Pam D sent me a photo of her Fast Florida Footie! She writes:

…this was my first pair of socks ever. And my first time with dpns (I used circular needles, then changed to dpns for the heel flap and gusset.) …there are mistakes and some are noticeable, but I am so proud of that pair. When I get your pattern I am going to make them for Christmas presents for everyone. I want my yarn to be as wild as I can find it! I used Magic Stripes by Lion Brand for this sock . I am hooked now!!

I am so happy you enjoyed the pattern, Pam! Thanks for your photo, and many happy socknitting days ahead to you.

I’m in a learning-curve mode right now. We’re working on the production part of our upcoming CD. Brian is doing the musical part, mastering the sound, and I am doing the layout. Mind you, Brian has always done this, but we’ve always printed on our own lovely printer, at home. Now a print shop is doing the work, and they want the files in CorelDraw.

I own a copy of CorelDraw 7.0, which I bought because I needed a font it contained. I’ve had it for at least 3 years, and never installed the program. Fortunately, I did get a little spin around the features back in the late 1990’s when I was a computer consultant. Someone else taught the program but I could play with it during quiet times.

I’m used to making web graphics, using PhotoShop and ImageReady. I’ve only recently started even thinking about printing my digital images, mostly as illustrations for my self-published patterns. In the last few years I’ve been doing more of this, but the CD will be something like a midterm exam, and I’m cramming like crazy!

I have a friend in Working Women Artists who uses CorelDraw, so I asked her the most glaring questions and dove in. I’m very grateful I had this PhotoShop class this weekend, in between teaching knitting classes, because I learned a large handful of hints about printing digital images that I did not know before. And not one day too soon, as they say!

I had a great Wristwarmer class at Little Red Schoolhouse Sunday afternoon and took photos. I just do not have time to edit them today. Soon… hopefully tomorrow. However, here is the very first tray of polymer clay items that Tamsyn and Sarah made Saturday at Rae’s. The long cylinders are Bic Stic pens covered with clay (but the ink part of the pen has been removed to avert disaster… don’t ask how I know).

The second photo is a child’s hat I finally finished (my knit-waiting-in-line project last week), using my own Cushy ColorSport yarn in Silver Denim colorway. Here it is shown with a bead on the top, which is cute but I was afraid it would beg a child to chew on it. I then made a button and topped the hat with the button. It’s adorable and a little less likely to look like a chew toy. Maybe I’ll show a picture of that one time soon. After all my class photos are up, that is!

I am soooo wiped out but I’m happy. I do have a good life these days and I really don’t forget it.

I got up early (for me) on Saturday, prepared for my afternoon class and then went to PhotoShop class for the morning. It was really enlightening.

At noon I ran home and picked up my supplies for the afternoon class, ran to Aladdin’s restaurant for a take out lunch and ran across the street to Rae’s for polymer clay class. I had two students, Tamsyn and Sarah… and we had a good deal of fun!!! We made buttons, mostly, but Tamsyn made a crochet hook handle and both of them covered bic stic pens (they did a great job of it, too).

After they left, I hung out and talked to Rae for a while, and finally knit a little. I had not knit a single stitch on Friday. I was ready to knit Saturday. I am knitting a wristwarmer out of my own ColorSport yarn in Silver Denim colorway. It’s turning out very nicely. I made a child’s hat out of the same yarn (silver with small bits of blue and purple) and made a button for the top of the hat, and it turned out beautifully. The wristwarmer is promising to be the same.

After Brian and I were both done with our day work, we went to Altu’s for dinner and music by Temesgen Hussein, who is our house musician and plays traditional Ethiopian music on Krar and Begena, and he sings along in a wonderful low voice.

I told Temesgen recently that Wikipedia did not have anything about the Begena and that he might like to contribute. (Wikipedia is written by readers… I’ve added a few photos, myself.) He wrote this enlightening article in response to my encouragement. You might be interested to check it out. If you have never been to Wikipedia, this might be a nice introduction.

It is an hour past midnight and I am absolutely wiped out with lack of sleep, so I will post pics of the polymer class and my knitting at a later date. Sunday I do PhotoShop in the morning again, and I have a wristwarmer class at Little Red Schoolhouse in the afternoon. It should be a great day.

The photo today is of Temesgen Hussein (playing music at Altu’s). He is dressed in traditional Ethiopian clothing, playing one of his two instruments.

I have been gifted with a seminar on PhotoShop this weekend, which happened at the last minute. The class is 4 hours Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. I’m teaching both Sat/Sun afternoons but I went all night to PhotoShop on Friday and will go both mornings this weekend, before teaching my own classes in the afternoons. Whee! Fun… but I will sure enjoy my day off on Tuesday!

I took this seminar back in Y2K, and learned a lot, and I’m still using what I learned then. Now I’m ready for a new level of understanding (I always did Web work and now I’m doing some printing, which is a new realm with new rules). I’m really enjoying the knowledge. I’m not at all good at sitting still at one desk for 4 hours, but it is worth dealing with to get what I’m getting.

Class got out at 9:40pm and so we ate dinner after 10pm Friday. That leaves only a small time to rehearse our music and then go to bed so I can get up and lug myself to class which starts at 9am. Ugh. It’s worth the hassle, though, for the knowledge.

Last Minute Fun Classes
If anyone is looking for a fun class this weekend, I’m doing two classes in the Lansing area. The classes are definitely a “go” so if you feel like just showing up, you’d be most welcome to join in.

First, I’m doing Polymer Clay Tools at Rae’s Yarn Boutique near Frandor (in Lansing, MI) from 1-5pm. I did polymer for at least ten years before picking up the knitting needles this time around. There is no way to have a bad polymer class, it’s just the most fun one can have. Everyone will go home with something they feel good about, it’s much more instant-gratification than knitting, I hate to admit. A great class, I hope you consider it.

Then Sunday, I’m doing Wristwarmers at Little Red Schoolhouse. This is a great, fun class, a fast knit, and a great gift item. Just imagine your favorite teen with these! They love them. I love them, too… and I’m not hip, but I’m chilly a lot! This pattern can be worked in any weight yarn, can be short or long. It’s a great exercise in how to figure out knitting to fit without a gauge swatch.

The green ones here are in bulky Lamb’s Pride yarn for heavy outdoor wear. On September 9 I showed two lighter-weight versions in DK yarn I had dyed myself, one in garter stitch fabric and one like the one here, a tube knit in the round on double-pointed-needles. There is a wristwarmer version for any knitter who can do a knit stitch or more… and they knit up so fast you can do a pile of them for gifts before it is even holiday season!

I can do a pair in a day, have done it at least once. Have a peek at those, the ones I wear currently in my actual life! And then once you’ve looked at them all, do come on down and take the class if you can. If you can not, I do have the wristwarmer pattern for sale. If you want one, that is. Trust me, these are the best gift since sliced bread (or something like that).