented lovelies and Toni’s The Fold booth (at left should be Kimberly although that photo doesn’t look like her, then seated are Diane, Faith, Sherry of the lotions/soaps, and facing away with glass of water I believe is Rachel… standing in back is Sue),

4) Kathy from Cleveland wearing her Entrelac vest from Noro Yarn, with her entrelac socks from Lorna’s Laces yarn, 5) My new friend Vernita learning to knit (this woman has the best smile I’ve seen in a long time, she was very happy to learn knitting), 6) Group of us with finished dyed yarns (left to right is Faith not looking exactly like herself but wearing a cool Harley flames shirt I think she made, me, Diane, and Karen).

Well, I’ve been dyeing, skeining, labeling, pricing, you name it. I haven’t even thought about packing clothes, silly me!

But now the merchandise is ready and it’s time to grab some clothes and some food pile things into the car, and get on the road. I will probably get home very late Sunday. I’m not sure if I’ll be posting while I’m gone, or not.

Bloomiefest is a casual fiber retreat, no absolute schedules but everyone shows everyone else what they know how to do. I’ve promised to cover toe-up socks and Kool-Aid dyeing. Some folks are going to an alpaca farm on Saturday, and taking a field trip to a local yarn shop on Sunday.

The event is Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday, at Jumer’s Chateau, in Bloomington/Normal Illinois (I understand the Chateau is right on the border between the twin cities). Day-visitors are encouraged, so feel free to stop by if you are in the area.

I hope you all have a wonderful and warm weekend. I’m sure I will.

Photos: 1) Skeins ready for labels, and pile of patterns ready to go, on kitchen table. 2) Drying rack with mostly solid contrast yarns, resting and drying while I skeined the multicolored yarns.

My friend Regina, who first introduced me to the Working Women Artists guild (and who also is a regular reader of this blog), just won a special award. Here’s what I just read:

Regina Fry was honored on Sunday with the Zimmerman Purchase Award for her figure painting, which will become part of the permanent art collection for public display at Lansing Community College. The painting is included in the current LCC show at the Lansing Art Gallery, 113 S. Washington Square, through March.

You go, Grrrl!!!

Regina is a very, very talented artist. When I met her, she mostly did oil paintings. I remember mostly portraits, and they were pretty dark. Very well executed, excellent paintings, better than most people are capable of painting.

But: this grrl never stops learning, she takes art classes all over town, often from LCC or from Margaret Meade-Turnbull (a local artist who does the most luminescent watercolors of female models that I’ve ever seen).

Regina just keeps expanding into new artistic realms, all with a quality many of us can never achieve. She got an award for some printmaking work of hers a few years back. She now does sculpture as well, and I think she got an award for that, too. And even her paintings look really different than when I first met her, she has added a lot of light to the mix. She is growing and learning and stretching in many ways as an artist. It’s very impressive.

Mind you, she’s a very quiet and humble person. It is no surprise that I heard this through the grapevine rather than from Regina herself. She is one of those folks, that when she speaks, you should listen. She doesn’t waste words.

Yet on the other hand, Regina is very passionate about life and art. If you want to know about any art museum/gallery within reasonable traveling distance from Lansing, she knows all about it. She can tell you who is exhibiting there this year and where to stay near the museum if you want to do a frugal trip.

Congratulations, Regina.

It appears that I have seven test-knitters. Thanks to everyone! Right now it looks like Luann, Cyndy, Melissa, Rachel, Julia, Selena and Chris will be helping me out. Lucky me!

The good news is that the yarn I’m dyeing is looking lovely. I’m sure that what’s left after Bloomiefest will include many wonderful colorways that the testers will enjoy knitting. Now, back to the dyepot.

Well, I estimate I dyed about six pounds of yarn on Tuesday. In addition, I packaged up my ColorJoy Stole Kits so that they can be displayed properly in a booth. I also printed out what seems like a zillion patterns and put them in their sleeves.

I did have to go out once, to practice a short while with Habibi Dancers at Foster Center. When I was out, I ran to Staples because I had run out of paper, turquoise toner and page protectors. Nothing like not having the basics! Fortunately, Staples is only maybe four blocks from Foster Center so it was really convenient to go there.

I finished my proofing copy of the Fast Florida Footies in 8 sizes, and sent it to 4 test knitters. I figure I’ll get a few more stragglers as I go along. If not, I’ll probably test knit the rest of the sizes myself. That would delay the release of the pattern, and I have some samples for shops I really need to finish, so I’m still crossing fingers for three more testers.

I have about a dozen skeins of yarn drying and about two dozen still wrapped in towels after steaming (that basement studio is so cold right now, the yarn wouldn’t stay warm long enough to set properly without “blankets” to keep it warm). Tomorrow I rinse and spin the slowly-cooling yarns, and no doubt start another batch. One day at a time, one hour at a time, sometimes one minute at a time, things happen.

I’m tired, and I’m going to sleep now. It’s officially Wednesday already but I’m stealing from Wednesday to make Tuesday long. Time to end that!!!

Photo here is a wooden catamaran on the beach at Mombasa, Kenya. It looks like a postcard, doesn’t it?

Thanks to Luann, Cyndy, Melissa and Rachel, I have four of my 7 knitters lined up. I still have one infant size (wouldn’t take long to knit up and then you’d have my pattern from which to knit other sizes later), one child’s size (10-11 US, foot circumference 6.75″) and Ladies’ Large (10-11 US foot, measuring 9.25″ circumference).

Remember, it’s a footie and it’s in fat/DK yarn. Therefore, even one large footie (56 stitches around) shouldn’t take too long. The rolled cuff (leg) is only 9 rounds!

Thanks to those who already offered, you really made my day! And even if you can’t help out this time (or would rather not), I appreciate all of you who come by and visit.

Hello, friends. (OK, I lied, I am actually posting fibery text on a day I swore I would not. Please tune in to see why I broke my vow…)

I am preparing for Bloomiefest and printing out patterns both for that event and my yarn shops. I have had three different shops request to purchase my Mom’s Fast Florida Footies Pattern, which they know is already available free on the Internet.

Since the one on the Internet is only in an extra small ladies’ size (My Mom has little feet), I figure if I make up the pattern with specific stitch counts for several sizes, and purchasers get a nice, printed out copy with a page protector, then it would be a value-added situation to purchase a pattern that can also be found for free. My yarn shops seem to think so, at any rate.

So…. I am wishing for seven test knitters (I am working up 8 sizes but one has already been tested). I would love to have one tester for each size.

Mind you, I need you to REALLY test, check every single number I put in there and make sure it’s right. For this sort of thing, I can not have folks who can figure things out easily, and therefore don’t check the text. You only have to knit one sock, and you don’t have to make it in Cascade Fixation, but you do have to use the number of stitches I assign to you. I have sizes from infant size 0/1 to Ladies’ size L. You get to keep the test sock, but I need a good, clear digital photo or scan of it (blocked). If you don’t have a way to get me a digital image, you can send me your sock and I’ll return it with your reward.

Not only that, I am imposing a deadline. OK, I can knit a pair of the footies in size XS, in one day of focused knitting. But I know most of you have real lives besides knitting for me. Nevertheless, I need to have a photograph/scan from you by a week from today, Tuesday, March 15.

What I am offering in exchange is a skein of LynnH ColorSport handpainted yarn, in your choice of whatever colorways I should have left after I return from Bloomiefest… plus one LynnH Pattern of your choice. I know this is not much, considering how long it takes to knit by hand. However, it’s what I’ve got to offer, today.

If you like, I’ll put up a photo of your sample sock (with or without your face in the photo) and tell the world who you are, thanking you publicly for your work. Maybe you can consider 15 minutes of fame as part of your payment?

I’m not sure how much email I’ll be checking on Fri/Sat/Sun this week because of my road trip, but I’ll get back to folks as fast as I can, until I have all sizes spoken for. I’m hoping I can have folks assigned before I go to Bloomington/Normal, Illinois on Friday morning, but that may be over-optimistic.

I know this is pretty bold. After all, I’ve been writing this blog for over 2 years and I have always averaged not even one comment per day, even when I had comments turned on. However, my stats say that my LynnH.com/ColorJoy.com site gets 1,400 unique page views a day, on average. So there must be seven folks out there reading this, who would like 15 minutes of fame, some yarn and a pattern, in exchange for knitting a single footie sock with extra-vigilant eyes??? I sure hope so.

Write me at Lynn AT ColorJoy DOT com, if you are interested.

I have a lot of work to do today, and the computer is very distracting. I’ll be turning off the computer as much as humanly possible Tuesday so I can do hands-on fiber stuff, preparing for Bloomiefest.

Send good vibes my way, I’m already pretty tired and do not “feel like” doing what must be done. Thank goodness I am fairly good at pushing forward when I’m not in the mood to do so. I probably don’t go at my full speed in that situation, but I do keep on pushing forward.

I already have a lot of yarn made up into skeins to soak and then dye, and so that will start first thing in the morning. While the first batch soaks, I’ll make up my ColorJoy Stole Kits into pretty packages, and print patterns until I run out of toner (probably literally, since we’re low on turquoise).

While I’m gone, here’s a photo from Africa. I took it at the resort in Mombasa, Kenya (just south of the equator on the Indian Ocean). This is the view from the outdoor seating area of the restaurant, looking up toward the second story piano bar. In Kenya, every plant/flower seems to grow like a weed, and these flowers were no exception. Plants seem totally happy in that environment. Isn’t it artful?

Oh, My! I had such a fun time on Sunday, teaching Handwarmers/Wristwarmers at Little Red Schoolhouse. I love teaching more than anything else in the world, and we had such a good time!

I had just two students, so it was small and cozy, and they were the absolute right two people to be together. Bonnie did a soft worsted-weight yarn, multi-ply soft merino yarn in cream and soft blues (each ply a different color) that suited her perfectly. Christie used Noro Silk Garden in earthy tones, also a worsted weight (but single-ply) yarn. It was fascinating to see them make the same item, in the same gauge, even the same number of stitches, but have such different results.

Both ladies chose to make the ribbed version, in the round on Double Pointed Needles (DPNs). Bonnie had already made socks before, so she had used DPNs but she tried out a few different types and ended up with short birch Brittany, as did Christie (who had never knit in the round before).

Christie had taught herself to knit as a teen, but had never had a knitting class. Now, she makes a living using a sewing machine and embroidery machines (she has been a tailor/dressmaker for years and now does classes/demos of computerized embroidery sewing machines for Country Stitches). She is really good with her hands, to say the least, and her mind can really understand things once she has a little demo. So she took to the DPNs like a fish to water, learning how to identify and repair her mistakes as she went along.

They both learned how to pick up dropped stitches with a crochet hook, which was a big hit since both of them dropped at least one stitch each. We learned so many things besides just how to make a handwarmer! And we had a wonderful time. A wonderful time! Thanks to Bonnie and Christie for making my weekend so fine!

After class, I first did some grocery shopping (oh, my, can you spend a lot of money on food at Meijer if you have felt hungry for two days due to empty cupboards at home). Then I went home to put all that food away, and rather than cooking any of it, I called Tony. (Brian was playing banjo with his friend Dorsey and I realized I hadn’t seen Tony in so long I’d love his company for dinner.) We went to Taj, a local Indian restaurant, and had a WONDERFUL vegetarian meal. We really enjoyed that. How does the song go? “Food, glorious food…”

I’m in frantic-production mode here, trying to prepare for some upcoming classes *and* dye yarn for Bloomiefest which starts this coming Friday. After I had dinner with Tony, I finished my prototype tea cosy for the class I have scheduled at Threadbear on March 23 and 30. It will be tweaked a bit in the writing of the pattern, but I’m generally more than pleased with the result thus far. It fits my largest teapot that holds 6-8 cups, and it fits a smaller pot that holds 4-6 cups as well, but it looks very different on the different sized pots. I am thinking about perhaps two different sizes in the final pattern, we’ll see.

Off to make a living, as Brian says. I’m creating a publicity brochure for a computer student who has a business. Then I teach computer classes in Haslett until 8pm. No doubt I’ll be winding yarns when I get home again tonight.

Photos: 1) Christie’s wristwarmer in Silk Garden. Not bad for a first-time DPN user, huh? 2) Prototype tea cosy in large pot I bought in Montreal a few years ago.

Well, one more time my students have made my day! Linda took my Heritage Heirloom Sox class at Heritage Spinning in January. She says:

My mom and I have our socks done from class, and finally got together to take the shots! They came out really cute and we are getting ready to play around with the pattern for a new pair.

Wowie! These ladies took the pattern and made it their own. Notice that Linda’s version has a different color for heel and toe, a nice touch. (I’m pretty bummed, because I am going blank on Mom’s name… I remember she had a name the same as someone important in my life but I just can’t remember right now.)

Mom (Diane) added an extra geometric band of squares at the bottom of the cuff. She also created a double-colored stripe at the toe. That extra stripe is really wonderful.

I just love how creative knitters are. They almost always refuse to call themselves artists, and it baffles me. When I worked with rooms full of polymer clay artists, they kept asking me exactly what green they should use, and they did their best to duplicate my project as I had designed it. I wonder if they were afraid to do things “wrong” or if they really thought they were not capable of doing a beautiful version of my concept in a different way?

Knitters instinctively change at least the color of their project, very often. And since yarns are not available universally (or they get discontinued), knitters have to learn to substitute yarns often enough that they learn they can change things.

And then when people keep going with their creativity, when they add two stripes at the toe for example, well… that makes it even more art. So why are we not calling ourselves artists more often? I don’t get it.

Ladies, you did a fabulous job! Keep up the excellent work, and please stay in touch.

Photos: 1) Linda and mom Diane, modeling their new creations. 2) My version of the sock as pictured on the pattern these ladies used. 3) Same ladies, same socks, up close.

Friday worked out very well considering I had to set my alarm clock before 8am! When I knocked on the door at the home where the workshop was being held, the person who answered the door was Beth Brown-Reinsel herself. What a kind soul she is. I was very happy to be in an environment where the lead was from someone as grounded and gentle, yet passionate, as Beth. She is so knowledgeable and so humble. It was a wonderful experience.

   Beth has been a champion of traditional knitting forms for a long time. She has taken two trips to Scandinavia, studying their folk knitting, and is planning a trip to Estonia as well. She clearly has a great love for these knitted artforms, as do I. I enjoyed the brief moments I had where I could talk with her. There were so many folks there that I didn’t want to wear out my welcome by chatting long, as I would have loved to do.

The mitten design we knit together is very much like the one that my Great-Aunt Ingeborg knit for me when I was a child. (Or is that Great-Great Aunt? I’m not sure what her relationship to me was.) She knit hers in navy and cream wool, a very traditional Norwegian color scheme. I seem to remember she made my mittens in a finer wool, the mittens did not seem bulky to me as a child.

The mitten I made yesterday was worsted weight feltable wool. The main color was dark purple (nearly eggplant) by Babbajoes, and contrast was a pale almost-white four-ply where two plies are a light natural heathered grey and two plies are a very light cream (it’s Cascade 220, maybe what they call Quattro but I’m not sure). It turned out very nicely, with a bit of depth and yet you can still read the two-color patterning. Honestly, I was just knitting from whatever yarn I had in the stash, but it turned out very well.

I knit two-color stranded knitting pretty loosely, and I have a smallish hand. The pattern we followed in class was a one-size pattern, and even though I chose the smaller size needle option, my mitten turned out about the size Brian would need. it is abut an inch too long in the hand, 3/4″ too long in the thumb for me to wear. The gauge is certainly dense enough for worsted-weight yarn, and Brian noticed how warm these would be because of the double-thick stranded knitting. I am not sure if I’ll make another so he can wear them, or just keep this single one for posterity. Maybe some year I’ll make myself a pair out of sportweight yarn. That is, when I can finally knit for myself without planning to teach a class about the thing I’m knitting.

It took a full day of sitting and knitting by staring at a chart, to make one mitten. I don’t know when I could put aside two days to make a pair of mittens for myself, considering that I wouldn’t wear them much and that I couldn’t make them into a class somehow.

This is the nature of being a knitting professional. You can knit a lot of the time, but you have to keep in mind whether it would be something that would serve the business or not. Things that are truly for self, need to wait for days off… and sometimes days off can be far apart. I notice when I say I have a “day off,” it means I didn’t schedule any classes. It doesn’t seem to mean I don’t work at my business. Days off, instead of being a teacher, I’m a secretary/bookkeeper/publicist. It could be much worse, trust me.

This life is still much better than waking up at 6am to drive in the snow to a factory in Detroit, to teach a roomfull of folks how to use Microsoft Powerpoint, Word, Excel or Access. That is what I did for 6 years. It was interesting work but I did not enjoy the schedule. Therefore, I’m not complaining very loud… but I do wonder if I’ll ever wear a pair of these Norwegian mittens!

Oh, a very cool thing I learned in class… I learned how to do stranded two-color knitting holding both colors of yarn in the left hand. I usually knit continental style, and I knew that in Norway they hold both colors in the left hand to do stranded colorwork. However, I tried it once and the yarn got really tangled. I gave up that plan and started holding one yarn in the left hand and one in the right (I had learned to knit as a child, holding my yarn in my right hand, so I already knew how to knit with either hand). Well, it turns out that there is a trick where the two colors feed through different sides of the middle finger of your left hand, and it keeps them from getting tangled. It was wonderful! I did the whole mitten with this technique and it sure was faster than throwing half my stitches with my right hand, at least for me. Loved it!

It was worth the whole thing, just to sit in that room with all those folks who also love knitting as I do, and who understand this passion for all things knitted, particularly knitted folk artforms. I had a wonderful time.

Photos: 1) Beth talking to participants in the workshop, 2&3) my mitten, palm and back of hand, 4) Margaret and Sharon, talking and sharing during a slow moment, 5) Beth’s Mittens, one of many pairs she brought with her.

Well, it’s early and I don’t like mornings… but I’m awake because I have a class to attend today. I’ll be studying Norwegian Mittens with Beth Brown-Reinsel. I’m bummed, because the day came upon me so fast and I’m not prepared with my homework. Last night at midnight I realized that today would be Friday. How did that happen so fast? I will learn what I can in class, and it will be great no matter what I learn.

What a week it has been! I’ve been working 24/7, it seems, and I have finished many things, made progress on many things, but I still have a pile of work left waiting for me. One day at a time, I guess.

For now, my focus is getting dressed quickly enough to be on time to the workshop. I was told it was in Jackson, which is just over a half hour from here. However, in reality it is at an alpaca farm that has a Jackson Address. Mapquest says it will take 48 minutes. Drat!

I already packed my lunch so now I just have to look presentable. See you soon.

Photos: Two handwarmers made of Grignasco Jazz Print (single-ply 100% merino wool) I got at