Kathleen Taylor's Dakota Dreams

Before I head to the Dentist

2012-02-13T09:09:00.003-06:00

While I'm extremely grateful that my broken tooth doesn't hurt, I'm not exactly excited about this morning's reconstruction. Though I can type while I'm numb, I figured I'd better post now.

Ann from my class at Loop & Leaf, finished her Fair Isle hat. I love love love how it turned out. And I love that she's considering knitting another (or the Dragon shawl from Fearless Fair Isle!).

I finished knitting the body of The Doll Sweater Not From Hell- it's going to be pretty striking, I think.

I don't believe that I showed you these- my Christmas present, chosen by Voracious Reader.

She has excellent taste.

More presents- salt and coffee. Yummm. I'll have a cup (of coffee, not salt) when I get back from the dentist- sipped, no doubt, through a straw.

Ladybug Girl came over yesterday, and we spent the afternoon making cookies, and assembling more monsters. I'd be hard pressed to think of another book that has provided so many hours of fun.

Here's a leftover vacation picture- something I'd never seen before: a blooming Hen and Chick. Look at the size of those flowers!

Speaking of pictures- this vacation signaled a seismic shift in my photography: nearly every picture was taken with my phone. I only got the Nikon out once. Otherwise, these are all iPhone shots. I'm impressed with the color and clarity (and where there is neither, blame me, not the phone).

Okay, I've dawdled long enough- time to hit the shower and face the music (read: needle).

Okay again- one more quick story: I accidentally called The Grandboy *sweetie* in front of his friends. When I apologized later, he said, and I quote: I'm never 'barrassed of you, Grandma.
Right back atcha, Kid. May it ever be so.

Food...

2012-02-11T12:29:00.000-06:00

We're home. The flight from LAX to FSD was smooth and on time, and as short as a non-stop flight can be, and as comfortable (if we ignored the kids kicking the backs of our seats the whole way), but there's no way around it- flying is tiring. We spent the night in Sioux Falls, did a SAM's Club run in the morning, and were home yesterday by early afternoon, after which, we collapsed. Okay, I caught up on Facebook, and THEN I collapsed.

Today feels mostly normal, except that it was -14 this morning. Air temp. The heretofore mild winter and the many travels to warmer climes, have left me totally unable to process even this minor cold snap (and believe me, it's minor compared to what it can be). Otherwise, I'm mostly back on Central time, and almost raring to get back to work. Did I mention that I broke a tooth in California? It doesn't hurt (yet), and I don't even know how it happened (no biting on hard things, no blows to the face, nothing to precipitate chunks of tooth falling away), but Monday morning I have to go and have it repaired. So no matter how raring I am, work won't commence until Tuesday. After the numbness wears off.

In the meantime, I want to talk about the food we ate... the excess and totally delicious food that we ate... the thousands of calories of wonderful food...

Doris's Bakery Panaderia doesn't have a website, but you can see that I'm not the only one who loves the food there. Several times, we ate these ham, cream cheese, and jalapeno sandwiches, though they aren't exactly sandwiches- the filling is baked inside, so they're more like stuffed individual bread loaves. The bread is soft and delicious and the peppers will set your mouth on fire (in the best way possible). In Camarillo, saying *authentic* Mexican food is redundant- it's all authentic, and it's all amazing.

One evening, we ate at Moqueca, a Brazilian restaurant on the marina at Oxnard. This was the view from the balcony (and the evening was as soft and warm and beautiful as it looks in this shot). The food was absolutely fantastic- I had the fish moqueca, which is a sort of soup made with tomato sauce, coconut milk, and cilantro, cooked in a clay pot. It was delicious, though maybe not quite as delicious as the passion fruit mousse that I had for dessert.

On another evening, we ate at Boccaccio's at Westlake Village, where the marinated salmon was perfect, and the apple torte was even better. (And lest you think that we dropped bundles on these restaurants- Curt won gift certs for free meals at both. Wonderful FREE food. The best kind!).

But it wasn't all fancy restaurants- we ate as several other small cafes and eateries. We ate at Taqueria Portrillo's, where the huge, spicy pork burrito was more than I could eat.

Michael made this Meyer Lemon Torte for my class at Loop & Leaf. It was even better than it looks, and we snarfed up every crumb.

As often as possible, I stopped in at Element Coffee, first for their lattes, and then for the mochas (they make their own dark chocolate sauce). I freely admit that I know nothing about coffee, but they serve the best I've ever had. And they're pretty to look at, too.

On our last full day in SoCal, we went to Ventura- ostensibly to walk the beach a bit, but mostly to try this fish place that Curt had heard about. Spencer Makenzie's Fish Company was everything he'd heard, and more. I grew up with fish 'n chips, and can never find any in SoDak (any worth eating that hasn't been made by hand, at home, anyway). I'm always on the lookout for good fish places on our travels- and this one fits the bill. I only wish I'd know how big the servings were- we could easily have split an order. Their tartar sauce was great- with a bit of chili and lime mixed in.

But it wasn't all eating out... We picnicked, and cooked in a lot, including great pizzas made with Trader Joe's pre-made crust (that one was the Tooth Killer), and Curt made us Scotch Eggs for supper, which he paired with assorted beers, because, you know, he's The Beer Guy in the family (and he was right- the pairings were perfect). One evening, Voracious Reader and I made strawberry jam, and the next morning, I whipped up the ugliest orange marmalade in marmalade history.

See? Uuuuglaaayyy. But by cracky, it tasted just fine.

The result of all these calories? About what you would guess. Though we did walk miles every day, it wasn't enough to offset the intake, so food is going to be boring, and limited, around here for awhile... Hurray for pictures and memories.

Last full day in SoCal

2012-02-08T15:33:00.001-06:00

Guess what we did today...

Ordinary Tuesday, SoCal Style

2012-02-07T11:18:00.001-06:00

We're having what passes for *weather* in these here parts this morning... a couple raindrops and everyone scrambles to find their dusty umbrellas. Though I shouldn't laugh- I'm heading home on Thursday, and even though the weather will be much more mild than usual in January, I am still going to bitch and moan about 18 degree weather after 3 out of the last 4 weeks spent in warmer climes.

We haven't done anything specifically *trippy* this time- we intended to spend 2 weeks just living regularly and enjoying The SoCal Grands, which we have. That means playing with Legos.

These droids are not the ones anyone is looking for.

And helping with homework. Voracious Reader had to make a 3-D plant cell model, using any materials she chose. She considered Jell-O (side note: Children younger than 45 do not get the *there's always room for Jell-O joke*) but switched when I suggested needle felting. Above you can see the cytoplasm, the cell wall, the nucleus, the mitochondria, and the chloroplasts. I think she did a smashing job! And I suspect that she's the only 5th grader making plant cells out of unspun wool.

The Hub did claim the gray zipper hoodie, so I had to suck it up and buy myself another. I like the red better anyway, and it'll be so much easier to take this one off when going through security (as opposed to the pullover dance whereby I try to remove the outer layer while leaving the inner layer in place.)

Outside of multiple sweatshirts, I haven't done much shopping, though I ran across this little cocktail shaker in a liquor store. It was marked $1.59, so I snapped it up even though it has a Cabo Wabo Tequila logo on it, which probably means that it was supposed to be free. On the other hand, I had priced shakers on eBay, and was willing to spend much more for a non-logo one, so I got a good deal anyway. We'll see if the TSA allows it in my carry-on.

It wasn't until this morning that I remembered to take the Obligatory Bird of Paradise Photo.
You're welcome.

And finally, The Doll Sweater That Is Not From Hell But Still Absolutely Will Not Be Done By Thursday, is coming along.

As I said, nothing especially touristy this time around (though I still need to talk about the food- OMG! The FOOD!), and it's been the best trip ever.

More Pics

2012-02-06T12:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, we went to the Museum of Ventura County and saw the most amazing doll displays. The artist is named George Stewart, and he has a rotating display of wonderfully life-like and accurate portrayals of historical figures. This month's exhibit is on Queen Victoria, and the costumes are so perfectly styled and detailed that they made this doll-maker's heart go pitter pat (no pics allowed, of course).
We were allowed to take other pics though.

We had a picnic at this spot- the view was pretty spectacular. Also the wind, which has been South Dakotan in nature on this trip (read: constant).

I'm not sure I'll ever get tired of looking up at palm trees.

Or plants that flower in January.

This gorgeous mural was on the wall at the Ventura Museum. It's made of bits of glass. Thousands and thousands of bits of glass.

There are fountains everywhere in SoCal. This one was at the St. Bonaventura Mission. So cool. So relaxing. So lovely.

Ventura itself is also lovely- so many interesting shops and restaurants. I'm sorry to say that the the dark chocolate sea salt caramels were out of season at the chocolatier, but we made do with other delicacies. There were street musicians, and the echoes of many languages up and down the avenues.

And there was this sign...

We only have a couple more days before we head out. It's been amazing, and far too quick. Soon, we'll be back in the snow (or the not-snow, whichever the SD Winter Gods decide to throw at us).

Mostly Pics

2012-02-05T10:37:00.001-06:00

This vacation has been comprised of almost total relaxation with almost no time at the computer. My Kindle Fire does many things well, but writing Blog Posts with it is not one of them, so I've been a bit lax in that department.

So mostly, I'm going to post pics and talk about them a bit. We have a few more days here, but time is winding down very quickly.

The Pleats from Hell look pretty good blocked. In fact, they look fantastic, which is why I decided to knit this pattern in the first place. The sweater is one that I made a couple of years ago, from handspun yarn. The necklace was one of Voracious Reader's Late Christmas Gifts.

Here's the start of the Doll Sweater Which Is Not From Hell, But Will Also Probably Not Be Finished By Thursday. It's going to be gorgeous, and I'll have to mail it back to VR when it's done.

Ever wonder what a Brewer's Beer Fridge looks like? Wonder no longer.

I have no idea what this tree is, but I thought it looked very Ferny and Prehistoric.

Or this tree either, but the bark is beautiful.

Same tree, looking up.

Yesterday, Voracious Reader and I crashed the Ventura County Handweavers & Spinners Guild demo at an elementary school Winter Faire. They were so friendly and welcoming, and we had a lovely time drop spinning with them (and exploring the rest of the Faire, which was pretty cool). We both made new spinning friends, and VR was invited to come to the next Guild Meeting. I hope that their schedule coincides with my next visit so I can go too.

From the It Sounded Good in Theory Department: I learned that winding handspun yarn on a cardboard tube and then trying to ply it to itself by spindle, isn't as workable as it seems... Luckily VR wants to learn needle felting, so she can use this has a base.

We've eaten at some absolutely wonderful restaurants, but I'll save that (and the thousands and thousands of calories) for another post.

Brew Day

2012-02-03T12:20:00.001-06:00

Curt is brewing today- a Pale Ale. We do wine, which is a much simpler (though longer) process. I've never watched an entire brew, so it'll be interesting. I'll take pics as it goes, and post more tomorrow. Here's his fancy schmancy brewing setup:

Curt designed this wonderful beer festival poster, which will be up and displayed all around Santa Barbara.

While we were driving the kids to school this morning, a radio segment Curt taped yesterday just happened to play, which was pretty cool. He taped several, all about food and beer pairings (there's some sort of Sport Thing going on this weekend, I guess). This morning's bit was about donuts and beer, which isn't exactly my first thought when it comes to Big Game Munchie Pairings, but he's the expert, and if he says it's good, I suspect it's really good (he recommends an Oatmeal or Chocolate Stout with chocolate frosting).

I finished the hat from Fair Isle class- The Grandboy has claimed it already. And I finished the Pleated Doll Skirt from Hell. All I have to do is thread elastic in the waistband casing (after it dries), and I never have to think about it again. I certainly will not knit it again, even though the skirt is pretty darn cool. I've cast on the sweater, and it'll be a piece of cake in comparison.

Catching Up, and the Pleats From Hell

2012-02-02T12:34:00.001-06:00

Sorry about the blog silence- it's been busy here.

On Tuesday, we made the ugliest Orange Ginger Marmalade in the history of the world- it's opaque and it sort of looks like creamed corn, but it sure tastes good. I did take a picture but I can't find it right now. To make up for the ugly marmalade, I also made a small batch of apple pear butter. Much prettier and equally tasty.

On Wednesday, we went to Santa Barbara, where I taught a class at Loop & Leaf. The store is lovely, the staff is warm and friendly (and Michael made us a fantastic lemon tart), and the students, as always, were geniuses.

In the morning, we worked inside, but in the afternoon, we set up outside, in the lovely shade. Everyone made excellent progress on their Fair Isle Hats (and most of the students worked the adult size, so no one finished, including me). I hope to teach more classes there next time I'm in SoCal.

And I've been knitting in the evenings... also saying bad words and muttering and being really really frustrated by the Pleats From Hell. I've mentioned that I'm knitting a doll set from a gorgeous pattern from Malfrid Gausel. I read the skirt instructions in advance, and even with the translation oddities (more about which later), the process made sense in theory.

Practice was a whole other thing.

In order to knit the pleats, the first 6 sts had to go on one dpn, the next 6 sts on another dpn but twisted, and then they were matched up with the next 6 sts on the circ (which btw, would be too big for the finished rnd, so at the same time, I was switching to a smaller circ). After the needles were lined up, then 3 sts, one from each needle, are knit together, and then the next, working through the 6 sts. That sounds simple, but man oh man, it's not. By the time you get to 2 sts left, the dpns were falling out all over the place and stitches were dropping and I was saying more bad words than My Grands had heard in their entire lives. It was like wrestling with a 5 needle bind off except nothing was bound off. There are 15 pleats in this dad-blasted skirt... it took me over 2 hours to work my way around.

It's beautiful, and once I finish knitting the casing for the elastic waist and block it, it'll be done, and I can move on to the sweater, which will be ever so much easier. I can guarantee that I'll never knit this skirt again...

It's a well that I'm an experienced knitter, otherwise passages like this would have left me scratching my head (and this is an exact quote from the instructions):

You might use ndls a half no less than you use else here and change to the one you use after.

Or this one:

Sew 2 machine seams along each side where the arms come.

It's going to be a gorgeous set, but as I said, I'm glad I'm only knitting it once.

Today, it's a quiet day. This weekend, we're going to a Spinner Faire (woohoo!). Sometime next week, we're going on a short cruise. Time is going by much too quickly.

Quiet Sunday

2012-01-30T09:16:00.003-06:00

No words necessary...

Wordless Ventura County Chinese American Association New Year Celebration

2012-01-29T10:32:00.004-06:00

We got us some South Dakota Style Wind going on here

2012-01-28T10:53:00.001-06:00

I'll grant you that Ive only been to SoCal 5 times, but I've never heard it blow like this before. Not that it's howling or anything, in fact, it's sort of like our normal South Dakota wind, but it surely is whooping around more than I've ever seen it here. Feels sorta normal to me.

Wind or no, it's sunny and warm (I'm wearing capris and sandals... whoohoo!). And, as always, the flora fascinates me. I have no idea if the above cactus is just about to bloom, or if it just finished, but either way, it's beautiful.

And I will never get tired of seeing citrus fruits growing in pots on porches.

I've already bought the obligatory hoodie, though The Hub seems to have appropriated this one, so I may have to go shopping again. Darn.

Yesterday was a quiet day- trip to Trader Joes, and lots of napping. I slept 9 hours last night (nothing short of amazing, given that I've entered the Insomnia Years). Today, we've already taken a 3 mile walk, and we're going to go to a Chinese New Year Celebration in town, and then to an Italian Restaurant for supper.

The good food started before we even left Sioux Falls. This is a spinach and artichoke dip/shrimp/tomato flat bread pizza from Granite City. It was even better than it looks. Yesterday for lunch, we picked up little individual loaves of bread with jalapeños, cream cheese, and ham baked inside. I ate mine too quickly to take a picture, but trust me, it was amazing. For dessert, we had cinnamon and sugar fried tortilla tubes with cream filling (sort of like a cannoli).

I think I'd better start walking 6 miles every morning.

Checking in, and a note to an e-mail questioner

2012-01-27T12:07:00.000-06:00

I'm here in Camarillo after a very long day yesterday- our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 9:10pm, but the incoming flight was an hour late, and then we sat on the tarmac for another hour, waiting for the deicer to work properly. The flight itself was great- smooth and as fast as it can be, but we didn't land at LAX until well after midnight (Pacific time), and we didn't get to bed until 2:00am. As I said, a long day.

But we're here, and it's 65 degrees and we walked in shirtsleeves for 2 miles, and we saw the palm trees, and smelled the rosemary hedges, and are just lazing around today. I'm sure I'll have pics and commentary later, after I take a nap.

After we landed last night, I checked my e-mail on my phone, and I accidentally deleted a question from a Blog poster, who asked about the Button Band Hat instructions printing out too small to read. I get these questions once in awhile, about the freebie patterns, and the solution is always the same- click on the pattern page and the instructions will open in another window, full sized. Save the jpg on your computer, and then open the file in any graphics program and print it. You'll get a full size page. If you just try to print from the blog page, all you get is the thumbnail, which is too small to be of use. I'm sorry I can't answer the questioner directly (I was pretty foggy-brained last night- not only did I accidentally delete the question, I can't find it in my trash this morning). I hope she sees this post.

Thursday Tab- Whitman Debbie Reynolds, 1957

2012-01-26T07:59:00.003-06:00

I won't have my paper doll files in SoCal, so this will be the last Thursday Tab until I get back. I hope these scans, provided by a Paper Doll Friend, will tide you over.

AI Season 11, 01-25-12, Aspen Auditions

2012-01-25T21:26:00.000-06:00

We start with actual old home movies (not new contestant films) which leads into vacations, which ties into Colorado, which segues into auditions in Aspen. AI should have ponied up for John Denver- that would have saved precious minutes in setting the scene. The leaves are very pretty, though. So are the mountains.

Randy is wearing the blue and white version of Waldo's tee shirt. Steven is wearing a vest over a blue print shirt (btw- the complaints about his performance of the Star Spangled Banner at the football game are pure silliness- if they didn't want an Aerosmith version of the National Anthem, they should have invited someone else to sing it). JLo is in black sparkles and yet ANOTHER pair of pleated shorts. My God Woman, give it a rest.

First up tonight is Jenny Schick, who is hyper, and hyper annoying. She teaches *kinnergarden*. She spends a lot of time talking about getting a free pass to cheat with Steven. I'm sure her students will be fascinated, and her students' parents even moreso. She's wearing a short, tight skirt, and thigh high boots, and seems just a tad skanky for an elementary school role model. Can she sing? Not at all, but the judges disagree with me.

Now we see some auditioner home movies, including a bunch of kids who don't want to get up early. Boo hoo.

Curtis Gray, 28, was one of the sleepy-heads. He says he's from Florida, but I hear Maine in his voice. I didn't recognize his song, but Chessa, who is here watching with me, knew it. Thanks Chessa. Curtis is annoying (though nowhere near as annoying as Jenny) and calls himself a young buck. But he has a nice enough voice.

Quickie Clips: Richie Law is this year's Scotty McCreery, Devan Jones is a soprano, Mathene Trecko massacres Hey Jude. All three went through.

Talena Hedgespeth is 19. She has a twin sister who is The Pretty One, and also The Talented One. She wears a yellow shortie jumpsuit, and her nose studs look like shiny boogers hanging from her nose. Talena has decided that AI is her chance to break free from being The Other Twin. I suspect this will do the trick. She will now be The Twin Who Sucked on American Idol.

Haley Smith is 18, and she lives in a cabin, which does not surprise me in the least. She sings Chaka Kahn and... hmmm... her voice is raw, but there's something in there. I want to hear more from her, and I should get that chance in Hollywood. Haley will benefit from the dental services that usually accompany the Idol makeovers.

Waitress Alina Snare is 22 but she looks 40. Her bar serves Rocky Mountain Oysters, a delicacy unfamiliar to Randy. She sings Jolene, turning a marginally awful song into something truly horrible.

Shelby Tweten, from Mankato, MN, is Bi-Polar. She says that American Idol has given her a reason to take her meds. I want her to go home and hunker down- this show is no place for someone that emotionally fragile. The meat grinder is going to chew her up and spit her out. But she has a pleasant voice, so the judges do the wrong thing and move her forward.

We now see brief clips of more bad singers (as opposed to the several much longer clips we've suffered through already).

Jairon Jackson, 19, is a rather beefy young man. He's wearing a white tee shirt and long shorts that need to be pulled up. He has a perfectly serviceable boy-band voice. Unfortunately, he chooses to sing an original song, and even more unfortunately, he acts it out. But his voice is okay, so he gets a Golden Ticket. Jairon celebrates by repeatedly grabbing his nether regions, almost losing his shorts entirely, and breaking a ceiling tile with an enthusiastic jump.

25 year old Angie Zeiderman wants to be Lady Gaga. She has purple hair, lots of facial bling, and a very very short purple print dress (hair and dress are matchy-matchy... a fashion no-no). She sings some horrible song in a Betty Boop voice and a German accent. She writhes and squats, and in general, acts like an idiot. We come very close to knowing for sure, whether or not Angie is also wearing purple panties. But then she pulls her dress down and sings an interesting version of Blue Bayou. It's not interesting enough to make up for all of the nonsense, but she gets the nod.

Last up, we are introduced to Magic Cyclops, a ridiculous guy who is probably in his mid-thirties. He's wearing sunglasses, long lanky hair, and sunglasses. He says he's from Davenport, IA. He says this in an English accent. He offers to sing "James Buffay or Crackling Rose from Neil Diamond." It really doesn't matter which song he sings, this guy is not crazy enough to warrant this audition slot- he's irritating and exhausting, and he ends his performance with an exploding confetti fart. Seriously. The judges walk out. I sincerely hope that means that we've seen the last of Magic Cyclops, but I've watched this show for too many years to bank on that.

We spent more time with bad auditions tonight than in the other three episodes put together. I would much rather have seen more of the 31 Aspen auditioners who are going on to Hollywood. Tomorrow night, they go to Texas (Houston?). I can pretty much guarantee that I won't see the show (unless it's on in the airport), and I probably won't get to the recap on Friday either. I'll catch up with the shows as I can- thanks in advance for your patience.

A needle here, a needle there

2012-01-25T15:16:00.000-06:00

I'm leaving tomorrow. For a change, our flight isn't until later in the evening, so though we're departing from Sioux Falls (185 miles away), we still don't have to hit the road until noonish, which means that I might actually sleep the night before flying for a change- it's not fear of flying that keeps me up, it's fear of missing my flight. Evidently, my subconscious assumes that if I stay awake all night, I won't oversleep... It doesn't care if I drift off while driving to the airport, I guess. Anyway, today is an organizing and packing day (with American Idol tonight- btw, I'll recap as I can in SoCal, but I'll also set the DVR here, so if I don't have time to check the performances/auditions online there, I can watch them and recap when I get back home).

In the meantime, I've done some knitting.

This leftover hat is made from yarn that I bought at Yarnia in Portland, during the '09 Sock Summit. Both yarns have some cotton content, and both are made up of multiple strands (some of which did not get caught in every stitch, as you can see in the scan).This one knit up on size 5 needles. Both of the yarns have a metallic strand, which also doesn't show well in the scan. Not a sparkly masculine colorway, this.

I always do the exercises along with the class when I teach the Fair Isle design workshops. Above are the worksheets, preliminary charts, and the colored chart for the stocking I designed during the Winter Retreat last week in Asheville. I don't always like my class designs well enough to come home and knit them, but this one turned out rather well.

Don't you think?

This amazing knitted set is one of Malfrid Gausel's American Girl Doll designs (the photo is from her pattern). Yes, you're seeing correctly, the pattern has instructions not only for the wonderful Nordic Sweater and hat, but a pleated skirt, tights, shoes and a collar. Since the upcoming trip is mostly vacation (with one day of teaching in the middle), and all appearances to the contrary, I cannot read all day every day, I am suddenly taken with the notion of knitting this ensemble. I'm using dark green, gold, and white yarn (which means I'll be combining colors in the sweater and hat), all leftovers of course.

I've cast on the dark green skirt (all 270 stitches!) and have already been reminded that it is impossible for me to memorize even a 2-row repeat. But since the inside pleat folds are purls on every row, and the outside pleat folds are alternating slip stitches, it doesn't really matter if I get off a row or not (it's a doll skirt, for crying out loud, and it's not going to be entered anywhere). I figured if I started with the skirt, the rest of the set would be gravy. I'll post progress pics. If there is any progress.

Oh, just in case you want to tackle this one yourself, the Kristen in February pattern is available for purchase and download as a PDF file. The Fair Isle seems straightforward enough, though be warned- the English instructions read like they were printed directly from a translation engine. You'll have to do a fair amount of figuring out what it all means.

I'm not the only one who has been knitting lately. Susan, who completed her very first Fair Isle project in class in Asheville, went home and designed this cool Skulls and Hearts hat. Way to go, Susan!

I'll be back tonight with the AI recap, and I'll probably check in tomorrow before we leave. If not, I'll catch all y'all from Sunny SoCal!

Wordless Fairyland, or Winter Really Is Sort of Pretty But I'm Still Not Sorry That I'm Going To California on Thursday

2012-01-24T10:19:00.004-06:00

Hanging out in 1963, by the Pampas Grass

2012-01-23T16:16:00.001-06:00

in my dirndl...

... I would do it now too, if I had a dirndl. And some pampas grass...

AI Season 11- San Diego Auditions

2012-01-23T09:42:00.000-06:00

I had absolutely no intention of staying up late to take American Idol notes (what doofus decided to air an episode on Sunday in the first place, and then not until AFTER a big football game??? sheesh), so I set the DVR. Unfortunately, our DVR records what the schedule says, so I got an hour of football, and then I tried to manually set it later, and got pretty much nothing. Luckily, AI posts the important stuff online, so I watched the auditions that they considered worthy this morning (a procedure I'll have to follow while I'm in SoCal, since a certain older son does not have network TV at his house). So this won't be my usual recap- it'll be shorter, without any of the show filler. Or without much of it anyway.

The first video I clicked on turned out to be the intro, where Ryan mentions breathlessly that they're on the aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, which may not be the best venue for listening to a capella singers, what with all the airplanes, and wind, and sailors, and sirens in the background. It also has low ceilings, which may not be the best venue for tall jumpers. Steven is in a white jacket with an open shirt, JLo is in a flowered something (I only saw the top) with long, slit sleeves, and a side pony tail, and Randy is in plaid (which is his new black). I quickly stopped this video and went directly to the individual singer clips.

Ali Shields is 19 and from Lodi. She's relentlessly perky, and was once on the Ellen show, which was the highlight of her life. From that experience, she figured she might as well try out for American Idol, as we all do. She's evidently never been kissed, or at least not until Mike Posner and Usher did the honors for her on some red carpet (where she was, courtesy of Ellen). Anyway, she's wearing a pink shrug and a white floofy skirt. Oh lordy, she's rapping... or she thinks she's rapping... now she's singing, and that isn't great either. Her voice is thin and reedy. JLo damns her with faint praise (You CAN sing a little)(exact quote). For some reason, all three judges put Ali through.

Ashley Robles is a single mom with an adorable kid, who blows bubbles in the car. Said daughter expresses the desire to be her mom's backup dancer. Ashley is highly rouged, and is wearing very tight jeans and a white tank. She sings Whitney. Sigh. But the judges like her.

Aubree Dieckmeyer is 20. She's wearing a tight, white crop top and either a long flowing skirt, or harem pants (I couldn't tell). In her pre-interview, she says that she's ready to be America's Next Top Model. They give her another chance to remember which show this is. She blows it. She blows it about 10 times in a row. In front of the judges, she begins an icky flirtation (all simpering and giggles and and fluttering eyelashes- I'm not kidding). GAH, I dislike this girl (I'm currently watching the final season of The Tudors, and she reminds me exactly of Katherine Howard...). But her voice is fine, and she goes through.

Jayrah Gibson is 26 and he has no Plan B, which means Plan A damn well better work for him. At least he knows which show he's auditioning for. He sings an original song for JLo, and then sings another. He has a pleasant voice, remarkable mostly for the lack of embroidery (which I applaud).

Jane Carrey is a mom and a waitress, and she has a rather famous father with the same last name. She looks like an ordinary, nice person. She sings Bonnie Raitt, and does her justice. I'm glad that she has actual talent because this show would never be able to resist the lure of having Ace Ventura in the audience.

Jennifer Diley has wrapped her pneumatic breasts in a red striped tube top, and is wearing teeny tiny little itty bitty Daisy Dukes (which may be a swimsuit bottom), from which her butt tries valiantly to escape. Jennifer looks into the camera and says flatly that she wants to impress the male judges, that JLo is fine, but the men are the ones who count. Good to know where you stand, Jennifer. In the judging arena, Steven and Randy react predictably. Also JLo (also me). Honest to God, Jennifer sings a Jessica Simpson song, and amazing of all amazings, the guys see beyond the boobs, saying that if she's going to wear an outfit like that, she needs to really bring it, and it was most assuredly not brung. The say no! Hallelujah!

Kyle Crews is 19, and a frat boy at USC Berkley. They tell us that he's a ladies' man, but I rather doubt it. He has very pink cheeks and is wearing a blue plaid shirt. He doesn't have the kind of voice that interests me, but the judges are blown away. And then they're astonished that a less than gorgeous guy can sing. They've never watched that American Idol show, I guess.

The last audition of the night is Wolf Harmin. He's a 24 year old mechanic who looks forty, but I don't care. I love me some burly, bearded, mechanics. He carries a Git-Fiddle (translation: guitar) that his recently deceased father built for him. Wolf sings Midnight Special, and... yep... I like this guy (do I have a type, or what?). He segues into Folsom Prison Blues with his G-Fiddle, and the judges are all delighted.

So, that's it... it took me 25 minutes to watch the important videos from an hour long show... I may do this more often.

The calm between the flights

2012-01-21T09:24:00.001-06:00

I've pretty much re-acclimated from my week in Asheville (though the fact that winter arrived while I was gone is still something of a shock), and I'm sort of unpacked. I have some paperwork to do (entering receipts and expenses... that sort of tedium), but in general, I'm just relaxing before we leave again on Thursday. The upcoming jaunt is almost entirely vacation (with one class at Loop and Leaf on Feb.1, in Santa Barbara, which will be great fun), so resting up for a trip that is mostly going to consist of resting up, seems silly. But, as you all know, I am nothing if not silly.

Before I left for the Winter Retreat, I finished this hat. I wanted to add to the very small pile of *masculine friendly* colorways in the Big Tub 'o Knitted Things, but I suspect that the girls will love it too.

When I teach the Fair Isle design classes (half-day hat design, and half-day Christmas stocking design), I always do the exercises right along with the class. Sometimes, I'm not happy enough with my design to come home and knit it. This time, I was pleased with both designs. I'm excited to see how the stocking is coming along. I imagine I'll finish it before we leave for SoCal. I may even cast on the hat.

In the meantime, the Obsessive Long-Term Weather Forecast Watch has begun- it only needs to be calm (not even warm, just calm) at 9:10pm on Thursday so we can take off on time (and I suppose, it needs to be nice at LAX, but it's nearly always nice at LAX). It can be nasty right up until that moment (as it is right now- below zero air temps, well below zero wind chills, new powdery snow blowing around). So far, the forecast looks good (we're using Allegiant, which flies out to LAX from FSD twice a week. Period. If one flight is cancelled, you're SOL, so though all this worry is selfish, it's also reasonable). I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

AI Season 11, Pittsburgh Auditions, Jan. 19, 2012

2012-01-19T21:20:00.004-06:00

We open with Ryan standing on a rusty bridge that I'm sure I'm supposed to recognize. This is the first time that auditions have been held in Pittsburgh, so my guess is that it's some bridge in the area (I used to write mysteries- I'm good at deductions...).

Randy is wearing a blue plaid flannel shirt that appears to be paint-spattered. JLo is in a short green, black, and white dress that looks like it was designed after butterfly wings. Steven is in teal leather and feathers.

First up is Heejun Han, who is so busy second guessing himself that by the time he finishes his pre-show interview, he almost talks himself out of auditioning. Of course, we expect him to be awful, but surprise, surprise- he has a nice Bolton-ish voice. Maybe the show has finally found the Asian guy they look for every single season. His large family is very happy for him.

Reed Grimm is 26. He's wearing sloppy plaid shorts and a ratty tee shirt. He does a sort of scat version of the theme song of Family Matters. It's possible that he has a good voice in there somewhere, but he's far too gimmicky for me.

We get a quick montage of other Yellow Tickets: Aaron Marcus sings way too many notes, Chase Likens has an annoying country voice, and then a bunch of nameless happy people flash by, including one who may or may not be Bette Middler.

Next up is Samantha, accompanied by Patricia Bell, her sister. Samantha is wearing a blah brown strapless sun dress. Patricia is in jeans and a tee. Samantha sings marginally well. Patricia planks. And then the rest of her fairly large family planks too. They're Planking Fools.

We get some home-made footage of a performance artist wearing bunny ears in New York City. Now he's in Pittsburgh, without the ears, but wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, capris, and boots. He looks to be about 40, and he sings an original song about the judges that he wrote on the bus ride to the auditions. Nope, I don't like this guy, but we're going to be stuck with him for awhile. Unfortunately, even though he has the judges eating out of his hand, he still doesn't know enough to shut up. Also unfortunately, I didn't catch his name. I'm sure I'll have ample opportunity to learn it in Hollywood.

More home movies. Eben Frankowitz is 15 going on 12. He seems like a nice, ordinary kid, with his nice, ordinary family, driving from Ohio. I think to myself, Nice Kid, go back home and have a nice ordinary life before you humiliate yourself on national TV. But, he has a really nice voice.

17 year old Travis Orlando auditioned last year. The show dug up old footage of him, his father, his mother, and his twin brother. Between then and now, Travis's mother abandoned her family, he dropped out of high school, his father's health deteriorated, and they lost their home. This is the King of Sob Stories. I hate Sob Stories. I am also not fond of his voice, which is totally untrained, with absolutely no breath control. The judges try to let him down gently, but Ol' Travis trots out the tears. He begs pitifully, and they relent.

Commercial Break: Drew Barrymore looks good as a redhead, and Special K continues to feature already-thin women who want to lose weight. That new show Touch sounds interesting.

Day 2: Randy is wearing a mohair cardigan with wide blue, purple, and black stripes. Steven is in a Janis Joplin costume. JLo is in a very tight, black leather crop top, and yet another pair of pleated shorts.

Erica VanPelt is a Mobile DJ/Wedding Singer. She's wearing a plaid shirt and black jeans. She sings Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, adding 3x the notes that Carole King thought the song needed. I would probably like her voice if she would just sing the damn melody.

Steven Tyler loves his little electronic noise maker. Evidently he's a really old, creepy, 12 year old.

Shane Bruce is a 19 year old coal miner with a lot of earrings. He says that his *Pap* was also a miner. We get some footage (not home-shot) of him singing Do-Wop to the other miners underground. He actually sounds pretty good, which is too bad, because he chooses to sing a sub-standard rendition of Hallelujah (which he refers to as That Song from Shrek) for the judges. They let him down gently, and he takes the rejection well. Maybe with some training, he can come back next year (or maybe in another city this year).

Once again, we've gotten hints throughout the show about the last auditioner. Hallie Day is 24 and blonde. She's wearing a red and black striped tank, a short black skirt, and black leggings. Hallie is another Sob Story- she dropped out of high school, joined a girl band, became an addict, and was homeless and suicidal. Then she met her large, supportive husband, and clawed her way back. She sings I Will Survive in the most affected way possible. I don't love this at all, but of course, she's going through.

That's it for tonight- we only heard one reject sing, and saw not a single crazy (unless you count Bunny Ears), which I think is a first in the entire run of this show. The next episode airs on Sunday, though I didn't hear which city they invaded.

AI Season 11- Savannah Auditions, Jan. 18, 2012

2012-01-19T08:14:00.000-06:00

Well, my little hot buttered buttermilk biscuits, here we are again. Season 11 of American Idol. We open with a recap of previous winners, where they almost, accidentally, say Taylor Hicks's name. We're told that many of this year's auditioners have watched the show for most of their lives, and it looks like a fair portion of them took home movies of themselves doing just that. Sigh. I realized however, after a season of The X-Factor, that I really missed AI. I even missed Randy Jackson.

We start with bits and bobs and clips. Whoa, someone just joyfully punched Ryan Seacrest in the jaw. Speaking of the Wee Sea, my guess is that he has a very old-looking portrait of himself locked up in an attic somewhere.

Oh my, not only are we going to see old home movies of the auditioners, we're also going to have to watch current films of Their Journeys. I can tell already exactly how this is going to go.

The judges arrive. Randy is in a white shirt and Sally Jessy Raphael glasses. JLo is wearing coral pleated shorts (I repeat: coral pleated shorts... words that should never be in the same sentence), and a glittery, floaty, crop top. Her hair is in a ponytail, and she's wearing lots of bling. Steven is dressed like a Red Hat Hippie.

David Evans Jr. is 17 but he looks 12 at the most. He's annoying and arrogant, and could use a bit of time with an orthodontist. He beat last year's winner, Scotty McCreery, in a talent contest, so he must have *something*. He's singing Remember the Rain- oh, he's a Bieber Wannabe. Or maybe Wayne Newton. The judges love him, but he makes me tired already.

Gabi Caruba is 16 and shaky. Very very shaky. She's also a champion tap dancer, who says she knows what's in Steven's head when he closes his eyes. Trust me, we don't wanna know. Gabi starts to sing, and Steven makes that face. Cabi's voice is okay, thin but not unpleasant. She gets three yesses.

We get clips of a few more who make it: Brian Faulk, Neco Starr (who is wearing suspenders to hold his low-riders up, while his tee-shirt is tucked into his undies. I'm not kidding), Molly Hunt (whose voice makes my ears bleed), and Elise Testone (Janis Joplin Lite).

The list was obviously stacked, since the entire morning roster was sent on to Hollywood. It's time, I guess, for the first basket case. Unhappily for her, it's 19 year old Jessica Whitley, whose voice has to be heard to be believed. I'd rather be an unbeliever.

26 year old Sean Kraisman thinks that he looks like Ryan. Sean is wrong. He does have the spoken inflections down, but the singing voice is barely so-so (which is how I imagine Ryan's singing voice). He takes the rejection well.

Shannon McGrane is 15 and very tall. She is also self-conscious about her big feet since she makes a point of mentioning her shoe size (Honey, don't worry about it-it's not a big deal). Her dad is (or was) a Major League pitcher and she has lots of sisters, who are all invited in to meet the judges. Steven utters the season's first inappropriate comment about an underage girl (Papa is not amused). Shannon's voice is bluesy and good, but she's upstaged by Mama singing and emoting behind her. Shannon is young, which means that we're going to be stuck with Stage Mom for awhile.

Next up, a streak of terrible singers. SOP.

Amy Brunfield, 24, of Gatlinburg, TN, lives in a tent in the woods, and frankly, looks like she lives in a tent in the woods. She has some of those terrible Juliette Lewis corn rows, a slinky black sparkly dress, and a rhinestone necklace. Aieee, they light their tent with a tall candle- Fire Hazard! Amy's voice is obviously untrained, but there is potential. I'll be curious to see what happens with her.

Joshua Chavis is 23 and wears his hat backwards. He's a rather excitable young man. He is also clumsy. He is also not exactly a singer. Oh my, he is also a weeper. And a shouter. And a bird flipper.

15 year old Stephanie Renee is all pink and sparkles and a bit too much cleavage. She's singing Carrie Underwood much better than most of them sing Carrie Underwood. Her singing voice is much more listenable than her speaking voice.

I just noticed Taylor's picture behind Randy. Maybe they're going to acknowledge his existence this season.

Skyler Dixon, 16, auditioned with her brother last year, and she's going it alone this year. Or rather, she wants to go it alone, but when the judges find out that Brother Colton Dixon is outside as part of her support team, they bring him in and put him on the spot. Skyler is visibly underwhelmed with this development. Skyler sings first and sounds okay, though her style is not my style. Then Colton sings, and he sings better than his sister, though it's still not my style. The camera cuts to Skyler, who is shooting death rays with her eyes. Both of them make it to Hollywood. Skyler pretends to be happy to be competing with Big Brother again.

Lots of rejectees, and crying crying crying crying crying.

Lauren Mink is 25. She's a perky activity director who works with disabled adults. She needs to stand up straight. Her voice does not appeal to me, but I suspect she'll make it. Yep- JLo gets *goosies*. As Lauren dances around with her identical mother, her short dress gets rucked up. Mother firmly tugs it back down.

Savannah Day 2: Guess what? It's hot in Savannah. Who knew?

JLo is in more pleated shorts (is she trying to make this a thing?)- this time red and deep pink. The pink is a long sleeved secretary blouse with a floppy bow at the neck. Randy is in black, with red glasses. Steven is once again dressed like an old lady.

Mauwena Kodjo is from West Africa. It's apparent early on that he is deluded as to the extent of his talent. This is going to be a disaster. He tries to sing Rascal Flatts, and it's even worse than I expected. Okay, this is what I hate about this show that I love: Randy sends this incredibly untalented young man out in the streets to sing for strangers. He brings back a sort of confused Grandpa (who thinks Mauwena is from Kenya, because he asked him if he was a runner), and four adorable little girls. All of them are tone-deaf. Mauwena is rejected again, so we wasted time with this poor man, humiliating him unnecessarily (yeah, he started it by auditioning, but this was cruel), when we could have seen more good singers. Like I said, the thing I hate most about this show that I love.

Ashley Altise has multi color braids and is either wearing a hair net, or she has her own hair braided intricately to look like a hairnet. She has on camo leggings, mismatched stilettos, and a leather vest. She's obviously unhinged. She sings Come Together and it's a complete and total mess. And... omigod... all three judges say yes. Yikes!

W.T. Thomson is blond and beefy and looks to be about 35. He is also an expectant father who quit his job to audition. Too bad he did that, because he's not good enough to make it past the Hollywood Week, at which time he and his poor wife, and maybe their new baby, could be homeless. In a bit of flashback/flashforward nonsense, we find out that W.T. goes through. W.T. should gather up his young family and go back home.

Erika Novak says that Steven Tyler is her future ex-husband. She laughs with her demented laugh, and stares with her crazy eyes, and I think maybe Steven should think about hiring more bodyguards because this chick has Stalker written all over her. At least the judges tell her no, though she takes the opportunity to hug Steven and then grab his ass. Randy, who cannot bear to be left out, begs for an ass grabbing as well, which Erika provides.

I did not catch Birtney's last name, but she's an NBA Cheerleader. She's all boobs, legs, heels, and blonde hair, all of which are on (I suspect) permanent display. Her voice is good enough to move on, though Steven Tyler actually gives her constructive criticism. JLo says no, but the guys say yes. I say: give me a break.

They've been hinting at the final guy all night and it's finally time to see if he lives up to the hype.

Phillip Phillips Jr (which means that there is a Phillip Phillips Sr) is 20 and nice looking. He works in his dad's pawn shop. He comes in wearing a plaid shirt with the top couple of buttons undone (showing a surprisingly hairy chest), and carrying a guitar, which he lays down at the edge of the stage. He sings Superstition... hmmm... I don't love this, but it's the first time I've heard someone do something completely different with that song. Then he picks up his guitar and starts to play- oh man, this guy can play. Then he sings, and it's much better than before. It takes awhile before I realize that he's singing Thriller. I don't think this is our winner, but I'll be interested to see what he does next.

That wraps up Savannah- there were lots of Golden Tickets. Tonight (since I'm writing this recap on Friday morning) we're in Pittsburgh.

Home...

2012-01-18T18:29:00.001-06:00

I'm home, and it's wonderful. American Idol starts tonight, which would generally be reason for much whooping and hollering, but I'm pretty fuzzy-brained, so I set the DVR. I may watch it tonight, but I'm not even going to try to write a recap until tomorrow. My Snark has jet-lag.

I'll catch y'all after a night in my own bed.

Last full day in Asheville

2012-01-17T17:55:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah- five days of teaching in a row... something millions (or at least many many thousands) of teachers do every single week... it was wonderful, seeing the Lightbulb Moment for so many of my students, learning as much from them as I hope they learned from me, laughing and talking, and knitting...but five days... man, I'm tired.

I wandered the mall for a bit before my last class began this morning. I'm pretty sure that the above is frah-gee-lay.

As far as I can tell, the palm trees growing inside the mall are real. And in need of a trim.

I feel the need to duck as I say this, but Chick-Fil-A was a disappointment. The sandwiches weren't bad, but they sure weren't exciting. And the nuggets weren't any better than McDonald's.

On the other hand, this is the *light* serving of Salt and Pepper Catfish fillets (with hush puppies, fries, and 1,000 calorie cake, which has a cheesecake filling) from Harbor Inn. Gotta love North Carolina takeout. And just in case you wondered, I was only able to eat about half of the fish, and about 1/3 of the cake.

Remember Michelle from yesterday's Hat Design class? She went home and knitted her hat last night. This was not only her first original design, it was her very first stranded project! Go Michelle!

Michelle took today's Nordic Stocking class today. Didn't she do wonderfully? And don't be fooled by how much Linda got done- she hadn't knitted in the round for years, and had never done any stranded work. By the end of the class, she was knitting on her own, following the chart, and finding and correcting her own mistakes. She was thrilled and I was thrilled for her.

Sandy didn't want her picture taken again, but she got a lot done on her stocking, especially considering that she was working in the shop, and trying to teach her own students, while taking my class. That's some kind of multitasking (I think she deserves a Major Award!).

The stocking on the left is a class sample, the one on the right is the one I knit during class, and the one in the front is the Object Lesson to be more careful in choosing yarns.

I've had an absolutely wonderful week here in Asheville. Lisa Mackey, of Friends and Fiberworks organized an amazing retreat, and has been great and gracious hostess. Vickie Clontz was a super roommate. Kim Gough did everything she could to drum up interest in my classes. Sandy took classes and steered people my way, and Nancie McCraw dropped in to catch up as often as she could. My students were cheerful and willing, and they all were Well Above Average!

I have my suitcases organized and I'm as ready as I can be for a 4AM wakeup call. I'll be flying out early, and hopefully getting home in the afternoon. I'll check in as I can.

Oh, tomorrow night is the American Idol Season Premiere- I have no idea whether I'll actually be home on time, and if I am, if I'll have the oomph to watch, much less recap. I'll try to record it and get a recap up as soon as I can.

Too pooped to post

2012-01-16T20:09:00.000-06:00

Hoo boy, I'm tired. It's a good tired, it's 4 days of teaching excellent students in a town that I love to visit, but still... tired. So tonight's post is going to be mostly pictures...

Pretty red leaves...

Future azaleas (rhododendrons?)

No shots of the Blue Ridge Mountains because I can only sorta see them in the distance from my motel (or on the walk to the mall).

Hat Designer Michelle.

Stocking Designers Kim and Sandy. Sandy kept saying how bad her design was. Sandy needs new glasses.

One more class tomorrow- an all day Nordic Stocking class, and then I pack up for home. It's been a wonderful week (and I'm not kidding about the Genius Students), but I will say that I'm relieved that I won't be teaching 5 straight days again for awhile...

Winter Retreat Sunday (and a little Saturday)

2012-01-15T17:36:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Vickie and I went to Biltmore Village, which is a group of lovely shops and restaurants just across from the entrance to the Biltmore Estate (sadly, I did not go to Biltmore itself). We ate at an amazing Mediterranean restaurant called Rezaz.

This was my lunch: Atlantic Snapper with mussels in tomato salsa, with fresh steamed spinach. It was fantastic! My only regret was that we couldn't try some of the wines (I had to work later...)

We wandered through Bellagio, which is a cross between a gallery and a boutique. Many many beautiful things!

After our leisurely lunch, we came back to the retreat to teach our afternoon classes. I had a couple of exceptionally creative ladies in my Writing Patterns for Publication class. I expect to see their work in print very soon!

Today, I had a six hour steeking class, one that I dusted off after a 5 year hiatus. It went extremely well.

Behold: New Steekists!

After class, I walked over to Papas and Beer for Shrimp Enchilandas Mazatlan and a dark local beer.

I didn't notice, when I ordered, that the plate held enchiladaS (PLURAL). The above could have easily fed 2 people. I would have left the excess, but my server was so sad about abandoning such good food that I brought it back to the motel room. Maybe I'll reheat them for supper tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's going to be my longest teaching day: two Fair Isle design classes, one from 10am-2pm, the next from 4pm-8pm. I may not have the oomph to post tomorrow night. If not, I'll check in on Tuesday morning.

Saturday morning change of plans

2012-01-14T10:28:00.001-06:00

My morning class was cancelled, but after looking clearly at the time schedule, and seeing that I would only have about 3 hours, I decided to skip Biltmore this time around (the $60 cab fare also factored in the decision). So, I wandered about the mall where the retreat is being held, and explored the booths a bit more.

This is Friends and Fiberworks- the store that is hosting the retreat. It's huge and wonderful.

This yarn followed me home. You can't see the sparkle in this shot, but trust me, this is 550 yds of rayon bling. It's going to be a very pretty shawl.

Though the mall food court isn't exactly exciting, the Cakeball booth certainly makes up for it!

This is the hat that Susan finished in class yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous. She is only the 3rd person ever to complete a hat in a single class. Yay Susan!

I'm going to wander Asheville and shop a bit with my roomie, Vicki Clontz, of Annie's Keepsakes. We'll have lunch (maybe at Tupelo Honey), and see the sights, and then come back for our 4:00 classes (mine is nearly full, so there's no chance of cancellation).

I'll report back tonight.

Oh, it's still chilly (frosty in the morning), but otherwise beautiful. The promised storm did not materialize, for which I am very grateful.

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat Day 2

2012-01-13T18:28:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning to find Asheville in a Winter Storm Watch... just like South Dakota... sigh...
But though it was frosty, and there was snow up in the hills, there were blue skies and white clouds here. It's still cold but not below zero, so it's all good.

One lovely thing about teaching classes in a small, sort of empty mall, is that I got an entire storefront for my classroom. This is my home for the duration.

Yep- they expected me.

Lots of room. So far, class size has been small, but the people are as wonderful as ever.

Susan and I finished our entire hats in class today! Didn't she do a wonderful job?

The vendors had lots of pretty...

...lots and lots of pretty. And the mall food court has Cakeballs. Can't ask for much more.

So far, no one has signed up for my morning class tomorrow. If that remains the case, I'll find a way to Biltmore, just for a peek before my late afternoon class (which is nearly full).

As I said, it's all good!

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- Day 1

2012-01-12T15:50:00.002-06:00

You know how we've had a warm and dry winter? How the high temps have broken record after record? How we've had no snow or ice? Well that ended yesterday, which means that this morning's drive to the airport was a bit hairy, what with 43 miles of glare ice and all. Luckily, South Dakota planes have not forgotten how to fly in the cold.

All of my flights were on time, and all of them were smooth until it came time to descend, at which time every airplane bounced all over the sky. None of the landings were the worst I'd ever experienced, but the three of them were the three worst in a row. Happily for me, I do not get airsick (as opposed to the lady across the aisle from me, who filled her shopping bag... several times). And I do not become irritated at growling and barking dogs on planes, though I was definitely surprised to hear Fido behind me.

I did become irritated, however, by a conversation that I could not help but overhear in the Minneapolis airport. A man thanked a soldier in fatigues, who was leaving his family to return to his unit in Kuwait. So far,so good. But the man continued to ask pointed and personal questions, about pay scales, benefits, injuries and death, which was bad enough, but it really became uncomfortable when the questions turned personal- many about the soldier's soldier wife, and the soldier's children (remember that these men were strangers). I nearly turned around and whacked the guy when he asked about how the soldier's soldier wife went about breastfeeding while on duty. Seriously. But the soldier answered, and better yet, deflected, all queries with good humor. Our service people- heroes and gentlefolk, able to deal with life and death situations AND jerks in airports.

I'm going to hunker down and read tonight (I started The Night Circus on the plane- what a fascinating and unusual book). My motel is right across from the retreat venue, and I've already been across to scope out the facilities (verdict? Yarn Heaven). Tonight I rest, tomorrow I go to work. I can't wait! Stay tuned for pictures!

O hai, Winter! We thought you forgot us

2012-01-11T14:49:00.000-06:00

You'd think we lived in the tropics or something, given everyone's reaction when we woke up to this:

Of course, we've had the warmest January on record (it was 60 degrees yesterday. That's 60 degrees ABOVE zero), and it's been at least a couple of months since we've had even a hint of snow.

How quickly we forget.

At any rate, we're not supposed to get more snow this week, and so far, the weather looks good for all of my flights tomorrow, which is all I'm (selfishly) worried about. If nothing else, even if Winter kicks in with a vengeance, it won't last too long. I hope.

I may or may not check in before I leave in the morning (I'm taking the early flight as always, which means I'll be on the road around 4:00am). I should be in Asheville by mid-afternoon. There is still room for more students in my classes at the Winter Retreat. I hope to see some of you there on Friday!

Forest Canopy Shawl, kinda sorta wordless

2012-01-10T07:56:00.000-06:00

I started this shawl back in October. It's knit from the handspun Romney that Voracious Reader and I dyed with Marigolds. It turned out beautifully, though it's much smaller than I expected it to be (blocked: 56" x 25"). I've knitted this shawl before, and though I found the posts, I didn't note at the time whether I worked extra repeats. I must have, because that shawl is much larger while being knit with yarn that is far more fine. This one is too small to be an adult shawl, at least as a full-size shawl (it would be fine as a neck decoration), so I think maybe it'll go to VR.

Okay, that's enough words- the pictures tell the story.

Leftover, and not so much

2012-01-09T13:29:00.002-06:00

I've finished a couple more hats.

The above hat was knitted with a single ball of leftover yarn. I love how the yarn striped all on its own, though I'm not so thrilled with the pooling up where the decreases start. The transition from the wider stripes to the narrow ones is a bit jarring. I think maybe I should have switched to plain black yarn for the decreases. This one is going into the BT'oKT.

While this hat wasn't knit from leftover yarn, it's certainly a testament to why a Big Stash is not always a shameful thing. My grandson (the only boy in a veritable sea of girls) is a big Harry Potter fan. A Harry Potter fan whose feet seem to change size daily. I'm not knitting socks for him until his shoe size stabilizes a bit. But I still wanted to knit something for him, and so I came up with the notion of a Gryffindor hat. I had no deep red (the hat is a bit more burgundy than it looks in the scan) and not enough gold in the leftover bag for the project, so I broke my Leftover-Yarn-Only-Rule and rummaged around in the New Yarn Stash. This yarn is not *new* as in newly purchased, it's *new* as in never used. In fact, these particular yarns are easily 9 years old, from back when I bought yarn willy nilly, as protection against The Great Yarn Drought that never materialized.

So, my while my stash is still embarrassingly large, the upside is that when I needed deep red and gold sock yarn, I rummaged in the boxes and bins, and low and behold, found deep red and gold sock yarn.

Yay me. And Yay for stashes!

And now I have deep red and gold yarn in the leftover bag.

HopHeadSaid New Year's Giveaway

2012-01-07T11:14:00.003-06:00

Curtis Taylor, intrepid artist and author, blogger, radio personality, beer expert, and not incidentally, my oldest son, is hosting a giveaway contest on his HopHeadSaid blog for this wonderful apron:

It's a heavy-duty canvas apron with the HopHeadSaid logo on it, from CafePress. I have another CafePress apron (with the Sex and Salmonella eBook cover on it) and can attest to its durability and functionality (in other words- it's a really good apron). And I love the way the ties are attached through casings, so it really does fit all sizes. The giveaway apron is like the one above: navy with the white logo.

Here's the logo, a little more visible. I'm wearing my HopHeadSaid sweatshirt right now (gray fabric, black image).

In order to enter, head on over to HopHeadSaid and follow the instructions (it's easy- post the contest on Facebook or some other place, and leave a comment). Easy peasy! And when you get done, head over to the CafePress shop from HopHead Said for other cool beer related items.

Good Luck!

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- Jan 13-15, Asheville, NC

2012-01-06T09:24:00.000-06:00

There is still room in all of my classes at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat, which is being held next weekend in Asheville, NC. I'm teaching all three days of the festival, Jan 13-15, and then staying a couple of extra days to teach more classes at the shop. Registration is still open, and don't tell anyone, but except for the steeking class, the homework for the rest of the workshops can be done afterward (or during the class itself). I hope to see some of you there!

The class schedule has now been posted, and registration is open. Click on the Classes link on the main Retreat page, and then on Knitting. Scroll down to find my class listings (sorry for all the third person references). I'm excited to be teaching some old standards and a couple of new classes:

Friday January 13, 10:am-4:00pm: All Day Fair Isle- Knit a Toddler Size Hat.
Discover, or improve, your Fair Isle skills by knitting a toddler-size Nordic-Style Snowflake hat in this all-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. This workshop will cover chart-reading (including decreases worked from the chart) and yarn wrangling, as you work on a two-color hat (don’t let the pictures fool you- you’ll only be using one solid color yarn, and one self-striping yarn).

Friday January 13, 5:00pm-7:00pm: Writing Patterns for Publication
Learn tricks and tips for writing up your original pattern for publication, from 30-year pattern-writing veteran, blogger Kathleen Taylor, author of six mysteries, five knitting books, over 500 magazine articles, and many other original sewing and knitting patterns. Whether you plan to submit your design to a magazine, or will publish and sell it yourself, you need to know about pattern format, photography, pattern testing, copyright information, and contacting editors and publishers.

Saturday January 14, 10:00am-4:00pm: Mitered Square Cuffs
Learn to knit easy and beautiful mitered squares. In this class, students will learn the basics of mitered square knitting, and then make cuffs for mittens or socks, with self-striping, worsted weight yarns.

Saturday January 14, 4:00pm-6:00pm- Little Tips and Knitting Tricks
Spend two hours with author and designer Kathleen Taylor, learning fun techniques that will make your knitting easier: a Substitute for the SSK that is faster and simpler, Knitting Back Backwards (for heels and bobbles), adding beads as you knit, using wire, fixing cable and Fair Isle mistakes, and other time-saving tips.

Sunday January 15, 12:pm-6:00pm- EEK! A Steek!
Fear Not! You can cut your knitting without fear (or wine, though wine is nice). In this workshop, we will take a pre-knit tube and turn it into a doll sweater, learning techniques that can be used on any project that requires steeks. It’s fun! Really! And not scary at all! I promise.

Monday January 16, 10:00am-2:00pm: Design Your Own Fair Isle Hat
Expand on your Fair Isle skills, and design your own Toddler- Size Fair Isle hat in this half-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. We’ll discuss color choices, design elements, and motif repeats. We’ll do specific designing exercises, and then combine those motifs to design original Fair Isle hats.

Monday January 16, 4:00pm-8:00pm: Design Your Own Fair Isle Christmas Stocking
Expand on your Fair Isle skills, and design your own Christmas Stocking in this half-day workshop with author, knitter, and designer Kathleen Taylor. We’ll discuss color choices, design elements, and motif repeats. We’ll do specific designing exercises, and then combine those motifs to design an original Fair Isle Christmas Stocking.

Tuesday January 17, 10:00am-4:00pm: All Day Nordic Christmas Stocking
In this all-day workshop, students will learn yarn wrangling techniques, chart reading, etc. Students will begin work on a 14” long, toe-up, stranded Christmas Stocking, with an afterthought heel.

Thursday Tab- Pert and Pretty Round Robin- Original Outfits

2012-01-05T09:43:00.000-06:00

Back in 2000, I was part of a paper doll Round Robin, where we were each to design outfits for dolls from Merrill's Pert and Pretty paper doll set. The original set is fantastic (I have the Shackman reprint- I've done some searching, and it appears that the reprint is no longer for sale), with nine dolls, all fancy-schmancy showgirls.

I don't remember exactly how the robin was supposed to work, and like many robins, it fizzled before it got very far. I think we uploaded our outfits online, rather than mailing them to each other, but I'm not sure. I have four of the dolls in my file, and outfits for three of them, so obviously, I never finished my portion either. But I thought you'd like to see them anyway. The dolls are from Merrill's Pert and Pretty set, the pages of outfits are my own designs (all done on the computer). I must have decided to do every-day clothes for the girls, rather than Show Costumes.

Enjoy!

P.S. you can see the original cover, all of the dolls and some of the outfits here. Click *newer* for more pages

Leftover Hat Recipe, and some wonderful knits

2012-01-03T13:31:00.003-06:00

Here's the latest leftover yarn hat. Not very manly, is it? Pretty? Yes. Masculine? No. This is yarn I bought at the '09 Sock Summit, and used as Road Knitting to make socks on the way to the Michigan Fiber Festival last summer (and which were gifted to my niece). I love how the stripes are working out (it's not officially a self-striping yarn).

Elizabeth asked in the comments, for the basic recipe for these leftover hats. It's easy peasy: Approx 34gr fingering weight sock yarn, 16" size 2.75mm circ and DPNs (or whatever needles will give you 8sts=1"). CO 140 sts, join (without twisting). Work 6 or so rnds of K2P2 ribbing and then K until the hat measures 5" (more or less, depending on who is the recipient). Decrease every other rnd as follows: Rnd 1: *K 12, K 2 tog*, rep around, Rnd 2: K, Rnd 3: *K 11, K 2 tog*, rep around, Rnd 4: K. Continue, working one less st before the decreases on the Odd Rnds, until you K2 tog around. Cut yarn, weave the tail through the remaining loops, tighten and tie off. Weave the ends in, wash and block. This makes a snug beanie. If you use slightly heavier yarn and 3mm or 3.25mm needles, you'll get a looser hat. If you want a smaller hat, CO 10 or 20 fewer sts. As I said, easy peasy.

Robin knitted these gorgeous Macaroni Socks (from The Big Book of Socks). She adapted the pattern a bit because the yarn she used was finer than what is called for in the pattern (yay for adaptation!). She said that she hasn't even gotten to try them on because her 12 year old daughter has appropriated them (yay for daughters who love handknit socks!). Thanks for sharing!

Susan took my Nordic Christmas Stocking class at NCFF last September, and made this wonderful stocking! It turned out beautifully! It happens that I'm teaching that class at the Winter Retreat in Asheville next weekend, too.

Next weekend? Yikes, I'd better finish getting ready.

Restocking the BT'oKT

2012-01-02T09:31:00.002-06:00

Somewhere along the line, I thought I had an extra week before I headed out to Asheville for the Winter Retreat. Imagine my surprise when I actually looked at the calendar and counted those little boxes... It's a good thing that I got all of my workshop materials mailed last week.

One of the things I did notice in December, as I chose hats from the Big Tub 'O Knitted Things, is that I'm obviously not drawn to masculine or neutral colorways. Only one or two of the three thousand hats that I knit last year even came marginally close to being Man Colors (and yes, I know, there's no such thing... but a great many men still do not want to wear pink. It is what it is). So one of my jobs this year is to stock the Tub with some Manly Hats.

This one comes close. It's all made from teeny little balls of leftover yarns- I used up an entire baggie of them. Woohoo!

I'm pretty sure this one doesn't qualify, but boy is it pretty. It's from some Twisted Fiber Arts bamboo yarn (I don't remember the colorway, but it doesn't matter, EVERY Twisted Fiber Arts colorway is beautiful), and I'm thrilled there was enough to knit a whole hat with the single yarn (and not just because there were no ends to tie in).

The hat I'm working on now is all Neon Pink, Yellow, and Green, so... nope... not Manly, but it's awfully pretty too. But if maybe one out of every five hats or so is sort of neutral, I should have enough for my guys come next Christmas.

What are you doin'?

2011-12-31T09:26:00.001-06:00

Now I want them to get married and pop out a dozen adorable, brown-haired, surprisingly-musical babies.

Side note: I've always thought that Joseph Gordon Levitt would be the perfect Odd Thomas.

Happy New Year's Eve All!

Thursday Tab- Around the Clock with Peg and Dot

2011-12-29T07:18:00.002-06:00

This wonderful book was published in 1943 by Whitman. The scans were shared by a friend who reassembled the partially cut book over photocopies of uncut pages. I love this snapshot of a turbulent time.

An object lesson

2011-12-28T07:57:00.000-06:00

In all of my books, and in all of my classes, and in all of my class handouts, I stress choosing highly contrasting colors for Fair Isle. In order to make sure that your yarns have enough contrast to make the colorwork worthwhile, I suggest scanning your yarns and then turning the scan into b/w in order to check the contrast. Like so.

See? You can easily tell the difference between the light and dark colors.

And therefore, there were no nasty surprises when the items were knit.

You'd think I'd remember that, given that it's my own advice, right? Advice, I might add, that I was paid to write, and am paid to teach.

You might also think that I would take these yarns, which look highly contrasting to the naked eye, and scan them before casting on, right?

If I had done that, I might have noticed that there was really very little contrast between those colors.

And I would have had plenty of warning

for this...

I should have listened to myself. Sigh.

(and yes, I will take these examples of What Not To Do to all of my classes. It'll be an excellent object lesson).

An NaCl Kind of Holiday

2011-12-27T11:20:00.002-06:00

So, did you survive?
We had a wonderful, noisy, busy, delicious, love/laughter/family filled Christmas Eve.

It's not that we like banishing the kids to a different table, it's just that our antique dining room table has no leaves, and can only sit six (maybe eight if we squeeze real tight). So the grownups sat at The Big Table. The centerpiece is a pewter Santa that The Hub smuggled back from Cannon Beach one year after I'd admired it there. He managed to keep it a secret not only on the trip home, but for the months between then and Christmas. It's been our Holiday Centerpiece ever since.

The girls' table was right next to ours (at least they weren't relegated to the basement). Everyone got an ornament, and I love getting out the Christmas Dishes.

The girls were wildly excited, and they absolutely loved their Totem Spindles from Halla, and their American Girl Doll Boots. And for a year in which I had absolutely no gift expectations (we're going to SoCal late in January, that's enough), we made out like bandits.

The hub got this upside down, inside out, insulated beer glass. It works.

My youngest sister made me a bracelet and earrings using pennies from 1952, though why she thought that year had anything to do with my year of birth is beyond me. Really, it's just a lovely bracelet featuring a random year. I'm not that old... heh...

Sorry about the fuzzy pic- but this is a light-up wine stopper. Honest, it pulsates and glows red. I love it!

Several gifts came by mail, and as they arrived, I just put them in their Amazon boxes under the tree, so it wasn't until Christmas morning, after I'd opened the Quick Knits book (edited by my own editor at Taunton) which was a gift from a good friend, that I remembered that I actually ordered the Metal Clay Jewelry book myself. Merry Christmas to me!

Another sister gave me these gorgeous earrings. I can wear wire and dangle and hoop earrings now, and I'm enjoying every bit of the bling.

My friend Jane sent me these wonderful knitting socks. Are you jealous?

And, oh the sodium chloride. The Trader Joe's salt grinders are fantastic (the chili & garlic smoked sea salt is wonderful on leftover turkey). I used gift money to order the Lidded Salt Bowl from The Meadow, in Portland, OR, which is my absolute favorite salt store. Okay, it's the only salt store I know of, but it would be my favorite even if they were on every street corner. The bowl is carved from solid Himalayan Rock Salt, with a lid that fits perfectly. It weighs about 4lbs and it'll be perfect for serving cherry tomato halves, or as a salt cellar, or as a dish for unsalted butter. The two little bottles in front are specialty salts- one made from Oregon Pacific seawater, and the other from Alaskan waters. The Oregon salt is mild and crunchy, the Alaskan salt is wonderfully strong. Who knew that I would end up being a salt connoisseur?

But the best gift of all was the personal calendar that Matt and Cassy made for us. Every month has a picture of our family and friends, many from the wedding in July. Eyes were a little teary, I can tell you.

And look! I'm a Calendar Girl!

Attention Seasonal Vest Booklet Requesters

2011-12-26T08:11:00.004-06:00

Several of you asked for the Seasonal Vest Booklet but neglected to leave your e-mail address in the comments of the original post. If you asked for the pattern, but have not received it yet, please let me know, and be sure to give me an e-mail address. You can post here or at the original post.

And if you asked for the pattern book and did leave your e-mail address, and still have not gotten the pattern, please let me know. Some requests may have been lost in the shuffle, and at least one e-mail address bounced.

Merry!

My wish for you all...

2011-12-24T09:34:00.003-06:00

...whatever holiday you celebrate, or if you celebrate none at all, may the hard times be over.

Books and some video

2011-12-23T10:22:00.001-06:00

I know that I said that I was going to read Chrisopher Moore's Fool next (after finishing The Stupidest Angel, which was a hoot- a blend of The Gift of the Magi and George Romero. It's not called A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror for nothing). I started Fool. And I though was enjoying the patented Moore wise-cracking, bawdy narrator, and total goofiness, something felt just a bit off, less joyous than the other stories. I hadn't read any of the reviews, and I'm sorely lacking in my Shakespeare Knowledge, so even though the king's name was Lear, and his daughters were Goneril, Reagan, and Cordelia, it still wasn't until Cordelia was exiled that I caught the drift of the story. Then I read a couple of reviews which said that the book followed the story arc of the play, and so I set it aside. I will read it eventually, and I'm sure I will enjoy it, but I'm just not in the mood for a tragedy at the moment.

I finished listening to Thuvia, Maid of Mars. Thuvia herself is a McGuffin- she's onstage quite a bit, but only to drive the plot (and all Martian males wild with desire for her). She's no simpering creature, though, and she's not prone to fainting the way Jane Clayton was- toward the end, she shows a prowess for shipboard cannons. But the story is really about Carthoris, son of John Carter and Dejah Thoris, and his journey to rescue the woman he loves. It's a wild adventure, as are all of the Barsoom stories.

I segued right into The Chessmen of Mars, which features Tara, daughter of John Carter and Dejah Thoris. I've only just started, so she may be McGuffiny as well (given that I'm only on Chapter 3 and she already needs rescuing), but she's a strong character, and I'm liking her. And while Barsoom has lots of weird and creepy creatures, the headless humans with spiders on their shoulders may be the absolute creepiest.

After setting Fool aside, I took up with Graceling, one of Amazon Kindle's Daily Deals, and I'm glad that I did. The story revolves around teenage Katsa, a girl whose different colored eyes signal a Grace, a strange talent. Some Gracelings can cook, others can hold their breaths for long periods, Katsa can kill. She's an unwilling assassin for her uncle, the King, yoked by her unnatural skills and the non-Graceling population's wariness of those with special talents. I'm not very far into the book yet, but I'm totally hooked.

After I finish with the Spider Heads, I think I'm going to give the listening a rest for a bit (I've heard something like 14 Edgar Rice Burroughs books in a row), and do a little watching. I can watch streaming video on my Kindle Fire, which fits perfectly on the little treadmill ledge. I've decided to start with Downton Abbey. I'm pretty sure that'll make exercising a bit less tedious.

Thursday Tab- Merrill Little Fairy

2011-12-22T08:50:00.002-06:00

A friend generously shared these gorgeous scans for us!
Enjoy!

A Happy Holiday Gift for you All!

2011-12-21T12:37:00.000-06:00

Note: I'm getting the requests sent out right away. If you request a booklet and don't get it within 24 hours, let me know. It may have gotten lost in the shuffle

About 10 years ago, I designed a set of three seasonal Fair Isle vests for Knit Picks, who produced and sold the pattern for years. Eventually, sales dropped enough so that it wasn't worth KP's trouble to keep printing the booklet, so the rights reverted back to me.

As a thank-you to all of you for sticking it out with my blather, I'm making the booklet (in PDF form) available to anyone who asks for it- just leave your e-mail address in the comments, and I'll send the file to you. It's 2.5MB, and there are patterns and charts for V-neck pullover and button-front vests, knit with KP's Palette yarns (though of course, any fingering weight yarn will do, and indeed, some of the original colors may not be available any more). The pattern is sized from Child 24" chest- Adult 52" chest.

For some reason, there is no photo of the Halloween Vest in the booklet, so I'm posting it here. Be warned, the Halloween Vest was once named One of the Ugliest Vests Ever Designed by What Not to Knit, though I absolutely stand by the design. It was not supposed to be beautiful, it was just supposed to be fun. And it could have been even more *fun*, if The Hub had not noticed that my chart looked like I was declaring Boob all the way across the chest. He suggested adding the exclamation point.

At any rate, here are the vests in the booklet. Again, if you want the PDF booklet, post your e-mail address in the comments, and I'll send it out to you.

Enjoy!

Done

2011-12-20T08:11:00.003-06:00

I'm nearly done with my shopping (just a few local and online Gift Certs left to buy). It helps that The Hub and I are not giving each other gifts since we're traveling in about a month and that will suffice. Also, I have a sinking feeling that we will be surprise gifting ourselves with a new pressure pump for the well. Sigh.

I'm actually done with my Christmas knitting. Or at least, I'm done with the knitting that has to be done by Christmas. We're celebrating another Holiday in late January in SoCal, and I have to knit a couple of pairs of socks for that, but I have plenty of time (well maybe not plenty, since I'll be in Asheville for nearly a week in the interim, but still... there's no rush right this moment).

All of my packages have been shipped, including this hat.

I'm not thrilled with the floppy flower, though it really does curl more (and look more symmetrical) than it appears in the photo. I spread it out to show you the lamp work button and bumblebee bead. All of the yarns are handspun.

I like how this hat turned out. It's knit from leftover self-striping Opal yarn which is easily ten years old, and is at least sort of masculine-looking, something very few of my hats manage. It's already on the way with a shipment of these hats,

which still does not deplete the Hat Surplus in the Big Tub 'o Knitted Things. I love the BToKT.

And we have a new member of our extended family. I was thrilled to finally find a home for this whimsical sweater. I knitted it years ago, confident that the right human being would come along eventually. I'm so glad that she did.

But for the most part, I'm done. Now to sit back and relax... or maybe finish getting my Asheville workshop handouts printed...

Shhhh....

2011-12-19T07:42:00.000-06:00

Don't tell the girls, but I found some extremely cool boots for their American Girl dolls...

You may remember that one girl collects Ladybugs, and another collects Bees. The third collects frogs, for which there seems to be no doll-sized boots, but I think she'll be enchanted with the Camo Hiking Boots. BTW, I got the bug boots from A Girl's Treasure, and the Camo boots from eBay.

And while I'd rather set my feet on fire than wear Crocs, these dollie shoes are pretty darn adorable. I found them on eBay as well.

Over the last few months, I've been gathering charms to match the girls's totems. On Saturday, I sat down for a few hours with jump rings and pliers to assemble the goodies. Each one gets an American Girl necklace, plus...

A necklace for herself (Turtle, Ladybug, Bee, Book, Frog) and earrings. The charm bracelet on the right is for Mom, with each of her girls' totems. And in case you're keeping track, Turtle Girl is not a new member of my extended family, but she now lives nearby, which is wonderful.

All of the above are wrapped and waiting under the tree (and no, the girls don't read my blog) (I hope). We're celebrating a delayed Christmas with Voracious Reader in late January, so she'll get her goodies then.

Books

2011-12-16T15:35:00.000-06:00

I need to finish getting my handouts printed and my workshop samples and materials together for the Winter Retreat in Asheville, so I can get them sent. I haven't even started wrapping presents. Hell, I mostly haven't started *buying* presents yet. I could be doing Christmas baking. I could be working on tonight's supper. The bathroom needs cleaning...

So, what have I been doing instead?

Reading.

You know how Writing Pundits always say: show, don't tell? There's nothing but telling in this book. The notion intrigued me- Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII working out their differences as they are reincarnated in different lifetimes. Sounds good, right? Wrong. Pages and pages and pages and pages of descriptions of life, with nary a bit of dialog. The descriptions in Threads were at least interesting. But when the author went back in time, with Henry and Anne sometime being lovers, sometimes being mother and son, always soul mates even before that whole Tudor Debacle, I bailed.

I wasn't tempted to bail on The Warlord of Mars, the third installment in Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter saga, though I did sigh in frustration as time and time again in these books, Burroughs made it clear that John Carter could read minds, and then NEVER EVER HAD HIM DO IT WHEN IT COULD ACTUALLY HELP HIM! Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. Other than that, this was another satisfying, rip-roaring tale of masculine superiority, derring do, scantily dressed damsels in distress, mighty enemies who sometimes became mighty allies, with interrupted reveals and amazing coincidences up the ying-yang. Burroughs was a visionary, he predicted fax machines, GPS, auto-pilot systems, and Jabba the Hutt.

I've only just started listening to Thuvia, Maid of Mars, which takes up a year or so after the ending of Warlord. In this book (at least so far), John Carter is a bit player. His son, Carthoris, is the star. Well, I'm thinking that feisty Thuvia, Princess of Ptarth may be the actual star, but we'll see. As with Tarzan and Korak, the only real differences between Burroughs' fathers and sons are the names of their sweethearts.

I think maybe only Christopher Moore could write a book about a lonely sea monster who causes an entire California coastal town to become horny. Well, maybe he's not the only one who could write it, but surely, he's the only one who could not only make me believe in the monster, but laugh out loud repeatedly throughout. And be sorry when I finished because I wanted to spend more time with the characters.

Luckily for me, I started The Stupidest Angel immediately afterward. Set about five years after the ending of Lust Lizard (I'm way behind on Moore's backlist, and mostly trying to read them in order), and in the same locale. In fact, not only are many of the characters from LL here, but a few from other Moore tales as well (including from Lamb). It's not a full length novel, and I'll be sorry when I'm done with this one too.

Next up? Fool, another one by Moore. I have no idea what it's about. I don't care- I'll happily follow wherever his twisted little mind leads.

Thursday Tab- Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

2011-12-15T08:44:00.002-06:00

... or as they were known in an earlier incarnation: Leonard Slye and Frances Octavia Smith.
By any name, this cut set (shared by a friend), is amazing.

The BT'oKT

2011-12-14T16:07:00.001-06:00

Well, it's time to dig into the Big Tub 'O Knitted Things, and get them ready for distribution.

I think at least eight pairs of socks will go to new homes, and easily fifteen hats, including these two new ones:

This hat was knitted from leftover Opal Harry Potter yarn (I think this was the Dumbledore colorway). I had just enough to make a nice, adult-sized hat.

This one is made up of leftover bits and bobs. It's smaller, for a younger person. I like how it came out as well.

I have another hat on the needles now, though it's not going to anyone specific. Yet.

These hats are going in the mail tomorrow. The white one was a special request, and I still need to crochet a floppy flower for it. That's tonight's goal.

These socks all stay in the general vicinity, but they need wrapping. The fun part is choosing who gets which pair (though a few are size-specific and were knitted with certain persons in mind). The fact that nearly all of these socks and hats were made from leftover yarns tells you #1 that my stash was/is obscene, and #2 they were all *free* (and yes, I know that my time is worth something, but using up the leftover bits of yarn makes me feel virtuous and thrifty).

On another note altogether- take a peek at the hit counter at the lower right of the main blog page. I am awed and honored that you all put up with my blather, and (evidently) keep coming back for more. Thank you, each and every one!

Sock Songs

2011-12-13T08:05:00.003-06:00

I have a dentist appointment this morning, continuing my amazing streak of finding a cavity during each routine checkup... sigh... Since I won't feel very perky when I get back, here's something cool to hold you over, a book of Sock Songs, poems written for a weekly contest held by The Sun, of New York, to promote patriotic sock knitting for WWI soldiers. The contest was held, and the top three winners were published every week, between May and November 1918. The winners got sock yarn, so they could knit more socks for soldiers. I really wish that wasn't relevant now. Thanks to Tammy Domike for the link.

Wordless, except, you know, for the words

2011-12-11T13:56:00.001-06:00

Before...

We bought this glass tree topper for our first Christmas together. It was 1971. We were 18. It's been on every tree since. Why didn't we choose a different color? Surely, there were gold tree toppers in 1971. Or Silver. Or White.

My friend Melanie gave me this Martini Mermaid. She always goes front and center. (Side Note: Hipstamatic takes cool phone pics, no?)

Done.

From my Folk Art Carving stage.

New Toy

2011-12-10T08:33:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was my knitting group's Christmas Party, which is always fun. And I came home with more than a cool holiday cheese plate and knife- I also picked up this:

I wasn't exactly in the market for another wheel- I love love love my Ashford Joy, and I already have my old Ashford Traddy (which I had shipped over from New Zealand back in the late 70's). But, a couple of months ago, a good friend let me know that another acquaintance had a Babe wheel for sale, at an exceptionally reasonable price (read: one of those deals that you can't pass up). It took us several months to get together since Facebook insisted on stashing her messages to me in a spam folder. But finally, yesterday, we met up, and I brought Babe home.

I gave her a test run last night. I have to say that she's not a wheel that I will spend a lot of time with- she's noisy and there aren't very many fine controls. But, she's a fully functional wheel, light, sturdy, and best of all, pretty much indestructible, which means she's perfect for The Grandgirls (my Joy is adjusted exactly to my liking and I am loathe to let others, even my most darling others, fool with her).

So, when The Girls are ready to move on from their spindles, I'll be ready!

Thursday Tab- Modelos Recortables Part 2

2011-12-08T08:07:00.001-06:00

Here's the rest of this lovely set. Part 1 was uploaded last week.

I'm very afraid that the above skirt is really a pair of Extreme Hammer Pants...

uh oh...

2011-12-07T09:42:00.001-06:00

I just ordered this book...

And these are the kinds of things you can make with this stuff....

For example:

The clay comes in Bronze, Copper, Silver, Gold, and Steel. I already have a torch. And a kiln. And I can order all of the other supplies from Fire Mountain.

Yep, I'm in trouble.

The advantage in being the Artist's Mother

2011-12-06T14:07:00.001-06:00

You get things like this in the mail...

Next time I go to Sioux Falls, I need to stop at Michaels and lay in a supply of black frames so I can hang these somewhere besides on the fridge (and yes, I do have enough magnets to color-coordinate the photography).

I think the Hotel South Dakota poster is available through CafePress, but the others might be limited editions... neener neener...

Tis the season...

2011-12-05T12:41:00.001-06:00

Despite the fact that it is December, and we now have snow on the ground (probably will have until April), I do not have my Christmas tree up yet. Nor are the hand-carved Santas set out, or the cool metal Santa and Sleigh Rocker, or the little Santa vase that I stock with candy canes. And while my Christmas letter is printed, I have not even designed the cards yet, much less printed, cut, signed, enveloped and sent them.

But even though I'm a slacker, I know it's Holiday Time.
How, you ask?
Because the lighted wagon wheel is up and in the window of Terry's Steak House.

The bearskin is lit year round (and yes, it's a real bear skin, and we knew the guy who shot it), but the wagon wheel only comes out in December. It may stay up until Valentine's Day, but its appearance is the signal that The Holidays Are Near.

Terry's goes all out for their holiday decor. It's actually very pretty.

I love the hat and scarf on the Tundra Swan. Festive, don't you think?

For those who are wondering, Terry's (which is our favorite local hangout- it's the kind of place where they know our *usual* without being told) is not actually in Delphi. But surely, it's Delphi-Adjacent.

P.S. It's not always empty- we ate an early supper the other night and had the place to ourselves.

Socks, and A Book Update

2011-12-03T10:07:00.001-06:00

I finished the last pair of socks that MUST be done before Christmas. It's not that I don't have more knitting that I want to do, and it's not that there isn't more that I have to do after Christmas (we're delaying the SoCal Celebration until late January so we can have it in person), but as far as socks that I need to have finished and under the tree- this is the last pair. Woohoo!

Remember that I said I'd get back to you about whether Swan Song had a happy ending or not? Well, here's my verdict: I'm not ever going to know. I continued with the book for as long as I could, but McCammon piled on disturbing scene after disturbing scene after disturbing scene, and finally, I called it quits. I can read and enjoy dark- I mean, I love Dexter, after all. But there's a jolly sense of depraved humor about Dex and there isn't even a trace in Swan Song to help leaven the... well... I'm not going to put those scenes in your head. It's going to take me a long time to get them out of mine.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but you can be sure it'll have some chuckles.

Books

2011-12-02T15:09:00.001-06:00

Ignore the blonde wig, tiara, and skirt, and especially ignore the goofy expression- this is one rip-roaring tale. As with all of Burroughs' books, it's full of amazing coincidences, big battles, interrupted reveals, beautiful women who fall instantly in love with the Hero, strong men who meet as enemies and become friends, and cliff-hangers. The Gods of Mars is Good Stuff.

One of the nice things about reading a series nearly 100 years after it was first published, is that I can plunge right into the next book without waiting. And it's a good thing that I had The Warlord of Mars waiting on the Kindle Fire (in the audio section) because The Gods of Mars left a whole lot undone.

And another reason that it's good to come to a series late? You can still be just in time for the movie.

I enjoyed Christopher Moore's Lamb, but maybe not quite as much as others did. Given that my religious leanings are pretty much nonexistent, I didn't feel any delicious naughtiness when Moore took gentle liberties with the story of Jesus's life. That said, it was fun and funny and sad and really, quite good. It's interesting that with no conscious selection on my part, several of my recently read books have featured angels.

I discovered Heck, Where The Bad Kids Go, while playing on the Kindle Fire with Bee Girl (who used her own money to buy one). This story of a recently deceased, moderately naughty sister and her mostly innocent brother came up while BG and I were surfing the Kindle Store. I was sufficiently intrigued to buy the book. I read a few chapters, and while it's fun, and I think kids will really love it, it wasn't quite up my alley. I'll finish reading it eventually, but I probably won't read the rest of the books in the series, though I'll have no problem buying them for the young readers in my life.

11/22/63, however, was exactly up my alley. I am on record as loving Stephen King. I am also on record as a fan of his story-telling and his stories, without always being a fan of his endings. In this book, he gets the story of love and time travel right, all the way through. So right, in fact, that I barely came up for air. This one is making it to the upper tier of my Best books of 2011.

It's an odd coincidence that immediately after 11/22/63, I started reading Robert McCammon's Swan Song, given that the book has often been compared to The Stand. And truly, the similarities are pretty amazing- both are books about the ending of civilization as we know it. Both books follow a series of characters as they learn to navigate the new world. Both books have magical characters, and nearly-all-powerful Forces of Evil. There are differences too- Swan's Song apocalypse is of the nuclear variety, so much of the infrastructure and most of the food, is gone (not to mention a drastic change in weather), while in The Stand, most of the buildings and terrain remain intact. But maybe the biggest difference is that Swan Song just isn't as good as The Stand (a purely subjective assessment, but there it is)- the story is certainly interesting, but the characters haven't grabbed me in the way that King's did (it's not a coincidence that two of the characters in my Delphi series are named Nick and Stu).

It seems unlikely that Swan Song can have even a mildly hopeful ending. I'll get back to you on that.

Thursday Tab- Modelas Recortables, Part 1

2011-12-01T08:13:00.001-06:00

con muchos outfits del '80s...
I'll upload the other two dolls and clothes next week.

Class at Loop & Leaf in Santa Barbara

2011-11-30T10:42:00.001-06:00

I am happy to announce that I'll be teaching my All Day Toddler Fair Isle Hat class at Loop & Leaf in Santa Barbara, CA, on Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012. Celeste hosted a signing for Fearless Fair Isle Knitting at her lovely shop last February, and I am delighted to be going back.

The class hours haven't been settled yet- I'll announce when the time is firm. In the meantime, I'm excited to ride the Amtrak along the beautiful SoCal Ocean Coast again.

Astute readers will deduce that this means I'll be in SoCal barely two weeks after going to Asheville, NC for the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat (classes are now fully listed and open for registration). I lead a really interesting life, y'all.

Wordless Leftover Yarn Socks

2011-11-28T14:38:00.001-06:00

Playing with Fire

2011-11-26T13:27:00.001-06:00

Okay, so the Kindle Fire does not have a text-to-speech function despite this e-mail, which I got from Amazon Customer Support:

But all is not lost. First of all, a great many people are not happy about the lack of TTS, and they've complained to Amazon about it. Second of all, there's money to be made in selling a TTS app, which means that someone will come up with a reasonable substitute for a built in TTS function soon. Third of all, there are many compensations for not being able to have the droning computer voice read Tarzan books to me.

As a new Kindle Fire owner, I get a month of free Amazon Prime, which means not only free shipping on actual hold-in-your-hand books, and even deeper discounts than usual, but lots, and I do mean LOTS, of streaming video, that I can watch whenever I want, including every X-Files episode, several seasons of The Twilight Zone, most of Star Trek, and lots of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (do we sense the drift of my TV watching taste?). I can also watch many many movies for free, and many others for less than it would cost to rent them from a brick and mortar store. Though I'd never been tempted by Amazon Prime before this, I have a feeling that I will shell out the $79 per year from now on. Smooth move, Amazon.

So, I can watch TV and movies as I exercise, which helps to make up for not having TTS. But, I can also listen to books as well.

Back when my Zune was fully functional and Microsoft thought it was going to push the iPod out of the #1 position, I used to subscribe to podcasts and the RSS feeds would transfer directly to the Zune. I listened to many books via Librivox that way. Their vast library of recorded books (all done by volunteers, and all in the public domain) kept me happy for a long time as I sweated away. And they're keeping me happy again.

So, just in case you have a Fire, and you don't know know how to use it to listen to these audio books, here's what I did (and if there is a way to subscribe to podcasts directly, I haven't found one- if such there be, please let me know).

#1. Go to Librivox and select the book you want to hear. This morning, I selected Book #3 in the John Carter of Mars series, The Warlord of Mars.

#2. Somewhere on your computer, make a file folder with the name of the book. It doesn't matter where you have the folder, just so you can find it again when you need it.

#3. In Librivox, click on the book listing. Below the RSS information, will be a listing of the MP3 files of the book, arranged by chapter.

#4. I have no idea what an ogg vorbis file is, but it doesn't matter because we don't need that link. I also don't know what the difference is between the two MP3 file types- I chose the 64kbps for my downloads, just because. Anyway, click on the Chapter 1 64kbps link, and this window will open:

#5. The audio file will begin to download and play immediately. If you want to listen, go ahead, otherwise you can click pause. Right click anywhere on the black portion (not on the audio indicator), and click Save As.

#6. Find the folder with the book title, and save the chapter file there.

#7. Repeat with all of the chapter files of the book.

#8. If you cannot connect your Kindle Fire to your computer, go to Step #10 If you can connect your Kindle Fire to your computer for a direct transfer (sideload) of the book, do so now. When the Kindle shows up on your Computer as a device, click to open it.

#9. Find the file folder with the saved MP3 chapters on your computer, drag and drop the whole book folder (you don't have to do the chapters individually) to the Music folder of your Kindle. The transfer will be made. To listen to your book, just open the Music App, find the Book Title (the Kindle will treat it like a CD), open it, choose the chapter you want to listen to (the Kindle treats the chapter files as individual songs), and listen.

#10. If you cannot connect your Kindle Fire to your computer for direct transfers, then go to your Amazon Account, and click on Manage Your Kindle, and then under Other Digital Content, click on Manage your MP3 files. Follow the instructions for uploading the book chapter files to the Cloud (you might have to download a Cloud app first). This takes awhile (30 minutes the first time I did it, before I figured out how to make a direct transfer).

#11. Open the Music App on your Fire, and find the files stored on the Cloud, and download them to your device. Open the chapter you want to listen to, and enjoy!

Had we but known yesterday...

2011-11-25T08:08:00.001-06:00

I happen to love turkey, but even so, Aunt Mary is spot on.
Small warning- here be a couple of naughty words... beware if such things cause you distress.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T12:27:00.001-06:00

Burroughed in

2011-11-23T15:09:00.001-06:00

I finished Tarzan the Terrible, which was, I think the eighth Tarzan book I've read (listened to) in a row.

In a series of rip-roaring adventures, this was the rip-roaringest of all. Tarzan takes on the entire German Army, makes peace among warring peoples (and it's not an accident that one tribe is black and the other white), first becomes D'Artagnan and then Jesus, finds Jane, reunites with Jack (or, as he's known here, Korak the Killer- never Boy), and then finally rides off into the sunset on the back of a triceratops. Yep, there are dinosaurs.

There are something like fifteen more books in the Tarzan series, and as much fun as I've had with Lord Greystoke and his handsome invincibility, I thought I'd take a break from the jungle, and head to Mars.

Or, as Burroughs hilariously calls it, Barsoom. If it was odd that I had not read any Tarzan books before entering my dotage, it's even weirder that I missed out on the John Carter books, since I spent much of my youth gobbling up science fiction. But though I knew of John Carter (and the beautiful Red Martian Princess, Dejah Thoris)(and as a side note: the Kindle text to speech reader thinks that the inhabitants of the fourth planet are Marshy-ans), A Princess of Mars was my first exposure to yet another handsome, honorable, strong, invincible hero.

There are many similarities between John Carter and John Greystoke (all women want them, all men want to be them, all societies, except for the most Evil of the Evil, respect and admire, nay worship, them), but there are also some major differences. John Carter is American, or at least he pretends to be American, living in Virginia and Arizona right after the Civil War, though we find out fairly soon that John Carter does not remember his birth, nor does he remember any of his first thirty or so years, though he can remember several hundred years after that. We're not given any explanation for his amnesia or longevity, though I have some sneaking suspicions.

John Carter also is not quite as naive when it comes to women- when he sees one he wants (the beautiful Dejah Thoris catches his eye), he goes after her, and of course, wins her heart.

Burroughs' Barsoom follows what was then the prevailing thought about Mars: that the canals did hold water, that there could have been civilizations of intelligent beings there, and that it was a dying planet. John Carter finds himself on Mars (no explanation is given for that either), smack in the middle of giant green, multi-armed nasty types, and from that moment, it's one battle after another (much like a certain Jungle Dude).

This first-person tale confused me a bit though- it's more sloppily plotted, there are even more coincidences than in Tarzan (which overflowed with them), powers and skills are mentioned briefly and then forgotten until they save the day (one in particular had me yelling at the Kindle Reader, as though it was his fault, poor thing). In general, the book just wasn't as good as any of the Tarzan Tales, though I understood better when I learned that A Princess of Mars was Burrough's first novel.

Still, it was entertaining, and I've moved on to The Gods of Mars...

...in which John Carter in a dress and a goofy blond wig and tiara, hanging off the side of an airship while a strange being points a pistol at him, is not the silliest thing happening. Good times.

Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat- My Class Schedule

2011-11-21T09:38:00.001-06:00

I mentioned a few days ago, that I'll be heading back to Asheville, NC, in January, to teach workshops at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat, which will be held January 13-15, plus I'll be staying a couple of extra days to teach *hangover* classes (no, it's not what you think... I always drink sensibly).

Ah, the changing of the seasons...

2011-11-20T10:22:00.001-06:00

Actually, I think we had a lot of snow, and very cold temps by this time last year, so truly this year, we've had a really long fall.

On the other hand, that first morning when the Weather Guy says that the temps are below zero (that's F for our Celsius Friends), you do a little shiver anyway, even if you're in your nice, warm house.

FWIW, when I stepped outside to snap these shots (with my phone- the iPhone camera is an amazing thing), I took a sniff, and my nose said that it was above zero.

We didn't get quite as much snow yesterday as they predicted- around 4". And temps are supposed to be in the 40's by Thursday, so I don't think this will last. But we can't kid ourselves- Winter is here.

It's here, and it'll be here for a long time. Good thing it's also beautiful.

It's here!!!

2011-11-19T14:42:00.001-06:00

After a bit of a snafu with delivery yesterday (Amazon tracking said it was at my local post office, but the folks there weren't inclined to let me have it until this morning), my Kindle Fire is here!

And it's pretty cool, though so far, I can't find a text-to-speech function (something I was specifically promised by a customer support person- I can produce the e-mail). If it's really not part of the Fire package, I can probably get Librivox podcasts, and Audible, and my guess is that there is some sort of Droid text-to-speech thingy. But after clicking all of the setting buttons and icons, I just don't think there's one on the Fire (and if there is, I will be very glad for someone to point me in the right direction).

On the other hand, I really can watch TV and movies on the Fire (with Amazon Prime, 3 months free for Fire purchasers and $79 a year afterwards) (oops- correction, only one month free Amazon Prime). Many brand new TV episodes are available, and lots of old shows (I could start at the beginning of X-Files and work my way through the whole arc, which I just might do. My Mulder Crush knows no limits). I will likely continue the Prime when the freebie runs out, just because it's nice to have that stuff available.

The apps are also fun- I can do Facebook and blog and e-mail, and everything else online fairly easily, though the keyboard isn't wonderful (I'll get used to it, but I doubt I'll be tapping out long missives). I have to start over with Angry Birds and Stupid Zombies because my iPhone scores won't transfer to the Droid platform. The larger screen is great, and the graphics are fantastic. The color is very good, and the screen isn't too glare-y (it could be, in the bright sunlight, but in the house, it's just fine). Kids books are beautiful and sharp, and I waited for the Fire to arrive before buying the Tupelo Honey Cafe cookbook- the pictures and recipes are very easy to see and read.

There is much to the device that I have not yet been able to explore, which will keep me busy for a long time.

I'm not bothered by the lack of 3G. My current Kindle has it, but I've never connected except with wireless (I can't read in a car, it gives me an instant headache, and I can't connect in flight, and airports have wireless, so it's not really an issue). The lower battery life isn't fun, but I have to charge my phone every night too, so plugging in another device is not exactly a chore.

All in all, I am happy, though I will find a way to have text to speech, even if it means that I have to buy the cheapest new, stripped down Kindle just for that (I promised my current one to The Grands and I won't go back on that promise).

On the Road Again...

2011-11-18T10:10:00.001-06:00

... well not today, but in January. I've been invited to teach classes at the Friends and Fiberworks Winter Retreat in Asheville, NC!

Astute blog readers will remember that I was just in Asheville, not even a month ago. Those readers will also remember how much I gush about the area, every time I visit. I am thrilled to be going back. I will be teaching workshops all three of the retreat days, but not all of the classes have been posted yet. I'll announce the full schedule as soon as it's up (and you can click on the classes link to see what else is being offered- as always, I wish I could take some classes too). So far, I'll be teaching the All-Day Toddler Fair Isle Hat class on Friday Jan. 13, and the Mitered Square Cuff, and the Little Tips and Tricks class on Saturday Jan. 14. I imagine the rest of the schedule will be posted today (and I'll announce the schedule here). Registration is open for the listed classes.

Woohoo!!!

And speaking of teaching classes in Asheville (or more specifically, Fletcher), Connie travels from Florida to attend SAFF every year, and she's taken several of my classes. This year, she took the Fair Isle Design class. This is the hat she designed and knit after going back home. I love it when students continue using the techniques learned in my classes. Thanks for sharing this adorable at with us, Connie!

Thursday Tab- Beauty Contest Fashion Show Dolls

2011-11-17T07:39:00.001-06:00

I don't have any information on this set- the scans were shared by a friend. But I'd put it at the early/mid-40's.

Wordless Leftover Yarn Sock

2011-11-16T17:53:00.001-06:00

Before I dive in. Again.

2011-11-15T13:54:00.001-06:00

Well, it's time to start work on MG Fantasy V4.0. The editors who saw the manuscript universally loved it, but they also each had exactly the same complaint: they wanted more. So I'm back at it- adding material, which, odd as it might sound, is a lot harder than cutting.

But before I buckle down for the afternoon, I thought you'd like to see these:

I took this shot a couple of days ago,

and then finished the pair the next evening.

And then I cast on another pair- I'm not out of variegated leftover yarns, but I am a bit limited in the yarns that I'm using on these socks because they have to be machine washable and dryable (and no matter what the labels say, some superwash yarns do felt, so I'm only using yarns that I know absolutely will hold up to vigorous wear and laundering). That said, I really like the combo of these solids with the blue and gold. Rather bold, don't you think? (And in case you wonder- the coral really is leftover yarn- I needed about 10 yds from that ball for another project, so it technically meets the requirements for Leftover Socks).

And my good friend LouAnn, one of the many wonderful people I've met at SAFF over the years, sent me this package of yarn, just because. LouAnn, aka Winter Mountain Fibers in Tennessee, has a wonderful color sense. The larger skein is 1,100 yds of fingering weight wool, perfect for a shawl. The green and yellow is sock yarn. Thank you thank you thank you LouAnn- your friendship means everything to me!

Cool Beans!

2011-11-13T22:54:00.001-06:00

Here's a wonderful You Tube review of Fearless Fair Isle Knitting from Jeanne and Sandy at Jimmy Beans Wool! Too Cool!

Wordless Sunday- Unused Vintage Biltmore Postcard

2011-11-13T07:57:00.001-06:00

Finished and Unfinished, a Commercial Success, and a Return Trip

2011-11-12T07:41:00.001-06:00

I met with my knitting group yesterday- as always, it was wonderful to see everyone. After the meeting, I ran errands, and then met Frog Girl for a Gramma Girl supper. We drove back home in the dark and spotted several deer in the ditch. Live deer. Live deer ready to jump out in front of the car. Luckily, none did.

In addition to the hat and mittens from earlier this week, I had another FO to show off yesterday. Someone very dear to me said wistfully that a plain cream handspun hat would be lovely. It is a measure of how dear that person is, that I actually knit a plain cream hat for her (for Christmas- she has to wait). It turned out beautifully, but man, it was boring to knit.

Side Note; I like how my new scanner picks up stitch definition and color, but the scanner bed squooshes things- the hat isn't *ruffly* at the top, it just looks that way in the scan.

I'm down to using non-self-patterning leftover yarns for socks now (not that I don't have lots of self-patterning yarns in the stash, but none of them, at the moment, are left over). I love how these colors came together. This pair will be for Ladybug Girl, and the upside is that if she outgrows them (all of the girls have Magically Expanding Feet), she can give them back to me, since they fit me now. (Ignore the gray hair that just happened to be on the scanner bed...)

On a totally different subject- that Subaru commercial where the ex-couple spot each other at some sort of reunion, but yet do not speak to each other, bugs the hell out of me. But the background song has been in my head forever. I finally Googled it yesterday (typing: Subaru commercial song into the window) and found this:

This is now my new favorite song. You want proof? I bought it on iTunes yesterday before heading to Aberdeen, and I listened to it on steady repeat for 43 miles, and I didn't think about that stupid reunion ex-couple even once.

Can someone who is musically knowledgeable tell me what that kind of rhythm is called (where the main beat seems to be a bit behind the rest of the song).

And finally, I am happy to announce that I'll be teaching again at the Michigan Fiber Festival! The 2012 festival is August 18-19, and workshops run from August 15-19. I'll be teaching classes Aug 15-17. I'll announce the roster and times when registration is open. I'm thrilled to be invited back!

Thursday Tab- Cathy does something French

2011-11-10T12:23:00.001-06:00

My grasp of French isn't even rudimentary, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out what most of the captions say on this set.

FOs

2011-11-09T15:13:00.004-06:00

I finished the handspun hat and mittens:

I'm extremely pleased with how well the mittens match each other, and how they match the striping on the hat. Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the thumb of the first mitten was a little... shall we say... pale... in this earlier picture.

When I finished the pair and saw that the other thumb had far more visible red flecks, I remedied the situation in a way that will not surprise those who have taken my Little Tips and Tricks Workshop: I dug out my trusty red Sharpie, and I colored the thumb a bit. No, I'm not kidding.

You wouldn't have known that if I hadn't told you, right? Well, not only do I believe in Full Disclosure, I'm not in the least ashamed. Sharpies have saved many a project, and it's a tip that I pass along happily in my classes.

This yarn was spun thick 'n thin on purpose, and that texture shows up beautifully in these pieces.

As I was snapping away, I remembered that I'd spun a previous bump of the same self-striping roving as sock yarn. I tucked the finished socks away in the Big Tub 'O Knitted Things and forgot about them. Luckily, they hadn't found a home yet so I was able to get a shot of all the pieces together. The colors are much more subtle in the socks, but you can still see the progression.

Amazing the difference that yarn size makes.

It was a little panic-ful here toward the end. The above is all the yarn I had left- maybe 4 yards (with no more of this roving to spin). Happily, I knitted really really fast, and I finished the last mitten before the yarn ran out. That trick, unfortunately, isn't part of my workshop, since it doesn't always work...

Driftin' Along...

2011-11-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

The wind howled last weekend. And when the fall wind howls in South Dakota...

... the annual Migration of the Tumbleweeds begins.

These are the husks of the koscia plant, which grows everywhere here. In the fall, the big round plants dry up, and the first big wind breaks them free, and then they roll...

...into fencelines, and across fields, scattering their seeds (up to 10,000 per plant) everywhere. It's fascinating to watch, the weeds roll and bounce as though they were stately and silent alien invaders, which I suppose they are.

That of course led me here:

You can thank me for the ear worm later. Side note: I did not realize that Roy Rogers was a founding member of the Sons of the Pioneers until I started looking around YouTube for a clip.

Fall also means that the tomatoes, which were few and small this year for everyone, are done.

The Brussels Sprouts are still doing okay though. We started these from seed, and maybe, if we're lucky and the bugs die off, we might actually get a serving before snow flies.

Our leaves are gone, but the prairie is beautiful, even when it's brown.

Wordless Sunday- Biltmore Postcard from 1931

2011-11-06T09:29:00.003-06:00

FOs! and Mitered Square Links

2011-11-05T08:17:00.002-05:00

Woohoo, I finally finished a couple of things!

After 18 months of the Yarn Buying Moratorium, I'm finally almost out of self-striping sock yarn leftovers. I have lots of non-patterning leftovers but it looks like I'm going to have to dip into the stash of full skeins and balls in order to make more like the above. The stash of full skeins is still overflowing.

I didn't keep track, but I think I got 7 or 8 pairs of free socks from all of those little leftover balls of yarn. Not too shabby.

And I finished this hat, which I started last November (and I would say that this is the longest any UFO has been on my needles, except that I know better). The yarn is from Lisa Souza. I bought it at the '09 Sock Summit. The colorway is Lapland and believe it or not, it's still available (check under the Hand Dyed Sock Yarns). The short-repeat variegation worked perfectly for mitered squares. Each square is a little different from those surrounding it, so each square stands out. I love the effect. I have plenty of yarn left, so I'm also knitting a pair of matching fingerless mittens.

Friend and blog reader Jessica asked if I would make a listing of the mitered square instructions so they would be easier to find. Here you go, Jessica:

Illustrated Mitered Square Tutorial

Freebie Friday Mitered Square Fingering Weight 2-Needle Socks Pattern

Fingering Weight Mitered Square Hat Instructions

Worsted Weight Mitered Square Hat General Instructions (note: this is not an actual pattern, it's just hints on how to adapt the pattern to this size yarn)

General Instructions for Fingering Weight Mitered Square Socks worked in the Round (again, this is not an actual pattern, just hints on how to adapt the 2-needle pattern)

The pattern for mitered square socks knit with worsted weight yarn is part of my Mitered Square Cuff Workshop (along with a pattern for mittens), and therefore only available for workshop members, but all you have to do is work 3 rows of 5 mitered squares with size 5 needles for the cuff, sew the cuff into a tube (3 rows deep), then pick up 48 sts and work the rest of the sock in the normal way.

Also, my pattern for fingering weight gloves with Mitered Square Cuffs is in Storey's 101 Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders.

Thursday Tab- Whitman Tender Love 'n Kisses, 1978

2011-11-03T09:41:00.002-05:00

Baby Tender Love 'n Kisses was also an actual doll. But I don't know which came first, the doll or the paper doll. The book was published by Whitman in 1978.

The yarn thing

2011-11-02T12:04:00.002-05:00

Remember back when I used to knit all the time? And I always had new FOs to post here on the blog?

Good times.

But though I may not knit all the time now, and I don't even try to knit on planes (not enough elbow room for this prop-n-throw knitter), I did pick the needles up again this week.

I'm nearly done with a pair of leftover yarn socks (the first socks I've had on the needles in awhile). I love how the different yarns all look so cool together- none of them match, and yet they work perfectly. These are slated for The Big Tub 'O Knitted Things, and Christmas.

And though my Yarn Buying Moratorium is still in effect, I've never pretended to have a Yarn Winning Moratorium. I won this beautiful yarn from The Copper Corgi when I was at SAFF. I didn't even consider turning it down. I suspect it'll be the next to hit the swift and winder. I love love love the mottled peach/copper colors. I think this yarn deserves lace, or some other amazing texture. I haven't worked cables for ages- maybe it's time.

I finished spinning this hank of Romney before I left for NC. I spun the whole thing with the long draw, and I'm very happy with how the yarn came out. Though it's still pretty heavy (183 yds and 5.7 ozs), it's much lighter, loftier, and squooshier than my usual handspun yarn.

My guess is that the long draw works best with well prepared fiber, but I have a lot of that on hand, including another 3ozs or so of this particular colorway. By the time I get done spinning it, I'll have plenty of yarn for a pair of cushy winter socks.

I mentioned Mercury Swings yesterday. It's a free short story that fits somewhere in the whacked out universe that Robert Kroese created. I read it last night, and it's a hoot. I don't know if it'll make much sense to anyone who is not familiar with the characters and premise, but I enjoyed it greatly.

Oh, and though I've seen some beautiful scenes in my travels, and I hope to see many, many more, there is no scene more beautiful than what I can see from my front porch.

South Dakota wins Sunsets.

Books

2011-11-01T13:17:00.001-05:00

16 Hours in airports (both ways) leaves me with a lot of reading time.

I finished Robert Kroese's Mercury Rises, which is a sequel to Mercury Falls, and while not quite as laugh-out-loud funny as the first, I still enjoyed it. and the main characters (an angel, a writer, and The Antichrist, as well as a whole bunch of other Heavenly, and The Other Place, whackdoodles). It looks like Mercury Swings, a free short story (or maybe a novella), is a prequel to the other books. I didn't know it existed until just now, but it's safely on my Kindle already, so I'll let you know.

Our favorite sociopathic serial killer is unaccountably dense in Double Dexter. Even for a guy who isn't quite up on actual human emotions and reactions, he seems awfully slow to catch on to a few really large hints. That said, I enjoyed this journey into his twisted mind.

I did not love all of the short stories in West Coast Crime Wave, but I liked enough of them to make the read enjoyable. I especially liked Steve Brewer's contribution to the collection. There was a bit of formatting weirdness in the book, one story was completely underlined, but I imagine they'll work those kinks out soon.

Just in case I got stuck in strange cities, I loaded up the Kindle before I flew out. I bought several of Christopher Moore's novels, starting with Practical Demonkeeping. I only just started the book, but I'm pretty sure that his twisted sense of humor is right up my alley.

J.D. Rhoades' two short stories in The Caretaker were both quick and satisfying reads. I didn't love the Courier Font, but I adjusted pretty quickly.

J.A. Konrath's The List is described as a technothriller (one word). I started reading it last night but it's not striking my fancy at the moment. I think I'll put it aside for awhile, and try again later.

My good friend Ann recommended Mary Stanton's series, so I started with the first, Defending Angels. It's probably the polar opposite of The List. I'm enjoying it but it's maybe just a tad too cozy for me. We'll see.

I've been listening to Tarzan books as I treadmill, for the past couple of months (letting the Kindle read them out loud to me). In Tarzan the Untamed, Tarzan is a very very busy Lord of the Jungle: he becomes a widower, he reverts to his savage roots, he takes on the German Army single-handed, he rescues a downed English pilot, he is wary of a pretty German Spy (who, of course, falls in love with him)(and of course, he doesn't even notice), he tames a wild black lion, he crosses deserts, he discovers a hidden city of maniacs, he rescues his friends, and finally he learns something that we probably knew already. Whew...

This is the seventh Tarzan book that I have listened to in a row, and they're all a hoot. At least once in every book, I laugh out loud (and an out-loud laugh while you're dripping on the treadmill is a very good thing). This time around, after having been previously warned that shooting a lion with a pistol would only piss the lion off : (Lieutenant Harold Percy) "Smith-Oldwick drew the pistol from his shirt. 'If he has made up his mind to kill me,' he thought. 'I can't see that it will make any difference in the long run whether I infuriate him or not. The beggar can't kill me any deader in one mood than another.'"

Next up is Tarzan the Terrible, which is the last book in the Tarzan Omnibus. Though I try not to learn too much about the books before I listen to them, I am pretty sure that there are dinosaurs in this one, y'all.

There are many more Tarzan books (I think there were 24 total), but after I finish listening to Tarzan the Terrible, I'm going to switch to Burrough's John Carter of Mars series. From what I can tell, John Carter is another gorgeous hunk of invincible man-meat. I suspect I'm going to enjoy these books every bit as much. In fact, I just bought a 5-book collection. Just this minute.

The Kindle is a wonderful and dangerous thing.

How to knit

2011-10-31T08:06:00.003-05:00

You can pull real hard on the yarn, because yarn doesn't feel pain...

(with thanks to the wonderful ladies at Mason Dixon Knitting...)

Food and Drink, NC Style

2011-10-29T13:13:00.001-05:00

On my other visits to NC, I primarily ate meals at the motel, partly because there was a restaurant there, partly because I was way too tired after teaching to go searching for food, and partly because I do not drive in strange places. This time around, I had no choice but to venture out because the Mountain Inn and Suites (Airport) did not have a restaurant, and there were none within walking distance. I did not know, going in, that the lack of motel restaurant was the best thing ever to happen to my free time in North Carolina.

Before I get to the good stuff, let me say one word about airport food: bleargh.

I don't know what they're like out in the real world, but the Burger King Breakfast Sausage and Egg Croissant that I bought at MSP was damp, chewy, and flavorless. And overpriced, which goes without saying. And the slice of carrot cake that I tried to eat in ATL was stale and dry, and the frosting tasted like shortening.

From now on, I'll stick with Seattle's Best Coffee (the fancy versions have enough calories for a meal anyway) (or Caribou, or Starbucks- in the airport, they're everywhere and interchangeable), and whatever scones they have in their display cases (which are also not premium, but they're a whole lot better either of the aforementioned food-like substances).

The concession food at SAFF was as expected for a large festival- okay without being great or terrible. But the Goat Milk Fudge from Heather Lane Farms, was wonderful as always- smooth and creamy and udderly delicious (see what I did there?).

Kris, who is much more adventurous than I am, asked our very helpful motel clerk for recommendations for local food. She sent us to Downtown Hendersonville, about a 10 minute drive away (and since I live in South Dakota, I generally correlate 10 minutes with 10 miles. Hah! It was probably 2 miles... and sometimes it took a lot longer than 10 minutes). Anyway, Downtown Hendersonville has several blocks lined with great stores and many many restaurants (the only town I've visited that smelled as/more delicious was Monterrey, CA).

Our first evening in Hendersonville, we walked the blocks, sniffing and reading menus, and finally settled on Lime Leaf, a Thai Fusion restaurant. The restaurant was lovely, soft lighting and quiet music. I had crab fried rice that was absolutely wonderful (and on those first couple of nights, we didn't realize that portions would be so big that Kris and I could split an entree and still not eat it all). It's as though the crab was infused through the rice- there were no large lumps, and yet the crab flavor was dominant throughout. I paired my rice with RJ Rocker's Son of a Peach beer, a light and refreshing beer with a real peach flavor. Kris had a chicken dish, but I can't remember the name- she won't mind my saying that she's a notoriously picky eater, and she loved the meal (she loved every meal we ate together).

The next evening in Hendersonville, we went to Mezzaluna, Brick Oven and Tap House. Again, the restaurant was open and airy, and watching the cooks toss pizza dough was amusing and entertaining. Neither of us had pizza though- I had pan-fried Carolina Trout with asparagus and rice (the best I've ever eaten), and Kris had the Chicken Marsala. We also had the Bruschetta... yummmm. The wine list looked good, but I can have Oregon and Washington and California wines in South Dakota (not to mention in Oregon, Washington, and California). I opted instead for a local beer that would please my son, AKA Hop Head Said- Asheville Brewing Company's Scottish Highland Ale, a darkish beer that went perfectly with my trout.

The most ordinary meal we ate was at the Biltmore Estate, where we shared a flat bread mushroom pizza at an outdoor table. It was really very good paired with Cedric's Brown Ale, which is brewed on the grounds.

After lunch, we went to the Biltmore Winery and tasted wines. We especially liked the Century White, the Christmas White (which is sweet), and the limited edition Malvasia, which is a dessert wine. I bought a bottle of that and brought it home in my suitcase.

At the suggestion of my dear friend DeeAnn, who was unfortunately not able to meet us in Asheville, we drove to Grove Park Inn after leaving Biltmore. Grove Park is probably a bit newer than Biltmore, but it's every bit as opulent, and maybe a little intimidating. It's a wonderful, huge, Art Deco hotel that has turned into a Destination Visit for many people. We had to park in the hotel garage (no spaces in the parking lot), and we wandered around the hallways a bit before we found our way to the huge, and I do mean HUGE lobby bar and restaurant.

The long lobby is flanked on either end by stone fireplaces that are big enough to stand in, and in fact, one of them houses an elevator. Honestly, the place makes me think of The Overlook, but in a non-haunted way (though it would not surprise me in the least if there were ghosts).

By that evening, Kris and I had finally realized that we could happily split entrees and still have enough to eat. We had the lump crab club and a pineapple martini. It's a good thing that we split the entree, since prices at Grove Park are, shall we say, a little pricey. We sat in the open bar/restaurant on what I can only assume are original Stickley chairs, and ate our wonderful sandwich, and listened to the music, which consisted of a very talented guitar player, whose taste coincided perfectly with mine: anyone who plays James Taylor live (and not just the usual JT hits, but also Copperline), plus some Jimmy Buffet, The Turtles, and many other songs that I sang along to (luckily, it was quite noisy there, so no one else had to hear me) has my eternal gratitude, and a nice tip.

Also on the recommendation of DeeAnn (and many others), we stopped in at the Tupelo Honey Cafe in downtown Asheville for lunch on our last full day in NC. This restaurant is a real, authentic, Southern Diner, long and narrow, crowded at every minute of the day because the food, quite simply, is the best I've eaten. Anywhere. In my entire life. The chairs and tables are old, and the staff works with and around each other in a fascinating dance- efficient and brisk while at the same time being warm and welcoming to the customers.

The meal started with huge, warm baking powder biscuits and pots of Tupelo Honey and homemade blueberry jam. Then we shared the Chicken Saltimboca- and there are no words for how good it was, paired with a Pisgah Pale Ale.

There are also no words for the pecan pie. I've never tasted anything like it- rich and sweet and so good that we laughed as we ate, not quite believing we were tasting something so incredibly delicious. It's a good thing we split the pie as well- a whole piece would be too much. Half was just perfect. The fact that the pies are shipped worldwide is both wonderful and dismaying.

On our last night, we went back to Hendersonville, to Mrs. G and Me, whose menu intrigued us from the very first night. This lovely little restaurant served interesting and inventive variations of familiar foods. We settled on Chicken and Dumplings (not that it was difficult- we almost opted for that on our first night), and the parsley/garlic dumplings were amazing (and the larger single serving was still too much for the two of us to eat). I had a pomegranate martini with my meal (a bit tart but delicious).

Last, but certainly not least, we stopped in Kilwins Chocolates more than once. Kris liked the cremes and truffles, I loved the Sea Salt Caramels.

Even though most of the meals were reasonably priced, it's still good for our wallets (and jeans) that we had to say goodbye to North Carolina. But I'm going back... believe me, I'm going back.