Last Wednesday my little friend Isabel turned 4 years old. She likes to sort things, such as my polymer clay buttons. She sorts by color, size, whether she can stack them or not.

I knit her eight hearts, two each in different sized yarns. All different colors.

Her first instinct after opening the package was to try to stack them. She did get 2 to stack but the 3rd did not work at all, and she went on without a hiccup to sorting by size.

This is what she came up with, at least at one point during her heart-exploration time. We had a lovely time together at the coffee shop.

I adore this child with every cell in my body. She’s wonderful company, and she turns my sour attitude around (when I have one) in about a minute or less. What would I do without Isabel? She lights up my world. In fact, I sometimes call her “Sunshine” as a nickname. It suits her.

Yarns in last photo, from top to bottom (I don’t have dye lots or color numbers handy, please understand I was knitting from stash, sometimes leftover balls I had hanging around…

Malabrigo Merino Worsted
Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (Wool/Alpaca)
Magic Garden Buttons wool/polyester “effect”
Filatura di Crosa Zara washable wool
Lion Brand Magic Stripes (sportweight sockyarn, wool/nylon)
Kroy 4ply sock yarn, wool/nylon
Fortissima Socka (?) cotton blend
Noro Kureyon Sockyarn wool/nylon

The pattern is from Anna H at Mochimochiland, free pattern here.

It’s beautiful here right now, though the temperatures have plummeted and we are having frost warnings for several days this week. The flowering trees are spectacular this spring, it seems every possible bloom has bloomed. Some years we get frost at just the wrong time, after buds have formed, and it’s just not this beautiful. I am drinking it all in.

I pass Mt. Hope Cemetery, a historical spot in Lansing, almost every day. The early important civic folks for Lansing are buried here, it seems every large stone has the name of someone whose name is also attached to a park somewhere. Ransom E. Olds (founder of Oldsmobile) is also interred there, his family mausoleum visible from the street.

I love taking photos there in the fall. This year I realized I wanted to photograph it again in full-flowering spring splendor. Here you can see both seasons, the same view from the other side of the road.

The year my cousin Karen got married in Houston in April, I was bowled over by the bold flowers and color there. I spent a long weekend drinking in the beauty. Then I returned to Lansing in mid-flowering-tree season. It took that trip to understand the kind of beauty Lansing displays in the spring. For all the bold in Houston, the balance was gentle, almost feminine beauty, covering the landscape. I’m glad to have that perspective.

(To be honest, this spring photo is about a week old and the trees are totally green now. I wish I had time to sneak over there again today and photograph it again, but that’s not how the schedule looks for now.)

I danced Friday and Sunday with the Habibi Dancers, for different events. Much fun but it does take time away from the desk. Saturday I taught polymer clay at Threadbear which was fun, Sunday I ended up with no students so I worked on a knitting project while at Rae’s. It was very busy there on account of the Black Sheep guild stopping in on the way home from their retreat.

I’ve been in this business long enough now to recognize folks not in my weekly routine. While the Black sheep people came around, Rita of Yarn Hollow/Grand Rapids area said hi and we chatted (above is a photo of Rita on the right, at Allegan/Michigan Fiber Festival last August). Then I talked with Linda who took a sock class from me at Heritage Spinning a long while ago with her mother. Here’s a photo of them together wearing their socks:

The pattern was originally called “Heritage Heirloom Socks” (for Heritage Spinning, the shop where I taught the class first… and for Heirloom yarn which was what the first prototype was knit up in). Now they are called Guitar Trim Socks because they match the Guitar Trim Hat I designed after the socks.

It was really warm Friday, the wind kicked up on Saturday and it was downright chilly Sunday. I did not see snow but the National Weather Service says rain/snow likely Monday and patchy frost through Wednesday. Ugh. I know there is always a chance of snow if it is still April, but ugh.

I’m doing some work for a friend, when I’m not falling asleep at the keyboard from exhaustion. It’s a good exhaustion, anyway. I’m grateful for work and dance and friends.

Monday I am having two music friends over for a simple soup lunch (Jen Sygit and Laura Bates) and that will be a lovely payback for the work I’m pushing to finish between classes and performances.

I tell you, nobody has a job as fun as mine can be some days. Today/Saturday I taught polymer clay canework (Jelly Rolls, Stripes, Bulls-eyes and Checkerboards), at Threadbear. It was a BLAST. It always is.

Tomorrow I am at Rae’s 11-1 for a mitten class. The weather has gone mean again, we are expecting “patchy frost” for 4 days in a row and I got out my earmuffs today (after 80F+ summer temps yesterday). Mittens are a decent topic for a little longer, I’m afraid.

Next Saturday (May 3) I teach my Polymer Translucents and Foils class at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan. The class is from 11a-3p. I am showing some photos here of buttons made with this technique. Some were made by me, some by my students. The technique can be very subtle where it looks almost like mother-of-pearl or obsidian, but it can be vibrant as well. Look at the variety here!

I sure hope some of you can join me for some of my upcoming classes (baby set, needlefelted embellishments, mentioned in my earlier post here). I think you might just have a good time, too.

Sorry to those out of town… do remember that I travel to teach. Let your local shop or guild know if you would like to have me come to your area and teach you (and your friends). We will all have a great time, I’m sure of it!

I would love to write all sorts of information about the wonderful weekend I had (last week) with the Habibi Dancers (I am one, my stage name is Eudora). This one column will have to suffice, however… there is SO much to write about, and so much work to do away from the computer!

We had our 25th anniversary concert last Saturday. We also had workshops all day Saturday and all afternoon Sunday. And those of us in the show had a special event after the show, at New Aladdin’s restaurant. It was wonderful fun, and exhausting.

Here is me wearing a Khaliji dance dress called a Thobe. This is a dance from Saudi Arabia, a dance traditionally done at all-female parties, dancing together for entertainment. It was/is *not* performed on stage there, though here in the USA dance troupes do perform variations on the theme.

I think those all-girl parties sound like our Wednesday night rehearsals, only more! I absolutely loved doing this dance. The music is wonderful, the dresses are beautiful (see second photo of us on stage showing off the dresses… I am the dancer at far right), and the women in the dance with me were much fun.

I put together a Flickr photoset with about 90 photos of our weekend. (The images are high resolution at Flickr so they load slowly, but you can start a slideshow, walk away for a good while, then come back and view the slideshow the second time without a lot of delays. Or get a cup of tea and just wait…)

We have spring, for the last several days (actually about a week). I hear it is supposed to snow on Sunday? Ugh. We can hope I heard wrong.

I do remember one April 25 where there were piles of snow still underneath any shady bush. It’s possible to get snow again. Let us hope it is not so extreme to get a ton of snow… it has been humid yesterday, and over 80F today. Sometimes when humid warmth is hit by super-cold air, we get piles and piles of snow.

Right now I’m typing this with bare feet and wearing a tank top, bare arms even. I typically get cold easily (I would be happier with a wrap or light sweater but I’m on my way to a cozy bed so I’m not layering anymore at this time). I love knowing it was over 80 today!!!

Photos? These forsythia bushes really look great this year. Some years the frost hits just wrong and they don’t bloom much at all. this year, every single yellow bush is totally covered. I love these when they are this happy! Notice how the trees around them have no green leaves at all.

These photos were taken about a week ago. Today we have so many leaves on the trees that there is shade on the street. Amazing. They took about 2 days from almost nonexistant to thriving. The change has been incredible to watch.

I teach what we call “Knitting Study Hall” at Rae’s Yarn Boutique every Thursday late afternoon (4:45pm). This is a time where I work with knitters on whatever project they choose, for the most part. They commit to 4 weeks and can add more at the end if they need/choose to do so.

I often get beginner or near-beginner knitters, or perhaps those coming back to it after many years away from yarn and needles. It’s really satisfying for me, teaching these folks.

Sometimes we who are comfortable with knitting, assume that someone starting out must work with a simple project. We suggest scarves or dishcloths, for example. This works fine if the person in question is interested in such a project. However, for some folks they have a particular project in mind, one that is not considered a beginner project. For those people, a simple project just keeps them from the dream and sometimes diminishes their passion for knitting.

I firmly believe that if you have a passion to make a particular thing and you are willing to make a good number of stitches, you should go after that goal. After all, if you can picture something finished in your mind, you can get there with a little guidance. I have seen relative beginners make amazing projects, be they lace (check out Sophia’s knitted corset) or ribbing or socks.

Right now I have two folks working with me who are making extra-ordinary beginner projects. Kate felt a real push to make a baby blanket, knowing full well how many stitches it would take to finish. Above is a photo of her project. Cool, huh?

And Paulette? Super cool… she wanted to make a hat for charity. She picked a pattern before I met her and it had garter fabric on the edge followed by ribbing and decreases. It started on circular needles and then when the number of stitches reduced, it switched to double-pointed needles. Look at her hat!!! Her first project (or so I believe, certainly her first in my class)! Soooo cool.

What’s more, she had the goal when she came to me, that she wanted to knit socks. Of course, I was all for it.

So on her third week she started a sock project, using my First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern. She finished the toe, the heel flap, the heel turn and picking up stitches to start the gusset (the little triangles on both sides of the foot under the ankle). Next week we decrease for the gusset and then she can finish her leg/cuff without me. Woohoo!

I took these photos last week. For some reason, I did not think to take any photos today. I did not get a shot of Paulette’s sock, nor did I get a photo of the absolutely gorgeous progress Mary is making on her (not beginner) BiggieZig ZigBag (which was my evening class, after the study hall). Rats!

Our ukulele-musician friends from Australia, Bosko and Honey, are on a long journey which started with Japan and now includes many states in the USA. They were here visiting us for two nights last week.

The four of us recorded “Row, Row, Row” in our living room on the second night they were here. They did a great job editing, and the video is up now for your listening/viewing enjoyment.

This weekend was the Habibi Dancers‘ 25th Anniversary concert (and two days of dance workshops). It was a great time. You can imagine that the preparations for something that big distracted me a bit from the teaching part of my life. Now I’m diving back into my teaching realm.

On Saturday, April 26, I’m teaching polymer clay “Stripes, Jelly Rolls and Checkerboards” at Threadbear Fiberarts. (See buttons top left and bottom almost-left in photo.)

I’ve taught a buttons/beads class for years, which uses layering techniques (think thin woodgrain or ivory but in any colors you like) to make buttons that are easily wearable with handknits. I have also recently added a “Foils and Translucents” class which creates lovely pearlescent buttons which also are just great with handknitted garments.

In the polymer clay community, beads are the focus rather than buttons. Many of the beads are made with a millifiore technique, an ancient glassworking method which works best with sharp contrast, and which draws in the eye to analyze fine detail.

I have had the instinct that fancier buttons with this type of detail, might distract from a garment. However, I am reminded by students that detail is adorable in a child’s button and also great for beads.

I’ve had enough requests that I’m teaching my first millifiore (stripes, etc) polymer class ever at a yarn shop, at Threadbear (Lansing, Michigan) this Saturday from noon to 4pm. Call 517/703-9276 to register.

If you want a project on which you might place your new buttons, I’ll be starting a baby set class at Rae’s on Thursday nights starting May 1. We’ll have one class, then a week off, then 3 more weeks in a row. We’re knitting the Wee One Welcome Set from Knitting at Knoon, which includes a sweater, hat and booties.

Rae’s sample version at the shop (see photo, shown with purchased buttons) is knit with one large (half-pound) skein of my Cushy ColorSport DK washable merino yarn, in the Seaside colorway. (She had enough yarn left over from the newborn size to knit a pair of tiny pants to go with it as well.) Last I looked Rae had 6 skeins of my yarn in stock (it’s limited in supply, I dye yarn when I’m not busy teaching). She has other DK weight washable yarns in stock as well.

To sign up for the baby set class, call Rae at 517/336-9276 or email info@raesyarnboutique.com

Next week (Friday May 2, 6-8pm) I teach Needlefelted Embellishments at Threadbear. This is a fun, no-sew method of adding color to a purse, hat or other item you own. It works well on felted or non-felted items. Wool works best as a base, but I’ve seen folks needlefelt on T-shirts and denim jackets, too. (On this photo, I used yarn “squiggles” on a purchased felted beret. Click above link to see Linda’s class project from last year.)

Saturday, May 3, I teach Polymer Clay Foils and Translucents at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan, from 11-3pm. (See pink button in first photo for one possible look.) Call Lindsay at 517/541-9323 to register.

Facing Reality

In my mind, I think I don’t do routine well. In fact, in some areas I have none. I get ready in the morning every day, but the things I do to get ready I switch around. I sometimes have breakfast first, sometimes get dressed first, sometimes prepare my class materials before any of the above.

Because of this, on mornings with a very short getting-ready time I miss things that should be routine. I typically forget to wear earrings or a watch, or I’ll forget to take my vitamins or some other thing that theoretically should be automatic for me to do.

Routine is My Friend

However, on a larger scale I have a weekly schedule or routine. I seem to have trouble when it gets disrupted.

Monday nights I teach computer classes at community education. Tuesdays during the day I’m home, typically doing computer/writing work (occasionally I have a class or guild meeting at night).

Wednesday I have CityKidz Knit! program followed by Habibi Dancers’ practice. Thursdays I’m at Rae’s. Fridays and Saturdays I teach random classes or work at home, and when we have music performances they often are Saturday nights. Sundays I teach at Rae’s.

Recovering from Schedule-Chaos

So far this year, I have not fallen into that routine. Since January things have been too intense to run on my familiar schedule. January we were coming out of holiday season and our friend Rev came to visit for three nights. February I was sick almost the whole month.

March, fortunately, was busy with the release of the ZigBagZ pattern collections and making up for lost class time… plus there were taxes to deal with. April we had Bosko and Honey as guests for two nights, and I performed in (and therefore rehearsed heavily for) the Habibi Dancers‘ 25th anniversary dance concert.

Whew! Whirlwind! I’m looking forward to some change. Change in favor of routine, regardless of what I have previously thought worked for me.

Big Plans

I’m hoping to schedule some new classes and new musical performances for the next few months. If anyone out there reading this wants a particular class, do let me know and I’ll do what I can to schedule it, hopefully at a time that works for you and a handful of others. I can’t always do what you want, but I will see if I can work it out.

I have some promises to make good on, a list of four tasks (two of which have been waiting for months) for other folks who can’t do these things for themselves. After that, I’ll be free to focus even more on my business.

There are some patterns I need to finish up, and I am hoping to get some dyeing done in May. Therefore, I want to get these to-do tasks out of the way soon.

Thank You

On another topic, thanks to everyone who is sending me photos and other content for this blog. I’m drowning in wonderful photographs, which have been coming in at a rapid rate as I’ve been distracted elsewhere. I hope I can post a good portion of the photos coming my way.

The photos today I took a week ago, the first signs of spring, growing things in my own yard. The daffodil is a tiny variety that comes in early, and now the bigger ones are following suit. Also shown here are my beloved violets (others call them weeds but they may be my favorite spring flowers), and a few myrtle/periwinkle blossoms. It’s actually truly looking springlike today, there were even golfers on the course at MSU!

I wanted to knit spring into existence. I thought I’d use some spring green handpainted sockyarn, maybe along with some turquoise handdyed sockyarn. I made the yarns into balls. I did not even cast on.

I did choose some spring green Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (wool/alpaca, really soft and warm but not very springlike other than color). I started a hat. Today I ripped out all but about 12 rounds. I’m OK with that, but maybe I just needed to not do wooly, warm stuff while talking spring.

Then last week I taught at Threadbear and they had turquoise/aqua mohair yarn on a huge clearance price. I got enough to replace my wearing-thin favorite-of-all turquoise mohair sweater. I don’t know when I’ll knit a sweater when I don’t write patterns for sweaters, but if I can get started there will be a lot of knitting just around and around and around in circles. At least the color is very springlike. And I do wear mohair in spring and fall, as well as winter. (Do I sound convincing yet?)

I also picked up 2 balls of washable merino (about DK weight) to make some socks for me. Whenever that happens. Meanwhile the colors can speak spring to me.

Mary is taking my ZigBagZ Maxi Collection class at Rae’s Yarn Boutique right now. I took this photo of her bag a week ago (my, how time flies). This is the base of her “Biggie Zig” which is a sort of large purse carry-all. It’s bigger now, because it will be shrunk on purpose when she is done knitting.

She is thrilled with the colors she picked. I think they are dead-on perfect for her. (This is proof that you can make ColorJoy patterns with *your* colors and they can be absolutely ColorJoy for *you*.)

I am looking forward to the next time we meet (in a few weeks, I think) when I can see the sides of the bag, zigzagged in 4 yarns (the base used only 2 yarns).

Go, Mary!

Sriyana is on my ColorJoy! Ravelry discussion group (please join us, you will need to join the free Ravelry site first). I’ve mentioned her tapestry-crocheted mandalas here before. This time she has been crocheting spring into existence, and it appears to have worked, at least in her part of the world.

She participated in an art show where the theme was chickens (I can not help but wonder what the show as a whole looked like), and made this piece with a hen and wonderful textured leaves. I’m not good at crochet, but those leaves make me want to learn more, and fast!

She lives near Asheville, North Carolina. This is a wonderful community on a mountain, where they get a lot of sun. It doesn’t get too hot or too cold, and it almost always avoids the cloudcover we see here in Michigan so much of the winter. My brother nearly moved there not too long ago. I’m glad he is closer to me right now, but I know he would have loved it there, had he made the move.

So… spring has arrived in the mountains. I am very happy she has chosen to share her photos with us. Thanks, Sriyana!

This Saturday, the Habibi Dancers (I am one) will be presenting their 25th anniversary concert at Hannah Community Center in East Lansing, Michigan. The City Pulse newspaper (I *love* these folks) put a relatively long article in their paper this week about the show.

They also included a photo of us in rehearsal for the show. I’m front/left, wearing green (though I’ll be wearing hot pink for the concert itself).

We first heard of Bosko and Honey (the ukulele act from Australia) on YouTube. Then last year in April we met them in person, at the New York Ukefest (we performed Friday, they were on Saturday). We really enjoyed talking with them but with all the distraction of a ukefest and conflicting travel arrangements, we did not get enough time to get to know them as we would have liked.

Luckily for us, they are on their way through the USA again. Tonight and tomorrow night they are staying with us. We have had much good food (Mama Bears and Altu’s) , some exploration (Old Town and East Lansing, and the weather has been wonderful for that), and a good deal of music making. Tomorrow we hope for more of the same.

The photo was taken last year at NYUkefest. I really love this video of their NY Farewell in the subway station. Wonderful.

Melissa lives in Australia. She is on my Ravelry ColorJoy discussion group and participates often. She wanted to participate in my “Knit Spring into Existence” project, except she is in the first bit of autumn where she lives.

Here is what she says:

When you suggested Knitting Spring into Existence, I wondered whether I might generate bad juju by joining your project, as here in Australia, Autumn clothes are appearing in stores. I never hesitate to march to a different drummer, but I also do my best to avoid contributing to undesirable climate change!

I settled on a rationalisation. I would knit (my first ever) baby booties as a symbol of new beginnings that can occur anytime in the year.

These booties are knit from yarn Melissa hand spun, and a guild friend hand dyed.

And now the coolest thing? The pattern for these booties came from a book which was written by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas. (This pair wrote the incredible Kids Knitting book I mentioned yesterday.)

Yes, the same Kristin Nicholas who gave a speech on color in Detroit yesterday/Monday. (Boo hoo. I missed it.) You see, we’re all in it together, if you are a knitter. It seems we are all related somehow.

Diana/Otterwise chose this beautiful yarn to Knit Spring into Existence. She has has some challenges this spring to say it kindly, thus the shawl she started had to be frogged (rip-it, rip-it). However, she says:

I didn’t finish this shawl, it got frogged when I totally screwed it up due to brain fog. But I did knit toward spring with it.

I’ve also attached a springy photo of tree buds from up north in Gaylord.

And can’t we all benefit from some hopeful, optimistic flower buds???

Note added later: Diana reminds me that the yarn is one I dyed (I had forgotten I’d done sockyarn in this colorway). It is TipToe Sockyarn in colorway “Spring Sunshine.” No wonder she chose it for this project!

Leeann sent me a photo of her springlike yarn for my “Knit Spring into Existence” project, and I posted that photo on March 30. Here she shows that she did dive in and start her first handknitted socks. She reports that it’s so much fun she doesn’t want to knit any of her other projects.

I say that you can not buy passion, and that sort of enthusiasm for knitting anything must be embraced. That’s what I say, anyway.

Knit on, Leeann!

Garnett Kepler (stage name Yasmina Amal) is in the State News (Michigan State Univ. student paper) today for her work at the World Languages Day at MSU. She taught a session called “Walk like an Egyptian” which included both dance and cultural awareness.

Garnett is my dance teacher and the Director of Habibi Dancers. The article is here.

Photo is the best one of Garnett I’ve ever taken; Minnesota, May 2005.

I have talked of Kristin Nicholas here before. She loves color perhaps more than I do. She is a knitter, and author of knitting books, embroidery books, books for kids to knit and crochet. She writes a wonderful blog, called Getting Stitched on the Farm.

She has illustrated a number of knitting books (my favorite of her illustration projects may be Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick, which is also an excellent starter book for adult knitters). When I need inspiration, I pull out Kristin Knits or Colorful Stitchery.

Kristin is in the Motor City this week to film the PBS show “Knit and Crochet Today.” She will be busy in the recording studio all week, but one night she is sneaking out to meet the fine knitters of southeastern Michigan.

Tonight, Monday April 14, she is presenting her talk about color. Here are the details from her website:

The Joy of Color Slide Presentation
City Knitting, Fisher Bldg. Detroit, MI
5:30 to 7:30
313.872.9665
www.cityknits.com

I can not tell you how sad I am that I can not go. It is not a long drive for me (Kristin lives many states east of here). However, I have to teach my last class of the term for Community Ed (it’s a makeup class because I didn’t teach when I was sick with the flu). I can not cancel or reschedule, because the new term starts next Monday. Sigh.

If you can get there, by all means do. Enjoy it for me!

I went to Ann Arbor on Friday with several hundred other knitters (and a few non-knitters) to hear Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot) speak. It was a promotional event for her new book, “Things I learned from Knitting …whether I wanted to or not.” I am very happy I went.

Every time Stephanie appears, a gathering happens where knitters convene and celebrate what they have in common. As she points out, many of us would not hang out or even get along if it were not for our yarn and needles, and the love of creating knitted items.

Some of us knit sweaters, some socks, some both. Our politics and religions are varied, our backgrounds, income level, anything you might want to use to define us, can not be defined.

I remember the days when she was “Stephanie Pearl (not Purl)” on the Knitlist. We occasionally wrote private emails to one another. I started my blog in November 2002… since I archive all personal email (yes, I’m obsessed but sometimes it is quite handy to go back in archives) I see a note Stephanie wrote to me on April 3, 2003. When I look at the Yarn Harlot blog page, the earliest archive is January 2004.

So it was early blogosphere time, and email discussion lists were how knitters met/found one another. She would write funny posts to the email list, rather than on her blog or in a book. Her posts were always a highlight of the list for me.

These days if we write, it tends to be a quick comment on the other person’s blog. She’s so busy with sometimes 300+ comments a day, that I’m sure correspondence takes up a huge amount of her time these days.

Now she’s promoting her 5th book. She is doing what outsiders think is impossible… making a living writing humorous books about being a knitter. She’s very funny to insiders, and confusing to those who have chosen to remain outside the knitting realm.

Whether you knit or not, whether her comments make sense to you or not (they do if you knit), she is authentic Stephanie. She’s real, she laughs at her human foibles.

Humans passionate over any activity (knitting, fishing, cooking, running…) will exhibit behaviors that are a bit confusing to those not similarly passionate. And these unique things can bring a chuckle without the need to feel “less than.” It’s just the product of intense immersion in an activity that brings much pleasure. In this culture sometimes we insult ourselves in order to present ourselves as humble. Stephanie avoids the insult and the postured humbleness.

Sometimes I contemplate how this very human and very approachable person has become sort of a superstar, at least in the knitting world. Let’s face it most authors can’t turn out the 750 or so listeners she had at her book launch for the last book, in New York City. She turns out hundreds of knitters at every one of her talks/book-signing events.

Superstars are sometimes worshiped rather than admired. But I think Stephanie’s real appeal is her humanness.

She admits when she’s not happy with her kids. She admits when she needs to focus on a writing deadline and all she wants to do is cast on for a new pair of socks. She admits she knit long past the point where she knew it was not working out, and admits when she has to rip out the work she did while knowing full well she would need to rip.

So many people in the public eye cover up their weaknesses. Stephanie writes books about hers, without losing her dignity in the least.

We had such a good time! I met some folks from City Knitting in Grand Rapids, (I’ve already met a few others from this reaaally great store in East Town). I am embarrassed I am going blank on their names right now, I should have taken a notepad. One of them said she had knit my Fast Florida Footies pattern, which of course made me feel good.

I met a few young women waiting in line, one from Canton and one from Dexter (I think I got that right) who were in the (second) photo above I tried to take without being noticed… see them laughing in the photo? I am not good at hiding, not at all.

Almost everyone was knitting while waiting in line. The 5th grader in that photo said she was not a knitter (and those around her were teaching her to say “not yet”). I told her I learned to knit in 5th grade.

The first photo here in the post is a crowd of folks from the Lansing area with Stephanie. This way photo-taking took less time, she could get on with signing another several hundred books for those willing to wait in line.

The last photo is the rainbow that followed us for about 30 minutes on the commute to Ann Arbor. Rae was driving (yippee) so I had time to take dozens of shots trying to capture the colors. We could see it from bottom right to bottom left, the whole arc, much of the time (and every color down to violet was easily visible to the eye, though not obvious in the photo). Gorgeous.

Stephanie, thanks for the great party! “The Knitters” had a great time, thanks to you.

This spring thing comes and goes, but we have not had snow for several weeks. As I type this, the temperature is just barely above freezing. A few days ago, we had an incredible summery few hours followed by wind and rain.

My days are incredibly full this week and next, I may give you more photos than text during that time. Off to teach Guitar-Trim Socks at Rae’s! If I’m lucky I’ll have time to go to Threadbear after work, to see Jillian Moreno and Amy Singer (Knitty) launch their 2nd Big Girl Knits book. I hope.

Spring is here, for a few hours. The temp outside is over the mark where Brian keeps the thermostat all winter. Sun is shining, flowers blooming, This ColorJoyLynn is happy and even spent a few minutes in the hammock.

However, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Yarn Harlot) is coming to Ann Arbor tonight, speaking at 7pm. If anyone remembers, she had awful weather last time she came, her flight from Chicago got to Detroit and sent back to Chicago because of storms. (It turned out fine, knitters love to wait and knit, though of course she worried like crazy until she got there.)

So she’s bringing the weather with her again, it seems. We are expecting tornado watches between Lansing and Ann Arbor. I’m hoping she got an early flight. It was perfect here, and then at 2:26pm the wind started gusting and the clouds rolled in.

Rae and I are going straight to Ann Arbor when she closes the shop one hour early at 5pm. Rachael and Sharon (who also work for Rae) are going to be there when we get there. We’re meeting Riin and hoping to go out to dinner after the event. I hope that wherever we go, is not where the other hundreds of knitters go. This knitter wants dinner, not a line with a two-hour wait. However, waits are more pleasant with friends and a sock to knit!

Photos after Ann Arbor. Hugs!!!

Deb of Scarlet-Zebra has taken on the Knitting-spring-into-existence project, too. She is knitting some socks in a tulip colorway (zillions of colors in one skein) and she also is painting her house and painting on silk. You might want to see her photos: check out this entry on Scarlet-Zebra’s blog.

I have known Deb for several years. We met on the internet, I think the Socknitters email list, but we’ve hung out a zillion hours, had uncountable four-hour lunches (halfway between her house and mine, we both drive about an hour), and met at places like Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan, Ann Arbor Art Fair, and Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing.

We had a point where our lives changed and we did not connect enough… but now with her blog, we are reconnected once more. I am really happy about that.

Deb loves color at least as much as I do. She knit these kissing-cousin sock pairs, as a matter of fact (five years ago… amazing how time flies). The pattern is my BarberPole socks. Yarn is Cascade Fixation (DK weight cotton/lycra). But the choice, combination, and the knitting were all Scarlet-Zebra!

Um, I think maybe she was knitting spring into existence when she knit these, as well. Actually, I posted the photos originally on my blog, January 30, 2003. That is a bit early for thinking spring, but the colors surely go with the theme quite well!

Chicago is a very liveable city. I’ve known a good number of folks who lived there over the last 15 years or so. Although getting around any city of this size is a bigger challenge than where I live, my acquaintances seemed to have enough living space and reasonable access to work and recreation… even without a car (which is quite possible in Chicago and very challenging in Lansing).

I nearly bought a roomy 4th floor one-bedroom 1960’s (apartment) condo in 1992, a good bit north of downtown (Sheridan Avenue near where Lakeshore Drive ends). It had a view of Lake Michigan, with just a park between the building and the water. I ended up buying a 2-bedroom 1920’s bungalow with attic studio and a shared driveway in Lansing, for a few thousand less. That is one of my “what if” questions, those I will never have an answer for… what if I had bought that condo and moved to Chicago? I would not have met Brian, and that is a satisfying answer enough. However, I have a feeling if I had moved, I would not have looked back.

Much of the watefront is made into citizen-accessible parks and trails for walking, bicicyling, skateboarding, rollerblading and other such fun. There is much activity, both planned by the Parks department and private folks (alone or in groups).

We almost always choose to enter and exit the Chicago area via Lakeshore Drive, even when it might take longer to do so. The views are wonderful, whether you look at the peacefulness of the water/parks to the east or the excitement of the skyline to the west.

Most of the trips I’ve taken to Chicago, I drove myself. It’s a bit hard to take photos that way, so I took advantage of my passenger status this time and take a lot of photos. I put together a “Lakeshore Drive” photoset on Flicker if you want a few more photos.

I love old neon signs. We wandered all around Chicago, mostly between downtown and the very far north. I don’t know where most of these signs were found, except that the fish sign was in Andersonville which historically was a Swedish community.

Wherever they were found, whatever their condition, lit or not… they make me smile.

We spent a lot of time this Sunday/Monday trip to Chicago, walking and exploring different neighborhoods in the city. We had never done that except for going to Devon (where Indian food, groceries and clothing make me very happy).

As we proceeded between destinations, we saw a few animals. The first two photos here we saw walking down a residential street in Lincoln Park (if I remember right). The cat in the window was first, the dog was literally next door. They were just sitting there looking out the window as though watching television or something.

But the last photos here were out of the blue… we were in the car and pulled over into a side street to check the map. As Brian was figuring out where to go next, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye, and saw it was a squirrel. Then I noticed a reddish-orange colored item he was carrying. After a little looking it became apparent that this was some sort of food package. I figured he was trying to get the residual food from a wrapper.

Wrong. He was unwrapping… a chocolate bar. Really. I saw the wrapper fly away and there he was, chomping away at his chocolate.

What are the chances I would ever see this, in any place, under any circumstances? Crazy!

The last several hours we were in Chicago, we decided to stick around and wait to drive out until the rush hour had mostly passed. Since Brian is fond of maps and likes to look at how things (roads, bridges, other transit) fit together, we decided to ride the elevated train that the City of Chicago calls the ‘L.’ (Some folks spell this “el” but the City uses the stylized ‘L’ in its literature.) A ride on the ‘L’ is a little bit like a walk through a 3-D map, and a lot like being a fly on the wall, peeking and listening without being noticed.

An elevated train is a wonderful perch, literally up in the tops of the tallest trees, from which to see the lay of the land. You can see the back sides of businesses, back yards, junk areas not visible from the street. You can also see spectacular vistas, peeking down a busy street or viewing an important downtown landmark from a distance.

We were amazed at how close the train goes to some of the buildings. It looked in places as though there was a clearance of less than two feet. Considering that an elevated train makes a *lot* more noise than a subway, and goes by much more often than other types of trains, it must be a significant disturbance to normal living (you have to stop talking when the ‘L’ passes by) to live there. However, the real estate surely would be more affordable for places that close to a high-noise source, and that might be a welcome tradeoff in a high-priced city real estate market.

I have uploaded 72 photos (yeah, really… and I deleted all the blurry ones) of the ride, to my Flickr account as a set. I only added comments to the last photo, noting that it was taken after we had exited the train and walked several blocks north from the station. All other photos were taken starting on the Brown line (north) starting at the Western stop, and on the way to the loop/downtown. My camera ran out of storage space just about when we hit the loop, so I took no photos on the way back up.

Since there are no comments on the photos, you will lose no information if you run the photo set as a slideshow. You can imagine *you* are on that train looking out the window as I was just Monday.

Brian and I went to Chicago early Sunday and came home late Monday (very late, actually early Tuesday in the wee hours). It was great.

We walked and walked, and ate, and walked, and ate some more. We checked out some of the fun little neighborhoods that we had not checked out in previous visits. We loved our time together without work to distract us.

I took over 400 photographs, until the SD card in my camera was full. I will take time to pull out a handful and make them into a Flickr photoset as I find time.

For  now, I need to schedule some classes so I can work in upcoming months.

I’m making a Nancy Marchant windmill hat for my “knitting spring into existence” project. I’m using a wool/silk solid purple single-ply from JKnits, and a multicolor silk/wool Noro Silk Garden. It’s Brioche stitch, but not just that, it’s Brioche two-color in the round. I’ve never done this sort of knitting before and I find it very satisfying.

The cool thing about this sort of colorwork is that you only work with one color at a time. You work an entire round with one yarn, then you switch yarns and work the next round with the second one. For folks who crave colorwork but struggle with the two-colors-at-once issue, this is a great method.

Nancy Marchant is very big into brioche stitch of all sorts. She has a very deep website and she also has YouTube videos showing the techniques required in her patterns. I used one of the videos, myself. I love how videos on the web can really enhance the knitting realm!

Nancy has free patterns for hats on her site. She calls them berets, although for the record French berets are knit in short rows going around (knit one pie slice, then knit another slice, then another until you finish, then complete the disc with a seam). This hat is knit from the top down, in the round (backwards from a traditional Scottish tam). Whatever they might be called, the hats are delightful.

I first saw her Pecan Pie pattern on Knitty, but that one has Noro Kureyon and that comes out to a larger gauge than the Silk Garden. So I went to her website and chose a hat which specified Silk Garden, so my gauge was more likely to be right.

This is very fun knitting, I highly recommend it. Here are photos of the “before” project and the first session of knitting. I’ll show more photos as I proceed.

I saved a photo of a beautiful plate of “sushi” (smoked salmon sashimi and avocado roll). Then I viewed it in the recent photos area of my computer. The colors look remarkably similar to the towel-rack “still life” I posted very recently. Check it out.

I am not sure what this means. I can leave it a mystery but it made me chuckle.