Last Friday I worked with my skein-winding helper during the day. At night, Brian and I made up for the delay in time off, and went to two fun events.

First we went to New Aladdin’s restaurant in Frandor, to see friends dance. Najmah and Mahtaab are very good dancers who have always been true friends, supportive on and off the stage. I was glad to go and support their show. It will be my turn to dance there on February 2, and I’m sure they will be there as well.

I got some good photos. The secret to good dance photos is to take a LOT of shots. It’s a losing proposition, most times you do not get the exact moment you wanted to capture. If you take enough photos, though, a few will come out well.

First here we show Mahtaab in a purple and green costume she made herself (talented woman, indeed). Look at that winning smile!

Next we have a photo of Najmah entertaining the crowd. She is also a very talented seamstress, but I’m relatively sure that she did not make all the parts of this costume. Dancers tend to borrow costumes a lot and I think part of this was borrowed.

Finally, we have a photo of the two ladies dancing together. Usually we take turns dancing, which gives each dancer a rest before the next dance. However, on Friday for their last number, they did a “finale” where they both danced to the same music. It was great fun, for the crowd and I bet for them as well.

After we enjoyed the dance show, we found our way to a party on the east side of Lansing. We were quite honored to be invited, as we have not known the hosts very long. They are creative people… music folks we met through Magdalena’s Teahouse. I think we were the only people in the house with gray hair… well, maybe one other guy was closer to our age than the other folks. We did recognize maybe 4 or 5 people including the hosts. We got to know other guests quickly enough, and it was a great crowd.

Some of the people in this city gathering are farmers and gardeners. You should have SEEN the food! I think some of it had only been picked that week. Beautiful winter squash, for example. All sorts of good food of every description. Beautiful, artful nourishment. Very impressive.

After eating for a while, they had a talent show.

The first act was the host and hostess… he wore a huge wool sweater and she got in the back of it, with her arms through the sleeves. They came on as one person and she played the guitar, put his hat on and off, scratched his ear or whatever mannerisms she could pull off pretending to be his hands. It was quite funny.

Then two women (one was the hostess) singing a song about a hippo with noodles on his back. I’m not sure if that was an original song or if it was some children’s ditty. They really did a lot with expressing themselves and it was quite entertaining, noodles notwithstanding.

Next was a mime. She did a very fine job. I did not expect this sort of act and was very impressed.

Following that, was a juggling act. Two people juggled three small pumpkins. Yes, really. I was poised for a “splat” but it did not happen.

We were asked to sing before the skits and again after the skits. It was an honor.

We tend to play a different list of musical selections when we have the honor of playing for a younger (under 35) crowd. They do not know our songs that are obvious sing-alongs for the over-60 crowd (which makes up much of our fan base). Therefore, we tend to sing more of the novelty numbers, and songs we find to have engaging melodies or lyrics.

For example: in a typical sing-along crowd, we might choose April Showers, Me and My Gal, and Shine on Harvest Moon. For a young crowd, we play Paddlin’ Madeline Home, I Love Me and If You Can’t Land Her on the Old Veranda, You Can’t Land Her at All. This means we lean more on Brian’s tunes and less on mine (which are schmaltzy love songs for the most part) but it also means everyone has the best sort of time we can give them.

Here I offer you four photos of the talent show. It was a wonderful time. We went home perhaps too soon, because we were pretty tired… but I’m glad we took enough time to go and meet some new friends.

I spend all day driving around from one appointment to the next. In less than 24 hours I drove 42 miles, and I hadn’t left the Greater Lansing Area. Last week I taught ten classes in five locations. This week I will have 8 classes and two musical performances. I’m very grateful for the work, but I am wiped out. I’m emotionally exhausted lately. I need to look at my scheduling and start giving myself days off again.

When I started teaching, I spent some time with my loving brother, Eric. He implored me to make days without appointments. I scheduled Tuesdays alone and Fridays where Brian and I both had the day off. Now, sometimes I had guild meetings on Tuesday nights, but that’s something I’d do no matter if I worked in the knitting arena or not. Generally, it was a quiet and wonderful day alone, capped with a social gathering.

Well, right now I have a helper in my dyeing business. The only day that both of us seem to be able to connect is on Tuesdays. So now I dye yarn on Tuesdays, at least afternoon/evenings. Or that is, I work on the knitting business while she skeins yarn.

Sometimes I write patterns or print patterns, sometimes I take photos of yarn for the web. But without her I would be significantly less productive, and thus I’ve given up more of my Tuesdays. Usually I still have Tuesday mornings free, so far.

Fridays vary, I sometimes schedule classes, sometimes have events with Brian (this week is a 50th anniversary in Grand Rapids for his aunt/uncle). I’m more likely to have a Friday off than a Tuesday, but on Fridays Brian is in the house. I adore Brian but I need some time in dead silence and serenity… he’s not loud at all but it’s different when he’s home.

Besides being overfocused on my art/knitting business, I’ve been focused on new recipes, trying new foods (that I’m probably not allergic to). I finally “woke up” tonight that I was too focused on the food thing when I found myself reading in a cookbook: “…if you have goats…”

What? If I have goats? Oh my, where did reality go? I feel like I just woke up on mars! I’m a citygrrl who needs to eat a broad variety of foods each week. I tease that I’m an “earth muffin” because I eat organic sometimes, because I actually like tofu, because I’d rather eat beans than meat, can tell the difference between a turnip and a rutabaga. But I’m just reading a cookbook, and I get hit with that?

I don’t have as much as a gerbil or parakeet. I had no garden this year, and when I do have one it’s about a yard/meter wide and not as deep. I don’t grind my own grain, I wish I could call for carry out! I need a life! Aaaaargh, as my friend Charlie would say.

OK, I do have a spinning wheel… I do make yarn “from scratch” but I buy CLEAN wool, usually dyed and combed wool, for me to spin. No dirt, no animals, nothing to shovel, thanks! I really appreciate those (some of you who read this blog, even) who raise the animals to produce fiber that I use. However, that lifestyle does *not* appeal to me!

Goats. How did I get to that? I need a day off!

(For the record, I admit I didn’t have to leave the house today till 1pm. I didn’t get home till almost 9pm, but I did have a tiny bit of leisure, and I enjoyed that YouTube exploration I shared with you…)

This is the coolest YouTube video I’ve seen today. It literally includes a dance instruction with photos of a couple dancing… well, just their feet. Before that, an orchestra with dancers. And after, there’s a clip of a couple dancing on top of a car/taxi in busy traffic. A must see for those with interest in dance, the 20s, or popular culture/history. It’s not slick, but it’s charming.
How to Do the Charleston

(Now I’m off to have a workday. It’s such a luxury to have a morning free!!! I’ll get home around 9pm but at least I got to stay home past noon…)

Oh, wow! We just got faster internet this week and Brian has been checking out YouTube. It’s a place where folks put up videos. Often it’s hokey home videos or a quite amateur take from a small pocket digital camera of a live concert, for example. But there are a few historical gems as well.

Ruth Etting was one of the most popular singers of the flapper era. She has a very interesting story (married to a mobster) and I think her personal life was really sad… but boy, could she sing… and from what I understand her peers adored her.

Now there is some Ruth Etting on YouTube. I just finished watching “That’s Him Now.” Oh, my. Flapper and then some. Totally 1920s. If your connection is at all good, I highly recommend this cut.

Also consider these items from the same era:

Anita Page Tribute

Ukulele Ike (with crowd of tap dancers)

Singing in the Rain (Ukulele Ike and dozens of dancers, incredible)

Gold Diggers of Broadway (tap, acrobatics, ballet and incredible costumes)

Annette Hanshaw (my fave early jazz singer, this from 1933)

My family gathered on Sunday for our annual holiday event. We celebrated my birthday (coming up on Nov. 28), Thanksgiving and Christmas. We did not give gifts for the second year in a row. We eat and chat, and this time Brian and I sang a little.

My family consists of me, Brian, my brother Eric and his wife Diana, my Mom and her beau of decades, Fred. That’s the whole family, in the whole state of Michigan. The closest second cousins are in Illinois and the closest first cousins/aunts & uncles are in Minnesota.

I sort of like the compact nature of my immediate family. There is no chaos at our gatherings, it’s peaceful even when the talk on a subject becomes passionate. For the most part, one person speaks at a time and I don’t miss out on anything. My mind does not filter out chaos well and when I’m at larger gatherings I am not comfortable. This small stuff is “just right,” as Goldilocks would say. Not alone, not overwhelmed. Very good.

We like to take photographs at gatherings. Mom especially likes to take the annual birthday photo. Some are better than others. This year I look very nice in front of my piece of pumpkin pie. We also got a group shot, Fred took it so five of us are in the photo. I like this photo very much.

Mom goes to Florida for the holiday season so we do the holidays early. I really enjoy this. It takes one important gathering out of the confusion of December. It lets me spend Thanksgiving at home with Brian. I like quiet holidays. Being home, sleeping in, eating food I bought the day before (just heating up in the microwave), that is the kind of Thanksgiving I can be most thankful for. We usually go for a walk, we have some sort of special dessert I typically make the day before. I knit and we play music and we hang around. It’s precious stuff for someone like me who is typically over-booked beyond capacity.

I’m thankful for one more year of enjoying my family. We’re all doing well health-wise this year, and we are really having fun belonging to one another. I know that many people can not say this, and I don’t take it for granted.

May you find something to be thankful for today.

In the USA Tuesday is voting day. For those who are registered US voters, please vote.

Remember, if you do not vote, you lose your right to complain about how things are going! If you ever doubted that one vote can make a difference, we learned otherwise not long ago in Florida. Please, do your part.

I took this photo last week. I sure think it turned out well!

The girl at right finished a scarf. A scarf is a *lot* of stitches for a child to complete. She’s very pleased with herself.

Sleep in. Check!

Cook goodies. Check!

Walk in sunshine. Check!

Bubble bath. Check!

Comfy clothes. Check!

Dinner with family. Check!

Music party with friends. Check!

Home, sweet home. Check!

(It was a good day.)

Lazy Lynn

Starting Saturday night I just plain grabbed on to selfishness for a while. I have been tired and stressed out, trying to not miss any appointments, stay on top of that incredibly confusing calendar, and try to get enough sleep and food. I’ve done maybe a B+ worth if I were to give myself a grade, but what maybe I should have done is not schedule so much in the first place! I’d rather be at an A, you know?

Saturday night we had dinner at Altu’s restaurant (we listened to Temesgen Hussein, which is always a treat) and although we had thought we might go to the excellent concert at Magdalena’s Teahouse, I was at the point of “crash or burn” so we went home. I’m bummed to have missed that event, it would have been both a music night and a social event, as we know many of the musicians who would have been there.

I’m glad, though, that I listened to that quiet inner voice which told me I needed to stop. Now. Right now.

We went home, I curled up in my Ethiopian cotton blanket (gahbi) and plunked myself on the floor right on top of the heat vent. I read a little about knitting and a little about time management (one can only hope to learn, after all) and then I just plain fell asleep. On the floor. Until 4:15am when I got up and went to bed upstairs. I slept about 11 hours, I’m guessing, and it was perfect. No alarm clock.

A New Day

Sunday is starting out beautiful, the sun is streaming in on me as I sit at my desk. I’m on my second cup of ceylon tea and I spent the morning making treats. You see, tonight is Thanks-Christmas at my Mom’s house and I am the one who brings a pumpkin pie, sans egg or milk.

I love pumpkin pie… I was born on November 28, which was the day after Thanksgiving that year. It seems to me we always celebrated my birthday on Thanksgiving, though that may only be true since I moved out. But somehow as a child I felt that was my holiday, perhaps that people were thankful I was born. For a fairly insecure but loud child, this was a good thought indeed.

So I bring pie I can eat and then I get pie for my “birthday cake” and it’s all good. It took me 6 months to get a recipe that was any good, and this version is even better than the one I had the first year.

Bakin’ Like a Pro

While I was baking that (it takes something like an hour and a half to bake the pies) I got busy in the kitchen making other treats. I made some brownies with oat and barley flour (rather than wheat) and I made some pumpkin butter (instead of fruit jam/spread in the morning) and last I made my siinful no-dairy tapioca pudding. That one is a real favorite.

I’ll share the 2 pies between three families (two people each) tonight. There will be enough pie left over from tonight’s dinner for Brian to have a good breakfast tomorrow. I’ll be happy with my tapioca pudding. Yesterday I made granola bars, they are already in baggies in the freezer. Today when the brownies cool, I’ll taste one to see if I guessed well with my substitutions. If they turned out, I’ll put them in baggies in the freezer, too.

It’s sort of a bummer to spend every day off making food for the other days, but it really makes my life better. For example, yesterday I had a 2 hour class at Threadbear, then a 2 hour class at Little Red Schoolhouse, then a 1 hour private lesson at a student’s home. That is a long time to be gone when I’d only had breakfast before leaving the house. Fortunately I had granola bars in my purse and I did not go without calories. I would have done better with “real food,” A.K.A. protein, but I did not lose concentration and I was not too hungry when I got to dinner.

I’m setting myself up for a good week, now. Maybe this is almost two weeks’ worth of snacks. I’m glad for that.

Creative Kitchen Experiments

I guess I’m an artist in all senses, because each kitchen experience is its own experiment. I always wonder if things will work out well.

Every time I bake, I change the ingredients a bit. I’m really clear that baking is chemistry… the acid/alkaline balance is crucial for items to rise properly, and if you want any sort of sweet crispiness you nave to have the right proportion of sugar/sweet to oil, because when you get it wrong, nothing carmelizes and it can be a pile of sweet powdery flour instead of a crunchy crust. Too much baking soda, and it tastes funny… not enough, or baking powder rather than soda or vice versa, it doesn’t rise.

I’ve learned that brownies do well with barley flour as part of the mix, and I can sub barley flour for rice flour successfully in several of my time-tested recipes. I used to make almost every baked good with a combination of buckwheat/oat/rice flours, instead of wheat. Now I’m trying to use more variety. It’s good for everyone to rotate foods, but for an allergic person it’s self-preservation, because anything I eat too much of, I can become allergic to that.

Meanwhile, I am a very good recipe-maker/changer. At least when it comes to sweets, I do a great job. All of the four items I made today, the recipes have been tweaked so many times, adding and subtracting ingredients and changing quantities, that they bear no resemblence to the recipes that once inspired them. If I’m lucky, they taste as good. Sometimes I’m thrilled, because they taste better.

Sunny Day!

I’m thinking I will go for a little walk in this beautiful sunshine. As soon as I can clear space in the refrigerator to chill the pies (this sort of pie will not cut properly if it is not cold), I think I’ll grab a coat and at least make a trip around the block on foot.

Then I may indulge in a long bubble bath. I will don the most colorful, comfortable clothing I own. I will knit a little bit on something that requires me to read the directions (a real luxury for someone who mostly knits on the run).

And then we will go hang out with my tiny family of six. Six in the state of Michigan. That is including our partners. Mom, Fred, Brian, me, Eric and Diana. I am so lucky that we get along so well. I’m very much looking forward to our meal and socializing. We gave up gifts last year and it’s very good. No stressing out trying to make or buy on a schedule, no cluttering up each others’ homes, when all three houses are trying to simplify. Just time together. It’s very good, very peaceful.

I’m really clear that not everyone gets along with their family, and I am delighted to have the situation I have right now. In fact, Mom and I have only really had about a dozen years where we really have been able to enjoy each other fully. I’m drinking it in.

Off to do more selfish good for myself. Nurturing the one who usually works and works and works… at things she loves, but who needs a rest as all humans do.

The Sheep in the City blog has a photo of a child at Rhinebeck (NY Sheep & Wool Festival) knitting with pencils as needles. Cool.

Ann of Mason-Dixon knitting found some handknit cotton lace socks at an antique vendor. Knit at 13 stitches per inch, friends. Knee high, size 10 foot, lots and lots of stitches. They are just gorgeous. I’m thinking you’ll want to go peek and read about it.

The new November MagKnits online knitting magazine has the coolest: A pattern for a knitted slice of blueberry pie, complete with lattice crust. Very cool.

Once I tried to make a polymer clay piece of pie but I did not like the results so I never finished. Pie is definitely an artform, food or not.

Deb Robson has a great story on her blog (The Independent Stitch), dated October 31, 2006. It’s about a sweater she knit over 30 years ago, and still wears regularly.

I found the story interesting and well written. Perhaps it is no surprise that she writes about much more than a sweater and the yarn she chose, it touches on relationship as well. Maybe you would like to read it, too.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is having this exhibit in their Design Gallery:

New School Knitting: The Influence of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Schoolhouse Press

October 27 - December 17, 2006

I have written of my fondness for Madison, Wisconsin before. Brian and I spent a few days of our honeymoon there, and we were there just this summer after the Susan Hensel Design Gallery opening where I first showed my knitted self-portrait.

I love it when galleries and/or museums honor knitting as the artform it can be. Madison is a long drive, but I can get there in one day. I wonder if I can see this show before it ends…

I just got a glimpse of my calendar page for this week, on my computer screen.

No wonder I’m a bit overwhelmed with my schedule. What a mess. To be fair, some of the blocks that look double-booked are where one thing cancelled and another was scheduled in its place. And the Sunday 1pm class was rescheduled, so I think I get to wake up slowly that day.

However, every block represents something scheduled, almost all of them I did do or will be doing. It makes me tired to look at it.

The blocks of scheduled time include two community education departments, three yarn shops, a private knitting student (at her home), work I do for Altu’s restaurant, my dyeing business, delivering products to shops. Not shown are trips to the Post Office for mailing out orders I receive via the internet. There are five personal things on this calendar; lunch with Altu, a family gathering, an allergy shot and two music gatherings that we may or may not be able to work out (both overlap other appointments).

I also notice that most days I don’t schedule lunch. I do get breakfast… I’m really big on breakfast, and Brian and I eat dinner together almost every night. However, only Thursday (when I schedule a lunch date with Altu) is a day when i actually plan time for lunch. I do usually get something to eat midday, but not always.

Why is it that when we are so close to the answer, we can not see? I guess I just plain am human. And I’m passionate about so much! It’s hard to say no.

Terese asked me today if I’m so busy because it is this time of the year. The answer is yes, in good part. August does not have six classes in a week. I’m lucky to have any classes in a week during hot summertime. I’m grateful for the work, but it does make scheduling a challenge.

I am definitely looking forward to the Thanksgiving weekend, when nobody wants to take classes. I hope to get out my knitting machine and see if I remember how to use it. I haven’t had it out since last December, I think.

Today I wore the only pair of handknit socks I had that were clean, as I dashed out of the house for my zillion appointments. I got about halfway through my day and realized that I could feel my toes touch the bottom of my shoe. With the socks on. Oh, drat.

I had thin spots in four places on the toes of these socks, between the two of them. They needed repair instantly or it was going to turn into monster holes before the end of the day.

Luckily I was at Foster Center teaching the CityKidz to knit. We had some purple sockyarn in the drawer (the socks in question are green/ navy/ purple/ turquoise) and I used several yards of that yarn to darn (mend) my socks. Then and there! I did have a few times when I almost sewed the top/instep of the sock to the bottom/sole, because I did not have a darning egg to do the job better. However, I’m delighted with the repair. I wore the socks home, ready to go for a while longer.

My mother taught me to darn socks. I think I was in 3rd grade or something around that age. She used the “weaving” method which actually can replace a large hole, where there is actually missing fabric. I still do use that method sometimes.

However, once when I was surfing the internet on sock darning, I found that some people darn with what is called “duplicate stitch” (embroidering over the knit stitches, one stitch at a time, to strengthen the fabric without changing its structure). This works best if you have at least a tiny bit of fabric left. It is very hard to do duplicate stitch when the fabric is actually missing in any spot. It can be done but it’s more hassle than I prefer to do on a sock.

In any case, I must say I love to darn socks. They take more visual attention than I can give sometimes, so they wait for me to catch up with them. I have many socks that need darning right now. I don’t darn commercial socks unless they are really special, but my handknits are worth the hassle.

I sort of like darning in a yarn that is not matched to the sock. I have one pair of worsted-weight winter socks in magenta/pink, that have been repaired in hot pink, plum, and at least two other magenta yarns. I love how it mostly matches, how it shows off the fact that I know how to do sock darning, which is a nearly-lost art.

I’m not sure if I feel clever or just accomplished, but I always have a smug/happy moment after darning socks. Hey, that’s pretty simple but how nice it is that I can be happy so easily!

Photo: Socks of Brian’s I darned long ago, but it shows duplicate stitch in contrasting yarn. Here it was green/blue repair yarn on gray/black base socks. On the bottom of the foot.