Lunch with Tony
I did sleep in on Monday, but then I had a busy one! Tony and I went to lunch for an (east) Indian buffet at the restaurant named Taj, and stuffed ourselves silly. I knit and he talked and it was wonderful.

New Yarn Shop Location
We tried to go to the new yarn shop near Foster Center (and near where we had lunch) but it is closed Sunday/Monday. Irene A. told me that it was re-opening on Vine Street last week (near Wallace Optical and Thompson Jewelers, close to Frandor).

Sarah Peasley has been teaching for this shop, I believe, since it was at its old location which I think was in an antique mall or craft mall on the north side of Lansing. I never went there at the old spot. It is tiny but it seemed to have a good selection of sock yarn so I will check it out sometime on a lunch hour.

Toe-Up Sock Class and Pattern
Anyway, after that I got some groceries and went home to work again on my toe-up pattern. I have the great fortune to be teaching the toe-up class right now at Little Red Schoolhouse. This means I have five students who can tell me how they like my new pattern.

I’ve been teaching the class for the last year or two, with a three-page handout sans photographs (and me in the room to explain things). This new version has 14 photographs so far. It is intended to be a novice pattern (and for people I may not be teaching in person), so I really felt that the photos would help people who were learning new techniques. Even an experienced top-down socknitter might appreciate the photos of the toe-up procedures, I figure.

The students tonight were really happy with the photos so far. They are big enough and clear enough to really illustrate things well. The photos and accompanying text have expanded my text from 3 pages to nine. I don’t mind. Some of it is in an appendix so only those who need help need look up that procedure, and it doesn’t slow the pattern for the rest of the folks.

I teach in a conversational style, and my patterns are the same way. I get good feedback on this, so I will continue being myself and hope that folks who like this style will find me.

I had a sort of funny “hiccup” when I was trying to get the new version ready for my students tonight (definitely in a sort of time crunch). Somehow I did a Find/Replace command that replaced all my K1 instructions with a K2 instruction, aaargh! It was a silly multiple typo that really made a mess of things. Fortunately we found it during class and did a bunch of corrections in pen.

I’ll keep working on the pattern this week, I’ve already corrected the K2 issue. Actually, I think the pattern is really, really close to done. I do need to print it out and look at it on paper rather than on my computer screen. Some things are just not clear on screen.

My Knitting
In other knitting news, I am ready to felt my Watercolor Bag that I made for myself. Well, not the I-cord handle, but the bag itself.

I have also knit a total of about 9 inches on my ribbed tank top since Friday. I also took the new purple Garden Capelet to Little Red Schoolhouse today so she can show it off and hopefully get some students for that class. This weekend I’m teaching the tea cosy at Little Red Schoolhouse so I’ll be putting the finishing touches on that pattern as well. Nothing like a deadline to make sure I get things done!!!

Yarn Garden/FFFooties
And somewhere in here, I’ll be knitting a Fast Florida Footie for Yarn Garden. She has one already there, in Fixation, and she gave me some other DK yarn in a wool blend so people can see more than one version of the socklet. We are planning a Saturday class probably, I think in July, to do the Footies. It should be fun.

Tuesday Plans: Lucy Neatby for Starters!
Tomorrow/Tuesday I start a new dance class around noon (something like modern dance, just for fun/no performances). And then I go study with Lucy Neatby, thanks to the boyz at Threadbear. It is another thing where I just want to be there, it’s not really “my subject.” But I studied socks with her last year and it was fabulous, and I just want to be in the room learning more. Even if it *is* mostly for sweaters.

And then if I am lucky, I get to drive to Ann Arbor again and have a late dinner with my brother. I hope. Catch you Wednesday!

Please forgive no photos. I’m still catching up from the too-busy weekend, and preparing for a too-busy Tuesday. Here’s a postcard I made with rubberstamps I made myself (it’s called eraser carving, or soft-block printing). There were five different print blocks used in this image, and five different ink pads. My computer is confused, because it says the image was created in January 2001 but then it was edited in November 1999? How it can be edited before it was created I don’t know, but clearly I made this image a good long while ago.