Big Whoops… I originally wrote that the shows at New Aladdins were at the wrong time… the second show is at 8:00 (not 8:30). The shows are only a half hour long so if you got there when I said originally, you’d miss the dancing.

I hope this notice is in time for those who are interested!

Shows 6:30 and 8:00pm. Now I’ll go fix the original post, just in case.

Busy, busy busy…

I finished another tea cosy late in the wee hours last night, working out the pattern as I went.

I put up the new Summer 2005 version of the Yarn for Ewe newsletter and class schedule. I’ve never taught for Marlene at Yarn for Ewe (well, I taught a sock class one day several years ago when knitting was not yet my primary work). Yet, I’ve done her website since the beginning and wish all good vibes and prosperity for her, as I do for all my other yarn shops.

Marlene mentions in her newsletter a pattern I may have to check out. I don’t know if the picture in real life will match the picture in my mind, but now I need to get my butt out there and see. I teach on her side of town on Mondays so I’ll have to plan ahead and go there on the way to class this next week.

Kim of Yarn Garden in Charlotte, MI writes that she is having a sale Friday and Saturday this week. The Noro yarns won’t be on sale but I think everything else pretty much is. She’s got some nice things, you might want to check it out.

I’m teaching Bags to Go! at Threadbear on Saturday 11-2. It’s a fun class. Anyone want to join in? It’s about time for us to have a fun water-bottle holder, I’d say… should be in the 70’s F this weekend. Write Rob@threadbearfiberarts.com if you want to register.

I’m preparing to dance (as my persona, Eudora) at New Aladdin’s Restaurant in Frandor this Friday night. Shows are about a half hour and start at 6:30 and 8:00. No cover. I’d love to have you come! This will be the debut of the fancy turquoise velvet dance dress (encrusted in beads and rhinestones) I bought in Cairo, Egypt on December 26. Somehow I’ve not had a chance to wear it since. I’m about ready to don it and fly!!!

We have had a change in personnel so I’m dancing with Najmah again, my dear friend I danced with last time I was at Aladdin’s in October. We are ready for a good girl-time! There is nothing that makes me feel more solid and happy to be a woman, than dancing, especially at Aladdin’s. Please join us. Call New Aladdin’s at 517/333-8710 if you need directions.

Photos: Me dancing as Eudora last October at Aladdin’s. Small pic of Bags to Go!

I had a good pseudo-day-off. I started Tuesday with a wonderful dance class taught by Diane Newman of Happendance… what a gentle and loving teacher she is. Then I got lunch at Woody’s Oasis (they are on that side of town, although I do prefer my beloved Aladdins for Lebanese food when I can get it). Then I called Mom. She was home!

I gave her a long-delayed hug and she caught me up on her activities. She showed me photos of dear children in her life, and then she told me about her reading teaching/tutoring volunteer work that she’s been doing in Florida. She is a remarkable woman. Reading was hard for her, so she has a lot of empathy for “her little guys” and she really works hard to help them catch up with their classmates. She has changed the lives of literally hundreds of children since she started teaching before I was born. She’s a brilliant and caring teacher.

The kids get sad when they learn that she’s leaving for the rest of the year. This year she made each of the kids a little card thanking them for being themselves, and she included a scanned photo of her face on the card. The kids just could not believe that she could do that!!! One little girl tried to peel it off, as if it were glued on.

It’s just great to have Mom home. I’m dancing at Aladdins on Friday and probably she’ll be there. It always feels sort of strange to perform, whether dancing or singing, and to have Mom not be in the audience. She and I had rough times when I was a teenager (this is to be expected, I believe) but she’s my very best fan now, and I appreciate it.

After seeing Mom, I did a few other things including the Borders Books knit-in, in Ann Arbor… but nothing really matters more than having Mom back. Welcome home, Mom!

Here is a photo of Mom for her last birthday. She is wearing a ColorJoy Stole that was knit for her by my sister in law, Diana.

AnneMarie and Michelle have volunteered, in record time I must add, to be my testers this time. Thanks bunches, ladies.

I’ve got my tea cosy pattern finished and I have tested both sizes myself. However, I sure would love two of you to test it for me and give me input. It’s different than a lot of my other patterns.

All I can pay is enough ColorSport yarn for a pair of sox for you, and a LynnH pattern of your choice (in addition to a final/finished copy of the cosy pattern when it’s complete). I know this work is worth more than I can pay right now, but somehow I’ve really lucked out and had good helpers even at this wage.

The good news is it’s not a big project and won’t take a lot of knitting time. I’d guess it would take 2 days of leisurely knitting, if that. Of course, please only volunteer if you can fit it into your schedule right away. I need you to hop right on it, so jump on board if you’re not busy in the next 3-4 days. It is a fun change of pace if you are getting bored with that afghan or sweater right now!

Why the rush? Rob at Threadbear is one of the folks waiting for me to release the final product, and it is good for me to keep dear Rob happy! (Love ya, Rob.)

I need folks who knit with an eye toward the writing. People who will not assume what comes next but actually do exactly what I said to do, and then tell me if what I said was not clear enough. I do need you to knit to gauge, which could perhaps require some swatching. It calls for Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (less than one 4oz skein). A suitable substitute would be Cascade Pastaza yarn. They are both heavy-worsted-weight single-ply yarns that are at least 50% wool (all animal fiber).

You can keep the item you knit, but I need a digital photograph of your cosy on a teapot, and the measurements of the teapot. Takers?

Today is Monday. It was the first day of Spring term at Haslett Community Education. I had an afternoon class of new students learning basics for 2 hours. Then I had a reunion of sorts. Students from both my afternoon and evening classes from last term, joined together. There was only one new person in the list of 14 who signed up.

I love these people. They are good, kind, smart, and are learning computer skills when nobody made them do it. Just because they want to learn. They check up on each other outside of class… one man had heart surgery five weeks ago, and another woman from his class reported today that he’s doing great and even golfing already. When one woman couldn’t make it to class another time, the woman who sits near her in class volunteered to drop by and deliver the handout of the week. Good people, I say.

I was so happy to see them again after a month away. It melted my heart. Hugs all around.

What else can I say? Life is rich when we have good people to spend our time with. You know? I’m as rich as a woman can get. Friends, sweetheart and students… knitting as well as computer. And all the great people who let me teach for them… two community ed departments and five yarn shops. All of them, they are the best.

In other great relationship news, my Mom is due back from Florida this week. I’m excited to see her again, and glad that this year she will be here for Mother’s Day. She has one lonely asparagus stalk in her garden awaiting her arrival, I checked today.

Speaking of great people in my life, here’s a photo of Art and Marlene, with Art’s “new” Heftone Bass. They asked to buy one over a year ago. This used one came up for sale, and they snatched it up. It’s so colorful, just like they are (my Heftone has a white drum head, check this one out).

Art is a musician and a true artist with gardening and plants. He designed the Grass Garden at MSU that I showed in a blog post from August 2003. It’s at Farm Lane and Mt. Hope, at the turfgrass center, if you are in the Lansing, Michigan area. It’s particularly beautiful in August.

I just finished updating my Classes page, with my currently-scheduled classes. This covers May/June/July with a lot of offerings, and even has one in September at Heritage Spinning. I’m sure to fill in more classes further down the line, but this is what I have going right now.

I just finished two days in a row at Little Red Schoolhouse, very fun classes (Bags to Go! and Fast Florida Footies). Next weekend I’m at Threadbear for another Bags to Go! class, so you didn’t quite miss your chance yet. And the next weekend, I am at Threadbear once more for the Garden Capelet.

I still need to update my patterns page in the next few days, to add my new Garden Capelet, the Tea Cosy and Bags to Go! patterns. Whew! The Capelet pattern is ready right now, and the others are so close it pains me to say they are not finished yet. This week. Soon.

I start my computer class term Monday, so that will tie me up on Mondays for many hours, for a couple of months… it is fun, rewarding work but it is not knitting. However, it is steady work one day a week (the term lasts 10 weeks) and that is a real gift to someone like me who is self-employed. Teaching, any teaching, is really my “bag.” I just love it. And these computer classes fill, 10-15 students per class. Yippee!

But in knitting news… I’m still regularly teaching at my two bread-and-butter stores, Little Red Schoolhouse and Threadbear. I still have a few classes here and there at Yarn Garden and Heritage Spinning (they are out of town for me).

I also keep trying Foster Center’s community education schedule, but if I don’t get more students this summer I will stop that in the Fall. And since my friend Marie is now a manager at the local JoAnn superstore, I’m going to try a few day classes there for Polymer clay this spring and see if they happen. I’m willing to give it a try and see.

And now we have a yarn shop in my very own neighborhood (about 3-4 blocks from Foster Center… I still consider that my neighborhood but I now live 3 miles away). On the East side, Rae’s Yarn Boutique (a small shop that used to be in a craft mall way on the north side) has asked me to teach a few classes during the day.

So we’ve scheduled 3 day classes in June/July at Rae’s, and I’m going to see how that goes. I’m full-up with weekends and nights at my bread-and-butter shops, but if I can do a day class with a different pool of students, just before I pop over to Foster Center for my afternoon shift, I’ll be a happy girl. We’ll see how it goes, I’m hopeful it will fill out my schedule a bit, since I’m so very lopsided with night/weekend classes. There are only so many nights/weekends I can teach, and I need to get in as many hours of teaching as I possibly can.

Anyway… here are the long-promised photographs of my polymer clay class a week ago Sunday, at Threadbear. These women just did a fabulous job! I had one student from 3.5 hours north, and one student from 1.5 hours away in Lake Orion, and two locals. We had a very fine time, and they made some wonderful things. Thanks for coming to the class, ladies!

Here are the long-lost pics: The gang of four in our very happy mess; and then 4 trays of beads/patterns they took home with them.)