Ear at nearly three months
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Too sunny but two ears!
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Seriously, Who Needs a Translator?

Ergonomics of Knitting

I've been studying knitting styles--that and overseeing the wrecking of and rebuiding of our backyard fence.

Here are the videos I've been looking at. If you have more, send em on! I love comments with links!!!

Stephanie and Irish Cottage Knitting from Zabet.

Continental Info, sheath info, and more on that,



























































http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNFXO8MH2z0&feature=related

Yikes

Nice soundtrack.
Scary Ride.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators

Today's job. . .

Improving the Skink enclosure
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The Mind of the Warp

I'm noticing something quite wonderful about warping my loom. There's a meditative quality to winding the warp that I don't get from knitting or even spinning, which I think is odd. It's almost like Tai Chi. I didn't have this happen while I warped using a table, as much room as I could muster, a few weights and a two-liter bottle. There's something about standing in front of a warping board (thank you Lura and Jill) and having my cones on a hanging dowel for constant and untwisted warping; something about the smoothness of the winding; something about the movement of your arm (at or below shoulder height, thank you); something about the combination that is completely calming. It let my lizard brain take over and I realized I really need to make time to (a) exercize--like a normal person, not like a gym rat-- and (b) write more for me.

So here I am.

And now I'll go back to warping. 

Boy with two ears

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How Do I Love This? Let Me Count the Ways!

Fun Widget

Rest in Peace

One of the most beautiful men and voices I've known: my HS buddy Brennan Maynard who passed away nearly two years ago--very suddenly.

If You're In LA...

Many of these crazy people are friends of mine from my UCLA days. Good to see them out there again, and buddy Mitch Watson wrote this insanity.

Good fun.

Go.

Of course, the poor man's not long for the world...

The new baby

SILK!

SILK!!!!!

And that doesn't even touch on the weaving!

So, as you may have noticed, I disappeared. Between my Grandmother's funeral, work, and the Arizona Federation's Fibers Through Time conference, I was swamped.

The good news? I won the award for Best Entry by a New Fiber Artist. I'm a new weaver (having picked it up in the last year) so I was able to enter something I made as a "newbie"--and I WON for the white Huck Lace table runner I made.

Very very exciting.

And, my husband was there to see it. Very nice.

In between all of the nuttyness, I got some spinning time in with friend Lynn, got to hang with Enchanting Juno, fixed the pool and water heater (both twice), cleaned the garage out (or at least cleaned what I could until we get more shelves inside and out), and am nearly done pulling all the clothes I never wear to take to Twice as Nice (our local--wonderful--New To You chain).

So now I'm still swamped and losing my mind. Work, prepping for teaching here at Kiwi, prepping for teaching at SeaSocks 08, finishing all the goodie bag goodies for SeaSocks, podcasting, TRYing to finish all the million social obligation knitting pieces I've committed to, volunteering at my son's school (love that) and generally making a nuisance of myself at home.

But, you know, Poseidon's on TV and the boat's about to be swamped so I'm rethinking that whole SeaSocks thing. But hell, if RIchard Dreyfuss can pull himself back from the brink, I suppose I'll see my way through this, too.

On The Gem. . .

SILK!
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Where She Go?

For those of you not simultaneously in the world of Craftlit, you probably don't know that my Grandmother on my Mom's side passed away on March 7, 2008.

She was...um...tenacious. I joked that she'd survived the last ten years purely out of spite and that's only sort of a joke. Our relationship was complicated--made more complicated by her demands for purely passive/aggressive modes of communication among all of our family.
But she was also generous (graciously to the outside world, usually with strings attached when with family) and full of love for many.

But that doesn't mean a passing like this isn't going to be fraught. In fact, I'll be disappearing from time to time, I imagine, to help my Mother pick up the pieces left behind. In fact, you can expect it.

Needless to say, in the midst of all of this, I've picked up some new things to do.

I've started teaching knitting at Kiwi Knits in Tucson (YAY) and some of the projects are seen in the next two entries below--felted fish and hedgehogs. I cannot TELL you how much I love these! The hedgehog especially is a DARling pattern and if you've never experienced the beauty of a short row...do this.
HOWEVER
If you've never experienced the beauty of a short row, do this in a CLASS! The instructions make sense if you know what this is all supposed to look like...they're gibberish if you don't. That's a problem with many of those one-sheet-plastic-page-protector patterns. They're brilliant, but they have to truncate the darn thing so much it's hard to follow...

I've started beading engagement rings for my sister and her boyfriend. You may think this is a little pushy of me. It is. They're so in love they don't care. The rest of us would like a happy occasion for the family to gather at, thank you. Beading Daily (through the Interweave site) has a great (FREE) peyote stitch stackable ring pattern...I actually had to look up peyote stitch elsewhere to get it clear in my head, but MAN it's fast and easy. Lovin' it!

I'm also getting ready to warp my loom for Fibers Through Time! The AZ State Federation's conference--vendors and all. I'm taking a color and weave class and HOPE to have an audio diary of said class for Syne's Weavecast! Whoo Hoo!

Thing 2's ear is progressing beautifully and today I picked the digicam up from the shop so there will be more pictures up shortly. You won't believe the changes. Just amazing.

Thing 1 got his first 100% on a spelling test last week and Thing 2 is home on spring break this week so we've had a lot of quality time. However.

It all started with a BAD MONDAY. He wouldn't put his shoes and socks on...actually he wouldn't get dressed at all (a feat he manages easily when he's inclined) so I plopped him in the car with a shirt and no pants or underpants while we drove Thing 1 to school. #2 was to finish dressing in the car while I walked big brother into school, then we'd go do fun things.

When I got back he managed to get his underpants on and was pulling on his pants but refused to put on his shoes.

Thing 2 is loud. Thing 2 is stubborn. We cave in to Thing 2 a little too often, so this time I decided that's it. I don't care how long it takes. I'm not moving this car until he puts his socks and shoes on.

FORTY NINE MINUTES LATER

Seriously. Screaming, crying, what FINALLY got him to put his shoes on?

In desperation to keep myself calm, I grabbed my knitting --the hedgehog--and he asked--in a cute little voice--"Is that for ME?"

"Maybe...maybe I'll have to give it to someone else who knows how to listen to their mom!"

Did the trick. He zapped on his socks and popped on his shoes and we were happy as clams and good to go.

So that night I got this book.

I love it.

Nearly done.

But he's been strangely good these last few days...hmmmmm....

Beginnings of a Felted fish for a class
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Goofy hedgehog for class
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Weaving off to clear the loom for the conference.
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