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Archive for April, 2009

In the News!

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

Good Press, Good Reporter

Habibi Dancers’ Saturday workshop is in momdaughter25.jpgthe Sunday Lansing State Journal (page 1 of section B, for locals). There is a photo showing Amel Tafsout teaching (be advised that her link takes you to a home page with music).

I am in the middle of the line of dancers (short, with glasses and a smile). Check out the article here. Also, six more photos from the workshop can be viewed here.

I am glad that the reporter, Alec Marsy, was able to extract the essence of confidence and self-empowerment which results for so many of us when we learn this type of dance. So often, the press will focus on the stage show and costumes; for troupe members it’s a team of strong women dancing together weekly, and supporting each other in hard times.

Teamwork All Year

The emphasis is on the team, habibirehearse33.jpgif you ask me. I’m so proud to be part of this magnificent group of women.

Our troupe has about 30 women in it. When one woman needs help, it seems that someone else is always available to fill in that need. (Sometimes, for very rough times, a whole team will pitch in.) This sort of community is invisible to those who merely look at photos of us on stage.

Strength and Confidence

Mideastern and North African dances were often originated as a way for women to strengthen their bodies for childbirth. We have had dancers in class up to a week before their child was born, even with the availability of modern medicine. When a woman practices this artform, she strengthens her body and in the process naturally becomes more comfortable with herself.

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(For the record, our troupe has included women from high school age to a decade or so into retirement. Ballet, for a contrasting example, can not be practiced fully for that many years. It breaks down the body rather than strengthening it.)

My Own Experience

I know eudora2007basketsm.jpgthat I first had to make friends with my physical self before I could move to the music as I do now. Just over a dozen years ago, I felt as though I was a good brain and feet, and that perhaps there was nothing connecting the two. I could think very well, and I could get from place to place, but that was where my awareness stopped.

I am not the sort of person who would go to the gym and work out doing any number of repetitions of an exercise. I had spent bits of my life trying this or that sort of dance, none of them to the point of true mastery.

Not long after I married Brian, I again missed dancing. I looked around and found affordable classes at the community center one block from my home. It was mere convenience that started me on this particular journey.

I think when I started these classes, I spent about six months in the front row laughing from how difficult it was for me. For some reason I kept at it, and gained enough mastery to audition into this troupe about 9 years ago.

Now, at the age of 50, I am in better shape than I have ever been, by the discipline of dancing with my women-friends. And I feel beautiful. My inner confidence has never been better, and dancing has been part of that.

World Citizens

As a side note, I have always felt part of the “Human Race” and see our world as a kaleidoscope of wonderful cultural expressions. Learning about many cultures who move with similar but different expressions within the umbrella we call “Mideastern dance” makes me more of a world citizen.

Both as a dancer and as a knitter, I explore and celebrate the entire world’s cultural richness. We are all related, when you come right down to it.

I feel very blessed to live in a time and place where I can learn about people far from my own corner of my world. I can eat foods with roots all over the planet, dance, dress and knit from many inspirational places. Places which have created artforms which resonate inside me, regardless of my recent ancestry.

Yes, we are all related. I feel (and celebrate) this connection every day.

Good Instruction

We have a wonderful teacher here in Lansing. Garnett Kepler (stage name Yasmina Amal) has a background in ballet and other danceforms. She is particular about technique and precision. It is a pleasure and an honor to learn from her. We are very lucky to have her as our instructor and Artistic Director.

If you are in Lansing and are interested in learning, classes are available at Foster Community Center on Lansing’s East Side (just west of Frandor). You can call 517/483-4233 to register. The price depends on whether or not you live within the Lansing city limits. It’s very reasonable even for non-residents, but the classes do fill up quickly.

Rehearsal Photos

I have hundreds of photos from the workshop and concert on Saturday. Unfortunately, they are still on my camera. The group photos here are from Thursday’s dress rehearsal.

The first is a mother/daughter duet. Second is a basket dance (yes, those are real baskets and they are not tied to the head). Third is a solo, she is balancing a sword while doing the splits (yes, it is real and heavy metal but it is not sharpened).

The next two photos are from my archives. The fourth is a photo of me as Eudora, probably age 48, taken at New Aladdin’s Restaurant in Lansing. Fifth is a photo I took of Yasmina Amal in concert in Minnesota a few years ago.

The sixth photo is again from dress rehearsal. It is a blacklight number, which is a modern bit of fun using standard Mideastern dance moves.

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Consider a Concert?

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

This evening, I will perform in the annual dance concert for the dance troupe I am in, the Habibi Dancers. Please consider joining us.

Show is today, Sat., April 4. Showtime is 8pm., at Hannah Community Center, East Lansing, MI. I am in two dances.

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I took this photo at dress rehearsal, Thursday.

Book–Ethnic Knitting Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland, & Ireland

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

Three weeks ago, I blogged about receiving this book in the mail. It is Donna Druchunas’ second book in a series on Ethnic knitting styles, entitled Ethnic Knitting Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland & Ireland.

I was delighted with the first book in the series (which included Norway, from my own heritage, and the Andes, which is a current fascination). I am honored to be part of the blog tour for this second book.

The blog tour will span from April 1 to April 22. Donna has posted the tour schedule on her own blog. Yesterday the tour visited Jean Clement of Desert Rose Designs. Her entry is here.

Something that I often think about, is how knitting styles and knowledge evolved one person at a time. Each person passed what they knew to the next, who personalized their own output. Sweaters often did not match from one to the next, though there would typically be regional style details which were similar.

Once I met a woman from Turkey and we chatted about socknitting. She was proud to explain to me how no two pairs were ever the same. Each reflected the mood of the knitter as she knit that pair (and no doubt, the yarns available at the time were also an influence). This novelty was a very important part of her own socknitting background. It was important to her that I understand how much that uniqueness mattered in her culture.

With Donna’s Ethnic Knitting books, we have a series which addresses this individuality which is a deep part of folk knitting. Just as knitters in one area were inspired by local custom as well as their own moods and supplies, so are we inspired by them. It seems fitting that we not copy, but instead continue that inspiration to create something which honors its inspiration, yet reflects our own touch.

I interviewed Donna by email earlier this week.

Donna, I make a living primarily as a knitting instructor. I really love how the designs in your book are presented in three different ways.

The first method seems for confident knitters. The second uses gauge and measurement to create general guidelines for the piece, and the third allows the knitter to plug in his/her own numbers but to knit from what feels like a standard pattern.

As an instructor, how would you suggest I use this book for the best benefit of my students? I teach both local classes (which tend toward more basic skill levels, though not aways) and at fiber festivals (often with more experienced students, but again not always).

Thanks Lynn.

I created the three methods because I know that there are many different ways that people learn. Some are visual; some like text; some like numbers. The only disappointment was that it is impossible to include videos in a book! I hope to get some on my website eventually.

The three methods you mentioned are:

  1. For adventurous and advanced knitters, I have a visual plan where you can fill in your measurements and stitch counts as you go.
  2. For those who want more details, I have a spreadsheet to help you do all of the calculations you’ll need for your project.
  3. For those who have never designed a sweater, or who want a little more hand-holding, I have step-by-step instructions for working up each project (with your numbers).

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I think the book can be used several ways for classes. I teach a few different workshops:

  1. Techniques. You can focus on a specific technique like steeking, color knitting, or making cables and use the techniques sections to give you ideas for creating your workshop. This is good for a short workshop, such as a 1/2 or 1 day workshop at a shop or at a fiber festival.
  2. Projects. You can have a project workshop, where you go through one of the projects in the book. I would not focus on one method or another. Even in one class, you may have students who prefer the visual, the numbers, or the text instructions. I would focus on the steps required to create a garment. I break my workshops out into several sessions:

First session:
Get Ready: In this section we go over materials and I usually help the students shop for yarns that will be appropriate for their project.

Get Set: In this section we discuss gauge and stitches and make
swatches.

Later sessions:
Knit! In the Knitting portion we do lower body, upper body, sleeves, and finishing sections. It’s great for teaching in a local yarn shop, because you can spread the classes out over time, so people are able to actually get a lot of knitting done.

When I travel and teach 1 or 2-day workshops, that doesn’t allow for the students getting much knitting done outside of the classroom! So we usually don’t get to knit an actual sweater on “away” workshops. We just get one designed and sometimes get the first part cast on.

Would you perhaps present a project and choose one of the three methods for the class to all follow? Would you suggest perhaps making one wristwarmer from one method and the second with a different method?

No, I think the knitters will find the way they like to work. The small projects are also great for classes, because you can have a shorter, less expensive class and teach a technique with a project. I work from the visual method, and make up everything as I go.

I never thought of this, but when I talked to people who were using the books on their own, they sometimes chart out the whole sweater or garment before they start! So we all have our own preferences. Some people would be worried about starting a project if they didn’t have all the numbers figured out in advance, for example.

I am sure you are excited about the choices you have made. This is not a typical way of presenting materials to modern knitters. This is your second book of the series, though. What input are you getting from knitters regarding the three choices you have provided?

Once people understand the 1-2-3 ways of working, they love these books. I don’t think I did a good enough job of explaining that with the marketing for the first book.

Every time I personally showed someone a book and the 1-2-3 (visual, math, text) instructions, they bought the book! I think having classes to show people how easy it is and how they can choose the best way to work for their personal needs is a great way to get people past the intimidation of thinking that designing their own garments is too hard.

Do you have any advice for an instructor at a yarn shop, as far as how to use the book for the best benefit of the customer? Often students do not want to buy a book. Yours is so helpful, I know they will be happy to keep it, but how do you explain the possibilities, to someone who has not looked at the book yet?

I’m working with my publisher on releasing the individual projects from Ethnic Knitting Discovery as PDF patterns. I’d love to work with shop owners who want to purchase rights to print multiple copies for using as handouts in classes.

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I know many people can’t always afford a book, especially at the same time that they are paying for a workshop and materials for a sweater. So I think having the individual patterns will really be a boon for that. If the PDF experiment is successful, we may also eventually release the Ethnic Knitting Explorations projects in that format. Only time will tell!

A couple of my books are going to be released in Kindle editions soon, and I’ll be recording one audio book this fall. I’d love to hear from knitters and teachers about what formats they’d like to see books available in.

Thanks for hosting my book tour on your blog.

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Donna, it has been a pleasure to be part of your book launch. My plan is to cast on for a pair of fingerless gloves using method 1, hopefully yet today. I will be sure to post photos here and on Ravelry (username: ColorJoy) when I have progress befitting a photograph.

Readers, look for the free PDF pattern for the fingerless gloves on April 10th at Deb Robson’s blog, The Independent Stitch.

Tomorrow, the blog tour goes to Katherine Vaughan’s site, Knit with KT. Would anyone care to join me there?

Happy Anniversary, Mom!

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

My parents were married on April 3. Dad passed away in 1973, but the date remains important to our family. Of course.

My mom is a loyal reader of this blog. (What would we do without friends and family, anyway?) It seems right to congratulate her here.

Dad was a loving and brilliant man. I know my mom was hoping to have smart kids… and marrying Dad helped that dream a bit. Mom didn’t know until decades later that she also was a smart cookie in her own right, and we got our good minds from both parents. Isn’t it sad how that happens to so many of us women?

My Dad only was ever married once, to my mom. As they turned 40, many of Dad’s colleagues were “trading in their wives for a newer model,” in his words.

Dad liked to joke a lot. At parties, my father would introduce my mom as “this is my first wife, Liz.” Mom would say “Pete is my most recent husband.” They would laugh about sticking together, which was not always easy.

Mom and Dad were married 18 years when he died at age 40. I know he is still a part of my everyday life. I take after his mother in temperament, as did he and his brothers.

A favorite memory of family life while we still had Dad, was when we would drive from Michigan to Minnesota every summer to visit relatives. (All four of us were born in Minnesota, and more than half our relatives were there.) We would sing in the car much of the trip.

We would sing songs with place names in them. When we passed through Gary, Indiana, we would sing the song about it from The Music Man. Then we would sing Oklahoma! from that musical, and The Yellow Rose of Texas, and any other song we could think of about cities or states.

We sang “Shine on, Harvest Moon” and “For Me and My Gal” which I then thought were two parts of one long song, but we apparently did them as a medley (probably learned that way from a record at one time). Now Brian and I sing those songs. If you click the links above, you can hear us singing them as MP3s, if your computer is set up for that.

Happy Anniversary, Mom.

A Wonderful Twist on my Bowl Pattern

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

My friend Terese knit from my Buttons and Beads Bowl pattern and really took it to a new dimension. The bowl does start with a large square for the base, and then increases give it the roundness necessary for the shape I desired. She did something to retain its square shape (probably moved the increases around a bit).

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After she felted it, she stretched it into a square rather than round shape, put very heavy sewing interfacing in it to stiffen the edges and base, and sewed a little lining in a gorgeous fabric. She attached the lining and gave it to a friend as a gift.

I happened to be at Rae’s shop when the friends connected and the gift was given. I feel very fortunate to be able to show you this photo today. Isn’t it wonderful?

Thanks, Regina!

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

altusbyregina400.jpgBrian and I performed again last weekend as The Fabulous Heftones. We always have a wonderful time. Maybe it’s the spring energy combined with our love song theme, but it was a hopping evening this week.

Our friend Regina comes to a lot of our concerts. She is always willing to use my camera to take a photo of us together. Some of our nicest photos were taken by Regina.

She took this photo last Saturday at Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine. It was really hopping that night, the place was packed right up to closing. Several knitting friends came and made up a large table, which made it really extra fun. Thanks for coming, all of you!

Awwww….

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

Speaking of spring… here is a cute photo.

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One of Rae’s customers is a veterinarian. Someone brought in this 5-day-old kitten who was apparently rejected by her mother and left alone, eyes closed, in a window box.

The vet took it home to foster it. Baby Kitty would die without help. In fact, at this age you never know if they will make it. Fortunately, this vet has fostered many tiny kittens before. Kitty lucked out, she got someone who knew what to do, and cared enough to do it.

This was last week. I wrote the vet yesterday to ask how kitty was doing. She says that Baby Kitty is doing wonderfully. She still needs much care and is not independent yet, but I’m delighted to hear that news.

Spring. Awwwww……

Never Bored

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

If the rest of life were not interesting enough, the weather would be all we needed. Even in a few hours things change. Monday, things were different on the south side of the house versus the north. Witness the evidence below.

Saturday: almost-blooming daffodils and a few violets. There were more violets not far away.

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Sunday morning: rain and a flock of robins enjoying the worms. There may have been two dozen of these beautiful singers. They are very hard to photograph, so this was all I was able to catch in one good photo.

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Sunday just before sundown: snow accumulation, memories of November.

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Monday on the north side of the house: slush remaining in the shade and straw-colored grass.

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Monday a minute or two before I took the above photo, on the south side in the sun: a yard full of violets again, in grass which is turning green.

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Life is as varied as a movie these days! Never a dull moment, I’d say.