Saturday was a busy evening. First we went to Altu’s restaurant for dinner as we typically do on Saturdays. It was a special treat because there was a new musician this week. His name is Fitsum and he plays Ethiopian saxophone. He sometimes played alone, and sometimes he was joined by special guest Temesgen Hussein, who is our house musician (he plays two traditional stringed instruments and sings).

I tell you what… the Ethiopian folks in the place were just delighted with the performance! This is the highest compliment Fitsum could have had… and Brian, who plays saxophone, also really appreciated the performance. We were pleased to have him join the musical team at Altu’s.

Next Saturday (6:30-8:30pm), Temesgen is the musician of the week but it may be that he is joined by Fitsum as his guest. Delightful!

Um… but back to Saturday. After we heard the music and ate the great food at Altu’s, we went to Cappucino Cafe at Lake Lansing and heard our friends (Wanda Degen, Doug Berch, and Pooh Stevenson) play a different sort of music. It was great fun and we saw several music friends we had not seen in a while.

After that? We went to a birthday party at a musical friend’s house where we played some music and then I listened to others play as I knit. I did a good bunch of chatting as well (you figured that out already, I’m sure). OK, so I took three knitting projects and I messed up on two out of three. Too much excitement in the room, I’d guess, messed up my focus.

But one of the items was a sock for my brother, toe up, which now has about one inch of ribbing. I ran out of yarn at that point, but I bought more Sunday when I taught at Threadbear and I’m soon to finish that sock. The other one? I somehow turned the heel when the heel flap wasn’t full length yet. Rats! Rippit, rippit, says the frog…

Photos: 1) Fitsum on Saxophone and Temesgen in the background on either Krar or Begena. 2) Pooh, Wanda, and Doug (left to right) at Capp. Cafe’.

Sabrina works at Threadbear Fiberarts. I really enjoy her company.

She knows I love knitting socks and told me that she has really struggled with socks because of gauge/fit issues. If you start a top-down sock with the wrong gauge/number of stitches, you end up with something disappointing because it does not fit right. She can do the techniques without trouble, but got really frustrated by having to rip out frequently when a sock she’d started did not fit.

I suggested she try my First-Time Toe-Up sock pattern. It’s easier to do this toe than many other toe-up methods because you first knit a square of flat stockinette fabric before starting to go around in a tube.

One big benefit to toe up socks is that you can try them on as you increase, stopping when you have increased enough that the sock fits properly. There is no gauge swatch, and no disappointment if the swatch and the sock don’t match somehow. (I really understand this, as my gauge tends to change by the minute and so often my gauge swatches are merely an approximation. I need to be able to adjust as I go for many projects.)

So here Sabrina is with her first completed sock! I suggested she work with fat yarn and make a slipper sock at first, and she’s got this lovely red number ready to go. Congrats, Sabrina!

Last Sunday, I taught Polymer Clay Buttons & Beads at Rae’s Yarn Boutique. Finally I’ve taken the time to process the photos from this wonderfully creative day!

First you see a “Mokume Gane” block made by Yvonne, and behind it some wonderful rolled beads (similar to paper rolled beads) she made with her clay.

After that you see Joanne’s beads and buttons, made from a “lace cane” and a faux-ivory/woodgrain technique.

Next is Deborah’s sunshine-colored buttons, also with lace cane.

And last but not least you see Mary Ann putting a hole in her rainbow-colored button, using a woodgrain/Mokume Gane technique to make the swirls.

But then this week I got a surprise email from Mary Ann. She used a lace cane technique to make this necklace, using the same colors. I’m sure she will wear this necklace with a smile on her face!

I’ve always said there is no way to have a bad polymer clay class. It’s an amazing technique. It’s easy to make something you really like the first day, yet it has so much potential that it can keep you entranced for a decade without boredom. You can sand it, seal it, paint it, glue it (assuming you know which paints/seals/glues will work on this unusual plastic material). You can drill it. You can add parts and bake it again. It’s amazing stuff!!! And my students once again proved just that.

Sunday Class
For anyone in Lansing tuning in on Saturday here, looking for something fun to do on Sunday… I’m teaching Fast Florida Footies at Threadbear from noon to 4pm. You need the pattern and a ball or two of very affordable cotton/lycra yarn (Cascade Fixation) which are both available at the shop. You bring needles (Double Points, usually size 2 or 3 but bring anything size 2-5 in case you need to adjust gauge) and we’re off and running! Feel free to register when you get there, I always bring a few extra supplies for last-minute students.

The Fast Florida Footies (FFF) are my most popular pattern by leaps and bounds. Knitting them is truly a comfy and fun quick project. The pattern comes in infant 0 to ladies’ large, so it will be one you can use many times. You won’t finish a whole footie in class unless you decide to do one of the baby sizes, but you’ll learn what you need to finish a pair.

Photo: Fast Florida Footie in size zero. Too cute, huh?

Friday I went to Ypsilanti (1.25 hours away) to see my Brother Eric, and his wife, Diana. Diana loves to cook for me, and I really appreciate her knack for flavor. Never mind my own personal aversion to cooking, which makes food from others taste even better!

She made me Mujaddara (middle-eastern lentil/rice pilaf, though sometimes made with bulgur wheat rather than rice), and fruit/maple-glazed carrots, and roasted brussel sprouts. And much good tea! Three different kinds of tea over the course of many hours, to be exact.

But the company was the focus of the visit, as good as the food was. Diana and I sat and knitted, and chatted a little about crochet which I’m trying once more. Eric listened a lot (he is very good at this) and gave me advice when I solicited it (he’s a very good advice-giver, I make sure to listen well when he speaks).

We talked computers and books and audio books, yarn, cats, dogs, food, family, friends, and just whatever came to mind. The subject matter is not the point. The being there was the whole point. There is nobody who knows me as well as Eric does. No doubt this is why his advice is so good, and why I’m so inclined to take it when others’ advice may not interest me.

There’s nothing like someone who has known you all but 1.5 of the years you’ve been on the earth. And who absolutely has your best interest at heart. I’m a lucky woman, and I know it.

Knitting? I got to try Eric’s Bingo toe-up socks on him, measure his feet in person, and proceed with turning one heel and knitting the second heel flap. I thought I could get by with 2 balls of yarn but he’s got wide feet and I will split a third ball between them to make the cuffs.

I carried along the two pair of socks I’m knitting for me (including the Turkish-Style Toe-Up socks for my Wednesday morning class, which look like I’ll have at least one sock ready for class this week). I also carried the beginning of a Bloom Shawl in Louisa Harding angora. Luxe!

Crochet? After class this morning I played around with a sort of basketweave pattern. Then in Ypsilanti I showed it to Diana who was able to explain a version of it to me, and she even gave me a sample once she’d figured it out. She has done Crochet for years, knitting not as long.

I’m planning to do a single-crocheted felted purse from a Patons beads-and-wool bag booklet. I found several colors of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride yarn in my stash in various shades of turquoise-to-teal-to-emerald. I bought a few more colors at Threadbear during class… two purples and another softer aqua to add to the blue-green range of colors I’d brought from home.

I want to be sure I can follow a crochet pattern so here I am diving in! I’m not yet at the “too many bags” problem so one more will be quite welcome. If I’m lucky, it will be a good size for my laptop. If not it will be a purse or knitting bag, also good choices.
Off to sleep. I’m hoping on Saturday I’ll put up photos from last Sunday’s Polymer Clay class at Rae’s.

Photo: Eric at Thanksgiving, 2004; Eric and Diana, summer 2004.

My mom is extra-ordinary. She has been retired for over a decade but she still teaches kids to read (as a volunteer), both in Florida when she’s there and in Michigan when she’s here. She is very involved with both her communities; she is involved in church and dance groups and neighborhood groups. She leads low-stress exercise groups. She wins medals (lots of them) at the Senior Games in Polk County, Florida. Which, for the record, is the largest senior games in the USA.

This year Mom and Fred won a good number of medals once again. They are very fun to watch when they dance! Also, Mom always does some of the track events. She had a bad year about 10 years ago when she was on chemo, where walking just to the car from her front door was hard work. Since then, she does the shorter dashes in celebration of her life and continued health.

Mom sometimes writes long and chatty notes that all her friends and loved ones enjoy. This time she wrote in part about the games. She says:

We again took part in the Senior Games this year. I got silver in the 50 meter and 100 meter dash. My times were 15.15 and 30.71. I started doing that 8 years ago to prove I was still alive and have been doing ever since. Again we had a photo finish for the 1200 walk. I was 4th. I was not in good shape as I was just getting over my sinus problem and had not practiced.

Fred got back a few days before we took part in the dance. We got four golds in polka, jitterbug, country two step and twist. The only reason we got gold in the twist was we were the only one in our age group to enter (70-79). We got four silver and one bronze in the rumba, cha-cha, tango, foxtrot and waltz. The night before we practiced when Fred throws his leg over me and pulls me through his legs. We had not done it for two years. When we did it at the games, the roof almost went off as the folks really enjoyed it.

It is fun to be in the games. The oldest participant was a 100 year old bowler. They gave him free admission to next year’s games! When I ran the dashes, a 94 year old lady ran in the far lane as she was the only one in her age group.

Photo: Mom on her 70th birthday about a year and a half ago. She is wearing a ColorJoy Stole my brother’s wife, Diana, knit for her. Isn’t she pretty?

I love my CityKidz Knit! program. It’s the best thing I do all week, bar none. Last Thursday I had sixteen people. Every single one had been to my room at least once before.

Ten were children from ages 5 to 15. One was a friend/knitting student, about my age, who comes by occasionally on Thursdays. Three were grandmothers of kids in the program, and there was an aunt and a mother as well. And me, the seventeenth person. I was so pleased: we were many ages (five to grandparent), many lines of ethnic heritage (all human race, of course), from many neighborhoods, many happy and smiling faces, much creativity. I tell you, life does not get better than this.

I’ve been doing this program since before I had a blog, and I started writing here in November 2003. You’d think I’d get tired of it. But today, again, I helped an elementary-aged girl make her first wristband (five stitches, garter fabric/all knit stitches, worsted-weight acrylic yarn). She was enthusiastic about how cool it is to make things from just yarn. And indeed, it is cool! As are the folks who take the time to do it.

Today the kids had a chat about how knitting is good for them. They know it’s easier for them to sit still when they are knitting. One also noted that knitting is quiet, and she clearly understood that this might be a significant plus in her life, having a quiet pastime.

The CityKidz sometimes ask me if I have children. I tell them that *they* are my kids. That I don’t have any at home. I love the ones I’ve got, that is enough for me!

Photos: Sixteen of my favorite folks in the world, knitting and crocheting together last Thursday. A smaller group last Wednesday.

I can’t tell you how much happier I am since I stopped worrying about my calendar/palm device! Tuesday morning I got started right away on my tax preparations which do take me a while to get all pulled together. I’m not a very organized person when it comes to paper… thank goodness at least the records on the computer are in a fairly easy to access format!

I took a break to have tea and knitting with dear friend Sharon P/Knitknacks, and then went back home for more tax prep. Again, I took a little time out to go to the Mid-Michigan Knitting Guild meeting, and back home to do more taxes and rehearse music with Brian.

I am still fiddling a little with the palm device… the calendar works great as does the address book. My Pocket Quicken (a sort of checkbook register) is not synchronizing yet, but I’m sure I can figure that out. It’s not something I use every day, anyway!

Knitting? Oh, yeah! I think it was yesterday that I had my Turkish Toe-Up Socks ready for the heel, which is what we’ll be covering in class Wednesday morning at Threadbear. In waiting times I’ve been knitting some of my new sockyarn into almost-too-snug toe up socks for me on size 0 needles.

And I had the happy experience of working on my lapsed Olympic Knitting project with Sharon today. I finished the decreases for the neckline if I figure it right, so now I just have to do the shoulder slope shaping. I did short rows for that part on the back, so will do my best to mirror that on the front. Of course, that takes a little thinking and I don’t have much thinking knitting time. One day at a time, I guess.

Other languishing projects are the Aspen bulky sweater, another Multicolor Mohair Bloom Shawl in magenta, a pair of socks half-knit for my Brother (will hope to fit to size on Friday this week when I plan to see him), a not-yet-started Garden Stole which will be a summer version for Little Red Schoolhouse to display, and my wonderful but long-ignored Lucy Neatby Equilateral Triangle Vest. Or those are the things I can remember right now, sitting here.

I have ends to work in on a rug I started years ago and finished a few months ago. I may use it as a lap blanket rather than a rug, though! I also have a Sally Melville Funnel Neck I converted to machine knitting… finished except for sewing together. Machine knitting uses a lot of waste yarn instead of a cast on, so there are yarn ends everywhere, some useful and some ready to be removed from the garment… it looks a mess but will be pretty when I get it sewn together.

And then there are bags and bins of projects I’ve started with students taking my classes. A barely started Basketweave Rug, a cast on for a Watercolor Bag, at minimum. I think I have a Fast Florida Footie somewhere, and an almost finished set of bulky First-Time Toe-Up sock footies. Whew! And that’s what I remember without going over and looking into the overflowing “projects in progress” box behind the couch.

For now? I’m satisfied that I did a good job on taxes this day off, and I’m ready to sleep. I start the day with Turkish-Style Toe-Up socks tomorrow with Irene at Threadbear. It will start the day right.

Image added next morning: Cat with toy knit for him by his human mom, my student Lauren. He loves it! He was throwing it in the air and catching it, I’m surprised I was able to get this photo for all the action…

(This post isn’t too creative… will talk knitting next, I have great photos of CityKidz Knit and a few classes coming soon…)

OK, maybe some of you know that the title of this entry is from a lyric in Fiddler on the Roof. Altu’s daughter is playing the third daughter in the East Lansing High School production of that show for a few weeks and I saw it Saturday. She’s a lovely, talented young lady and I’m proud to know her.

The miracle? Not a musical at all. Months ago I replaced my hard drive. I’d intended to use Ghost software to not lose any data, not need to install software again, etc. Well, my Sony VAIO Pentium III had an unusual hard drive setup, where one disk was broken down into a drive C: and a drive D:, and that or something else made it so that Ghost refused to play nice.

Fortunately, Brian is good with fixing machines, so he installed the new drive and the basic software that came with the laptop when I got it years ago. But all of my unusual programs (and I have many) I had to re-install. I’m pretty good at backing up so I had most of the install programs on another computer in the house.

Well, I use a Palm device (An old Handspring Visor Neo black and white which goes 5-6 weeks on two AAA batteries) to keep my schedule. And without it I’m lost. I have a different schedule every day… every week can be very different. I only have a few appointments that stay standard each week.

I installed my calendar program. I couldn’t find an archive of my synchronizing program so bought another, installed, and thought I was good to go.

I was wrong. It looked like the laptop and the palm were talking to one another, but they were not. And it took me a while to figure out that there was a problem. Even longer to figure out what might be wrong (I use an unusual, older, calendar program which requires an unusual, older, synchronizing program). I had version 5.1 of the synchronizer program and I needed 5.1.1. Really. And of course the new one is nowhere to be found even on the Internet used market.

I spent hours looking into new calendar programs but none presented the one feature I really wanted. I realized that if I had a new program I’d need a new palm device because they assume you have something newer, higher-powered, and in color. I like mine with the large, easy to read screen.

Brian found a backup copy of the synchronizing program on our main computer at home. I had not been able to see it because I’m not the main administrator on that machine. And somehow I was able to find the email from February 2003, with the key code to activate the program.

It took over a half hour last night for my palm device to synchronize. But when I was done, I had only one overbooked appointment and that can be remedied. Whew!

So I get to keep my beloved Handspring palm device (see photo, I embellished it with fingernail polish in January 2004) and my very useful Lotus Organizer 5, a really old program that does just what I want.

Off to lunch with Tony, followed by teaching some computer classes. At least I taught one hour of knitting today, that’s the only creativity on the schedule until after dinner.

My cousin, Karen, lives in Texas. We’d be the best of friends if we lived closer together, I’m sure of it… but thanks to email and my weblog, we’re closer than we’ve ever been.

She writes that she finished a Guitar-Trim Herringbone Hat this week, I’m hoping we’ll see a photo one of these days. Meanwhile, she sent a photo of spring in her yard this week. Azaleas blooming like CRAZY! OK, there’s a bit of distance between Texas and Michigan… but it gives me hope.

Karen writes:

…spring has sprung–I can see the new leaves on the live oaks in our front yard from where I’m sitting now, the salvia that wintered over is about to bloom, and our azaleas are just a mass of hot pink blooms…with freckles!

I remember going to Karen’s wedding in April once upon a time. I was just blown away with the hugeness of some of the flowers, and the amazing loud colors that I saw everywhere, flower after flower after flower. Azalea bushes like this one, and hybiscus with flowers the size of plates, or so it seemed. And flowers I’d never heard of before. Everything truly seemed larger than life in Houston that spring.

Then I got home and spring was just starting here in Michigan. It seemed that all the flowers on the fruit trees were either white or the palest of pink. The trees looked so soft, almost fluffy, with the multitudes of tiny flowers on them.

I then understood the unique beauty of a Lansing, Michigan spring. It’s soft and slow and subtle, gentle and feminine. It’s lovely in its own way. At first I was let down, as I do love color with a punch. But I grew to understand that the beauty in my part of the world grows slowly while we are looking at other things. By July, things are really gorgeous and we have bright patches of color, too. But spring is a softness in my town.

Karen, thanks for sharing this lovely photo. Hope springs eternal, as they say… we’ll have color soon enough.

I’ve had some wonderful classes lately. For some reason I didn’t get photos of the First-Time Toe-Up Socks (FTTU) in the Thursday morning group at Rae’s that finished just over a week ago.

Fortunately, I did get a photo of the sole student in the Thursday night FTTU class. Here’s Sophia (a relatively new knitter who is clearly thrilled with her first pair of socks.. she’s only showing one but there were two). She’s showing off a sock and her two trained therapy dogs, Arpeggio and Chloe. Don’t they all look happy?

Next I have photos of another one-person sock class. This one is my Turkish Toe-Up Sock with Irene B. at Threadbear. We had some great fun… the sock starts with a wrapped cast-on, it is a lot of needles and very few stitches for a handful of rounds. Irene started playing with making her sock toe into a spider, so I joined her in the fun. I am pretty sure this will not inspire non-socknitters to dive in and knit these, but I found it so funny! This is what fanatical, totally-obsessed knitters just might do for a good time, my friends!

The third photo is the same class. At this point there are more stitches than needles and the toe has been started quite nicely on Irene’s amazing sock.

Irene can’t remember what brand of yarn it is, but it’s a superwash DK-weight wool yarn she bought at Threadbear a few weeks back. (Maybe Rob can tell us?) Incredible stuff, very bright, no mud and no dingy green that happens in so many rainbow skeins. On my monitor one color looks orange but it’s really a sunny yellow. Irene is loving this yarn, and I must confess I love it, too. Could you guess?

Notice that this sock has a more triangular toe than we typically knit in this society/age. This sock pattern I wrote is based on an actual sock from Turkey that I own (lucky me). You can see pictures of that sock in my August 28, 2003 blog entry called “Fanatical Details on Turkish Socks” (the cream/turquoise/black pair). That entry actually goes into detail on four different pairs I was very lucky to receive at that time. All four of those pair have pointy toes, two of them with tufts for decoration at the tip of the toe (I understand they are often worn inside without shoes).

I’ve been knitting on my sock to match hers, this week, as I wait in line here and there. I’m almost ready for my heel. My hope is that I’ll actually complete this pair during the three weeks of the class.

Past Classes
I think I took a photo of Chris’ ColorJoy Stole project beginning (from several weeks ago) but it never got up here. She just sent me a gift box (you are sweet, Chris!) containing items I give my students in that class. She’s helping those in the next class, even though she doesn’t know them. How caring is that?

Chris drove all the way to Threadbear from Eastpointe, I think that’s about two hours one way… I was honored to have her as my student. And we had some great fun once she got here!!!

Chris also sent a photo of her ColorJoy Stole project (gorgeous) so I will have to try to scan that in at Foster Center. My scanner doesn’t work with Windows XP and since I have a digital camera now, I never bought a new one. It’s nice to have access to the one at Foster on the few occasions I want to use one. If I remember while I’m there, that is!

The Need to Finish
I’m sort of down about how many projects I have up in the air right now. I have not been able to get to my Olympic knitting since last Friday at Bloomiefest. I just can’t do thinking knitting with anyone around and when I’m home I’m usually on the computer, not knitting.

But then, I also know that March is a month where it’s easy to feel down. I will keep on keeping on and see how I do. I never finish everything, but I finish many things given time. I stay on projects, I keep plugging even if I put them down for months at a time. But sometimes I can’t afford (emotionally) to start one more thing until I finish something. Anything! Maybe the Toe-Up Turkish Socks will fill that bill. I hope. Right now I’m just on sock 1, but I’ll keep plugging and hope to get the second at the right spot for Wednesday’s class. I’m really happy with how this dye job works with the slip stitch detail on the top front of the sock. Lovely.

Polymer Clay Buttons for Me
They say the shoemaker’s kids have no shoes. Often that’s sort of how it goes with me. If I knit using my yarns, it’s for samples and I don’t get to wear the items. And buttons? I almost never get to keep my own polymer work anymore.

So when one ordinary brown button fell off my bright yellowish-green corduroy coat, I could have just sewn back that button. After all, it takes 9 buttons (double breasted with a single button at top collar) and I didn’t have any pre-made in the size I needed, anyway.

But I love turquoise and green together, and I don’t like brown, and darn it all, I had some turquoise polymer and yellow-green motifs on my work table because of some buttons I made for Jillian a few months back. So I dropped everything last night and made turquoise buttons with blue/white/yellow patterns on them. And tonight I sewed the buttons on my coat. They really look great!

We’ll see how they work out. They won’t break, I’m very good at that part of quality control. However, they could be thin enough to be sort of rubbery/bendy. When I make buttons to sell, they are what I call Chunky-Funky Buttons, big and fat and sturdy. I know they won’t bend or break, and they are great for a felted purse or a big wrap. I’ve made tiny shirt-sized buttons before for myself, but they made me crazy, they were too fussy to produce.

If these medium-sized matched buttons work out, maybe I’ll expand my button line. Or not, depending on the time available (did I say that?) and my inclination to do matching things. I’m not really inclined to make matching anything, most of the time. And I sure seem to have enough on my plate, already!

Studying Crochet
I’m trying to figure out what project I’ll do in crochet class for the next 3 weeks. This week we mostly covered things I have learned in previous classes (this is my third crochet class, but the longest one I’ve taken before was 4 hours on one day and this one is four weeks, 2.5 hours a week).

I’d love to crochet a rug but I’m not sure I’d learn much making a flat rectangle. I am leaning toward a laptop bag or messenger bag, preferably felted. I’d rather find a pattern so that I can practice following other folks’ instructions. I seem to do fine making up crocheted things but I want to learn to follow others. We’ll see, I have a week to settle on something there. Anyone out there who has tried a pattern they liked?

Signing off for now…

Stop the presses! There was a single blossom in our yard this morning!!! I took this photo on my way to crochet class this morning, about 10:25am.

The National Weather Service says that at 3:55pm today it was 38F (3.3C). I’m here to say the sky was especially beautiful today, and I got some time to appreciate it. We had about 60% fluffy white clouds, and behind that you could actually see an amazing sky; blue, almost with a tinge of purple. The sun shone and it was like a picture postcard.

Brian and I went on a short walk. I enjoyed being out there without needing layers and layers of wool to protect me from the cold.

I have to admit, this flower just picked a lucky place to grow. It is at the join between the foundation of the house and the soil, on the south side. It gets more sun than most places in our yard at this time of year, and it happens to be directly under the hot-air exhaust of the clothes dryer. Not so close as to get cooked, but close enough to be teased that it might actually be warm outside occasionally. Silly plant, to believe such things!

I don’t care what artificial means it took to bloom. I was overjoyed with this tiny flower (it’s about the size of the tip of my smallest finger). I first thought it was a violet, as we have them growing wild on that side of the house. They are usually the first to bloom each year.

But looking at this photo (now that it is dark outside), I think it is a periwinkle/myrtle bloom. We have a lot of this ground cover on two sides of the house, it does very well in the mostly-shady yard. It definitely would not have bloomed this soon if it were not in the dryer-vent area.

We also have several daffodil buds growing fatter right now, and the daylilies are pushing up spring green shoots. I think it’s too early to say we won’t have more frost/snow, but the daffodils are optimistic. I’ll take it, for today!

Well, looks like I’ll be taking a Crochet class at Threadbear for the next 4 Friday mornings. I’m up too late to get there with enough sleep but I got caught up a bit last night, anyway.

I really want to understand crochet more, I don’t think I’ll ever be more fond of it than Knitting but they do work well hand in hand. I’d particularly like to make a laptop case in crochet, and a rug or two or seven. I like single crochet a lot, and tapestry crochet and afghan stitch. I’m not really big on double or triple crochets as a base fabric, though they work well in combination with other stitches as edgings (such as on my mohair Bloom Shawl).

So I’m presenting to you a lot of photos, finally developed, from Bloomiefest. Not much text, but hopefully the photos will talk a little for themselves.

First photo, a general idea of what Bloomiefest is. We all hang out in one large room and play with whatever fiber thing it is that strikes our fancy. It included spinning on wheels and drop spindles and spindolyns, knitting, weaving, needlefelting, tatting, and surely more I can’t think of right now. In the photo, left to right, I think is Viki’s back, Anita, Val o/o, Sue, Maggie’s back (wearing a gorgeous handmade Mexican ruana with embroidery), and Angel.

Second photo is Diane wearing her map of the world sweater. Cool. What else can be said about that? Third photo is Sue, Sherri and Maggie at the Japanese Steakhouse Saturday night. Most of the participants went to a highly-rated Italian place, but a few of us who were either adventurous or allergic to Italian food options, went for Japanese and had a wonderful time.

Next is Sherri at her lotions/soaps/candles (and rovings) booth, wearing her “Queen of Lotions and Potions” T-Shirt. After that is a skein of yarn spun by Faith on a spindle during the weekend. We loved it, and determined that the yellow was a wild card in the roving, no way to know if it would be nice or awful when spun. In the end, the yellow turned out the bit that made the yarn incredible rather than just nice.

Last is a ball of yarn spun on a drop spindle by Jeanie (using rovings dyed by my friend Rae in Lansing) and the start of a knitted project using the spun yarn. Pretty, huh?

I had a very nice time, met new friends, enjoyed the company of those I knew from previous years. I knit a bit, I sold well, and I’m happy I went.

I used to volunteer, for about 6 years, with an organization of young college women. Every March they hated each other. The girls rotated, with significantly different members each year… the issues they got mad about changed, but it was regular as rain. In April, they would be buddies again.

Wed. I had a magical time with my CityKidz Knit! program because they heard me defending/protecting them from some older bullies. I lived on that feeling for the day, then went home and got moody with my beloved Brian. Several of my email lists are having rough times right now, as well.

Remember, if you feel upset, it might just be the time of year. See if you can just sit on it for 2 weeks. If you still find it an issue then, perhaps that would be the time to pursue it. I wish I’d remembered that last night.

I thought I’d get Bloomiefest photos up Tuesday. After all, I didn’t have any classes/guild meetings planned. But I was sooo tired that I slept till 11 trying to make up for the lost sleep this weekend. And then I spent a bunch of time doing the business paperwork behind the busy weekend I had.

I did get to go to Rae’s for a while, which was quite fun. I’m always running into people I know there and today was no exception (Hi, Luann! I know you read this…). And then I went to dinner at Altu’s, and ran into more people I know.

On the way home I had a drama-queen moment when my car decided to secure itself without my input, locking all doors with the keys on the front seat after I’d popped the hood. But as I have said here before, people are usually good and that made everything work out.

I was at the corner gas station exactly 1.5 miles from my house, where I typically go when my car needs service. Our friend John works there. John knew this guy who was there filling up the tank, knew the guy has a business about 6-8 blocks from my house.

Guy and kid were on their way home from a basketball game, not in a huge hurry. Guy (Jim from Hyacinth House Greenhouses near Mt. Hope and Pennsylvania, to be specific) took me home so I could get a key and get into my car. He offered to take me back to the gas station when I got the key.

Lucky me, when I got home Brian had just arrived there from work. So Brian and I took his key to my car at the gas station, and all was well.

Remember, there are good people all over if we don’t allow ourselves to be afraid at inappropriate times. I am grateful I can see this. It sure helped me out today.

You know, I used to really enjoy the energy of drama queen stuff. Today I was not into it, I figured out a few plans that might work to make things turn around.

I didn’t flip out or get depressed that things were not going smoothly, but I didn’t need to moan and groan and derail the rest of the day because of it, either. I think I’m growing up a little.

Knitting content? Not much. I forgot my knitting when I went out to Rae’s and Altu’s. I finished one sample sock (slipper footie in fun, fat yarn) for Rae’s shop so will take that to her probably Thursday.

This photo is my friend Sue from Bloomiefest… from the 2004 event. She had just dyed yarn with Kool-Aid and it looked great. This year’s pictures as soon as I can sit still at the computer and edit a big pile o’photos.

I got home from Bloomiefest at 2:45 am and pretty much fell straight into bed, leaving the car to be mostly unpacked on Monday. I had a great time, took a bunch o’pictures and probably will have time to process them and post them on Tuesday. Mondays are just a very busy day for me, I start at 10:45am and go till 8:00pm teaching… with a long lunch, thank goodness, in the middle (where I today will run errands to bank and yarn shops, but this is good). No time for PhotoShop.

And let me tell you, I will be sleeping in late tomorrow morning! We have a special election tomorrow and I sure hope no campaign decides to call and wake me before I’m ready to get up!

It is really windy right now, it was hard to keep the car going in a straight line on the highway for part of the trip last night. The good news? It’s nearly 60F/15.5C degrees out. The last time I saw snow was nearly a week ago. It has been raining since Thursday and the grass is just soggy from all the water, but this will make happy plants when spring truly arrives. (No, this isn’t the last of snow, I’m sure of that, but it’s a lovely break.) With this wind, who knows what new weather pattern will blow in, but I’m happy with warmth and a little sun today.

I heard a lot of birds making noise this noon, and the sun somehow is creating shadows though the sky appears mostly full of big fluffy white clouds, some promising more rain.

I noticed last week that the squirrels had come to frantic life and were dodging car tires in this neighborhood at every possible opportunity. They sure did not evolve to survive city traffic well! The grass in the yard has holes in it where the squirrels apparently found nuts stored. Good for them!

Knit News
Today at my high school knitting program, I was video-interviewed by a student (it was her first interview) about my experiences with knitting. It will be shown on the public access channel for the Lansing Schools, I’m not sure when. I did not know this was going to happen, but I’m a ham and always game to be on camera. We’ll see if that amounts to anything.

OK, I’m off to print out handouts for my computer class students and get going on the next part of my busy Monday. Let’s hope I can do a little Bloomiefest report tomorrow when I don’t have any classes to teach.

It was a day of knitting, eating, talking, knitting, eating, talking and more knitting. I knit a little on a pair of socks for me out of my own Tiptoe Sock yarn, and a little on a Button Hat kit, and a little on my Aspen Sweater, and more on my olympic knitting top/vest than I’ve done in almost a week. I have to remember to decrease on every other round for the socks and every row on the top at this point, and I’m not good at remembering intermittent things while chatting, but I haven’t ripped much.

My Aspen sweater back is ready to join to three other pieces that are not yet cast on/started. So really, right now I’m best off doing the socks or hat for low-stress, low-focus knitting.

Four of us went to dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse (the others had Italian). It’s a new place in town, just a few months. It was good entertainment and good food. My friends all ate something which was prepared at the grill table where we sat. I was really happy to have some avocado rolls, cucumber rolls, edamame (steamed soybeans in the pod) and a small portion of smoked salmon sushi. Yes, raw fish but smoked rather than totally raw. It’s actually quite tasty if you throw away pre-conceived ideas of what food should be/not be.

It was sort of fun to knit in public at the Japanese restaurant. Two of us were knitting and one was spinning yarn on a drop spindle (a very portable way to make yarn). We had a few curious looks. We enjoyed the looks very much!

Then, of course, we went back to the hotel to knit and talk again. Now it’s past 2am here and past 3am at home. Bedtime. I did take photos but they will need to wait.

I found my way to Bloomington, Illinois and my friends at Bloomiefest. I got here later than I wanted (I tend to run late especially when it involves lugging things around and overnight stays) but I still had time to mostly set up the booth before they closed down the conference room for the night. We start again at 9am, slightly early for me but I’ll make it.

You know, it’s the little things that make life easier. Friends helped me lug my stuff from the car and do some of the set up. Then my room had both a small microwave and refrigerator… for someone like me who has to bring much of her food, that was a wonderful happy surprise. Then the hotel had fast wireless Internet. This hotel isnt’ as fancy looking as the one where we met the last 2-3 years, but I’m liking the service at the front desk and the conveniences in my room, much better.

The only down side is that my friend who was going to share a room with me, couldn’t make it. Maybe she will come tomorrow, maybe not. I enjoy her company so much, and we only see one another at Bloomiefest, so I’ll be bummed if she can’t come.

However, there are old friends here and new ones yet to meet. This will be the most fun a person can have working, I think!

(Call for Submissions)

July 2006

A show of fiber and textiles with an emphasis on knit and crochet. What sorts of artwork is being done with threads as a major component. curated by Susan Hensel & Lynn DT Hershberger www.colorjoy.com

The show is expected to travel to at least one venue in Michigan for the month of August or September.

MEDIA
fiber dominant artwork with thread/string/yarn as a major component or inspiration. Installation, free standing sculpture, wall or ceiling mounts welcome (10.5 foot ceilings)

HOW TO APPLY
Send accurate slides,photos, jpg’s, MAC compatible cd-rom, or drawings of the work you plan to show, with SASE for return, or Email high quality jpg’s. Written explanation of the work is welcomed. Appointments may be made for in-person viewing of
work.

Accepted artists will be expected to provide a resume and artist’s statement about their work and any available press clippings. Accepted artists will be asked to provide client lists as well.

SALES AT SUSAN HENSEL GALLERY
The gallery keeps 40% of the sale price. The artist receives 60% of the sale price.

INSURANCE, SECURITY, SHIPPING
Susan Hensel Design carries a basic loss policy that will pay the artist 60% of the sale price in the event of theft or total loss. The gallery building also has a security system and residential occupancy.

All shipping costs are the responsibility of the artist.

PUBLICITY
1000-2500 postcards will be distributed local, area and national press kits will be sent email and fax publicity
and your help planning guerrilla marketing.

DATES and CHECKLIST
• slides, jpg’s, photos for up to 3 works, w/ SASE, slides due: May 15 ,2006
• accepted work due June 30, 2006with return shipping enclosed. UPS or FED EX ONLY. No COD’s
• artists reception Saturday, July 8, 5-9 pm
• all work picked up at end of show

Susan Hensel Gallery
a gallery of Narrative Art
3441 Cedar Ave. S,
Minneapolis, MN 55407

phone/fax 612 722-2324

Susan Hensel
BFA ‘72, U of Michigan
susan@susanhenseldesign.com
www.susanhenseldesign.com

I’m dyeing yarn this week for a knitting retreat in Bloomington/Normal Illinois which starts Friday. The retreat is called Bloomiefest (doesn’t have a web page but does have a Yahoo Group). We meet and do all things fiber-artsy for Friday/Sat/Sun and for some even Thursday night or Monday morning. Some folks just come in for one day… if you’re interested do send me an email and I’ll get you contact information.

I’ll be selling my yarns and it looks like I may be taking Rae’s handpainted rovings as well. In the past, I was the second fiber vendor next to a woman who has a yarn/fiber shop. She brought lots of spinning/feltmaking supplies so I didn’t overlap her merchandise in that area. Now I found out a few days ago she won’t be at the retreat this year, so it looks as though Rae will help me make sure the participants can get fiber for their spinning wheels/feltmaking projects if they wish.

Of course, this last-minute push means I’m in the basement studio rather than at my computer for hours at a time… making pretty things that won’t likely make it to the website. Forgive my relative silence until I get back on Sunday night, it will be “catch as catch can” until then.

Our musical friend, Gerald Ross, has a newly designed website. There is a good deal of instrumental music there to download. He’s very talented at guitar, Hawaiian Steel Guitar, and Ukulele. His site says, in part:

(Gerald’s) musical virtuosity and entertaining mix of swing, blues, Hawaiian, Tin Pan Alley and American roots music are a joy to hear.

And eclectic? When the mood strikes him, he will pick up a mandolin, bass, charango, banjo, harmonica, Cajun accordion and, as mentioned, the ukulele.

Perhaps you would like to go check it out.

The sun is shining in Lansing. There was not a cloud in the sky earlier, now we have a fine film of very high feathery clouds but it has not changed the sunshine. There are still piles of snow in many places, but you can see grass more than snow. It’s 45F (7.2C) degrees out there, mothers are pushing strollers, but it’s still relatively quiet in the neighborhood.

My friend April called from across the street and said she saw crocus shoots pushing up through the soil in her yard. No flowers, it’s significantly too early for that, but anything green is exciting right now.

Here’s a photo from the same angle I often use (from my porch facing south) to show you changes in the weather here. You can see there is still snow here and there, and the grass/sky have relatively little color. However, sharp shadows are so rare in Michigan this time of year, I’m really celebrating that sunshine!!!

My mother just called. She is in the Polk County Senior Games (it’s a Senior Olympics, the largest one in Florida) this week and last. So far she and Fred have won 4 gold, 4 silver, and 1 or 2 bronze medals in ballroom dancing, and Mom won two silver for the 50 yard and 100 yard dashes. (She has one more event this week, a longer walk where she doesn’t expect a medal.) Go mom!

She said they won Gold in all the “fun” dances, which I think includes Polka, Jitterbug and Twist. She said they were the only ones in their age group to enter the Twist, so they could do anything they wanted. They got goofy a little but won the gold just for having the guts (and stamina) to participate! Good for them.

They are in the age group for folks in their 70s, but Fred can still pull Mom through his legs in the Jitterbug. That always brings the crowd to a roar!!!

I hope I’m like my mom when I grow up. She rocks!

I did a lot of running around on Monday. I taught at the High School in the morning, had lunch at New Aladdin’s with Tony, then ran a few errands (pharmacy, copy center, etc.) and went to Haslett on the far side of Greater Lansing to teach two computer classes. On the way home I picked up Japanese food (yum) and my mail at the Post Office.

While I was out and about, between all these places, I was knitting. Nothing is making great progress, because I have four projects going and all need differing amounts of attention depending on where I am at the moment I’m needing a project.

I am slowly working on my top/vest, the one I did for Knitting Olympics and then ripped out. Just now I finished what I think is the last increase row for the lapel. I may be off 4 rows but I have the right number of stitches, so I’ll look at it again when I’m not falling asleep at the keyboard.

The smallest of the projects is a very-simple Red Heart Acrylic rectangle on size 3 needles, which will be bound off and sewn into a water bottle “cozy.” Not fancy but I’m trying to inspire the kidz in the high school project I started not even two months ago. I do have a few regulars but many of them can’t really picture possible projects they could do. This is easy but takes a few more stitches than a wristband. I hope it goes over. I’ll give it to the woman whose classroom we use, so folks will see her using it. I don’t like the feel of synthetics so I knit this project only when I’m with the kidz at the school, or if I get stuck at a railroad crossing waiting for a train in the car. It will be another week or two before that’s done.

Another project is the bulky Aspen sweater. I’m nearly done with the second ball of yarn and it’s an impressive size already. It’s a K1P1 rib which doesn’t always make me smile, but the yarn is SO easy to work with, that I did this project while waiting at the pharmacy.

The last project is legwarmers in turquoise. Yum. I cranked on the beginning of this project in Ann Arbor the other day, but then I had to readjust and decide how much to increase and where, for the top part (I’m making them up as I go). Now I’ve increased and I’m probably almost halfway up the first one. These will be wonderful once they are done.

Oh, Man! Falling asleep at keyboard… seeya later.

I taught polymer clay to seven enthusiastic women at Threadbear Fiberarts on Sunday. (The Boyz I mention in the title, are the two owners of the shop, Rob and Matt.)

We had fun, fun, fun! Well, early on we struggled with a batch of too-crumbly clay, but we persevered through all that and made some very wonderful things. Here is a photo of the first tray of goodies we put in my portable oven.

I had a chance to chat with Rob a bit on the way out the door for the night. This sweater was on a mannequin near the front door. This would be Rob’s Olympic Knitting project. It’s a particularly wearable sweater, wouldn’t you say? It’s a Colinette project, a tape yarn. You can read about this sweater challenge and other knitting adventures at his blog, Black Dog.

For the record, I’m knitting on three different projects right now. I am still slowly plugging away on my own Knitting Olympics project (the Sally Melville Purl Stitch Cross-Over Top from her Purl Stitch book).

It was worth ripping out the front pieces of this project down to the armholes, because this time I am matching the pattern so far. I think this might actually work! It’s just slow going because of smallish needles, splitty yarn requiring constant watching of each stitch, and purling a lot more than usual. Never mind I’m back to full-tilt in my business (no more vacation which is fine) and that means less personal knitting time.

I’m also about 7 or 8 inches into the Aspen bulky sweater. It goes fast and I can knit that in the dark (did so on the way back from Ann Arbor in the car, on Saturday night).

And yesterday I started a legwarmer in the turquoise/multi yarn I got at Threadbear a week ago on sale. I thought then and still think that I’d love to own a sweater made of this yarn. I’m not sure I’d love to knit that sweater, though! We’ll see if I give in to the temptation, but I need to deal with the two tops I have in process already, before I do yet another.

I did catch up with all the weekend photos but now I’ll need to take some knitting photos for you. Monday is rough, I teach 3 classes, so no promises as to when the photos will show up. Have as good a Monday as you can, my friends!

Friday night the Habibi Dancers took over New Aladdin’s restaurant at Frandor shopping center. Lauren and I danced the first shift, and she and Lorice danced the second shift…

For the second show, most of the troupe and many significant others came to bid Maya goodbye. She’s moving to Tucson (where two of my former dance buddies have moved, so at least she’ll know a few folks there and have someone to dance with). Sad but festive… all at once.

Here are photos of Lauren and Lorice last Friday. They were so beautiful to watch. Lorice has the most beautiful smile of any dancer I’ve ever seen. She just glows. I realize this photo has her eyes closed, but doesn’t she look just as happy as a person can be? She’s gorgeous, and I liked this photo even better than the more traditional (eyes open) ones I took.

And last, but significantly not least, is a photo I took of Maya a few years ago. I love her much and will miss her deeply. Good-bye, my friend!

I just added photos to the entry from March 4… knitting class, plus music photos from the Ann Arbor Uke-athon. My, that was a fun time!

(I’m disappointed that all my photos of Peter Madcat Ruth did not turn out well enough even for the web. Perhaps you’ll click the link to his website and see his smiling, beautiful self. This man smiles from his head to his toes. And on top of that he’s an incredible musician…)

Saturday I taught a Watercolor Bag class at Little Red Schoolhouse. I had fun with Lisa and Linda and their beautiful color combinations. I got photos of their yarn choices and will show you soon, when I have time to sit at the computer longer than a few minutes.

When I got home from class, we (Brian and I) piled into the car and went to Ann Arbor (just over an hour away) and participated in the Uke-tacular Uke-athon sponsored by the Ann Arbor Music Center (a school that teaches rock guitar or ukulele among other subjects).

The venue was a lovely small space typically used for chamber music, called the Kerrytown Concert House. It’s literally an older house kept up well, in an area of Ann Arbor I know well and adore. It was an enthusiastic crowd indeed.

We got to hear Peter “Madcat” Ruth who I’d not heard for a while. He plays a mean harmonica which is how I knew his name… but he plays uke just great and did a wonderful, energetic, good-feeling sort of set to start the night off. Wonderful!

Other performers were The Fabulous Heftones (us), our friends from the Dearborn/Detroit area (a club, they perform as Uke ‘n Sing), Gerald Ross on uke and Hawaiian steel guitar, Geoff Davis, Howie Clark and Howie Vogel from Indianapolis, with a cameo solo vocal by Kathy Gravlin.

Of course a few of us gathered together afterward and jammed past midnight. And I work at noon. So again, photos later. So sorry.

Sunday noon I’m off to Threadbear to teach Polymer Clay beads and buttons class. I have seven students, this is going to be one fun Sunday!

(Dating this post Saturday since that’s when the content happened. Photos after class…)

Photos (added Sunday in the wee hours): 1 & 2) color combinations used by Lisa (left) and Linda (right) in Watercolor Bag class at Little Red Schoolhouse. 3) Kerrytown Concert House. 4, 5, & 6) Fabulous Heftones, Uke ‘n Sing, and Indiana/Ann Arbor contingent (Left to right, Howie Clark, Howie Vogel, Geoff Davis of Midwest Ukefest, Gerald Ross, Kathy Gravlin).