I joined the Etsy crowd. (For those outside the creative online community, http://etsy.com is a website where people who create original works can sell their products.)

In general, I love my own website and don’t have to pay commissions to sell from my own place. However, there are Etsy fans who have never heard of me and might find me only by shopping there. I was encouraged to sign up by Rae (http://extravayarnza.etsy.com) and so I just gave it a shot.

To celebrate and hopefully entice new buyers who I’ve not met before, I put up one kit/sale item on Etsy. Then I realized it would not be fair to you who follow me faithfully, to not tell you about the sale.

It’s a limited-interest item, as it’s a baby blanket kit in pinks and purples. However, normally the Cushy Colorsport (washable/dryable merino) is $39.99 per half-pound skein, and the pattern calls for two skeins. The pattern is $6. That makes it $85.98 for two skeins and a pattern. I’ve put it up on my Etsy shop at http://colorjoy.etsy.com for an even $75 which is a $10.98 discount. If you are in Lansing and I can deliver it in person, I’ll refund you the shipping charge it will automatically tack on, as well.

Or not. Your choice. It just seemed right to let you know. (And for those who have a different color in mind, write me about a similar discount on the Cushy ColorSport colors still available on my regular Colorjoy shop. (For example, if you have a boy on the way I have a cheerful Tweety Sweetie yellow in stock.)

This YouTube Video called “Women in Art” is a masterpiece of art in its own right. It is a series of dozens of images from art history, all women’s faces, morphed (is that the right word?) from one image to the other, flawlessly and with a solo cello as the only background sound.

Do take the 2 minutes and 52 seconds it takes to watch. Allow yourself to be inspired, intrigued, amazed. Wow.

I made huge progress in the house-tidying. The trash guys were never more welcome as this week at my house. Things look much better and I think my shoulders feel lightened from letting go.

Lately I’ve even cleaned out my coat closet and my “tea cupboard.” I tossed old Chinese teas I don’t like as well as the Japanese and English/Ceylon types I drink every day. Just letting go and sticking with everyday things is cheering.

In the midst of cleaning I see beautiful color. It’s the small things that make life grand. If we wait for big things, they will let us down. Little beauty is everywhere, every day. Like this photo of my dishes in the dishwasher. A peek at these colors together really can make me smile on the most mundane of days. I particularly love my turquoise mixing bowl, and it’s so beautiful overlapping the egg-yolk yellow salad plates, don’t you think?

I have been flitting about the world like a bird since mid April. I love travel, every moment is exciting and new. And when I get home, I love home.

I realized long ago that I was able to travel and try new things precisely because I keep my home steady as much as I can. For all the job changing I’ve done over the years, I have not done much house-changing. I did the college-girl shuffle for three years as expected, but that did not last long.

Then I lived in a house in Williamston for 12 years, spent 9 months in transition because of my divorce, and then bought myself a house (that is a huge statement) in Lansing. I lived there 3 years until I met Brian. I have lived in this house with Brian for about 11 years and I won’t budge unless we leave the state.

Home is home. Home keeps me stable and grounded. I am happy in my house alone or with Brian, whether we are in the same room or not. Actually, since I met Brian I’m more happy than ever to just be at home and not travel so much.

Today I have places to go, things to do, even an hour of work. I can’t tell you how much I’d rather stay sitting right here. Working but not with other people to distract me.

I’m making real progress in getting the mess out of my office, finally. The piles that were on the floor are handled. Now I’m working on the desk which had been piled so deep that it was a house of cards. Under all the current stuff I was actually using, was a collection of computer books… my instant DOS reference among them. I’m not a computer consultant anymore, they are on the way out.

First you have a mess. Then you have an even bigger mess. Then you have a long period of work. And then it looks better. But then you go to the next area and do it again. Once this room is done I have another room to tackle, maybe two, and there is still the yard with its taking-over-the-house climbing almost-wild roses.

I lose faith easily. I keep plugging anyway… because fortunately I have lived a long time and I’ve been me the whole time. I’ve made this sort of mess before and I’ve rescued myself from it before. This is a sort of an artform in and of itself.

And just maybe this time I’ll learn to toss things, to share things, to let go of things… a little sooner this time around. Before it gets quite this deep again. Just maybe?

No photos today. You’ll thank me for that. Added Later: I stopped to view the flowers and took a quick photo for you. Pretty, huh? The peonies just popped yesterday… the ones that almost died about 3 years ago.

(I’m not sure how I can do a better job of telling the Saturday story than Stephanie/Yarn Harlot, but at least I have different photos!!!)

Saturday morning came too soon, with not enough sleep under our belts but full enthusiasm for what was to come.

We tried to find a Tim Horton’s (Canadian donut/coffee place) for Rae, we had seen what felt like one on each block the day before. No luck. I brought food with me, not too exciting but it was fuel. I needed to mail a package and there was a Canada Post office in a drug store on the next block so we handled that right away, then we headed to the subway to meet other knitters for a Yarn Crawl.

We never did find that Tim Hortons, that is not until after dinner when we walked down the same street and it was staring us in the face. That’s life.

[Photos above were taken in front of the post office. I stood in one place and took both shots, by just aiming at a slightly different angle. First is the hotel where we stayed thanks to Rae’s adept use of Priceline, and second is a garden/park where locals were walking dogs, or chatting on benches. This is in the midst of very tall buildings, and a wonderful breath of fresh air. Lovely.]

On the way to our first stop we found ourselves at the Eaton Centre food court and got tea and coffee and breakfast for Rae. This is when I took the photo I posted a few days ago. Then we headed to Naked Sheep, the first of many shops.[Here is a good photo of my new friend Barbie O. of Montreal in the Naked Sheep… extolling the virtues of yarn, knitting, Toronto and friendship.]

I was not in the market for yarn (I know this seems incredible, but the trip was a spur of the moment trip and I am also traveling to Columbus next week so there was little wiggle room in the spending plan). Rae had a guideline that she would only buy items not available in Michigan. We got to Naked Sheep a bit late so the crowd was nearly ready to go. We did check around but did not purchase anything there. I fell in love with some Colinette Point Five (lumpy bumpy) in candy colors but left it there for someone else.

We enjoyed talking to the ladies working there, and got a good photo of the bunny who belonged to one of them. Very very fuzzy bunny. You can spin yarn with one of these on your lap… you just gently pluck their fuzz (they like this, it’s grooming and not painful or bad for them) and then spin it, then pluck a little more… and they just sit there happily on your lap. No, I haven’t done it but I’ve watched…

We posed for a “class photo” outside Naked Sheep and proceeded to the next stop via Trolley. We crammed in like happy knitting sardines in the back half of a car. It’s the transit/waiting times which allow us to build relationship, and we did. The rest of the world left us fully alone, which was odd but then again we were a bit loud as well as wielding pointy sticks (never mind how constructively in use). We enjoyed our bonding time.

Next stop was Americo Original. This place was more like an art gallery than a yarn shop, with the yarns handspun and made of fun fibers (silk, cotton, wool, llama from what I noticed). Very interesting handspuns.

I liked the turquoise bobble yarn best. Stephanie was right when she commented that it would make good scribble lace. Someday I’ll get some and make scribbles. I love scribble lace… but again, I was on the low-cost version of the yarn crawl and handspun is not in the low-cost realm. I was quite content to drink in the ambiance and creativity there. Wonderful.

THEN we walked to Romni Wools. Brian and I discovered this shop quite by accident in January of 2002, and he bought me so much yarn that day (as a delayed Christmas present) that I doubled my stash in one day. Remember, I only started knitting socks in spring of 2001 and I was exercising restraint, only yarn for a few pairs of socks ahead of my current project.

That day I went home with three bags of yarn, including cones (they have a basement with cones by the pound). One cone became the background color for my self-portrait last summer, most of it is knit up by now except the leftover cone yarn. The place is huge and overwhelming, even for someone who has been to WEBS and who lives 10 minutes from Threadbear.

See this picture of bins stacked so you can barely walk? This is not half of the first storefront, and then there is that basement. It’s really really amazing how much yarn you can cram into a few storefronts. This place is huge. It has high ceilings, two storefronts packed to the gills (yarn falling off shelves onto the floor wherever you go) and a basement full of by the pound cones. Also spinning goodies and finished knitted items. Wonderful. And a wall of sockyarn.

I almost got out without buying anything. Then Stephanie looked at me and picked up a ball of sockyarn. She said, “Only $5.50 a ball!” Mind you this is Canadian funds so that’s about ten percent less to me. And they were offering a ten percent discount to yarn crawlers. I showed remarkable restraint and purchased one single ball, to make footies. I did give in but it was a tiny fall, really. Right?

So then we trekked again using trolleys, to Lettuce Knit which is in the wonderful Kensington Market area. I love this area, I remember it from my very first trip to Toronto in 1975. [See two photos of the streets/neighborhood here.]

There are many small shops of all sorts, many foods, many produce markets, many restaurants. On Sundays I’m told they close off the streets and fill up with even more vendors (I think that is what I remember from the 70’s).

We checked out the store first, it had many quality items packed in there. We hung out in the front yard where there are many chairs. Luckily for us it was a nice day, because the shop itself is tiny (200 sq ft) but the garden had plenty of room for us all.

We all scattered for dinner with an agreement to reconvene in an hour and a half. Rae and I proceeded to find food. I had in my mind all Friday that I’d find Indian food on Saturday but it didn’t work out that way. I looked for sushi but actually I eat Smoked Salmon sashimi and not all the fun fancy rolls with sauces I can’t eat… and the place we checked out didn’t have smoked salmon.

We ended up with something that worked for both of us… a cafe with American/burgers, Jewish food (including lox) and mideastern food. Rae got a very good burger with freshly cut fries and I got a sampler plate with mideastern treats including some of the best hummous I’ve had in a long time.

Rae found some nice yarns at this shop and I chatted with the owner, Megan, a bit. I might have enjoyed taking home a bit of yarn but again I remembered that the gift of the trip was the trip itself. We took yet another set of “class photos” as we did at every shop that day.

Then came our trolley adventure. Or rather our non-adventure. Along came a car which was out of service. Then two cars which were full. Then one we took over, whew! We occupied our time by cramming all of us into the bus shelter. There were 24 of us including a baby, and two were taking photos, but we could definitely have fit a few more in there if we wanted. It was silly and fun and funny, and I was so glad to be part of it. We all need hilarity in our lives at times, you know???

Last but not least was Alterknit. We got there at closing time and they did not flinch, did not try to get us out, were more than friendly and accommodating. They sell yarn *and* coffee/tea, and we settled in for a bit of both. I got some great tea and got out my computer but even with their password I couldn’t figure out how to get online. At that point I was too tired to worry about it, as we were going home very soon anyway.

This store was so fun and funky and different… in the front window they had a line of sock monkeys (socks made by stuffing commercially-knit socks cut and sewn into monkey shapes… I have one from my childhood, made by my mother’s mother). Each monkey was “knitting” and the signs in the window indicated that they are easy to make but it’s harder to teach the monkey to knit. Funny!

There were some lovely yarns here, and also some interesting items made from wool. There were wrist cuffs from felted wool and T-Shirts with appliques made from felted wool as well. I am really exploring in my mind the possibilities of felted fabrics right now, so that got me thinking a bit.

We had to leave. I thought I’d left my good beret/hat at a shop on Friday so we went there hoping to find it. (In true LynnH fashion we found it in my car after that trek, even though we’d tried to find it in the car before we started out for the day… go figure).

In the end we took got our car back at the hotel, left the parking ramp at 8:30pm and got back to Lansing in the wee hours. I was in bed at 3:30am. We did more talking in the car than usual on the trip back so that we could keep each other alert, because I have a policy of not driving with my eyes closed and I made Rae agree to the same policy (she did not flinch). We had the MOST fun together ever. More fun than really should be possible in two days, you know? I’d do it again in a minute.

Thank you, Stephanie, for creating a space and culture where this sort of connection can happen. For being yourself and for opening yourself to community… for understanding the community, championing it and making sure that non-knitters see it, recognize it, and perhaps even value it. The bookstore won’t underestimate knitters again, and I am guessing our visibility will continue to grow. It was a wonderful time and we felt fully welcomed.

(Toronto/Yarn Harlot story will be told before and after this post… thanks for your understanding.)

I did have a good Sunday/Monday off. I slept in, went for a long walk Monday, cooked a bit, did one load of laundry and two of dishes, knit a tiny bit, gardened a few minutes and kept at floor-clearing in my office.

In spite of my resistance to going through papers, magazines and junk mail, I tossed almost one trash bin of paper, moved magazines to another room which is more appropriate, moved other things to appropriate places, filed when possible, put a few things where they belonged and continued to look for items to toss.

I understand that once something is not in my house any longer, I’ll never have to look at it again and decide where it goes. It’s harder to do than it sounds.

I think we’ll be able to put down the new rug tomorrow. It would be done already if I were a tidier person. For now I need to admit who I really am, though. I’d rather create than clean.

More Yarn Harlot *Toronto Represent Adventure* photos within 24 hours. Thanks for hanging in there.

[Photo: for your ColorJoy visual entertainment, here is a pic Rae took of me on the Saturday yarn crawl in Toronto. We were on a streetcar/trolley and I was wearing my newly-lengthened Turkish-inspired legwarmers and my Party Stole (pattern to be released as soon as I can get proper photos).]

Friday Rae and I started out for Toronto to attend Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Canadian book launch… I took my passport (not required yet but convenient since I have one) and she took her birth certificate. Fortunately, we didn’t need them (yet), we didn’t even need drivers’ licenses to get into Canada. We *did* have a chat with customs as is to be expected. It was not any harder to cross either way, really, than it was years ago. This surprised and pleased me.

Rae said she has encountered protesters before at the border and that day she had a one-hour delay. Here we were just before noon on the Friday of a three-day weekend, and we breezed through. Yippee. Traffic wasn’t bad, either, even in construction zones except the one a stone’s throw from Toronto. Smooth sailing.

We got to town, checked in, grabbed our goodies and took off. We had planned to aim for the Textile Museum’s fabric sale but had not made clear notes as to where that was. The hotel thought it was very near the Indigo (bookstore) where Stephanie was to speak/sign books, so we headed that way feeling perfectly fine that we might miss the sale. We were not in Toronto for fabric, anyway… though it seemed a fun possible way to spend our time.

We decided to walk from the hotel (at Jarvis and College) to Indigo (Bloor and Yonge) which was not too far. We really enjoyed the walk, checking out several shops on the way up. There was a shop with very very cool Converse All-Stars of types we’d never seen before… extra tall, checkerboards, prints of all sorts. There were look-alikes of another brand in fuzzy fuschia zebra print that I would have very much enjoyed wearing. We passed the shoes by in the end but had great fun checking them out.

We then found ourselves sucked into another cool store with all sorts of imported clothing. I ended up with a turquoise (no surprise) top that looked Indian with embroidery on neckline and cuffs. Very nice. It’s lightweight cotton and I’ll wear it a lot this summer. I knew it would take away from yarn money but I will use the top enough to warrant the detour.

We found our way to Indigo just to be sure we knew where it was. They didn’t have any knitters in the seating area yet but we found some knitters in the lobby and chatted with them a while. It’s so cool that if you see anyone knitting in public they are instantly close enough friends to chat with! Instant relationship. Both Rae and I enjoyed that.

We decided we definitely needed food (Rae had a small lunch on the road, I’d just had a big breakfast) so we found our way to an asian restaurant where she had a chicken and rice dish and I had Pad Thai… not too adventurous but they listed the ingredients in the sauce and I knew I’d not have any allergy issues. The food was delicious and they got it to us very quickly. We then hustled ourselves to the bookstore. [First two photos are Rae at dinner and my meal.]

Even though we were 20-25 minutes early there was no seating left available. We were very close to the front of the standing audience, though, and we could see relatively well. The group around us of course included many socknitters. Rae was knitting a scarf with sockyarn so we figured she could be counted with us, as well.

The guy who introduced Stephanie was a knitter. He said he learned it when he had a certain girlfriend who was long gone but he still knits. I wish I remembered his name… he was very helpful to us for the whole event.

Then came Stephanie looking sharp in a skirt in her famous “70’s appliance colors” green. She did her hello and took obligatory photos of us holding her sock in the foreground. We all knew this was part of the drill, no problem. After all, we were all taking photos of her, too.

[Next five photos are Stephanie taking photos of the crowd with her sock in progress, three photos of knitters at work while listening to the speech… no, that is not considered rude in this crowd… and a room full of knitters with their hands up in response to the question “Who in this room reads weblogs?” Mind you, Stephanie has made a career in large part thanks to her weblog, and those of us there were glad of it.]

She was funny as usual… real and approachable as usual. What makes Stephanie special is that she shares enough of her human, vulnerable side that you understand that you are not alone in your own vulnerabilities. She’s very talented, gifted with words and timing… but other people are also good at those things yet not approachable. We laughed and laughed… some of the jokes lasted the full 30 hours we were in town, with different knitters bringing them up at different times.

We took turns in line to chat with Stephanie (and get books signed) after the talk, and got out of the way as quickly as we could so that the folks behind us would also get a chance. For the record, there were a lot of us, go look at her photos for proof. Dozens and dozens and dozens. I’m bad at estimating numbers, did anyone else who was there count?

Our helpful Indigo employee told us how to find the local pub where the afterglow was to be held. The pub is called “The Spotted Dick” and yes that sounds funny to anyone without a connection to England. Spotted dick is a dessert with currants apparently… I’d seen a can of it at the local grocery (Meijer) in the International section once and took a photo while laughing out loud. Apparently this dessert is also sometimes called Spotted Dog and there were many images of spotted dogs on the walls of the pub.

[Here I show a photo cheerfully taken by Ali, a non-knitter sitting at the first table… from front to back on right are Teresa, Sarah, Doug (works at his wife Carol’s yarn shop but doesn’t knit), me, Rae (then you see a partial wall). Across from Rae is Cathy and in front of her, Carol of the newish just-outside-of-Toronto yarn shop. Folks we met who are not in this photo are Eden, Helen Firing (published but no blog) and a young lady in Rae’s Gnome Swap whose name I’m forgetting right now.]

I’m showing a second photo so you can see how many knitters there were. That cream-colored wall straight ahead is not the far wall, look to the left for another several tables going back further. All people in this photo were with the knit crowd. There was one tiny table and a few guys at the bar who were not in “the club.” The waitstaff were warned but still overwhelmed. Our waitress at least had a good attitude three hours after she was supposed to get off work, sometime after midnight.

I’m also including a photo of dessert in a can here, for the doubters in the crowd. Laugh long, friends, it *is* a chuckle.

I got home at 3:15am last night from Toronto, after dropping Rae off at her home.

We had SUCH a good time there. I tell you, I adore Stephanie… she and Rachel H made sure we all had a Friday night and all-day Saturday experience that was friendly and entertaining, real, human, enthusiastic, and more. We found ourselves at one bookstore, one pub, five yarn shops, a couple of coffee shops (one which is also a yarn shop, listed above) and the choice of many great restaurants, during our two-day knitters’ extravaganza.

Now that I’m home, it’s a 3-day weekend in the USA and I was gone for one night and one day of it. I thought I’d laze on the couch today and process the 123 photos I took of the trip, and write blogs until I was as relaxed as a noodle. Brian has already experienced a bit of the holiday. At breakfast he inquired as to my plans, since it’s too wet to do yardwork (yippee).

I guess he figured I might get home and get on some house stuff that truthfully has waited for months as I’ve been traipsing around the continent. He’s so sane that if something needs doing, he just does it. I’m content to ignore as long as I can, especially when it’s something inconvenient or anything to do with housework or manual labor. I hate to admit it but he’s probably waited long enough for me to get going on a few things here. As in: months? Probably months.

For that reason, I have processed merely two of the 123 photos I took (not all are good enough to share, thank goodness). You will get a better blog after I clean the kitchen and office enough to finally put in the rug I bought on Easter weekend.

Since those areas do dual-duty as home and business areas (and the yarn I dye for resale plus patterns I sell are stored in clear plastic bins, usually in this part of the house), I have a lot lot lot of “shoveling” to do in order to clear the floor for a rug. In fact, the office will require moving at least three large pieces of furniture that are all piled high with papers, books, data CD’s and more…

it’s good I’ve got a career that does not require me to be organized with *things.* I can organize information on the computer and do that whenever possible, but paper and knitting stuff have taken over every possible nook/cranny in the house. There is yarn on almost every flat surface in the house.

Sigh… it is time to work, when all I want in the world is to be on that couch and even take a nap whenever I’m so inclined. It is a holiday weekend, after all… after last weekend that was jam-packed with out-of home activities I work late on deskwork and knitting often, but it is true I can ignore housekeeping/ organizing for almost forever without a push. Apparently today is the day.

Photos: Me, Stephanie (Yarn Harlot) and Rae in Toronto; Eaton Centre from the underground level/food court, looking up. This was one of my favorite places in the world when I was in High School… it was so grand and clean and artful and metropolitan. So unlike my home town. At least now I’m not in a suburb, I’m in the city, but Lansing will never have anything with the flavor of this architecture even at a fraction of the size… it’s just not in our culture to make something like this.

We’re here, it’s wonderful, we had good food and good times and laughed and knit and met great people and talked. We have to wake up in 7 hours and last night I only got 6 hours of sleep so I’ll touch base with you again… soon.

Tomorrow we go on a “Yarn Crawl” with lunch at Kensington Market, a fave place I haven’t been since the 70s. I am not sure how I can sleep tonight when I’m on such an adrenaline high from being here. I loooooooove Toronto.

For the record, Stephanie deserves her following. She is real and funny and authentic and approachable. I adore Stephanie and I am not at all the only one. This is very good. Buy her books… support a wonderful author/artist/knitter by doing it. Or not, your choice, but it would be an honorable way to spend, I assure you.

OK. Bedtime. Soon…

It has been hot… too hot even for me. Thank goodness that Reach Studio Art Center is air conditioned, we had a reprieve there. Mom came, a few students from my computer class in Haslett came, and a bunch of folks we know were there but that may not have had to do with us, they may already be associated with the Center. In Lansing, creative people all seem to know one another and that is very good.

I took this photo yesterday, of Poppies in the yard across the street where April used to live (sigh). I swear she didn’t have Poppies last year but birds distribute seeds and it was right next to a fence where birds might perch. I love Poppies, though I’m afraid to try and grow them with our crummy soil. They like sand, and we don’t have anything even remotely like sand.

I’m doing “blog lite” today, one photo I developed earlier. Other photos must wait. Rae and I leave in 9.5 hours for Toronto. Woohoo! Toronto was my first city ever and is very dear to my heart, though I haven’t been in a while. When I was young and single the first time, I used to go there several long weekends a year. This time I’m going on a US log weekend but it’s not a long weekend for them. Perfect.

I’ve packed a few things, need to pack a few more. After going to Dallas for 5 days on an airplane, one overnight in a car is positively simple to manage. I never know what I want to wear, and I don’t know what knitting to take. In the last 5 days I’ve knit only the toe of one sock, period. It has been so hectic in my life (not complaining but explaining) since I went to Dallas and New York that there has been little time to do much bot the very basics… get to work, eat, do laundry and dishes, follow my routine. I will enjoy knitting and hanging out with other knitters this weekend.

Off to adventure!

I’d like to annouce a few almost-here events:

1. This afternoon, Thursday May 24, Brian and I (The Fabulous Heftones) are playing a little casual background music for Reach Art Center in Lansing. It’s a kids’ art center in a city neighborhood, some programs are grant-funded for free so kids can come on down after school and some are sign-up-and-pay classes (Foster Center has both types of programs as well).

Today is a little “art show opening” for the kids where their work is up on the walls and for sale. It’s also an ice cream social and open to the public. It’s 4pm-6pm so those who work downtown Lansing could come on their way home. It’s at 1804 S. Washington just north of Mount Hope on the west side of the road. You may need to park on the street or in the neighborhood behind the center.

2. Rae/Extravayarnza and I are definitely going to Toronto tomorrow and Saturday for the Yarn Harlot book launch and knitter’s extravaganza. Is anyone who reads this blog going to be there?

Stephanie and I have corresponded via email off and on for years (less now that she has earned a gazillion fans), and she has been very encouraging of this trip. There will be a book signing, an afterglow and on Saturday a yarn crawl.

I am most excited that I can actually go this time. Four previous attempts to make book signings for this book have come up unfruitful. (Is that a word?) I will REPRESENT the knitters of the world, in Canada tomorrow. Woo-hoo!

3. Next Tuesday evening starts a two-week class at Little Red Schoolhouse Yarns, my Sassy Summer Handbag. Details: Tuesdays May 29 and June 5, 6-8pm, $25.

This bag is a lovely shape, can be made sporty with stripes or more classic in a solid… you can make knit handles or sew on purchased ones, it takes very little yarn and knits in a flash. It’s great for a summer jaunt where you only wish to take along a wallet, cellphone and socks in progress. Anyone want to join me?

4. I’m going to TNNA (yarn business trade show) next weekend in Columbus, OH. It looks like I’m driving down with Rae from Rae’s Yarn Boutique and coming back home with Lindsay, the new owner of the Yarn Garden in Charlotte. At least that’s what I think will happen at this point, and it sounds really fun to me.

Again, is there anyone out there reading this who wants to connect in Columbus? I’d love to meet you.

Last Sunday I spent the day at the East Lansing Art Fair. Saturday it was warm and sunny here but it got down into the 50s F and there was no sun on Sunday. We all bundled up, some not quite enough, for the trip to the fair.

I had intended to help Altu at her food booth but she had more than enough people to work. I kept stopping by to see if she needed me but mostly I flitted from lovely event to lovely event. I got there during the performance of The Chenille Sisters, who have been charming audiences for more than 20 years (they are from Ann Arbor). I had not seen them in a long time, though they did remember me when I visited with them afterward. I gifted them with Hershberger Art Kazoos when I first started making them, as a thank you for the happiness I received from their music. It was good to connect with them again.

I also popped by the smaller West stage where our friend Drew was holding court. Apparently he was in three bands in a row on that stage. I caught the last of the acts, the Klezmer band (Drew is far right playing banjo and friend Daniel is at front on accordion). I didn’t stay long enough or I would have been dancing. For some reason people sit and watch dance music, I dance. I don’t feel I have to know how the music is danced to traditionally, I figure I’m honoring the essence of the music by moving.

However, in this case I was trying to say hi to everyone I could, before the show was over, and I needed to keep checking back with Altu.

On my way from here to there I found Irene, who has taken a few of my knitting classes over time. She last took my Turkish Sock class (the one which uses a single color of yarn and learns the structure of one type of Turkish sock. I was honored when she told me she was wearing a pair of socks she had knit from Yarn I had dyed.

This yarn was a once-only experimental yarn in mostly yellow with blips of a peachy-pink color. In the photo it looks yellow only, and it looks pastel… it’s much more sunny and bright in person.

Irene says that when she was knitting this sock she told many people I’d dyed the yarn and they found it hard to believe. I do not wear yellow but that does not mean I don’t like it! I dye more colors than I wear but since I have such a strong color signature, she had a lot of educating to do. The socks turned out just lovely.

Also I caught the most wonderful sweater on a woman crossing the street with her kids. I didn’t know her so I just took a quick photo and didn’t stop to say hi. It was stranded colorwork in seriously thick yarn. Incredible. She was not chilly that day!

My cousin in Texas is designing knitting patterns these days. Her Local Yarn Shop (LYS) is really pleased with her work and featured her in their blog. Maybe you would like to go take a look? She is the May 4 entry… I’m just behind the times posting this.

Yarntopia Blog

If you go there you will see: Persephone, a leaf-patterned bag; Ribbon Candy Wrap, a multi-colored lap blanket/wrap; and her Cabana Wrap, a dropped-stitch wrap shown in beautiful ColorJoy splendor.

Friday night I stayed up till 3:30am knitting new ribbing for 1.75″ or so on a pair of socks of Brian’s. They were cotton/wool blend (I finished them 5/11/2002, they were my pair #42).

They had literally ripped to shreds at the top, yet the socks showed no wear at all on the feet after years of wear. When I first made these socks, I alternated every other row on the first ribbing. I first knit with the cotton/wool blend and then a 100% nylon. In the end, both wore through and both stretched out a lot. They were knit on Brittany Birch size 0 needles (2mm), upon which I knit more tighly than other size 0 needles for some reason.

I snipped the last stitch of the ribbing and picked out the stitches of that last row. I then put the top row of stitches on needles and knit up (they were originally knit top down so this was backwards but it worked fine). For those who may worry, those stitches were not going anywhere… they waited patiently for me to put the needles on. Even new stitches tend to sit still if you don’t tug, but these have been washed/dried by machine for years, and they were very comfortable snuggled in with one another, in exactly the shape they have been for years. Not a single stitch tried to slip in the process.

I may not have known at the time I started these, that I should have either decreased the number of stitches or the needle size for ribbing. For the replacement rib I knit one round in stockinette, then I decreased on the second row in pattern (K2P1 rib worked best for this, given the number of stitches I started with).

I took 6 months to finish this pair, at a time when most of my pairs were taking me about 10 days to finish. They didn’t feel or look like socks I would want personally. I just don’t like cotton to knit with, and these were also natural/denim in color, which I thought Brian might like. I’m not a blue person, haven’t owned a pair of blue jeans in maybe 15 years, and I’m not much into natural cotton color, either. It was my affection for my man which somehow made me choose this yarn. Knitting these socks dragged out until Brian asked “Can’t you just tie a knot?” If finishing socks were only that simple!

Since then I’ve learned not to knit any yarn I don’t like personally (I don’t have to want to wear it, but I should enjoy touching/looking at it). Brian likes lots of colors I do, and he is happy wearing standard wool-blend socks.

Although these perhaps are my least fave pair of socks I have ever knit, I don’t give up on something I brought forth into this world. I couldn’t toss them if they were still structurally sound. I couldn’t darn them, either, since the wear was at the top edge. I cut off the ripped part, found some standard wool/nylon yarn in compatible colors (in stash, left over from other socks I knit for Brian), and knit a bit o’rib. Threw ‘em in the wash when I went to bed.

When I woke up Brian had gone to work. He’d dried the load and was wearing that very pair, already. I had to wait to ask how they worked out…

For the record he thought they turned out well with the new ribs. The colors didn’t line up the same but they are sort of mirrored… where the blue is on one, the green is on the other, and vice-versa. It’s actually very nice looking although nobody sees that part of the socks but me and Brian, anyway.

I guess that was a good way to spend a few hours!

Each spring the green energizes my eyes/artful self and slows down my system due to allergies. I’ve spent the last week or so sleeping much more than is typical for me. Fortunately, life comes in waves and after a lot of sleeping and naps, I eventually come out of it with renewed energy. Today was my breakthrough day and I really enjoyed it.

Saturday the Habibi Dancers (including me as Eudora) performed at a Cultural Diversity event at Eastern High School (walking distance from both the state Capitol building and Foster Community Center where we rehearse). I was delighted to be able to dance with the troupe. It seems that so many of our performances happen on weekends and nights, and with short enough notice that I am already scheduled to teach or sing.

I go to rehearsals religiously but the last three times I’ve performed were the March Aladdin’s restaurant event and two daytime performances, one at a school and one at a hospital (more cultural diversity awareness programming). And I hate to tell you how many months ago those were. It was refreshing and wonderful to get out there on a stage and make people smile. We have such a fun time, that the audience goes along with us for the ride. Very worthwhile!

After the dance/diversity event I ran over to the East Lansing Art Fair, the first outdoor fair of my year. Altu had a food booth but she had many friends and family members working so she was OK without my help (I may help out Sunday if she needs me).

I got there for only the last half hour or so. I crammed a lot into that final time. I visited Susan Luks at her booth on M.A.C. Avenue and listened to our friends “Steppin’ in It” and Rachael Davis sing together in a project called Shout Sister Shout, mostly songs from the 30’s and 40’s. I loved it.

Of course, I also ate at Altu’s food booth and I did help them wrap up the night, clean and close up the booth for the night. That made me feel useful.

On the way home I sort of moseyed to enjoy the feel of being in a downtown, small as it might be. I wandered into the relatively-new corner shop called Mad Eagle where I chatted first with Laura Bates and then the three owners of the shop. It’s an energetic, funky, high-quality jewelry/gift/clothing shop and I really enjoyed being there. Lots of color tickled my eyes fully.

Then I got home and instead of my recent exhaustion, I ended up with a bit of a second wind. I did laundry, dishes, tossed old clothing, wound yarn that has been waiting too long for winding, and generally did some catching up that just seemed too overwhelming even yesterday. I don’t know what happened but I’m relieved to find my energy shifting.

And with that I’ll get back to some tossing out and cleaning. It’s almost 2am and Brian’s not back from the jam session after the dance he played tonight. I know the party was really wonderful but my voice is really worn out and I needed to have a silent evening. A party would just have made things worse. I’m still recovering from Dallas and New York, both trips were hard on my voice.

But you know… it was about as perfect a day as it could have been. The sun shone (after a very brief unexpected rain this morning), it was warm but not hot, and there was nothing but good stuff to do, good folks to spend time with, good food to eat.

It is going to be a good summer.

Photos: Three photos of Habibi Dancers, I’m far right with purple and a head wrap (I’m not sure why our photos taken on the same camera turned out so dark when the rest turned out bright); Pleasant View Performing Arts Magnet School advanced dance program, Lansing Schools Asian Club performing a Hmong dance; one of three Mexican Dance troupes (I think these were actually from Flint), young African Dancers from Lansing (all these photos from Eastern Cultural Diversity Days); Shout Sister Shout (Steppin’ in It plus Rachael Davis) on stage at East Lansing Art Festival.

I’m in a phase of finishing things long left undone. I finished socks I started last year, legwarmers from March, finished some ends on another pair of socks from February, scoped out what the last half-dozen rows will be on a gift knit, am trying to finish my summer calendar/teaching schedule, answer all the emails that have waited too long in my inbox, and write the last of the NYC trip. I need to have some closure before I get moving on the summer season (slow teaching time, heavy studio time).

So back to NYC: I took SO many photos Sunday and none at all Monday though I wish I had. At this point I have developed some and not others, and those which are ready will be the ones you see. I need to go forward and we’ve been home enough to go on to other stories, no matter how good the New York story might be. at least to me.

There was far too much going on for me to capture it all but I still have more photos to show you than space to display them! It’s a lovely problem, indeed.

These performers were on, Sunday, but this is not the order in which they played.

Victoria Vox
Joel Eckhaus
Fred Fallin
Eilidh MacAskill
Steven Sproat
Hot Time Harv & His Roller Coaster of Kicks
M David Hornbuckle & the Dixieland Space Orchestra

I must say that Victoria Vox just amazes me. She’s talented, musical, beautiful, approachable, kind, sweet yet gutsy, and she runs an entire music career from her car and the internet. She plays nearly 300 concerts a year… she was even in Lansing last August when Brian and I were in Minnesota, go figure.

It seems that everybody loves Victoria. Here she is (standing, far left) playing with two musical friends on backup and Yan Yalego from France in the shadows at right with his amazing mouth trumpet. Mind you Victoria does a mouth trumpet (different technique) that is pure and clear and wonderful… Yan’s is more bluesy… so here they shared the stage. two fine trumpets together. Cool. I found a Youtube video of her finishing up her song Ukulele Lady at the fest, if you’d like a quick listen, or see the most amazing Youtube I personally have ever seen… Uking at the Wheel.)

Joel Eckhaus is always a favorite of mine. We have known him as long as we have been traveling the ukulele circuit. He builds instruments (including the beautiful Blue Heaven uke Brian bought from him a year ago in NYC). I’m told he teaches excellent workshops but since I don’t play uke I haven’t experienced one.

Joel also performs, often with very talented friends. And he enjoys occasionally changing the words of a well-known song and turning them upside down. He delivers with total deadpan as the audience chuckles and occasionally groans. He introduced a new one to us at the festival. He has a CD under the group name “Ukulele Eck and the Fabulous Lacklusters.” (Ukulele Ike/Cliff Edwards was one of the most famous popular musicians of the mid-1920’s, so even that is a play on words.)

Then came the one-of-a-kind Fred Fallin. He’s a historian and storyteller, a former schoolteacher, and a true champion of all things ukulele. He played us all sorts of numbers from the Tin Pan Alley genre (1920’s popular music which came out of New York City) including historical information before and after each song, to put them into perspective.

Fred will never be able to tell all his stories, he’s so full of knowledge, but he sure is giving it the old college try. I love the photo of Fred expressing himself once more with his hands as he explains. Few people are as passionate about life and music as Fred Fallin, and I am honored to be counted among his friends, though we do not see one another nearly enough.

Eilidh MacAskill, performance artist from Glasgow, Scotland also did her part. This year she is doing a ukulele performance every day, and she’s calling it “Eilidh’s Daily Ukulele Ceilidh.” For those of us who are not familiar with these words, all four of them rhyme perfectly (Aylee’s Daily Ukulele Kaylee, is how I’d maybe spell it). A Ceilidh, as she explains, started as a sort of gathering/party one might have with friends at one’s home… though it has turned into more of a high-energy, perhaps raucous or frenzied thing, and my take on it was maybe they are larger now but that may be me reading into it.

This year she is yet again redefining the ceilidh and making her own uke party every day. She was quite funny in a straight-deadpan sort of way on stage (my kind of humor, I loved it… here she is describing her ukulele, using words usually used to describe a woman’s body and without cracking a smile, it was very funny). Off stage she’s quite fun and engaging. I hope we can go over to the United Kingdom (UK) sometime and make our way around and maybe see her again. We now know folks in Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland. It would be such fun to go over there and see folks and all these fascinating-sounding places.

Steven Sproat was also on Sunday night. He’s another one from the UK and Brian took one of his workshops. He does a good variety of styles including some in the style of George Formby (wildly popular English Uke player/actor who performed from 1921-1961) but he does original material and a very diverse mix of songs from sentimental to energetic.

Steven was joined on stage for one number by his daughter who is shown in this photo. She is an absolute delight… smart, sharp, friendly and talented. I got to know her, once again, sitting at the performer tables selling CDs. She is a master seller and made sure they did not take any of their CDs back on an airplane home. Go, kid (click the last 2 links for Youtube videos of the performance, the first in Formby style… listen to the whole video, don’t miss the final solo which is amazing… second video is with his daughter)!

Hot Time Harv and His Roller Coaster of Kicks came on, a very popular NYC band with a slapstick, high-energy, talented musician crew… a large band for a Ukefest.

The guy sitting next to me knew every word. They are extremely good at what they do. My brother would have really loved this act. I prefer subtle over slapstick as a personal choice (face it… I sing love songs), but man, these guys nailed their act and how!

Even if you could turn off the sound for this act, they would be interesting visually. Harv really grabs your eye as he leads the band, and they all have their own unique style. This act is not for everyone and they know that… but as I’ve said here before, nobody makes it in show biz by being vanilla. These guys have it totally figured out. I did get a chance to chat with some of the guys in the band before and after the show (especially the guy with the light-colored hat). I enjoyed the few interactions we had.

M David Hornbuckle and the Dixieland Space Orchestra came on as well, I’m not sure in what order again. I missed a lot of their act, but they have a decidedly New Orleans sound when that trombone comes out. They were another band with a fairly large group for the Uke circuit.

If I remember right they had two ukulele players (one was a multi-instrumentalist including the trombone). I grew up with New Orleans/Dixiland jazz, my dad loved it. I’m thrilled to see folks this young doing music with that flavor.

Their costumes were striking… all white head to toe with black flowers. Any style clothing, but all white. It’s clear to me these guys often play where people can dance! It must have been odd for them to have a seated audience, or so it seems to me. Check out two of their NYUkefest pieces at Youtube.

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If you are curious for more Youtube videos than I took the time to link, you can get a list of all items for “New York Uke Fest” on Youtube if you click here, and you can pick from the 134 results as you wish. Man, things have changed in just one year on the web. Last year I don’t remember seeing any Youtube videos after the fest… maybe some people had them but I didn’t see them. Cool, huh? You can sort of be the fly on the wall and listen to only those acts that strike your fancy, no travel costs and at your own schedule. Very cool.

Or maybe I’ve said so much you are done with this subject for a year. That’s fine, too. Thanks for tuning in.

There was so much going on during the weekend of the ukefest, that I couldn’t make everything. I did make a tiny bit of the Saturday night open mic to see our friend Al (Brian has known Al longer than he’s known me) and did get a bunch of photos of his performance.

Sunday I got to see a lot of the open mic. I’m partial to these events, because we were “discovered” in 2003 at the Midwest Ukefest/Indianapolis at an open mic. We played Friday, they asked us to do the open mic the next day, and by Saturday night we were asked to play 3 songs on their main stage. Very important, then, for us to support the folks not yet discovered.

I took a gazillion photos of open mic. I am just too tuckered out to develop any more, I need to go forward with being in Michigan at this point. However, the three photos here are of our friend Al from Canada, Wendy (and friend whose name I do not remember), who we met originally at a ukefest in the Pocanos several years back, and our dear friends Jim and Pat who we also met at the Pocanos.

For the record, Jim and Pat were gracious to us on our way out of town Monday, by inviting us to breakfast at their home. They live in Jersey City which we’d never seen. It reminded me of a cross between northern Ann Arbor and Winthrup Massachusetts (just north of Boston). I liked it a great deal.

They had a cat who liked me and who I enjoyed (Brian is allergic so I see cats rarely). They made good strong tea and oatmeal for breakfast for the four of us, and we sat first in their backyard garden until we got sunburned, and then in their beautiful, funky, well-festooned and hand-embellished home. (They both do work for theatre and the rooms are hand-stenciled and painted in wonderful, artful ways). Their forced air heat comes through false fireplaces, really cozy and quaint. There’s nothing like this in Lansing, and I was enthralled by it all.

But the part about Jim and Pat’s house and their hospitality is a tiny bit out of order here, at least as far as a timeline might go. I just felt I’d tell that story while you had a photo of them at Open Mic, and that way I can make the story more compact for you folks.

The Sunday concert recap is next…

If I made a batch of one-of-a-kind Hershberger Art Kazoos (polymer clay over metal, sealed with acrylic finish), are there readers out there interested in reserving one? These sell at $45 USD, for those interested.

I haven’t made any in over a year. However, I’m trying to figure out how to finance a one-night trip to Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s Canadian Book Launch in Toronto next week. Just a few extra sales on my shopping cart (maybe kazoos) would make the trip work.

Rae found us an affordable place to stay if we go. Stephanie (Yarn Harlot) was gracious enough to write and encourage us to come. Now is the time to act.

Kazoo, anyone? I almost never promise before I start… this could be your lucky chance.

Sunday was a combination of wondrous things for me in NYC. We met our friends Pat and Jim for breakfast at the Grammercy Diner. The food was beautiful to look at, ordinary food presented well. I love taking photos of plates of food and I gave in to that inclination this day.

I am getting my times mixed up here a bit, but Brian and I wandered around the East Village and found a large flea market we decided to check out. I got a broomstick skirt and a retro early-70’s dress with a wild bright print on it.

I am always on the lookout for costumes to sing in when we play as The Fabulous Heftones, and there were a few lovely pieces that either were in bad repair or sun faded, or just plain would not fit. It was too bad but I didn’t find anything that day. One was so right (but it was very tiny) that it did inspire me to think of the perfect pseudo-flapper dress I could perhaps sew myself.

I used to sew a lot, though that was in the days when I was unhappy… and I sort of don’t enjoy going back to that space in my head when I’m sewing now. I think maybe getting a buddy to work with me on the cutting out of the fabric might help me ease in again once I figure out what I want to make. I can get fabrics I like but I’m still working out the details in my mind before I buy any lace or satin.

On the way back to the theatre I picked up some good tea at the corner. In the display cases they had pastries that reminded me of Montreal. Fresh fruits with glaze, almost artificial-looking in their color, beautiful. In Lansing there are not enough people to buy, for these to be cost-effective at a coffee shop. I have never seen this sort of pastry in Lansing under any circumstances. I had to take a photo.

We went down to the theatre after breakfast and the walk, and then I decided to do another detour to another yarn shop. This one was Downtown Yarn, on Avenue A near 3rd St. My friend from last year, Claire, suggested this shop and she knew their Sunday hours so she encouraged me to get down there. I was all about a walk on a relatively quiet Sunday noontime, and I gave in to that idea easily.

I walked past a park and there was a sort of farmer’s market going on at that point. On Avenue A there were a few breakfast places that looked packed full of young folks dressed up well. I also noted a few Thai places for possible lunch, and in fact did pick up some Pad Siew on the way back to the theatre at one of the spots.

It mostly was quiet at around noon in that area. I noticed how many shops were closed, in a city that supposedly never sleeps. Apparently they just sleep in the morning (like me). I had been warned that the yarn shop would look unassuming from the outside and indeed it had a regular house-like screen door entrance. I went in.

What a nice shop! They were instantly friendly and chatted with me about yarn and the ukulele festival. I was not the first to come down from the fest, and they had noticed the out-of town business pleasantly. I picked one skein of yarn that is from New York State, in many greens (I do this every spring), and went back, stopping for lunch to go on the way back. I also kept my eye out for internet cafes and 24-hour restaurants for future use.

Things were hopping at the theatre, and Ron and Brian were playing music together at the performer’s (CD) tables when I got there. I settled in for lunch and chatted with a number of folks including young Gabriela from the UK, the daughter of Steven Sproat who did a workshop on Saturday that Brian thoroughly enjoyed. She was a sunbeam, with a big smile and an enthusiasm which spread to many of us. We also jammed when we could, though the space was pretty noisy and we could not keep it up long.

At dinner break they closed the theatre and our friend Al from Windsor, Ontario Canada went with us to the area where I’d walked earlier to the yarn shop. The farmer’s market was mostly wrapped up but it’s a large park and we decided to jam there. We stationed ourselves in front of a beautiful covered water drinking fountain (which was used relatively often, which pleased me).

We actually had some clear interest from the crowd. Many people knew of the Ukulele festival in their neighborhood and asked questions. Al took our photos of Brian and I there, and then we asked a bystander to take a shot or two of the three of us.

At one point I started chatting with a woman from the neighborhood while the guys kept playing. She was originally from France but had lived in New York for decades. She was interested in the festival. In the end she did come down and go to the Sunday evening concert and at that time I introduced her to Yanni Yalego, the performer from France. They had a nice chat, I guess her sister lives near where he does. Small world. I love it that way.

You know, I keep running into folks in Lansing who insist on thinking that large cities are unfriendly and unsafe. Yes, it is true that there is more of *everything* in a big city, including scary things. But there are more wonderful people, too. And when you go there expecting to find wonderful people, that is exactly what you find.

We found one other person at the park who we hope to stay in touch with. She was a musician, who does Klezmer music. We have a few friends in Lansing who do that as well and we hope to connect them all.

We are probably going to use Myspace to make those connections happen as quickly as possible. Again, I keep hearing people talk about the down sides of networking online, be it Myspace or something else.

I maintain that there are many ways to get in trouble, with or without a computer. However, there are ways to connect with people who have similar interests (and therefore might be potential actual friends) very quickly on line. I’ve met some very important people in my life from those same-interest connections. I look forward to more of the same. Including the musician in the park in “big, scary” New York City. Except I’d call it “big, wonderful, abundant” New York City. (End of lecture… with big smile on face….)

Saturday night was intense. There was so much to do, so many acts to see, and folks who wanted to buy our CD’s (thank you, every one of you) that I missed out on too much, trying to do it all.

Between the afternoon jamming and CD-selling, and the show, there was a dinner break. A bunch of us all wandered down to the same Indian restaurant we’d visited last year as a group. It was a different group but we had an equally enjoyable time.

I’m embarrassed that I”m not absolutely sure of names… please admire that I’m even trying, and do write if you can correct anyone I’ve named incorrectly. In this photo from left to right is Pat, Brian, Me (Lynn), Janet(?), Ron, John (goes with Janet), and Jim (goes with Pat). I hope. Mind you, a few of these folks I hadn’t met before Saturday that I recall, and I haven’t seen them since this trip. OK, end of disclaimer.

You can see that this place is like many near the corner of 1st Avenue and 7th(?, maybe 6th) Street. There is a tendency to decorate with multitudes of “Christmas” lights, especially hot pepper lights. In this particular restaurant which was half a flight of stairs up, the place was maybe the size of a Greyhound bus, packed in like sardines from side to side, and then cram packed height-wise where the tall folks had to duck to be seated. Totally New York. I’m all about that sort of experience, personally.

After dinner we descended upon the Theatre again. There was a second stage going which I didn’t realize until I’d missed Bliss Blood’s new ensemble. For that matter, I stayed out in the lobby with the performer merchandise a lot of the time. Folks had watched our CDs while we were busy on Friday night, and it was our turn to pitch in for the other performers. That meant I missed out on more acts than I would have liked but that’s show business. After all, I’d already seen enough quality acts on Thursday and Friday that I could have gone home saturated. I’m glad I got more under my belt before we went home, though!

The acts on the program for Saturday were these, though I’m pretty sure this is not the order in which they were presented. (Fred Fallin was emcee):

Yalego
John King
NY Ukulele Ensemble
Bosko & Honey’s Ukulele Love In
Sazerac and his Genial Orleanians
The Aloha Boys

Yalego is the last name of the performer from Southern France. I called him Yanni, I think his first name is Yan which he told me is not a fully French name… I love talking language but we had little time to pursue that further.

In any case, this guy is a crooner of the finest sort, and he is the master of the mouth trumpet. He opens his mouth like an “ooh” but it sounds just like a muted trumpet, loud and clear. I’ve never heard anything like it. Wow. We all were humbled and amazed. He sang “Nobody Knows You when You’re Down and Out” which you can see on youtube by clicking the link here.

John King is a master of classical music, on ukulele. I heard him several times during the weekend but I missed his stage show. I don’t see any videos of him on Youtube, unfortunately, but trust me about this. Quality.

The NY Ukulele Ensemble did several numbers while I was out of the theatre. Fortunately there are three videos on Youtube, click here for Ukulele Beach Bum. Uke Jackson, the organizer of NYUkefest (woohoo) sings lead for this ensemble. Though I didn’t get a group shot, the second photo in this post is Uke alone on stage, at one point when he was giving away door prizes (mostly ukuleles, very cool).

Aaaah, Bosko & Honey. Remind me not to wax poetic for three pages on this act alone, but they would deserve it. A young and electric act from Australia, they are fun and focused and pro in all senses of the word. There are few couples in the Uke circuit and I’m pretty sure they are the only other pair we’ve met in person.

They have a fresh and fun show, playing a far-ranging repertoire. They do some Tin Pan Alley as we do, but they also did a great version of “The Girls Go By” from my youth. Very fine. They both play uke. They do a good number of instrumentals but they also sing.

They were on their way to play in Tokyo after they left NYC. “Honey” is originally from Japan so she writes a bilingual blog (I’m told) and they have fans in Japan. Go, Grrl! The first photo here is the couple on stage with Fred Fallin at far right. The second photo is the couple with Craig Robertson between them, what a great shot this is! There are many Youtube videos of Bosko and Honey on this trip, click here for an instrumental that has a bit less audience chat and a little closer focus than some others (thanks to Mike DaSilva for sharing this one with us).

Sazerac and his Genial Orlenians were next. They were at the festival last year but I had missed them. We talked to the leader several times during the daytime events and I made sure to get in on his act this time.

I was charmed. It was pretty much a vaudeville-type act, with incredible musicianship and a groaner sort of humor. No mean slams, no obvious off-color stuff, just somewhat-dorky humor with plenty of word play and clever punch lines.

I enjoyed it very much. Corny and cute and very musical. And in the vaudeville style, each bit was short and sweet so that if that particular one didn’t hit your funny bone just so, the next one was sure to please. I can not emphasize too much the quality of the musical performance, but you could lose that between guffaws if you chose. Family fun, delightful. I’m happy to know there are acts like this around yet. It gives me hope. If you want a peek, there’s a Youtube of them playing Moon Man Cheese.

I’m sad to say I missed the Aloha Boys. They are highly-regarded far beyond the ukulele community. I know they have a class musical act that is very enjoyable. Again, I was out at the musician table doing my best to tend to CD sales for as many acts as had CDs out. That is fun in and of itself, and I did enjoy it fully.

After the show it was time for more photographic moments. Brian decided he wanted a photo of the “two cute uke couples” so we got in a shot with Bosko and Honey. Aren’t they adorable? It’s as if we are extra in any photo with them. We had chances to talk with them both Saturday and Sunday. Great people, who are serious about their act. It was delightful to get to know them better.

Now here is where the story is half sock-fanatic (usually expressed in my knitting) and most of the rest tourist, with just a smidgen of performer.

I love New York… the energy, the tall buildings, the ethnic mix, the merchandise opportunities that are just not available in my town, in fact not in my state much of the time. For example, last year we ate at a Moroccan restaurant, and there are none in Michigan.

As those who follow my blog regularly know, I write this as an opportunity to present life as art… food as art, gardening as art, friendship as art, sometimes costuming as art… as well as things that this society always categorizes as art such as music, dance, visual arts.

Today I’ll address costuming… I contend that every time we choose what we will wear to appear in public is a costuming choice. Sometimes the message is “I’m on my day off, leave me alone” and sometimes it is “I love bright color” or “I love fashion magazines,” “I dress for comfort” or even “I love clothing from other countries besides this one.”

Since I adore color and since I have the great opportunity to costume myself on stages for musical performances, I think often about what I would like to wear on stage. I particularly want to wear bright colors, and if my legs will show I want bright colored hose.

Since Ami Worthen of Mad Tea Party had been by on Friday night, I’d asked her about sources for good colored hose (she also costumes with much thought about her legs, and for spectacular effect I must add). She told me there was a place walking distance from the theatre on St. Mark’s (which I think would be 8th Street if it had a number rather than a name).

Saturday after the improv workshop I decided to shop rather than attend more workshops. Since I don’t play uke, this made sense and I did really enjoy getting out into the city a bit. I headed south on 1st Avenue and turned right (west) on St. Mark’s. I went past many fine and fun places on my way to The Sock Man, and the further I walked the more funky and neighborly it got.

Early on my walk I found a purple building, at least purple on the first floor. It appeared vacant on the first floor and there was some graffiti but I was able to get a shiny-looking photo by shooting upward, showing the apartments above. Lovely.

As I kept walking I went past an Automat. Imagine that! In the 1930’s these were very popular in NYC especially… during a time when our music was being played in NYC. You put nickels (at the time) in slots and got food out, at that time on ceramic plates with metal utensils. I just ran around the internet for more information. Wikipedia has an Automat article and this is the web page of the actual shop on St. Mark.

These days, you can pay with bills and there was an ATM on premises if I remember right. Still you put in funds and a door opens, and you take your food out. This one was walk-by mostly, for people on the go. It was a young section of town; it made a lot of sense there.

This was a sort of alternative/indie sort of section of town. There were a few ethnic restaurants, a bunch of gift shops with either ethnic or alternative-lifestyle focuses, a lot of young folks, many of whom were wearing all black but not all. It’s a mixed up, tossed salad city but the flavor here was decidedly young, edgy and funky.

I finally made my way to The Sock Man, a business half a flight down but with a big table out front almost like a sidewalk sale, a huge mess of boxes and piles of socks of every color. Most were cheap and synthetic. I did see some good wool socks but I was in search of bright colored hose, both dressy nylon and perhaps some thick warm cotton ones. I went downstairs and inside.

It was not much wider than a hallway but they wasted no wall space at all. I found several brands, several things that might work. There were argyle hose, leopard prints, plaid, stripes, and solids of every sort. There were fishnets and all sorts of other lacey patterns, mostly black but a few other colors. And there on the very top rung were cotton hose in a half dozen colors, including turquoise. Sold! Well, I had to wait to have someone get them down for me but I was clear on that one right away.

I also found two pair of thinner, more dressy hose in hot pink and purple (no surprise) and a pair of just past the knee capri tights in shiny black for a particular outfit I had at home that I can’t wear as-is. I had to stop there; we are talking $45 on tights! But I found what I had come for and then some, and I enjoyed it very much. I paid and went on my way back.

As I came out of the shop I took a good look at the street. At that point I was in a very livable area, with budding spring trees and a not very busy street. There were deliveries being made and a guy took his skateboard down the middle of the block. I have to wonder if maybe the street is off limits to regular vehicles, as all my photos of that block are car-free.

As I found my way back to the theatre, I saw the only street musicians I ran into all weekend. They were on the corner in front of Village X, a singer and a guitarist who turned his back on me as I took this photo from across the street.

On the way back I detoured down 3rd Avenue and found a sushi place. I got my usual, smoked salmon sashimi and steamed rice, and I got something or another for Brian to eat. I enjoyed having time to knit a little and watch the restaurant (which seemed to maybe also have Korean food, I’m not sure).

What a perfect walk. The best. And now I have some great tights to take me through another season or two. I couldn’t be happier.

On Saturday, there were many interesting workshops, sometimes scheduled at the same time. Brian went to one that was more ukulele-player-oriented and I went to the improv workshop by Yoon Sun Choi (and Khabu on ukulele).

I was apprehensive. I’m good at improvisation with my visual arts but not much at all for singing. I guess I do well improvising when I dance, so I did do OK but it was a stretch. Stretching is a good thing for creative people.

Yoon Sun and I were the non-ukulele people in the room, she said she hadn’t played one before (she did during the improv exercises). I own one but rarely play, my voice is my primary instrument followed by bass, whistling and kazoo. The workshop adapted fine to a singer in the midst of a circle of ukuleles. First we didn’t use instruments, anyway.

We “passed around” a sound to start. Then we passed a more complex sound. Then we started using our bodies to make other sounds (clapping, tapping hands on lap, stomping) if we wanted to do so. Then we had it so that two people were always making sounds at the same time. The first person would stop and a third would take that person’s place. It was fascinating how most of the time it was atonal, sometimes with a recognizable underlying beat but there was no particular concern with what key anybody was in. For a trained singer, that was a little odd for me but I stayed in the moment and did OK.

Last we broke up into groups of 3 and took turn improvising as a group, rather than passing a sound around. Each group was very different. One group had a lot of rhythm, most played instruments but again did not worry about key. Then it was our turn. I was paired with two other women (there are not as many women as men in the Ukulele circuit) who I had not met previously. At least one of them had heard our act on Friday night so she knew about my work at least a bit.

It turned out that one woman played the uke as a rhythm instrument, keeping a beat. The other woman had determined that she’d like to find a way to sing with me as well as play, so she played an actual chord or series of chords where I felt very comfortable vocalizing. She joined in and it was delightful. It was sort of bluesy, and the only group which ended up sounding relatively like familiar sounds. All good, both the familiar and the unfamiliar.

Here is a photo of the two leaders of the workshop, and then a photo of me with the other two women in my improv group. I believe the woman at right is JoAnn (not sure how she spells it) and the one in the middle has a name starting with J, I think it was Janet. We had a great time.