Here’s an excerpt from “Whistling in the Dark,” by They Might Be Giants (John Flansburgh & John Linnell). It’s on their Flood album, ©1990, a true artform if I ever saw one. These guys have 14 albums! They crank, and they are truly creative, unique and listenable. (A lot of creative/unique music is not necessarily easy on the ears, but they create sing-along melodies with wake-up poet lyrics.)

There’s only one thing
that I know how to do well
and I’ve often been told that you can only do
what you know how to do well
and that’s be you,
be what you’re like,
be like yourself…

I tell you what… my life is about being myself. It’s not always simple but it’s always right. (Off to dye more yarn…)

It’s official! I’m having a special trunk show/sale of my buttons and yarn at Threadbear Fiberarts in Lansing (Michigan) this weekend.

The sale is Saturday/Sunday/Monday. I am planning to be at the store most of the time they are open, those three days. Please come and say hello!

For those not in the USA, we have a three-day weekend for Labor Day, and often that means folks take long trips to special spots. I’m hoping that I’ll meet several of you readers who are outside my local area, as well as my loyal friends in the Lansing area.

Plan now for a fun adventure. Stay and pet the yarns, and the dogs, and plunk down on the couch to knit a while. It’s always a happening at Threadbear, but it should be even more this weekend with my yarns there.

Here is a preview photo of some of the buttons I have made so far. They are large, funky, one of a kind buttons. I get bored easily when making production items, so it’s pretty close to guaranteed that I won’t make another like it again.

For blog readers who see a button they can not live without, send me a quick email (Lynn AT ColorJoy DOT com) and I’ll make sure you get your heart’s desire before it goes over to the store. Four-hole buttons are $5.50 and two-hole buttons are $4.50. Two-hole buttons range from 1.25″ to 1.5″ (appx 3.2 to 3.7cm) and four-hole buttons ranger from 1.5″ to 2″ (appx 3.7 to 5cm).

I expect to have at least five dozen individual buttons for sale at the shop. I also will be offering several new colorways of my Cushy ColorSport yarn (my signature yarn, a washable/dryable DK weight despite its name), and patterns that will work well with that yarn. I’m also playing in the studio with other yarns. One of the yarns I’ve offered before, but it was years ago (a feltable sportweight, which doubled knits at about 4 st/inch).

Also, I may offer a light worsted washable that is loftier than my Cushy ColorSport, and perhaps some laceweight if I get the time. Right now I’m really working efficiently and I’m very optimistic, but at some point I have to stop and label things rather than dye more.

On top of my preparations in the studio, Friday I start the day with a dentist appointment and end with two performances dancing as Eudora at New Aladdins in Frandor (no cover, shows at 6:30 and 8pm).

We’ll see what happens. Definitely I have a whole lot of dreams, and I’m working to see how much I can produce before Saturday’s Sale Opening.

Well, the deadline for the Simple Still Life project arrived and there are some amazing images out there. Since the photos are on each creator’s website, some are easier to find than others. However, I had a good time looking for a while this morning while sipping my first cup of tea. There are far too many for me to see them all in one sitting, but I’ll be returning soon enough for more.

I got an email this morning from the author of Olenka’s Song who was one of the participants. I love her blog! It includes poetry, photography, mosaic, digital imagery, fiber art… even singing! A true multi-art experience. I love that! Go take a peek if you have a few minutes.

Today the photos I share with you come from this Saturday’s Caribbean Festival at Lansing Community College. There were three stilt dancers, a good group of drummers, and some dancers accompanying the stiltmen. I got some lovely shots of four female dancers and will share those with you on a future blog entry.

These photos are: 1)Parade of stilt performers arriving, accompanied by drummers. 2)Stiltmen preparing for dance circle. 3)Dancer in the air, notice he has jumped and his stilt has not yet hit the ground. 4)Three Stiltmen in a circle (they had just finished a balance with one foot each straight out in back of them).

Aren’t these costumes amazing? I just wish you could hear the drummers! It was wonderful. They danced three times during the day and I saw them twice. I loved being there.

I stayed in Lansing Sunday and met my friend Deb/Scarlet Zebra at Threadbear. We went to lunch at New Aladdin’s at Frandor, and then we went to my house briefly.

Deb and I first met online several years ago. Some folks you meet online, then you meet them for coffee and enjoy it, but don’t meet again. Deb is different, we really clicked from day one and we can talk just about forever, mostly about wool- and color-related subjects. (My friend Elizabeth, in Vermont, I also first met online.)

Deb and I have met so many times now that I can’t remember how many. We’ve met in Flint, Imlay City (her town), Davison, Lake Orionm and Ann Arbor. Some of these require up to 2 hours of driving time.

However, somehowe we’ve never met in Lansing. It was fun to show her my purple-painted porch. I spent a little time showing her my knitting machine. She’d never seen one in operation before. Since I’m never happier than when I’m teaching, I enjoyed doing a demo.

Brian went to the music festival in Kalamazoo and enjoyed that very much. I’m sure I would have liked it, too, but I had to make choices and I had not seen Deb except very briefly once since I got back from Africa this January. That had just plain been too long! I really need my self-employed friends, especially those in the fiberarts. I’m glad I made the choice to be with Deb.

Exciting news: I’m in the process of making some large polymer clay buttons for sale (the plan is that they will work great on felted bags and perhaps capes). The ones I have so far measure between 1.25″ and 1.75″ (appx 3.5 to 4.5cm), most on the larger side.

Give me a while to get it all sorted out, but I should have some available in perhaps a few weeks. I don’t know if I will do just one batch and decide that’s enough, or whether I’ll keep making them. Whatever the future, it’s my current project.

And big thanks to Mare Smith who sent two really generous boxes, just full of lopi for my CityKidz Knit! program which starts up again in a few weeks. The older kids love making backpacks and we almost never have appropriate yarns for it. This is a huge and generous supply of just exactly what we need. Thanks a million, Mare!

Pictures: 1) The first of the one-of-a-kind polymer clay buttons I’ve made in this batch. It’s the largest of the bunch, at 1.75″. I expect I’ll keep this one for me. 2) Boxes full of feltable fat yarn for the CityKidz, thanks to Mare.

Friday I spent an hour on the porch with my friend Ulyana, sipping tea. It was wonderful. I love my friend and I love my porch and I love tea. How good can that get?

Then I lucked out and got some time with my friend April across the street, and her daughter Isabel. I’m so lucky to live near someone I love. We were friends before she moved here, and I feel totally spoiled knowing she is there, waving hello and watching one anothers’ homes when we are away.

Saturday I spent with Altu, at the Caribbean Festival at LCC. Her friend Beverly (now also my friend after many years helping Altu together) was there, and we worked together as we often do. We work together well.

It was funny, both Beverly and I took turns going around to the vendors. I got a pair of earrings, a dress/caftan (from Senegal), and a shirt for Brian from Equador.

Beverly got a pair of earrings and a dress/caftan. Her dress was exactly the same style as mine, but hers is red and mine is purple! Too funny. With all those vendors, and all the choices, what is the chance we’d buy the same thing? We look different as night and day but we like the same things. I figure we have the same taste in friends (Altu) so why not clothing as well?

We figure that all three of us girls (Altu, Beverly and me) will go on a little date, maybe to our friend Zane’s restaurant, all wearing our African clothing. I think that would be fun!

Sunday, I recently realized, I have a conflict. I told my friend Deb (Scarlet Zebra) that I’d meet her at Threadbear (she will be in Lansing anyway, with her hubby who is taking a class close by for several hours).

Then I somehow only put it on my computer calendar at home and it didn’t show up on my palm pilot. So when Brian asked me if I wanted to go to a music festival in Kalamazoo tomorrow I said yes. So now I’ve promised myself to two people I really love. I’m not sure what I’ll end up doing.

But any way this goes, I’ll spend time all weekend long with people I love. It doesn’t get better than that.

The photo here is a caftan I bought in Kenya. The cut and embroidery are similar to the one I bought today. The new one has different dye patterns and a very nice neckline, and is in purple and light magenta.

Here’s an interesting artform/science: Cardboard houses (from Australia, a place full of independent thinkers). It is actually one of six innovative houses highlighted on this interesting website.

Brian sent me the link. Perhaps some of you would like to check it out?

Photo is housing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Some of the outer walls are made from corrugated metal. This is probably a fence rather than a house wall. You can not tell at all from the outside, what a property will look like once you pass through the entry.

They are *not* scared of color in Africa! I think this is one of my favorite photos I took on my African Trip.

My sister in law, Diana, sent me the link to Robert Genn’s column entitled “A Gift of Art.”

Mr. Genn is a painter, I’m a socknitter among other things. Both of us are asked to do creative work for others, sometimes free, sometimes for a very low wage. Most of the time, the person asking has no idea what sort of gift they are really asking for.

Folks who know me well are less likely to ask for a pair of socks (for example). The waiter who waits on me frequently at a favorite restaurant, asked for a pair. People in computer classes ask. Complete strangers ask, offering $20 for a pair.

I tell them all that the yarn starts at $12 and then it often takes about 10 days (or more, depending on my schedule) for me to knit them. Actual knit time depends on size, style and yarn weight. Fast Florida Footies in a small size/fat yarn take me the least time, and that takes a full day of focused knitting. So I am being offered less than a dollar an hour at best.

I tell them I teach knitting and I sell patterns. I can help them find a class where they can learn. I’ll help them make their own pair, but I don’t sell my knitting.

I tell people I am a selfish knitter, that I knit because I love wearing socks I knit just for me. I have tiny feet and I like bright colors and wool. It’s near impossible to find commercial socks in my size, in wool, regardless of color. I’ve been obsessed with colorful socks since the 1970s. I had 82 pair socks in my sock drawer before I picked up my needles again. I’m just convinced that nobody can appreciate the custom socks I can knit, more than I do.

I sometimes knit for my Mom, sometimes for Brian, rarely for anyone else. Well, now that I’m a professional instructor, it seems I’m always knitting single socks and other items for display in the yarn shops where I teach. But when I knit pairs of socks, I like knitting them for myself! And I don’t apologize.

Robert Genn has a twice-monthly newsletter containing “inspiration and information” for folks with an “artistic career.” Perhaps some of you would like to check it out.

OK, I lied… I made the changes as soon as I was able to think straight this morning. I knew what needed doing and couldn’t stand it the other way. Most of you won’t have even seen the first version, but trust me, this one makes more sense to a visitor.

If you are one of the few who came by when it was on “beta” version 1, and you see my face twice (all squished up) at the top left corner, please refresh your screen and it should make things look right. To refresh, either click the refresh/reload button at the top of your screen, or hit the F5 key at the top of your keyboard, or hold the Ctrl key while you tap the “R” key (for refresh), if you are running Windows.

This site has needed good navigation for a while. I know that some of the images are less than obvious, but there are word links/buttons for anything you can’t find easily as a photo. I hope you enjoy the change.

I’m sure those of you who come here often will notice, but I’ve created a new look. This is mostly for the sake of those trying to navigate between the different parts of my website.

Until now, it was pretty hard to find your way from the weblog to my patterns, to my yarns, to my classes, and so on. Each section of the site had its own navigation (or not), and since I kept adding things, it was getting impossible to get around.

I have been trying to retrofit all my mini-sites so that they look more alike. The SockTour and my Polymer Clay pages are the oldest of my pages, and they have black for a background. This is a real hassle for those who are visually impaired and I do not plan to repeat that look again. However, each of the images on those pages required that I “airbrush” the background out in black, and I just do not have the time or the heart to redo all those images in white. So those remain, with a different look than my newer pages.

My yarns, classes, patterns, and even some of my more hidden pages have now been updated with this new banner. I hope it creates a simpler experience getting around my site.

So here we go… I will definitely be changing the new banner a bit again in the next month or so… I already have plans for tweaking it. However, right now I’m on a non-computer deadline and so will leave that for September.

My friend, Susan Eyde, used to live in Lansing. We danced together in an apprentice troupe called B’nat Habibi (Sisters of Habibi… the main troupe is called Habibi Dancers).

Susan moved to Tucson, Arizona right before all the remaining B’nat apprentices auditioned into the main troupe. I miss her very much. I do keep getting news of her now and then, and once in a while she comes back to Lansing. When I’m lucky I’ll run into her at Altu’s Restaurant or New Aladdin’s.

Well, Susan was just interviewed for a long article in the Tucson Weekly. Susan is doing a sort of modern twist on the style of dance I perform. My teacher (Yasmina Amal) studies in Egypt and with other mideastern teachers, and does her best to stay with their styles and techniques. Susan studied with my teacher when we were learning, but then she on her own and is developing her own style. She’s electric on stage, and it’s no surprise to me that she is doing well in art-filled Tucson.

You might like to read the article. I only wish their photo were larger. The photo here I took in April 2000, when Susan was performing at a dance club in Dearborn (near Detroit).

I can not stick to only one artform. It’s interesting, because for about 8 years I swore I was a “one song canary” and I did art only with polymer clay. How much I’ve changed since then!!!

A year ago we were at Meijer (local discount mega-store) and they were closing out sandals. In the little girls’ department there were some marked XL, which fit me perfectly (I wear a size 6US shoe and have slightly narrow feet). They were something like $1.50USD. Brian bought them for me.

I loved how they fit, but they were pastel and very very girly. They had three buckles, all shaped like a heart and colored in pastels (pink, lavender and blue). Ugh. I am not a girly-girl. But they fit so well!!! And it’s so hard for me to find something that fits!

Well, the sandals I had last year finally literally split in two. I had to do something and do it fast. This year’s ladies’ sandals at Meijer fit differently and are not comfy. Boo Hoo. So out come the girly sandals.

I glued together the broken old sandals long enough to get to Michigan Fiber Fest. Then at night after classes were over, I schemed. I got some chip-resistant nail polish enamel and painted the hearts a shiny magenta color, several coats. Then the next night I got out my permanent felt-tip markers, and I decorated the heck out of the boring white leather.

I love these sandals!!! They do have their own personality and they definitely clash with a lot of my printed/flowered skirts. I love them for what they are!

And here’s my secret out to the world: These are my very own Fast Florida Footies. As in, the first ones I ever kept and wore.

I have knit at least 3-4 pair for myself over the years (and two pair for Mom), but mine always ended up on display at this or that yarn shop. This pair I finally kept and wore. This photo, taken last week, was the first day I ever wore the FFFooties of my very own design. The shoemaker’s kids have no shoes, as they say!!!

I took a day off. This is big, huge amazing news. Tuesday is supposed to be my day off, but I typically do not stick to that for a full day. I work at home (when I am not teaching), and I do work that I truly love. That means I am often working at 3am, happily, and I have to make myself go to bed. That means I work nights and weekends, and I don’t mind at all.

But I just had a five-day work experience of the most intense kind. My body was wiped out from standing/walking on cement for most of a week, and my smile muscles were just plain worn out! I needed some peace.

The wonderful news is that my neighborhood is finally quiet again. For months and months, a major bridge in Lansing has been torn down and rebuilt, about five blocks from our home. The quickest way to get from A to B used to be over that bridge, but since spring it was past our house. One day I sat on the porch and counted 45 cars in 5 minutes. That is 9 cars a minute, in a normally somewhat quiet residential area with two lanes for driving and one side of the road for friends to park when they visit. It was so loud that I have not spent much of my time on the porch this year.

So about 2 weeks ago the bridge was re-opened. I have been out of town a lot since then, but Tuesday I really noticed the calm. I loved it.

Here’s what I did on my day off: I tried to sleep in but woke up after 7 hours and couldn’t go back to sleep. Got up and had some great tea, read some emails, did a tiny bit of knitting on a sock, and went to lunch at Altu’s restaurant.

Had a great time at Altu’s, chatted with Altu and Charles and a few customers who came in (one of them knew my mom and recognized me). Ate great food.

Wandered to the Gone Wired Cybercafe just because I wanted to. Got a cup of oolong tea. I have a lot of tea in my house but no Oolong so that is what I get when I go there. Yum. Got the tea to go, and went home.

OK, I did work long enough to drop 2 packages of patterns in the mail to online customers. I was going to the post office to get my mail anyway, and I did have one of the envelopes addressed before I went to bed last night.

Went home. Dug out the yarn I bought at Webs on our trip 2 weeks ago. Uncovered my bulky knitting machine and made 3 swatches from some of the yarns I bought there, and also a swatch of humble but turquoise Cotton Ease. Threw samples in washer and dryer in eagerness and anticipation of sweaters to come. One sweater is for Brian, the other 2 for me.

Met Jesse at Panera Bread, talked almost an hour. Got a really good smoothie from New Aladdin’s Restaurant. Went to shoe store (Cobbler’s Bench at Frandor), got great service as always, didn’t buy anything but tried on merely one pair (at their recommendation) and am going to save my pennies for that very shoe. For my aching little feet.

Somewhere in there, Brian came home and I made the easiest of all dinners… pasta and red sauce with canned beans for protein. Ate together on the (now quiet) porch.

Made 2 one layer cakes. One is for me and Brian and the other for my friend April and her family, across the street. Ate too much

Talked to my friend Ulyana on the phone for almost an hour. Made a date to see her again on Friday. Spun 4 oz of Bonkers Superwash Merino roving in color Raspberry, mostly while talking to her.

Read 3 blogs written by other folks. Checked 1 more, no new news on that one.

Got tired. Saved blog… off to bed. Happy happy me. The weather is cold (56F tonight, very chilly for this time of year) and I don’t like that much, but it means wool is useful again and I won’t complain too much.

May you have a day this fine. Soon.

Photo is the Regent Theatre in Allegan, Michigan (where the Michigan Fiber Festival is held). Contrary to what this photo may imply, I did not go to a movie on my day off… some of you may remember that I am very fond of old neon. This example is really fine, don’t you think?

I had two other classes I taught at Michigan Fiber Festival (MFF) last week. One was a toe-up footie construction class, and one was my Basketweave Rug.

For the sock class, the first to arrive was Dawn. She soon brought out a bag and from that came six pairs of socks. But not just any socks! These were her version of my Fast Florida Footies! These were in all sizes, and are planned as gifts. She chooses to knit the sole rather than purl it (which I do when I make them out of wool, the purl/reverse stockinette is for comfort in cotton yarn for those of us who have sensitive feet).

It was such a nice way to start a class, to see this collection of socks made from my pattern, or at least the inspiration of my pattern. She told me about some of the pairs she’s knit and stories behind them, who they are for.

The sock class was intense and focused, but quite good (it was half a day, no time to spare). We made a “Frankensock” which was a footie without a foot… parts but not the whole… toe then heel then gusset then cuff.

Several folks were there as top-down socknitters who wanted to learn toe up. A few, including Dawn, had tried other methods of toe up socks and did not enjoy knitting them. I was pleased at the end of the class when folks told me they did enjoy my method. It’s a lot like a top down sock in the middle, the difference is mostly in the toe and a little bit in the bind off.

My final class was the rug class, and I notice that the further I got along in the week, the fewer photos I took! I had a full class for rugs but got merely one photo. Shame on me. At least the photo I got is really unique. Dierdre changed the garter stitch to seed/moss stitch, and she made each pattern change into a color change as well. It will be a more striped rug than my sample, but you can see that the changes she is making will be striking.

The final photo here is a real treat. Dawn stopped by on Sunday when I was in the Yarn Garden’s booth. She was carrying handspun (by her) skeins of yarn she had entered into the skein competition. She got two red ribbons! (I think that is second place?) Go, Dawn!!!

Aaah, I slept a bit and had a long bubble bath in the claw-footed tub and I feel rested and happy to be home. Now I’m ready to tell stories of my experiences at Michigan Fiber Fest.

My first day was Wednesday, a full day teaching “Polymer Clay Embellished Fiber Tools.” I had a great group, six people (a good class size for instructor interaction) who all dove in and made the techniques their own.

In the morning we worked on comfortable handles for crochet hooks. We added comfy handles using a tinted translucent clay roll with thin silver-colored metal leaf which reflected light from inside the pieces.

While we were working with the crochet hooks, we plotted and planned and schemed about the afternoon and what to make then. A few of my students wanted to make custom orifice hooks for their spinning wheels, others wanted to cover Bic Stic pens (hard, clear pens do not work properly but these do… remove the ink cartridge before baking). The pens were their idea, and a great one. Low cost, high reward, makes them perfect projects, and they make wonderful gifts.

I put the crochet hooks into the oven while they had lunch. I spent lunch happily gathering supplies at the local discount shop so that they could make their preferred items.

In the afternoon, the spinners cut and bent some wire I had purchased, and made their own orifice hooks with whatever shape handle they wanted, out of 100% clay. (My sample hook was made by applying clay to a pre-made wooden hook, but that was an expensive way to do it.)

In the end, everyone but me made at least one pen, some made three. Also a few folks covered some wooden beads made for the pull chains that hang from ceiling fans. We had a lot of variety going, and it was inspiring.

We had a session on how to sand and buff and polish, after the first pieces came out of the oven. And then the folks made whatever their hearts desired. It was a wonderful time!

I must say that I was gifted with a Thank You note on Friday, from Victoria who took this class. She had a great time, and so did I. I’m touched that she spent the time to get a card and write a very kind note in it, and then make sure to find me and hand deliver the note. Thanks for your kindness, Victoria!

Photos: 1)First batch of crochet hooks using translucent clays and foil leaf. 2)Second batch, mostly Bic pens. 3)Experimental pieces late in the day… Orifice hooks for spinning, pins, bead for pull chain, pens, crochet hook. 5)My students, who made the fun day possible.

I got an email from Kenny Walker yesterday. He is the bass player for Latino Projekt, the band we danced to twice at the Great Lakes Folk Festival (see photo, back left behind tent pole). He found my photos of his band and took the time to write to me.

I decided to go check out his web pages. He has a thoughtful short essay on hype and media, called “Big Deal.” It doesn’t take long to read, but is worth a thought or two.

Here’s a quote from his page:

The secret to having everything you want is knowing what to want.

I’m home from Michigan Fiber Fest. It was all I wanted it to be, and more. I saw so many folks I knew, chatted, said hi, and bought stuff. I’ll have photos tomorrow but tonight I just need to get some sleep after unloading the car and unpacking. I’m so ready to be at home!

My friend Leslie (I only seem to see her at festivals since we live an hour apart) found an article in Utne Reader, which mentioned the publication “Ukulele Occasional.” She brought the clipping with her to the festival. How sweet is that?

I can not see that I’ve mentioned this particular publication here in my blog before. It looks very worthwhile, at least for those readers who are interested in Ukuleles and Uke music (particularly Hawaiian music).

Photos of MFF and my new fiber goodies, and a more full story of the event, will come tomorrow. Thanks for hanging in there while I was away!

I finished my three days of teaching today, at Michigan Fiber Festival, which continues through Sunday. Oh, joy!

One can not have more fun than teaching, I’ve surely said that before. I’m getting just wonderful feedback from my students on the classes… for one thing, out of 26-27 students that I had last year, I had four of them return this year because they wanted another class from me. You can not get a better “evaluation” than that!

Now Terri is now trying to convince me to teach Middle School rather than knitting (she teaches 7th grade herself). Victoria bought me a Thank-You card and gave it to me today (she was in polymer clay embellished tools, on Wednesday).

Dawn came in to sock class thanking me for the Fast Florida Footies pattern she found on the Internet. She brought I think 6 pairs she has knit thus far, to show me. She also wrote me the kindest email note after class. She had come to my Colorful Toe-Up Footies class Thursday, having tried one type of toe up sock which she did not enjoy knitting. She left my class three hours later, saying she really did like my particular version of toe up socks. I’m so happy with that!

There are so many ways to do things, that I’m glad she didn’t give up after one try. So many of us do Toe Up socks and we all do them differently. I’m excited when I can give someone what they need. Teaching is so rewarding!

Today was Basketweave Rug. I love this class. The yarn is fat and cushy, the stitches big, and it makes for the perfect learning environment for counting rows of knits and purls.

In this class, folks learn to count and identify stitches while making a quick-knit rug. They also learn tricks for hiding yarn ends in an item using fat yarn. Some of them learn a new cast on. The rug was my biggest class at MFF this year, and everyone got a good start and was happy with where they were in the project by the time they left class.

I am so in heaven! As I like to say, you can not buy passion, and I am passionate… about knitting, about wool, about teaching, about life. So why not just enjoy it, you know? Grab it and go for the ride!

I must confess I don’t love being this much outdoors (nature is just plain *loud* especially at night, what a racket the critters make… and the first morning a really lovely-sounding bird sang very early and very loud, waking me before my alarm went off). Last year I found a skunk between me and the restrooms on a late night break. This year we got heavy rain at lunchtime on Tuesday. I’m a wimp when it comes to getting wet. (I’m just a citygrrl whose favorite version of the great outdoors is sitting on the porch! But the good far outpaces the difficult, and I am pretty much in heaven.)

This year, though, the temperature is pretty good for August. It’s not too hot and not too cold… last year was so chilly I bought warm clothes in Allegan, and the year before was miserably hot. Therefore, I just take the allergy pills and carry an umbrella, and wax poetic about teaching people. And deal with it! And life is good.

Tomorrow after the vendor booths close, I will have dinner with Linda from Little Red Schoolhouse Yarn. I don’t know how I forgot she would be there with a booth, but it has been fun to see her. We always have something to talk about.

I found a cute little “bistro” in downtown Allegan, right on the river. The food is quality, the service is attentive, and the owner is a woman who really knows about customer service. I love frequenting places like that, so I’ll take Linda there tomorrow and we can talk a good long while. I think Kim from Yarn Garden gets in tomorrow, as well. I’ll have to go chat with her and give her a hug, too!

I have pictures, but they will need to wait once more. Have a wonderful, passionate, artful weekend!

First things first… this is my 1000th weblog entry. I started on November 28, 2002, my own birthday. What a gift I gave myself!

I am not tired of this yet, I love having a blog. You guys make it really worth doing! Thanks for tuning in. Last I checked, I was getting over 800 visitors who were actually looking for this blog, each day. I am honored and humbled. You are appreciated.

I am at Michigan Fiber Festival (MFF) and having a great time. Vicki said hi to me yesterday when she recognized me from online. I also ran into a friend of a Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild friend. She recognized me from our mutual friend’s description of me (and my pile of socks on my classroom table, since she knew I was a socknitter).

Yesterday I taught Polymer Clay-Enhanced Fiber Tools. I had six people, two of whom I knew. We had a wonderful time, indeed, and made beautiful things. I took photos but I can not post them from this public library computer, so you will have to see when I return home.

Today I taught a whirlwind toe-up sock class, and the folks were just wonderful. I tell you what, at MFF they call a half day three hours! Four would have been more leisurely but the students said they were quite happy and I am thrilled about that!

We made what I called a “Frankensock” in class. We did the toe, skipped the foot and went directly to the heel flap and heel turn and gusset decreases. We also discussed binding off and optional cuff treatments. We did not have time to knit a foot or a cuff, but they got my nine-page “FirstTime Toe-Up Sock” pattern to take home, with lots and lots of pictures to help them remember what they did in class.

At least one of my students from today will also be in my tomorrow’s Basketweave Rug Class. That class is nearly full, and I had a few folks ask about it in today’s class so maybe it will burst! I hope so. I usually teach that class in 3 hours so that will work out great.

Tonight the vendors are delivering and setting up. I always have such a good time saying hi to all the vendor friends I’ve met in previous years. Kim from Yarn Garden and Joan from Heritage Spinning are the two yarn shops where I teach, which will be represented. I will also look forward to seeing the great folks at Ellen’s Half Pint Farm and Traci Bunkers of Bonkers! Fiber.

My roommate this year is Chad Alice Hagen, a feltmaker with two books under her belt. We met on the feltmakers email list, though we have not corresponded directly before now. What fine work she does!

Today I had a short talk with Beth Brown-Reinsel, she’s so busy after a week at Stitches and now in the middle of a full week. We will hope to talk briefly at lunch perhaps tomorrow.

I’ll try to check in again before I get back to Lansing. Meanwhile know that I ran a special on Socknitters’ email list (which I am also offering to you loyal readers). No shipping fees in the US or Canada, if you order while I’m gone at MFF. I’m shipping out on Monday, anything ordered through midnight Sunday. Check out either patterns, yarn, rovings or ColorJoy Stole Kits for free shipping if you are interested.

Since I can not post new pics today, I’m showing the Norwegian Mitten I knit in Beth Brown-Reinsel’s class in March of this year. It still does not have a partner, but it is a beautiful thing. Funny, I nearly always finish two socks, but this mitten required a full day of being glued to a chart. I just don’t feel I have the leisure to sit for a full second day, so there it sits.

I never showed you our final photos from the trip we took last week. Brian took so many good ones, it’s a shame to let them sleep like this!

In Philadelphia we found ourselves at a public art/sculpture area. This sort of thing seems to require a very large city. I just love cities (like Chicago) which are full of public art. I may not love the pieces they chose, but I love that the pieces are there.

In Lansing, things like this get so much public ridicule for “wasting money” that they don’t try it very often. Anyway, I loved this art exhibit, it had HUGE dominos and what looked like checkers and chess pawns and other game pieces. Fun fun fun, on a very hot day in the city.

In New York City, when we found ourselves at the garment district, we found this huge sculpture of a button being sewn by hand (no hand, just a handsewing needle). Waaay cool, and easily viewed from across the street. I loved that as well!

Also in NYC, not far from Central Park, we found these children playing in a fountain. Isn’t that the essence of being a kid in the summer?

Brian took a few cityscapes on the trip. First is what I’m sure is Philly… a government building in a roundabout/traffic circle. Darn it all, we saw so many cities that they all are blending together a bit in my mind. Someone can correct me if they know I’m making a mistake here!

Another cityscape is what I believe is Pittsburgh, the sun going down over a bridge. Great shot, Brian!!!

And a sort of art photo, again by Brian. Here I am driving my beloved New Beetle, Joy. Well, here are my hands on the steering wheel, anyway! I really like this photo a lot!

Last is a pic Brian took while holding the camera as far away as he could and clicking. Can you see the horseshoe falls of Niagara in the background?

Don’t we look like newlyweds? My parents went to Niagara when they got a honeymoon… Brian and I will have our 9th wedding anniversary in early October, so it wasn’t a honeymoon but I’m still crazy ’bout that guy! I think this photo looks surreal, almost like someone pasted two photos together. It was one quick click of the camera, folks… I feathered the edges in PhotoShop but did little else to it… no cropping, nothing. Cool, huh?

I’m teaching at Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Michigan… THIS week. This is a wonderful festival, which is regional in its draw. Last year I had folks in my classes from as far as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as well as the closer states of Michigan (at least one from the upper peninsula, very far away from Allegan), Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. How fun is that?

I am teaching a full-day class on Wednesday, making handles for fiber tools with polymer clay. I also will be teaching a half-day afternoon class on Thursday, Knitted Colorful Footies Toe Up, and another half-day afternoon on Friday, Knitted Basketweave Rug (see photo).

I will not be available for much of Saturday, but will be back in circulation on Sunday. Anyone want to gather together sometime? Sunday is perfect for me since I’m without a class all day. Thursday and Friday mornings might work, or Wed/Thurs/Fri dinnertime would also be great. It seems dinnertime should be time to gather together, and instead the place often gets deserted very soon after 5pm. Sigh…

I know my friend Terri is in my Wednesday class, so she and Leslie and I will get together for some dinner some time. Anyone else out there??? I just love get togethers, especially of cyber-friends!!!

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to check email starting about dinnertime Tuesday through Sunday night. I’ll try to check at the Allegan Library, but there are no guarantees. Send an email anyway, if you read this late, but I can’t be sure what I’ll do.

How is this: We can meet on Sunday just after 12 noon, at the little fountain/pond with a foot bridge, behind the building where we check in. (It’s just before a large tree to the right of the paved area where food vendors are, as you walk out the back doors of vendor buildings.)

That time frame means that folks with classes can at least say hello during their lunch hour. Does that work? We can hang out there until 12:15 and then we can move to a comfy spot with a picnic table, or we can go pet yarns in a vendor building, depending on who is there and what they wish to do.

Please, send me email at Lynn AT ColorJoy DOT com if you want to join in… but if you can’t send me email, do not let that keep you from showing up anyway!!!

And if Sunday won’t work for you, write me and we can maybe meet another time. I want to meet as many cyber-friends as possible!

It’s my Mother’s birthday today. Go, Mom! Happy Birthday to you, and many, many more!

What a fun Saturday at Great Lakes Folk Fest! Actually, I went in a little later than the other ladies (sisters) at Altu’s booth (2:30 or so), but I worked till about 10pm which was long enough for my aching feet! Of course, then I went and danced with Brian at the dance tent (to the Cuban band, Gumbi Ortiz & the Latino Projekt) the last 40 minutes or so of their show. It was great fun.

Somewhere mid-day, I got to dance with Altu’s sister, Rahel. That was fun, she is a woman who never loses her smile, and I really enjoy her a lot. She kidnapped me for a little break and we danced to the Senegalese/Quebecoise group (Diouf)… it was grand. Then I went back to the booth and made sure Altu got to go and dance a bit to that band.

I tell you what, my feet do not enjoy this standing up on asphalt all day! I was smart enough, though, to soak my feet in warm water with epsom salts when I got home. Then I used peppermint foot lotion, and my feet do really feel a lot better already. One more day… and I will only be working about 12:30 to 6:30 for Altu tomorrow, so that will be better than the last two days where I worked about 8 hours.

By the way, I can not recommend a foot soak enough. I should do it more often. It really brings me a new attitude when I do it. What a simple luxury!!!

Anyway… here are two photos of the Cuban Band’s set. First is the crowd watching/dancing to the band. Second are some young ladies from the audience who were asked to come up on stage and dance… and oh, my, they did! Lovely. There were 4-5 dancers up there, and here you can see two of them and one band member. Actually if you squint hard, you might be able to see one more musician and two more dancers.

Well, I sure have been knitting a lot, though I have not showed you folks anything. I seem to be poised in mid-air with several projects. I have a pair of afterthought-heel socks in Bazic Wool (fat washable sweater yarn), waiting for one last heel to be completed. I have a Lily Chin bra, one cup done, one almost done, straps and band still to go.

I am maybe a third done on the back of my Lucy Neatby Equilateral Vest. I was worried about the vest for a while. When I knit the triangles, they look sort of pooched and too small/tight. But twice I’ve wet and blocked my knitting on this project, and both times everything laid out flat and to gauge. So I need to just stop worrying, I think!

I have several plans for my knitting machine. That is something I need to have a big block of time to do, I like to get it done in one long session so I can remember what I’ve done from start to finish. Since I’m in a learning curve here, it will be a few weeks before I’ll be able to fit that in.

I also still need to dye wool for my Arial Tee. I did the gauge swatch but the yarn is not my colors so I’m going to overdye it with purple (no surprise… purple fixes many ills). When? Beats me.

Because this weekend I’m doing the Great Lakes Folk Festival, and then I have merely two days at home before I go to teach at Michigan Fiber Festival (MFF, sometimes called “Allegan” for the town where it is held). Woohoo!!!

So for now I have dropped all personal knitting. I am back to full-force work load and am knitting sample socks for some classes I have coming up (not just MFF). And it sure looks like I’m working into more and more polymer clay, it is getting more fun as I teach more and more classes. This time at MFF I’m teaching Fiber Tools, we’ll make handles that fit our hands very well, either for Crochet Hooks or Orifice Hooks (for spinning wheels). I’m excited about this.

Off to finish a Turkish-Style Toe-Up sock. Have a lovely weekend!

Photo is me knitting Equilateral Vest in a garden in Washington DC last Wednesday. I’m wearing a batiked/embroidered caftan I bought in Kenya. Thanks to Brian for the photo.

Here’s a quick update on the Great Lakes Folk Fest. It’s one big party that makes Lansing seem like a small town… I swear I must know everyone on days like this!!!

I first ran into Regina, then Sharon P with her partner in crime Lynn, then an ever-continuing parade of friends, mostly from art circles and music circles, and even my Mom and Fred. And more and more. Friends from bands Brian is in, friends who play music for Altu’s restaurant, you name it, everyone seemed to be there. Brian’s bosses (he works for Elderly Instruments, an excellent music store) came to buy food at Altu’s. Even a woman I was in Middle School with in 1970 was there. Small town.

I worked for Altu most of the time, but at the end I left her booth to dance with Brian for about a half hour. We danced to Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. Oh, my! This is street-party-dancing at its absolute finest. These guys have been at this for decades, and it shows. Top notch!!!

Here is a photo Brian took of me dancing with Marlene and Art Cameron (Brian was actually dancing, too, he’s good at taking shots on the fly). Also he took this nice photo of Altu and me and Altu’s sister (whose name I can pronounce but not spell), working the booth.

The fest is another 2 days, so anyone local has no excuse to miss it!

I’ll be working for Altu at her food booth this weekend. The Great Lakes Folk Festival will be in downtown East Lansing from Friday night through Sunday. Food is in Parking Lot #1, on Albert Street near MAC.

If you are in town, don’t miss this amazing collection of excellent artists. And please, stop by and say hello at Altu’s food tent, OK?

On our trip we had a great assortment of foods. With all the visits to so many locations/cities, we did our best to find something we had not tried before, or at least something special in every place we went. We did pretty well, really.

(Perhaps this is Too Much Information, but for the record, we try to find food that is not standard American fare. I don’t feel well if I eat any corn product (corn syrup, oil or starch), dairy, yeast/mold/vinegar, potato, tree nut, peanut, sesame, or egg. Some of these things affect me more than others, but travel time is not when one wishes to take chances. Therefore, we tend to go for ethnic foods, which we prefer anyway.)

In Pittsburgh, we found a Cambodian/Thai restaurant just as they were closing down for the evening. The lady who owned the place was very keen for us to stay, and the young men waiting tables were a bit keen on going home. However, they ended up being good sports, and the food was worth the uncertainty. Brian had a Cambodian dish with vegetables and Chicken and a flavored sauce, and I got Pad Thai (minus peanuts) which I’ve had at several restaurants (so I knew I was probably safe) but it’s always slightly different. This one was very nice, indeed. (See Photo 1)

In DC, we ate Ethiopian. I can not tell you how spoiled we are in Lansing, because Altu is truly the best Ethiopian cook I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve eaten a LOT of Ethiopian food in a lot of places, many of them in Ethiopia.

However, this restaurant had some dishes I had not eaten since I got back from Africa, and that was a treat. There is a sort of whole green bean dish with sauce that I really like, and I was delighted to have that again.

In Philadelphia we just plain parked in the wrong area of the city. We could find things like Applebee’s and sandwich shops, but no ethnic food anywhere we looked. We did not have a great deal of time, we literally were there for lunch, so we found a very nice salad bar near the subway station, where I ate a salad and Brian had a decent sandwich.

In New York City we walked and walked, but we were in the high-rent part of town and the only places we found were Japanese. The first places we tried were closed (it was just before 5pm and they were planning to reopen at 5:30pm for dinner). We then found a place that was Japanese but it offered food we had never heard of before. We gave it a shot.

It was a fun experience. They brought us little ridged bowls of sesame seeds and a fat stick to grind the seeds with. Then we were to put a sauce in the bowl and stir, and use that sauce/seed mixture on the dinner. (See Photo 2)

Dinner was a choice of any number of meats that were deep fried with some sort of breading. I had chicken. I did without the seeds and sauce and opted for plain soy sauce which I can have in small amounts. (See Photo 3)

It was good enough, but I really don’t like meat and I really don’t prefer deep fried foods, no matter how well flavored. This was the only meal that didn’t agree with me 100%, but that is clearly because I did take a risk. I asked a lot of questions but I was not sure what the breading really was and I’m guessing that was my problem. No big deal, live and learn. I didn’t feel bad, my face just broke out the next day. It could have been much worse.

By the way, the meal also came with some excellent sticky white rice and a salad that was basically shredded cabbage. I enjoyed my cabbage and rice very much! Sometimes simple is best.

In Northampton, Massachusetts, we found Indian food. It was on the mild side but it really hit the spot. That town was plum full of choices, though. We could have had Thai just across the street, and that was without even really looking for any length of time at all. Indian is close to tops in my book, anyway (after Ethiopian, of course, and perhaps tied with mideastern). Yum! No picture of that food, but it was what I call Chana Masala, though their menu called it something else. It’s chickpeas in tomato sauce with onions and other flavors. This is another big favorite that I’ve had so many places, I am clear I’ll feel great after truly enjoying the meal.

In East Dorset, we were at an old Inn/retreat center and they grew some of their own food. There were not a lot of choices I could eat the first night, so I just ate food I brought in a cooler. However, the next day they had a pasta luncheon where I could eat everything! Thin pasta, tomato sauce they made from scratch, and what they called “ratatouille” but it didn’t have eggplant, just zucchini and tomato and a few other veggies. Wonderful.

In Albany, I remembered that I’d driven through town on Highway 20 before and that it passed through a college area. I figured a college scene would probably have food I could eat, so we headed through town that way.

Before we even got to the college, though, we found a Vietnamese restaurant (open on a Sunday night, a big bonus). Brian got a dish with many veggies and a wonderful-smelling sauce. We both shared some vegetarian spring rolls, which were fresh and tasty.

For my dinner, I told the waitress my restrictions and asked for a recommendation. I ended up with a chicken dish on angel hair wheat noodles, where the chicken was marinated with a lemongrass mixture. It was pretty good, considering I am not a huge meat lover. It was flavorful and moist, and underneath the bed of pasta was a bed of vegetables (lettuce, bean sprouts and carrots) which I enjoyed. (See Photos 4 & 5)

Our last meal on the road was in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. We found a Pakistani/Indian restaurant. We had never tried Pakistani food before and thought it sounded good. When we got in there, though, they had a buffet and we decided to go for that. It was all freshly prepared food and we knew we could save some time that way. I really did enjoy the meal but I am still a bit wistful about the Pakistani food that got away…

I find it interesting that we did not find any sort of mideastern food on our trip. Michigan has a huge population of Lebanese folks ( more than live in Lebanon, I’m told). We have many very good Lebanese restaurants all over the state, including several in Lansing (my all time favorite being New Aladdin’s).

I love eating Egyptian food at the City Market in Lansing, cooked by our friend Magda. I also frequent a Syrian eatery in Ann Arbor as often as I can, and there is a spot in Grand Rapids we’ve gone several times that is yet a different nationality in that corner of the world. It is not hard to find mideastern cuisines in Michigan, but we did not see as much as a falafel or some hummous the whole time we were gone on our trip! That surprised me.

All in all, it was quite the culinary adventure!!! I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Well, I’ve been keeping a secret. I was out of Michigan for a week! We left Tuesday and came back very very late Monday night. It took Tuesday to re-adjust, unpack, and get situated. I took 300 photos so I’m trying to figure out how to deal with all of that for you folks. But I assure you, we had a great time.

We did a driving trip out to the eastern states. Brian has a sister in Washington DC, and I have a friend in Vermont, and we sort of combined visits to them with visits to big cities (and a few smaller cities/villages). I love to collect big cities!

We had the most wonderful trip! We didn’t have much of a plan before we started. I decided to at least go to Vermont (alone if need be, I used to travel east alone quite often) about a month ago. Only last week Brian decided to go for sure. We learned Sunday that we’d be in DC visiting Brian’s sister on Wednesday. I had a little gathering to attend on Fri/Sat in mid-Vermont. We planned to see Elizabeth in southern Vermont on the weekend. Other than that, we had no formal plan.

So we ended up with a lot of decisions to make on the road. Brian is right up my wavelength, actually… I like to sort of go with the flow on road trips like this, and we did just that.

We stopped in Pittsburgh (Cambodian/Thai dinner) on the way out Tuesday. We got there as the sun was going down, and cities are so beautiful at that time of day!

We slept about 45 minutes from DC. Wednesday we drove in, saw the 1111 Gallery knitting exhibit and the Vietnam Memorial (No words, only tears, whenever I go there… this was my 3rd visit I think… and I don’t know a soul on that wall, I believe… I’m a tad too young for that, but it’s just unbearably sad).

Then we drove to Brian’s sister’s neighborhood and walked around till she got home. It was heat index around 100F/38C so we found a shady garden to rest in for a while, and bought lots of iced tea and water throughout the day.

Then she came home and we had dinner in the Ethiopian section of 18th Street, and it was wonderful. I wore my Ethiopian shoulder wrap and made some friends that way. I found a grocery that had a snack food I love that I’ve missed since we got home (toasted barley with sunflowers and roasted chickpeas, not salty or sweet but satisfying). We bought a lot of that for later. Then we walked and took photos and had a great time. I could definitely love living in her neighborhood.

Thursday we went to Philadelphia for lunch (we obviously parked in the wrong part of town for ethnic food, so we found a good salad bar near the subway) and then went to New York City for afternoon/evening.

In New York, we walked until we got blisters. Central Park is totally, absolutely wonderful, and we only saw a tiny little portion of it. It’s huge, and rocky and wooded, and has a beautiful pond and lots of birds and flowers. I loved it.

At some point we found ourselves in the fashion district, found a button store, and Brian bought me a fabric “Frog” as a sort of button closure for a cape I sewed for my wedding. The tiny frog I bought originally for the cape just doesn’t do a good job on all that fabric weight, yards of it. That was the best and cheapest souvenir we could have had!

I had trouble finding food I could eat without allergy problems, so we ate at a Japanese place. Usually I can have Japanese, at least a few things I’ve tried consistently over the years. This restaurant had Japanese food I had never heard of, but we tried it. In the end I was mildly allergic to something in it, but I just got a sort of rash on my face the next day. I did not feel bad at all, just looked like I had an acne breakout… so that worked out fine, really.

Thursday night we drove to somewhere in Connecticut and slept. Friday morning went to Webs in Northampton, Massachusetts. Webs is a huge huge yarn shop in Northampton Mass, complete with discount warehouse.

I got some mill-end cotton yarn on a cone for a (bulky) machine-knit sweater for Brian, and thinner cotton for 2-3 tops for me (planning to use my new knitting machine, since I don’t like handknitting with 100% cotton). I also got the wool I showed you a few days back, for a pair of sox for me.

I also got some shiny purple stuff, sort of really thin tinsel which must be knit as a knit-along strand. I have no idea what I’ll do with that yet.

After the shopping experience, we had lunch in Northampton at an Indian place. It’s a lovely town. Smith College is in this town, which I think is why it rang a bell. There were a good handful of ethnic restaurants we might have selected from. Indian is always a good, safe and tasty choice for me with all my allergies. On the road this is a real gift!

The food was very good, but extremely mild for Indian cuisine. I remember a friend who lives in New Hampshire telling me how their Indian restaurant had to make their food almost bland because the locals just could not get used to the seasonings. Maybe this was a similar situation. I’m sort of a spice-light sort of grrl, so when it’s not spiced enough for me, we are talking very mild!

We then went to East Dorset, Vermont for Friday and Saturday nights, to visit a group of my friends who were having a gathering. Following that, we went to Elizabeth’s cabin in southern Vermont on Sunday for a few hours.

Her place is just beautiful. I’ve been 3 times now and it just keeps getting more like Elizabeth every time. On my first visit, she was carrying all her water (both for drinking and cleaning) and heating with a wood stove, and she had an outhouse. Now she has a well for all but drinking water, a washing machine, full bath, propane heat, a new stove, and she has doubled the size of the cabin. She has an eden of a garden in the front yard and a pond with wildlife in the back. In the addition, she has huge windows to see what is around her. It is just beautiful everything at Elizabeth’s.

We then proceeded (still Sunday) to North Adams to one of my favorite art museums, the Mass MOCA. I mentioned earlier, the construction crew knitting a USA flag there last month, from knitting needles made from 25 ft aluminum light poles. I saw the video and the folded up flag. Amazing, and inspiring.

Then we drove to Albany, and had a tasty Vietnamese dinner Sunday night. After dinner we found a hotel just west of Albany, before the sun set. We finally just plain tuckered out and had to sleep!

Monday morning, we decided to make it home that day (it was maybe 11 hours’ drive). We did stop in Niagara Falls on the way home, on the Canadian Side. We ate at an Indian/Pakistani restaurant (much more spice here, for the record, it was tasty), then drove home and got in about 1:45am.

Tuesday we were home and nobody knew but my brother and his wife, and April across the street. I talked to April several times, unpacked, did laundry, caught up on this and that.

My wonderful car turned over 100,000 miles Monday. I figure it will double that (my 1985 VW Golf, Martha, had over 250,000 miles when she finally let me down). I’m saving slowly for a new vehicle for someday, but just for today I’m really delighted with my still-new-in-my-eyes 1998 New Beetle, which I’ve named Joy.

So I have a zillion photos and little space to show them off. Nevertheless, I’ll give it a shot. I made them small so that I could fit more on this page, I hope that works for you folks.

1) Pittsburgh just before sunset.
2) “The Wall” (Vietnam Memorial in DC, the group at left was looking for the name of someone they knew, who died in the war. I cried for them and for all the other names. There is at least one story for every name engraved on that wall.) Notice the Washington Monument in the background.
3) Typical DC street view in tourist/museum district.
4) Eleven Eleven gallery space, nontraditional knitting exhibit. Wow.
5) Fourth floor balcony garden in DC.
6) Fountain at “Malcom X Park” (not its official name, but that is what it’s often called). Notice that the pool looks like it has parallel sides, but that is a deliberate optical illusion… if it were parallel, it would look smaller on the far end.
7) Homes in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood on quieter street. Ethiopian Restaurant on 18th Street in DC/Adams Morgan, Brian and his sister Jennifer standing in front.
9) Theatre Marquee in New York City’s Broadway/theatre district.
10, 11 & 12) New York’s Central Park, a most lovely place indeed. Even though you can see large buildings, it is cool and peaceful in the park. Two photos of a large pond and one shot of a horse and carriage on an inner road through the park.
13) Downtown street in Northampton, Massachusetts.
14 & 15) Elizabeth’s cabin in Readsboro, Vermont.
16) Me hugging my friend Elizabeth.
17) Downtown North Adams, Massachusetts, home of Mass MOCA (Modern Art Museum).
18) View from Route 20, near where Vermont, Massachusetts and New York State are all very close to one another. Probably just west of Albany, NY, but much of Vermont looks a lot like this.
19 & 20) Diner (Gatesdale Family Restaurant) sign and inside counter, on Route 20, New York State somewhere west of Albany. Notice the antique car parked out front.
21 & 22) Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Colorful street scene and the amazing natural wonder that attracts so many from all over the world.

I took the Simple Still Life Challenge. I would have liked to work with the colors in the piece and make something out of fiber or maybe get out my printmaking supplies. Instead, I worked with PhotoShop to make a digital image that looks a lot like a screen print. Think Andy Warhol, who used photographs as the basis for screenprints.

I love using digital photos to create something that is not digital at all! Usually that means I transfer my digital image onto a soft print block, carve the print block and then print the image on paper (sometimes on polymer clay sheets). This time I went from digital to digital. I have not done that nearly enough, so this was fun.

I’ve been interested in making screen prints for many years now and never have tried it. However, here I made something photo-screenprint-like and I’m very pleased with it.

I chose to work with the essence of color in the original picture. The first tiny image here is a thumbnail photo of her original (here it is shown at 33% original size). You can see it is mostly leaf green and terra cotta. I determined to use a blue-green (OK, turquoise/aqua which is definitely my favorite color), and a sort of peachy/salmon version of the clay pot color. (Interesting, I also used this very color as one of the trim colors on my house/porch, in addition to a soft purple.)

I played with levels and curves, then made the image greyscale, then made it into a 50% black/white bitmap. I deleted all the white so that about half of the image was transparent.

I then added a layer and put it underneath. I painted that layer my chosen colors, and they showed through in the proper spots.

Then I saved the whole thing as a .GIF file (GIF is excellent for images that have very few colors, such as logos… and this GIF has only 4 colors in it).

It’s interesting, my PhotoShop program really flipped out when I tried to “Save for Web” so I had to copy and paste the image into a new file. The new file could save fine. Something about the original .jpeg file did not get along with my version of PhotoShop!

So there you have it! Lynn’s quick but fun answer to the still life challenge. I hope that for another Challenge I’ll have more leisure time and can do something in another medium besides digital. In this case, though, I enjoyed it. I have not done digital images as an artform enough. I use PhotoShop almost every day, but more as a journalist to illustrate my blog columns. I enjoy using it for other purposes.

Other artful projects in which I’ve used digital photos, are the blockprint of Elizabeth at her cabin and my blockprint self portrait. I also did a very, very fun digital collage using three different photos and some freehand image editing/painting, in my flying woman piece. It was fun to do this image, as it has been far too long since I approached PhotoShop as an artist rather than a columnist.

Thanks to Debra for the challenge. For those who haven’t committed yet, the deadline is 20 days away, on August 28. You have plenty of time! Dive in, the water’s fine!

Mary from a few of my lists, lives in the UK. She posted this on the lists and I think it worthy of passing on (I did get her approval to do so).

I know I have a handful of UK readers (hi, folks!) and want them to know about this good possible way to spend the weekend. I wish I could go, myself!

The Knitting & Crochet Guild Collection will be open to view on Saturday 13 August at Scholes near Holmfirth.

On show: Jan Messent’s knitting, including the historical dolls
Traditional British Knitting - mainland and island
Fibres - from wool to bamboo, via plastic bags!
Underwear
Children’s fashions through the Decades
Help Clinic
Gloves-on session for precious articles
Kim Wright’s spinning wheels and dyeing cupboard and much, much more.

Full details of how to get there, maps, photos, on the guild’s website www.knitting-and-crochet-guild.org.uk

If anyone goes and wishes to make a little report, I’d be glad to post a guest blogger column. Just pop me a note at Lynn AT ColorJoy DOT com and I’ll put up your review(s). Thanks!

I love the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, also known as Mass MOCA. I learned of it when it was fairly new, from my friend Elizabeth who lives about a half hour from there.

Recently (July 2 & 3 of 2004), Dave Cole did a performance art piece at Mass MOCA. He and a crew knit a huge US flag from strips of felt, using construction equipment to control the monster knitting needles (25-foot aluminum light poles). Pretty cool, in my book!

The artist said:

“I’ve been knitting in my art work for a number of years and I’m always trying to make things bigger. I always want to see what’s possible, and I haven’t found impossible yet.”

I have been knitting a good deal lately. I’m working again on my Lucy Neatby Equilateral Vest, and a pair of slouch socks in Bazic Wool washable (fat) wool yarn). I am a third of the way through a Lily Chin bra from her book, Urban Knitter.

In addition, I have plans to knit a bathing suit top from Cascade Fixation and a pattern I got at Yarn for Ewe (I’m going blank on the pattern designer right now). I have plans to document some socks I already knit, and to design some patterns for items in yarn I handpainted myself.

I have a few ideas for some projects on my two knitting machines. I have swatches done for a couple of yarns (on my old/bulky hobby machine) already, and I hope to do a few more this week, one for a sweater for my beloved Brian and one (perhaps on my newer machine) for a summer top for me.

And then I went and bought yarn! I seem to never run out of ideas for beautiful yarns I find.

I got some coned yarns to try on the knit machines, plus this gorgeous multi-turquoise handpainted sockyarn. It’s Artyarns Ultramerino4. This is an unusual yarn. It’s 8 plies, four two-ply bundles all plied together into one tubular texture. It’s pretty fine yarn, will definitely need size 0 needles (2mm).

But I can never resist turquoise sockyarn! I can’t think of anything it won’t go with, at least for daytime wear. What will this yarn be? I don’t know yet, and I have so much already going on that I don’t need to hurry with ideas. Isn’t it a beauty?