Rethinking due to Reassessment...

Here's my Twitterscope for today:

You may need to reconsider a decision that you made recently, especially if you weren't being realistic about your abilities. Your expectations might have been exaggerated because you were looking at the world through rose-colored glasses, but now you are beginning to see things in their proper light. Although you could be a bit discouraged today, the situation will likely work out beneficially in the long run.

Ironically, I saw that after I'd had a good heart to heart with myself about my ability to finish History On Two Needles on my own. I don't know if I can do it, given my diminished energy and my new diagnosis of Fibromyalgia.

The book WILL get done, but I have to face the fact that things are different now - at least for the short run. I've been beating myself up for not getting more done on the book, but when I look at the last 6 months I realize just HOW MUCH I've been in pain, how difficult life has been, and how I'd been avoiding seeing that.

Barrelling through IS a good strategy, but it doesn't work forever.

So now that I've been sidelined, seriously, I need to reconsider how I'm going to go about publishing this book. I think I'll contact publishers I've wanted to work with for a while and see if they have any interest. I've already done the research, and most of the patterns are written and finished garments are ready to be photographed. I just cannot see myself arranging that as I thought I could a year ago.

I can't tell you guys how sad this makes me. But to have the book not see the light of day would make me much sadder. So, we pick the level of our sadness, I guess, and we pick our battles.

I think the Trazodone has been helping my sleeping. I don't think I'd realized that my sleep WAS being interrupted by pain, but it had been. I have half-awake remembrances of rolling one way and finding it agonizing, then rolling the other and finding THAT agonizing, too.

I've also been waking up between 5 - 7 every morning. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd been going to sleep later and later. Laying in bed felt good because I was tired, but it HURT to be in one position for very long. The Trazodone is helping me go to sleep at 11 and sleep, FULLY, until I wake up at 8 or so. Very late for me.

I guess that's what vacations are for!

ONLINE CLASSES
And - irony of ironies - how brilliant that this is all coming to a head right when my first online class is about to start. It's a beautiful thing, to be able to teach and not have to drive, carry bags (the hardest thing for me) walk up stairs, carry bags up stairs.

It's nice to not have to unpack all my stuff, dance around a classroom to act out Stitch Theater, move from student to student bending over and looking at work (I'd been doing more "gather 'round me, students!" moments) and then packing everything up, carrying it out to the car and driving home. It's good to not have to do that.

What's been hard is finding a day when I look halfway like myself to make videos. I look at myself in the mirror and I hardly recognize myself. I look very old, very wrinkled, very tired.

So I brush my hair and put on makeup and I feel better. And today I WILL make several videos and thus be finished with the pre-recorded portion of the Combination Knitting Class.

I'm blown away by the fact that the January Combination Knitting class is sold out, and February is one space away from being sold out. I'm contemplating adding a second section to February, there's no reason why I can't, but I want to get an idea of how much email / chat I'll be fielding on a week to week basis before I make that commitment. I'll decide by mid Jan.

In the mean time I'm making a few samples for a new class, the Universal Mitered Handbag, and I cannot WAIT to get going with that class! I'm thinking hard about how best to feature a project class, how much can I expect from the students when we don't have the 3-hour time constraint. This new way of working out classes is fascinating!

CRAZY LACE
Something else that's fascinating is a new book I was just sent! Myra Wood's new book, Crazy Lace, is just lovely! It's well photographed, laid out in an easy-to-read manner, and has a lot of useful images to help a knitter through the concept of creating your own lace.

I really like the "go for it!" attitude it has about lace, that you should approach it fearlessly, with a bit of a 'go to hell' attitude about making sure everything is perfectly symmetrical. I think this will free up a lot of folks to begin to play with their lace.

It's through this kind of play that we become the knitters we want to be - folks who don't lose themselves in their knitting often have a hard time finding themselves in their knitting, too.

One thing that I thought was odd was Mrya's use of the left leaning triple decrease in all the patterns. I think it would have been helpful to introduce the concept of a centered (or vertical) double decrease, which can add such a dramatic effect. And, like many books, this one works on the assumption that every knitter is a Western knitter (all decreases are described as if all stitches were seated on the needle in a Western fashion)

It's understandable, but I keep hoping that as wonderful books are being independently published, the concept of a universal knitting pattern style will begin to take hold (describing decreases as left and right leaning - k2togL and k2togR - instead of using the terms SSK and K2tog, which only apply to Western knitters.)

One thing I really liked was the encouragement to BLOCK. I'm often surprised when I meet an excellent knitter in a class, someone who obviously knows all the ins and outs of creating beautiful knit fabric, but is wearing a garment that COULD be really stellar if only it were blocked.

When I mention blocking in class, often this same student will shake their head and say, "I never block!" Such a waste - to be SO close to an amazing garment and falter in the last few yards.

Blocking is easy. You don't have to wet down your garment, you can use steam to block just about anything (I use it for EVERYTHING except mostly acrylic fibers, which can stretch out) and the results of blocking are so easy to see, it feels like you've just performed a miracle. This is especially true in lace knitting, when the increases and decreases need to be opened up as only blocking can do.

If folks who read Crazy Lace start blocking more, it will be a wonderful thing for all knitting in general!

FAMILY TREE
I've discovered Ancestry.com and it's a real work stopper. Fortunately I can't afford the $155 for the whole year, so I'll be out before my 14 day free trial is over. But I'm enjoying it right now!

Here's one branch of my father's family that I've been looking up. Is it true? Who knows.

Click for larger version

This does, though, give a good amount of information so I can begin using other resources to verify what I've found. I know the connection to the Cunninghams is solid (we used to go to the Modesitt/Cunningham reunion when I was a kid) and the walk back from Cunninghams to Scotland seems pretty firm. Maybe this is why I felt so at home in Scotland this past Summer?

Tina Wins!!

To listen to this blog post read by Annie, click here: /112709.mp3

Tina is the winner of 400 Stitch Patterns - woo hoo!! There's a hot ol' celebration going on at Tina's house right about now, this is the biggest thing to happen all morning, I'm sure!

Tina - shoot me an email at annie at modeknit dot com with your address and I'll have this right out to you!

Thanksgiving was very low key. Quite nice, but quiet.

The most exciting part of the meal were the small tarts I made, using cranberry jelly as the filling. I didn't melt it first, which I'll do hencforth.

It gave me a cookie idea. I think I'll melt the cranberry jelly with a little bit of spice & some orange peel, then spoon it into a ball of nut cookie dough to make a sort of spicy thumbprint cookie for a new holiday treat!

There's a cookie exchange I'm attending in a few weeks - now I have something besides my old standby, the Hanukkah Gelt Cookie!

We had a small feast, no friends were over, and due to my insistence that we have champange at the meal (why?) Gerry and I were so sleepy afterward that our walk at the dog run didn't happen.

Instead I did a lot of work on the ball wrap (yes, I do understand the double entendre - haven't you learned yet that I'm a 12-year old boy at heart?) and think I have it to a good point. I'm going to release this pattern early, too, as it's a fast knit and I think it would be a lovely New Year's Eve or Holiday Party addition!

When I put it on Hannah she said, "This looks like something for a winter Bride!" Smart girl!

I'm working it up in 2 sizes, with an adjustable ribbon at the neck, so it should fit EVERYONE from the merest slip of a girl to those built more like Scots/Dutch me (aka, "sturdy girls" - go ask Gwen Bortner... she'll laugh!)

Just as well - we've both been dealing with pain, he with back and hip pain (it's increasing, and it's a worry. We go to Mayo next week) and me with this danged joint pain that haunts me like Banquo's ghost.

It's probably just the residual aches of this long-lasting cold/flu I've had. It seems that when I get something, it REALLY settles in. My frustration at this is great, and I've been as circumspect and careful as I can be.

I take my vitamins, I've been eating better than ever, I exercise every day and I'm generally a very healthy person. But when I get a bad cold it just wants to take up residence.

Ever since I had Lyme disease back in the early 90's I tend to get odd fevers. When I'm ill they come in the evening, like a child's fevers, and last about 2 hours. It's been that way with this go-round, too, and the body aches have become so bad that I began worrying something more serious was at hand.

After some blood tests at the doctor it seems that I'm in excellent shape, no new auto immune deficiencies of note, no RA (which was kind of haunting my dreams) but my Lyme titer is a bit elevated. This is to be expected - once you've had it, the test results don't go back to low/normal range - but nothing to be too alarmed at.

But I ache. Is it age? The drop in temperature? It's been absolutely lovely here - in the 40's - but it's moving into the 30's now and we may be seeing snow. I look forward to it, I love snow.

This long-winded catalog of my aches is a way of explaining why I'm taking so long to blog these days. I'm canceling appointments and engagements with wild abandon, just trying to rest as much as I can. But that's no reason to avoid my blog!

I'm recording this blog post - and I'll catch up the last post in mp3 format. I've been SO stuffy-nosed that when I tried to record the last post earlier this week I sounded like an adenoidal bar mitzvah boy.

Baruch atah Nyquil.
/112709.mp3

Tiered Shrug

To listen to this blog post read by Annie, click here: /112309.mp3

My latest piece for History on Two Needles is based on the painting of Alexandra Amalie von Bayern by Joseph Karl Stieler.

The 1840's were a unique time in costume history, the hair alone could be among the most strikingly un-flattering ever seen in the history of hair. Why every woman suddenly wanted to look like a spaniel is beyond me, but I'm glad I didn't live then with my round, round face.

But Miss Bayern's hair is lovely in this painting - lucky her! - but I was more interested in the top of her ball gown. The lace layers are striking in their simplicity, and I thought it would make an interesting layered shrug. I'm going to call it a "Ball-wrap" just to see if the name catches on.

It worked up VERY quickly in a lovely, lovely yarn. It's Beaded Mohair by Artyarns, and I used some Ultramerino 4 to create the ribbed under-structure

Yes, as floaty as it seems, there's an under-shrug upon which the ruffles are built. If the ruffles were structural, they couldn't be so free. Many things that seems to be weightlessly floating on air are secretly supported and well grounded - a truism I learned in millinery and carry over to many other aspects of life!

And, because it worked up so fast, of course I have to change it. I'm going to remove the middle ruffle and move it to the bottom, thereby echoing more closely what is actually happening in the painting. Then I'll add the sleeves and figure a very nice closure in the front, a pearl?, and one more project will be done!

Useful? Useless? Pretty? Who knows.

This is something I could see myself wearing on a cool summer evening over a sun dress, or on New Year's Eve over a strapless gown. The layers give surprising warmth, and the yarn makes it like wearing a bit of shimmery snowfall.

Chart BIG!
Nothing makes me sadder than running across what might have been an exceptional book - except it isn't.

I find this most often happens when a book is the product of a committee (design by committee are the words most feared by those of us who really enjoy good design) or when an unspoken goal of the book is a misdirected quest for "standardization" above intelligence or individual consideration.

All of these seem to play a part in 400 Knitting Stitches, a book by Potter Craft (a reworking of 400 Points De Tricot published by Marie Claire, 2007)

I was sent a review copy, along with some other Potter or Random House books. I've been giving them away on the blog - it only seems fair - and I'll be giving THIS one away, too.

It's a pretty book, the swatches are all worked in either off-white or dark (making contrasting patterns easy to read), and the size of the photos are good.

The charts are well designed - I really like the use of row numbers on the left and right sides to note the direction of the work - but the charts themselves are SO tiny they're almost a joke.

When I looked through this book I felt such sadness at what MIGHT have been. I'm afraid common sense was the servant of a book design decision.

I like charts. I know some folks don't like them and won't use them - but even if you're in the latter camp it must be acknowledged that charts are an amazing tool in knitting. They leap over a gap that language sometimes has a hard time bridging.

I think several things have combined to make our current surge of interest in knitting alive for 10+ years: the internet, sock knitters, fashion-forward designs and an embrace of different ways of creating knit fabric.

But - for me, at least - COMMUNICATION of knitted patterns is key to greater enjoyment in knitting. This has been accomplished by the [now] almost universal use of charts and schematics in a more visual route to comprehension.

I'm a fan of Edward Tufte and his books on creating comprehensive information storage using visual cues.

I find his work dovetails very nicely with my own thoughts on knitting & comprehension (I only wish I could afford to hear him speak when he's in town!)

Charts are a visual representation of the Right Side (public side) of the fabric - nothing more, nothing less - and there can be variations on how charts are written. There are esoteric symbols that are only used once in a blue moon, and more common symbols that you see in just about any chart.

Some charts omit Wrong Side rows for space considerations (and as long as the WS row is all St st or Rev St st, that makes sense to me!) but this is usually made clear by the row notations along the right edge of the chart (the numbers would read 1, 3, 5, 7, etc.)

Learning to read a chart isn't hard, but it IS a skill that takes a bit of time to develop. There are tricks (using post it notes placed ABOVE the current row, drawing arrows to note the direction you'll be working in any given row, etc.) but just spending time with a chart is usually the best way to begin to wrap your mind around it.

Having said all this, if a chart is too small, it's useless. Charts should be as BIG AS THEY CAN BE! Sometimes there's a space limitation in pattern books and magazines, but one of the graces of the internet is that charts can be as big as they need to be.

When one is creating a book of knitable stitch patterns, charts are essential. Once a commitment has been made to include charts, they should be done well (big) and clearly.

I understand that a certain amount of white space is necessary in book design, but not at the expense of clarity. It seems to me that an executive decision was made that all charts should be based on the same size stitch cell, so that even if there WAS a nice space to make a larger chart, a smaller one was used to adhere to a not-very-useful book design decision.

Overall I give this book 3 stars out of 5. I'd give it 5 if the charts were bigger, and if it were ring or spiral bound. But one can't have everything!

I'm giving this book to a random blog reader who isn't terribly fond of charts. Just leave your comment and whether you'd like to be in the draw, and I'll announce a winner by this Thursday. If you're the winner, email me and I'll send the book right off to you!

Potholes

Fall is just starting to set in here in Minnesota. The leaves are edging themselves with gold and red, and the air is crips and clear.

This means winter is coming, which is beautiful here but lasts about a month too long.

And then there's the end of Winter, not quite Spring period which is most clearly defined by the potholes that pop up on the streets and roads. Or should I say pop-down?

The potholes are caused by water which seeps into cracks in the road, freezes into the ground, does the work of a mini-glacier and then melts away leaving a trap for car and bike (and sometimes pedestrian.)

The road crews descend, tar and macadam are poured into the holes and when a road gets really bad the entire thing is ripped up, re-graded and repoured. They did that to our street two years ago, which was a mess, but the result was worth it.

Why this lesson in highway maintenance? I'm dealing with my own non-seasonal depressions.

Metaphorical Potholes
I woke up this morning with several things on my mind that I had to do, one right after the other. Here's a brief list of my immediate goals:

• Work on Boleyn Top for History on Two Needles (HoTN)
• Write my September Newsletter
  
• Create new class sample swatches for upcoming trip
• Rework teaching handouts for same trip.
• Confirm travel & class details for same trip
  
• Write up King James skirt for HoTN
• Ditto Black Prince Dress & several other patterns
• Write pattern for Virginia Cloche
• Work on essay proposal for IK

and always, less immediate but just as important

• Hunt up more teaching engagements for 2010
• Research printers for HoTN
• Research photographers / models for HoTN

But unfortuately, all I want to do is play Tetris. But I won't, I'll work, but you know what I really want to do...

As I pondered this list tiny reasons why I couldn't get X or Y done, or why Z was overwhelming began popping up. For instance: I-can't-firm-up-travel-until-I-hear-back-from-every-shop-on-the-trip-but-some-classes-are-still-not-full-therefore-that-shop-may-not-have-me-therefore-I-can't-firm-up-travel.

And I realized, as I dressed in the dark because it was early and Gerry was still asleep, that I could go on like that for days.

I asked myself. "Why am I piling up these stumbling blocks in front of me? Why do I feel like I'm spinning my wheels?"

It's not really like me, but nothing's been really like me for about 2 years now. Maybe that's one of the secrets of life: We change - no behavior pattern can define us forever.

I try not to use Gerry's illness as an excuse, although it is convenient at times. But to deny that it IS there, hovering over us, would be pointless.

He's doing great, he's more active than any of us thought he'd be at this point. But his pain is tremendous and he needs several oxycodone and a few hydrocodone to get through a good day.* On a bad day he stays in bed. He has more bad days in the Winter.

But Gerry aside - and that's a hard place to put my mind - I think I'm not dealing with stumbling blocks as much as with potholes.

I fall into them on a daily basis, and sometimes I find it very hard to crawl out.

These potholes weren't created by a Minnesota Winter, but by several years of living on the harsh emotional edge of loss, with a 50% chance of greater loss (in the metro area...)

It's as if my soul's been through a bad Winter. My creative self went into hibernation, half waking on warm days, but mostly just rolling over and going back to sleep. It's amazing how well one can run on empty.

During the dark days my emotional climate was busy creating potholes, large and small, over any surface that I'd spent the past few years paving with my professional aspirations. And now that I'm waking up and heading back into my creative world, I have to deal with these new traps.

Going Forward
I'm trying to train myself to NOT fall into the pothole, but to walk around them.

I think one of the ways I've unconsciously done this was to cut drastically down on my teaching - there are SO MANY potholes there just waiting to trip me up - and only do 2 or 3 very long trips instead of 10 shorter trips in a year.

When I do find myself flat on my face from a stumble, I think a good course of action might be to get up, assess any damage, then take some time to fill in the pothole that tripped me up.

How successful I'll be in this depends on the type of material I use in the pothole, and how much effort I put into it. We've all experience the badly mended holes that just open up again a week after the crew's gone away...

And as I fill in my potholes, I'll try to keep up with my daily work. If I don't, please forgive me. I feel as though I'm leaving a long Winter, entering a Spring, but there may be some re-freezing in the future.

So as Fall arrives, it seems I'm ready for Spring Training.

And I'll try to keep my Phil Rizutto key chain out of any potholes I fill.

*I know it sounds like a lot of medication - I have to almost force him to take it His several collapsed vertebrae are the source of the pain, but the back doctor we consulted about surgery last year essentially said surgery isn't generally done on Multiple Myeloma patients because they don't want their last year(s) on earth filled with back surgery recovery pain.

We press on.

My Bag

September and October are golden.

My favorite months, my favorite time of year! May is a close second, and I consider it very fortuitous that my mom, my daughter and myself were born in May, Oct and Sept respectively.

I've been doing some bits and pieces for the past few weeks - nothing too big - finishing up things for History on Two Needles and doing some small stuff (like my Chicken Hat? It's worked up in - no kidding - Rooster yarn!)

But today I started a whole new project for the book and I'm VERY excited. It's a pullover based on an anonymous portrait of Anne Boleyn, and so far, so good!

So when you look in my knitting bag today, you'll see the yarn for the Bolyen Bodice (Tilli Tomas Milan and Beaded Milan) and yarn for a scarf (blueface leister superwash by HW Hammand)

You'll also see my wallet (with a tiny sock knitted for me by Miriam Tegels), my bag of knit tools, a tissue and a bottle of Superfood Smoothie.

Today I biked. Hannah forgot her English assignment (The Most Powerful Person I Know) so I rode it over to her school.

I had to print it off of the computer, so of course I read it, and for a brief moment I was afraid she'd say I was the most powerful person she knew, and not in a good way (we had a not-terrific hair cutting incident, but her friends at school like her new "too short" cut so all is forgiven...)

The most powerful person she knows? Little Oliver. My friend's baby is Hannah's Most Powerful Person.

It was such a clever essay relating how the world jumps through hoops for him, that I had to smile.

And, of course, the power isn't in the baby, but in the LOVE we have for the baby (who is a doll!)

And now I must return to the knitting, to the hat book, and the the pattern writing that always seems to be lurking in some dark corridor of my brain.

My life is a bizarre all-knit version of "Wait Until Dark"

Class Outside

Today I'm working outside on our back deck, enjoying the sort-of thriving plants, the non-growing grass seed, the lovely shade and a book on CD (Maisie Dobbs, Messenger of Truth - excellent for knitting... and yes, that's Myrna Stahman's high school pic stuck onto my namaste needle case - I loved the photo and she let me have it last weekend after she came back from her reunion.)

Boxes arrived for 4 projects last week, so I'm FINALLY opening them up and getting started on them. I'm filled with apprehension that I won't be able to slow down enough to take good notes on these projects, and I have to rein myself in to keep from jumping ahead.

I'm solving this by creating charts and spreadsheets for each project as I begin, which helps me take the notes in a place and manner where I'll find them most useful. We'll see if this really helps, or if I'm in a fools paradise.

James Skirt
This wonderful painting of James I of England (James VI of Scotland) as a boy caught my eye. I love his breeches - very skirt like - so I'm using them as a jumping off place for a gathered dirndle with a ribbed hem.

It calls out for velvet, but it's really important to me that this be WEARABLE. I wanted to use a fiber that would take the punishment of being sat on well, and would wash up well, so after a bit of swatching I settled on Bombay by Trendsetter, which knits up very nicely and creates a wonderful velvet-looking fabric.

This is how much I got done during Hannah's end-of-summer skit presentation, Celebration, at the Breakthrough Program (see, I told you I knitted ribbing in the dark!)

Sutton Hoo
Moving on to a delicious project, I was finally able to connect with Artyarns and secure some beautiful yarn for the Sutton Hoo helmet. The mask part will be in the beaded silk, the sides and crown will be in Ultramerino.

I've simplified the mask so that it's easier to knit and MUCH easier to chart. It's a project that takes FULL concentration, so I only work on it when I'm home alone and can throw myself into the charting (or late in the evening when everyone's gone upstairs)

Anne Boleyn
This is a project I've been anticipating for months! I'm using Tilli Tomas Milan and Beaded Milan in Black and several accent colors. I'm also going to toss in some Marie's Crystals, but only in strategic places.

The Milan is thinner than the Beaded Milan, not quite half as heavy. This presents problems as I don't want the fabric of the body and sleeves to be overwhelmed by the weight of the edging. I'm toying with the idea of doubling it, but I'm not sure that would be the solution - I'll have to work on this and swatch more carefully... Obviously I'm in the early stages with this one.

A Grand Week!

It's been a wonderful week here - culminating in a great concert at the Taste of Minnesota last night, just fabulous!

We'd toyed with the idea of going up to Avon, to the Lake Woebegone Park to hear the 35th Anniversary show of A Prairie Home Companion. But in the end we decided to stay here because of financial considerations - and because of all the work I need to get done. Hard to work while driving (or sitting in traffic) It was probably the best decision!

HATS!
I've been working on the 1,000 Fabulous Knit Hat book - the submissions are coming in SO fast and I've been a bit overwhelmed. I'm in the unusual position of not having enough time to log them in, and also worrying that not enough will arrive to make 1,000 hats. Dang.

The publisher's agreed to an extension, and I'm happy to take images of hats right up until I can't take any more! If you'd like to submit an image of a hat, please check out the information page at http://1000fabulousknithats.com, and follow the instructions to set up a folder at box.net to hold all of your files.

Remember, if you don't upload or send me a Grant of Rights (GOR) then I can't use your images - so don't forget that important step!!

FUR WRAP
I've also been carrying around the fur wrap for History on Two Needles, looking for all the world as if I were dragging road-kill in my Squam Arts Workshop bag around St. Paul. The Spash from Crystal Palace is frightening realistic when knit up...

We had a great day at the MN Historical Society on Friday where I heard a little presentation on fur traders in early MN history.

I took the opportunity to photograph my fur wrap next to a real muskrat fur - knitting will never replace the genuine article, but it's a bit easier on the woodland creatures.

I worked on it all through the concert last night, and finished it today. I think it's finished... It looks good to me, and it's a surprisingly simple knit.

The "scarf" piece is picked up and knit onto the wrap, creating a strong neck shape that will keep the whole piece wearable for a long time.

While at the museum we cavorted in some of the great exhibitions. I sat and knitted in the "house" for a while, the kids visited the WWII era soda shop (where radio reports alerted us that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor - ironically my own mom was in a drugstore having a soda when she heard the news...)

The boys had a minor traffic accident (Gerry's such a bad driver!) Max was happy to toss his friend under the bus. Nice.

Max was fascinated by an article in a 1943 magazine on Wind Power. Why has it taken us 50+ years to get around to this?

The high point was the Taste of MN yesterday. Max and I rode our bikes down to Harriet Island in the afternoon, Gerry and Hannah following in the car, and we all met up at the Burt's Bees tent.

While the kids ran around eating anything they could get their hands on, Gerry and I scoped out great free seats for the concert and set up our folding chairs (and his walker- he's had a lot of pain lately) I sat and knitted, the kids brought me tid-bits of food they'd scoped (my favorite: bacon wrapped shrimp - and on Shabbat!)

It was a long day - and Max and I were a little worn out by the (short) bike ride and the (long) walk from where we'd parked the bikes - so sitting and listening to bands was a phenomenal joy.

When Elvis took the stage I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen him more than I've seen any other act, I think this was my 5th or 6th time seeing him live, I love his shows. They're not showy, not big, just good.

He was WONDERFUL. It was one of his best, and if I thought he seemed slow during the 2nd song he made up for it by playing pretty much NON STOP for 90 minutes. Amazing. No breaks between songs, no pattern, just good music. Lots of old stuff, some great songs from his new album (and I got to embarrass my kids by knowing all the words to Alison.)

I was closer than I've ever been at a Elvis Costello concert - all free, baby! The pic is from my cell phone and it's bad, but the view was great!

I'd told Max over and over that EC had song Nick Lowe's (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding, but it didn't sink in. It's one of his favorite songs, he was introduced to it on the Colbert Christmas Special, and it was very cool to see his face as he heard it live.

We watched the fireworks from the Wabasha bridge, Hannah and I listened to Elvis on my ipod and we oohed and ahhed along with the Hmong family we were sitting next to. What a great night.

Extension Relief, Bas Relief & Pain Relief

NEWSFLASH: I received an email from my sister in law, Karen, last night. It read, in part: "Alex's scans show no remnant of a tumor at all - it is gone!"

My nephew, Alex, had been diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma last year and the tumor was in a very difficult place - right in his hip joint - which made surgery almost impossible.

He's been so brave, so strong, and we're SO proud of him and Karen. We are beside ourselves with glee! THANK YOU to everyone who sent good thoughts, kind wishes, prayers, donations or any other positive energy to my nephew, Alex.

He's a singular kid, he and his mom are a great TEAM, and now he's clean. Hallelujah!

Hat Extension
All of you hat creators, I got permission yesterday from my publisher to extend the deadline to July 15! YAY!!

If you've already uploaded your hats and want to load more, please feel free. If your folder is missing it's because I've logged in what you've submitted, so just start a NEW folder and I'll deal with it!

Here's the link to the submission guidelines and a full explanation of how to use box.net If you try to log in and it won't let you, it's probably because two folks are trying to log in at exactly the same time. Wait a few minutes and try again, it should work then.

If you are submitting, PLEASE be sure to include the Grant of Rights and Image List. Without these I can't log in your work, and we can't use your images.

About the deadline change, I know, an equal number of you want to either kiss or kill me, I've been in your shoes! There're few things more aggravating than struggling to meet a deadline, then being told the deadline has been advance.

Please know that if you got your hats in early, you get EXTRA karma points. What this actually means, I don't know, but please know that I am grateful!

The main reason for the extension is that the setup at box.net, as well-working as it is, was TOTALLY overwhelmed with all of the last minute submissions. Folks were having a hard time logging in, boxes were disappearing, forms were ending up in other places and some people were freaking out. I'm not naming names, but one red-headed editor who lives in St. Paul just about had a kitten when half of her work mysteriously disappeared for about 15 minutes. Just sayin'

So you have time, babies, and I really WANT to see your hats! I'm blown away by the quality of what's come in so far - this will be a VERY hard decision!

A good friend sent me this, and it made me laugh out loud. (I think these are extras from that beloved soft-core porn video, "The Mad Naughty Hatter")

Visit Toast, where I grabbed this photo, for a hysterical walk down the memory lane of scary crochet...

A Knights Tale
Work progresses apace on the Black Prince's Mini Dress. (I need to change the name, mostly so I can call it, The Piece Formerly Known as "The Prince's Dress" )

Why? Because I am foolish and giggle easily. And I live in the Twin Cities.

I had a bit of worry when starting the jacquard (brocade) section, creating a bas relief of the fleur de lys and lions from the Black Prince's coat of arms.

I've tried this technique before with mixed results, and had stayed away from it because I thought I was cursed. But I was wrong!

I'm fortunate to have a perfect mix of 2 factors that I believe is making the technique work better for me this time.

1) I'm using a well suited yarn (the Berroco Pure Merino has a nice sheen that reflects light well and creates a strong, beautiful contrast between knit & purl)

2) I'm utilizing a technique whereby I twist each transition stitch (Transition stitches are the sts that are knit into an existing purl, or purled into an existing knit st)

I'm pretty thrilled with how it's looking! I can actually SEE the lion and the fleur de lys - YAY!

I tried to choose colors for this dress that referenced French Blue and English Red, without being too 'on the nose' about it. Working in parti-colors (check out the garment the servant is wearing in this painting) can be off-putting, I wanted to do it subtly.

I've been thinking about the Knight's Dress sleeves - I think I'll work them in King Charles Brocade, with a cool diversion on the elbow that references the join in a suit of armor.

I love this book. Is that obvious?

The fur stole hit a snag. I got carried away and had made it WAAAY too big.

I tried it on my mannequin and it looked more like a fur burka than a sassy collar, so out it ripped it while sitting at Max's baseball game and I look like I was dressing road kill.

Speaking of road kill, I was reminscing with a friend the other day how my mom would pull over whenever she saw a pheasant which had been hit by a car (aaah, Autumn in Northern Ohio!) to show us kids how beautiful a pheasant was. Yeah - gorgeous, mom.

We called it 'road kill zoology'

Pain? What Pain?
I visited my accupuncturist, who I see for asthma and back pain, and had another excellent session. I can SERIOUSLY feel the change in my breathing, and her ability positively affect my aches is amazing. That shoulder I hurt when I fell trying to ski? It's just about 100% again.

I mentioned that my lower back was hurting (the pinched nerve is awakening again) and she did some madness with pins in my hands that was miraculous.

Of course, the pain came back the next day - but not quite as bad. I'm doing a series of exercises over a big red ball that my chiropractor gave me, those seem to be helping, too.

But Gerry's pain continues unabated. He has terrible pain in his hips and back, and I can tell how troubling it is for him. Ceaseless pain was the entry into our Multiple Myeloma adventure, and whenever there's an upsurge in it we both hold our breaths.

Some days it's hard for him to get up, to walk, to do anything.

Then there are the days that he pushes himself (and pays for it later...) He suffers quietly, he's a brave guy. I need to convince him that HE could benefit from my accupuncturist, too!

Back to HoTN!

It seems like such a LONG time since I've settled in to work on pieces for History on Two Needles, and I'm absolutely joyful to restart it!

I've done a bit of finishing lately; the Egyptian Set is done, and by finishing the belt for the Chiton yesterday, that's ready to roll, too!

I'm not sure where it's rolling, except with me on my upcoming trip East and to TNNA, but it's ready, that's for sure! If you'll be in one of my classes coming up I'll have these garments ready to show you - I'm taking them all with me!

CHITON
The very simple Front and Back were knit for me by Miriam Tegels over in Holland, and she did a spectacular job - I'm very grateful to her!

The stitch pattern is a simple 3 stitch rib with a slipped st in the center of each rib to create the wonderful, strong (stubborn, even!) pleated feeling in the fabric. You can stretch it, pull it, and it will snap back to the fortuny pleated effect because of the slipped stitch.

The Buffalo Gold Lux #12 (45% bison/ 20% silk/ 20% cashmere/ 15% tencel) is also perfect for this garment - lightweight, luxurious, but with a lot of strength.

To join the Front and Back I also used crochet - chaining 4 sts, slipping a stitch on one piece, chaining 4 sts again and slipping a st on the opposite piece. It was a little tedious, but I'm quite happy with the results of the technique.

By adding a bead at each slipped stitch I was able to bring a little more sparkle, too!

The belt really makes the outfit, I think. I wanted to create a corded girdle of some kind, but everything I tried was too fiddly (icord stitched together, weaving i-cord, etc.)

So instead I crocheted this belt with a strand of wire held together with a strand of the Buffalo Gold #12.

The wire helps strengthen the structure of the belt, the yarn gives it flexibility. I crocheted around the circumference of the belt with a beaded strand of BG #12 for some extra sparkle.

EGYPTIAN SET
This has been a really fun set to work up, the stitch pattern is much easier than it might seem, and it's been a good carry-around project.

A good friend of my daughter's seems tailor made to wear it, I'm hoping I can get some good shots of her wearing it. It just doesn't have the same oomph when it's on a mannequin, but here it is - for better or for worse!

I'm in love with the Elsebeth Lavold Bamboucle (45% cotton, 30% bamboo, 17% linen, 8% nylon) which is a slightly textured yarn with a terrific drape - nice weight - and knits up beautifully.

It does have a tendency to split, but as with any yarn that's a little splity, after a few rows you figure out how to manage it so it's not such a problem.

The skirt and top share the same stitch pattern (except at the pectoral neck detail) Everything is worked on a basis of 10 sts, which should make sizing this simpler.

MINOA-ING ON
I'm starting the Minoan Skirt again. I believe this is the 4th incarnation. I'm keeping expectations low this time... If I have anything to report later you'll be the first to know!

Baseball starts tonight (Max gets his uniform and learns what team he's on - it had BETTER be the Dodgers!) as does Soccer (ditto for Hannah) so Gerry and I will split up with the kids. I'm claiming Max, we can ride our bikes to the rec center while Gerry drives Hannah.

Don't I Know You?

It's been a week since my last blog post - I seldom let this much time go by without an update.

The truth is, I've been frustrated. BY THE SKIRT.

Stupid skirt.

The good news is that the Mango Moon Silk Ribbon rips out and reknits VERY nicely. The bad news is that I'm just not able to get my mind wrapped around the best way to get this skirt done.

I'm at the point of just leaving it and moving on to something else.

I know that's the wise thing to do - obviously this skirt is just not that into me, and the more I pursue it, the more of an idiot I appear. Didn't I go through this in college? Several times?

I need to be cagier, less eager, act like I don't really care.

"Oh, I remember you!
You're that - skirt - I used to hang around with, right?

I was SO young and inexperienced then, what a fool I must have seemed.

So how are you? Been getting around much, finding other folks to knit you up?

No?

Quel suprise!"

So I'm putting it aside and moving on. At my low points it makes me sad, makes me weep, and makes me feel as though I've wasted a week of my life.

But it's not a failure, just a deferred success, right? The time spent on the skirt isn't wasted, it's hard earned knit design training and when I DO return to the skirt I'll be more refreshed. I hope.

So I'll put this lovely yarn away, to return to another day, and continue on with the EGYPTIAN SET! I'll be swatching this morning so I can figure out the pattern, then I'll dive into it.

Shoulder
Yes, it still hurts. Dang. Perhaps if I hadn't been fool enough to RAKE THE ENTIRE BACK YARD the other day, I'd be more whole. And for added emphasis I dug out all of the leaves in the front yard under the hedge.

I am a fool - but my yard is tidier!

To be honest I couldn't help myself - it was a lovely, warm day, I was reading about gardeners, and I felt the need for seed. Unfortunately there's still no planting going on in our tiny yard - the ground is solid (it's frozen just a few inches down wherever I dig, and we still have a couple of icebergs in our yard) but the trees are budding.

Visits
On Saturday afternoon my good friend Karen came by, along with Gail and Annie A., and we sat on our back deck and knitted, ate, drank some fine wine and had a lovely time. I love my friends, love meeting new ones and love that I've reached a point where I'm developing some deeper friendships here.

Earlier on Saturday I biked over to Amore Coffee with Maxie and met a neighbor who's also a knitting guild member. What a joy to have neighbors who knit - nice, kind, smart, funny neighbors who get my jokes and KNIT!

So sore shoulder and non-functioning skirt design be damned, it's Spring and every day that it's sunny I'm out on my bike. Life is good, my taxes are almost done and I never have to get on skiis again if I don't want to.

Speaking of skiing, Gerry and I have both been pretty shaken by Natasha Richardson's tragic accident.

As you may recall, he did great with the skiing, even making it down the smallest non-bunny hill a few times (sitting down on the way twice.) I gave up after lesson #2, falling on my shoulder during the second lesson seemed to have clipped my wings.

So when we heard about Ms. Richardson's fall on a beginner slope, and how quickly it became fatal, it made us both swallow hard. I wear my helmet when I bike, and from now on I'll make sure that if any of us are doing something with the possibility of a violent fall we'll have appropriate headgear. I hadn't realized just how many fatalities are caused by head injury.

If nothing else comes of this senseless accident, I hope that more folks begin to realize how fragile our skulls are, how sensitive our brains, and how easily we can leave those we love behind.

So, yes, I guess I'll take the sore shoulder with gratitude. Now on to some new swatching...

...and have I mentioned how in love our cats are with each other?

Mulligan Skirt

The Minoan set is going very nicely - loving the surplice and shrug - so I started on the skirt on Thursday.

Good Stuff
The yarn is lovely, I'm loving the combination of colors and it's fun to knit.

Bad Stuff
The gauge was too loose, the skirt seemed too long, I wasn't happy with the hem circumference compared to the waist.

So, long story short, I ripped it out today and I'm reknitting it on needles 2 sizes smaller.

Do I love doing this? No. But I don't really mind. It's a fun knit. And this is the beauty of not having an editorial deadline for this whole adventure. Am I the only person in the world who actually works faster WITHOUT a deadline?

I'd rather have it as something that I am proud of, than something I swallow hard and turn the page when I see (yes, every designer has those projects...)

I actually kind of like the skirt I came up with, but it's not right for this project. It's something to remember, though, when I want to do a version of a pencil skirt, and I think it would be very flattering. But then, I'm one of those insane folks who think that a good sized booty isn't a bad thing, and a curve is just part of our makeup.

With or without curves, we all have the potential to be gorgeous.

That potential rests inside of us, what our mothers said was true. So much of beauty is a confident and happy feeling, which is really hard to achieve when we judge ourselves too harshly.

But this started as the story of a skirt...

As an homage to the long Mediterranean tradition of weaving, I'm hoping this skirt - this entire Minoan set - will bring to mind different weaves and woven patterns as the knitter works them up.

So today while Gerry had his last skiing lesson (I chickened out - my arm is STILL sore from last week and I just can't afford to do any more damage to my mortgage-earning limbs) and Max tore up the slopes on the half price, used skis and boots we got him at Play It Again, I ripped and reknit. I got one of the 8 sections done for the skirt, and I am much happier with this version.

Yes - you read right - Gerry has finished skiing lesson #3 and took 4 trips down a 'real' hill. Twice he thought better of it at the top and sat down for a bit, but each time he made it down. I am so proud of him I could cry. Me, not so proud of myself - but at least I gave the skiing a good try...

My plan is to include panels that are worked with the triple twist drop stitch (I used this in a shawl for Vogue last year) and when the whole skirt is complete these stitches will become a sort of "warp" into which I will weave a contrasting ribbon yarn for 8 woven panels.

The garments of Greece at this time were woven, not knit. I was so pleased when Ruth mentioned in the comments that she felt the tops had a woven feeling - that's exactly what I'm going for. I love the book Woman's Work by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, it gave this non-weaver a greater appreciation of the traditional way of creating fabric.

Chiton
My knitter in Holland, Miriam Tegels, is doing amazing stuff with the yarn I sent to her. She's projecting that I didn't send enough, so more will be on the way as soon as it arrives from the manufacturer.
She sent a photo of the piece en route, she's such a dear!

She's enjoying the Buffalo Gold Lux as much as I did - it's a lot of fun to knit up - and the beads I sent seem to be working out well, too.

I'm so psyched to see this piece finished!

Update: In case anyone had any question as to Miriam's amazing speed, look what she sent me today. A testament to her speed AND to the knitability of this beautiful yarn. This is going to be a wonderful piece!!

Ravelry as Design Tool
I'm Raveling about each of these projects as they're in process to raise interest in the HoTN project in general. It also gives me a good place to keep track of how long each garment is taking me, needle size, etc.

On to Greece!

I'm sorry I've been posting less often, my shoulder's been pretty painful and I've been devoting my active time to knitting rather than blogging.

I've been working up the 3 pieces I'm calling the Minoan Set, so named because the design is based on garments worn by the Minoan Snake Goddess statuette discovered on Crete. I thought this would be a wonderful chance to use simple shapes and rustic fibers to create an interesting historical silhouette.

The fiber for the two tops (Shrug & Surplice) is Dharma, a recycled silk by Mango Moon, giving the piece an almost 'raw silk-like' appearance. It looks rough, but feels SO lovely and has a deep shine that isn't apparent at first glance.

These aren't showy pieces, but they're warm and very alive. They're also an odd combination of body skimming, yet barely shaped.

I'm particularly happy with the shaping on the surplice, which is so simple that it feels like an Eileen Fisher piece to me.

There is a bit of shaping lower down on the fronts, and I do a tricky manuver where I join the shoulders except for a few sts at the front necks and use these stitches to create a neck hugging back collar.

The shrug is shaped by creating a rectangle which is split halfway up the length to create the Fronts edges. When the rectangle is finished, it's folded lengthwise and the underarm seams are joined. The remaining stitches are picked up and worked in ribbing to create the very short body.

Simple, but effective.

I think I'm especially pleased with these pieces because I had an idea for them, but I wasn't 100% sure it would work. It was one of those things where I held the details at arms length and just picked a yarn which spoke to me and jumped in with both feet.

These were Garments of Trust, which I've learned can only be created when many, many hours of pondering precede the jumping.

Add to that my discovery that this fiber does NOT like to be ripped out, and once I'd started I knew I had to be disciplined in my leaping, no matter how free-form it may seem to someone watching from the outside.

Next up is the skirt, which I'll be starting tonight. It's going to be out of a lovely, earthy, colorful ribbon and my challenge is to make the fabric light enough to be comfortable, but not too - ahem - ventilated. Stay tuned!

Ski Bum
Max is officially a ski kid. I cannot believe how much he's taken to this sport - it's in his blood. So we headed off to Play It Again sports armed with our 20% off coupon (thank you, local paper!) and got him some incredibly well priced skis and boots. LOVE the end of the winter sales. Bottom line - for the cost of 2 rentals he's outfitted for next year.

Until he outgrows the boots. But we've discovered a wonderful event called the Ski Swap which reportedly takes place in October, and we may be swapping up a size in Max's boots.

We'd love to find some skis & boots for Hannah, too, as that will allow her to join the ski club at her school and go off every few weeks to Afton Alps for less than I'd every expected. It really is a wonderland here - there is SO much for kids to do.

Myself? I will not be downhill skiing. But I have taken the suggestions on snowshoeing very seriously, and that - and/or cross country skiing - may be my winter sport of choice. Or knitting.

Cruise
I just received my tickets / info for the Craft Cruise I'll be participating in with Drew Emborsky in early April. I am MORE excited than I'd imagined I'd be, Drew is such a doll and I'm very excited to have so much casual time with a group of students. The only fly in the ointment is that the cruise - or at least my portion - isn't as full as I would have wished. Oh, well.

I've been told that Caribbean Cruises are especially difficult to fill these days, and I would give quite a bit to be able to afford to take Gerry, but I can either choose to fret over these two things or I can choose to prepare.

So I'll prepare - and hopefully it will be the start of a series of terrifyingly well-attended cruises. ("Everybody - let's play Titanic! Run to the bow!!) and the next one will be a greater success in the signups department.

Drama Queen
Hannah's discovered theater (I wondered when it would happen!) and just came home GLOWING from her first performance at her Jr. High play. I missed opening night (driving Max to his own activities) but tomorrow night is my night to see her shine.

Sometimes Gerry and I just sit back in amazement at how our kids are growing in so many different, wonderful directions here in Minnesota. This is a good place to be for an 11 & 12 year old, that's for sure.

Tweedle-lee-deedle-lee-dee
I am LOVING Twitter, and I don't care who knows it.

There's been a lot of trash talk about it lately from folks who a) Aren't tweeting, b) Are threatened by the tweet, and c) Just like to say nasty things about new technology.

But I adore it.

I get updates from my congressman (okay, I wish he were, but he's in the adjacent district. Love me some Keith Ellison...) and from one of my favorite senators, Claire M. And my favorite Top Chef contestant.

I get coupons from my favorite local pizza place, got back in touch with an old friend from my Martha Stewart days, and receive Ravelry updates on open ad space. I can find out what my favorite NPR pundit, code monkey, fiber mover & shaker, dark lord, yarn company, political TV wonk (and this one, too) or independent soul are doing.

When one works at home - works alone - it's, well, lonely. I'm very self motivated, I can get a lot of stuff done AND do a Wii workout before noon, but I miss having other designer-y, knitter-y, crochet-y folks to bounce ideas off of.

But this is the closest thing I have to co-workers - to a water cooler - here in my house.

It's also a great place to troll for unsuspecting scrabble partners (I recently got five bingos in one game and have my opponent convinced I have sacrificed a small animal to the Scrabble gods)

And that's why my Tweeter avatar is the image to the left.

If you're interested in Twitter, a great place to start is one of the desktop applications that allow you to receive tweets, follow folks, without tying up a browser window. I use Twhirl, suggested by Guido (it's a purl man podcast) and I've been loving it.

So - here's one vote FOR Twitter. And Daniel Schorr agrees.