A Good Friend and an Old Project

Thanks to the lovely Kathy B, there is a summer swap going on. My swapmate, Judy, really knows me. 

She sent a great skein of sock yarn in the cool colors that I love, and the perfect napkins for our Fourth of July cook-out. The card is quilled and just exquisite. I may just frame it!

And this little pewter  button is so cute -- and exactly the kind of thing I love to have at hand for mixed-media work! Thanks so much Judy. I'm working on your package!

I got quite a bit of knitting done last week on my Fullerton Cardigan.  As of this writing, both sleeves are done and I just need to knit the button band. This must be the fastest sweater out there.

I'm having quite a busy weekend, but that's another post!

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

If you read a few blogs, you've seen this adorable handmade card over the last few days:

Yes, it is the handwork of Deb. If you don't know Deb, you can meet her here. In addition to writing a great blog, Deb might be the most generous crafter out there. She is a master of soapmaking, and she gives away her amazing wares:

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Look at that loot! From top left, there are lotion bars (which I use constantly), soaps, lip balm, and facial soap. You cannot buy soaps like these! And I mean that literally: These are superior to any commercial soap out there. Effective, gentle and perfectly scented. And beautiful:

A huge thank you to you, Deb, for your incredible generosity. You are so talented -- and so kind to share your creations.

That was the good. Here is the bad:

Fair Isle is so much fun to knit, but then there are all those ends to weave in. Not so much fun.

And then there's the ugly. Yesterday, my MIL and I took a class at a local fabric store to learn how to free motion quilt. I'm really glad to start learning this skill, but my first attempt is not beautiful.

My MIL, a lifetime seamstress who sews most of her own wardrobe and all my FIL's shirts, took to it right away. And we both learned that quilter's gloves are not optional. Neither is practice!

Also ugly: snow in mid-April. The roads are snow-covered ice. We were able to have breakfast with my parents, but I can't see going out a second time.

Appreciations and Connections

Hello knitting/blogging friends! 

I know that I don't tell you often enough how much I value our friendships. I never liked Facebook and I have lots of worries about all the social media platforms -- but knitting blogs are nothing but joy and fellowship. Truly, hearing about your ups and downs, following your knitting and families, and having your support has added so much joy and comfort to my life.

Here is the Kindness Shawl in process. It is a KnitCircus pattern knit in KnitCircus yarn!

In that spirit, I want to share a few connections I've been thinking of lately. I love Kat's blog. She introduces me to so many patterns that I would not have found on my own. Just last week, she pointed my attention to The Cooler Side of Warm Cowl in this post. I followed the link and was struck by the fact that the designer sounded familiar.  A few clicks later, I discovered the designer owns the yarn store I visited in Montreal. These little connections make me happy!

I would never have learned about Knitvent were it not for Deb at A World of Imagination.

Andi at My Sister's Knitter directed me to Knitting Ventures, where I learned that the author Chloe Benjamin is a knitter. I had no idea! And she lives here in Madison. She is doing some kind of collaboration with Quince & Co. in conjunction with her new book, The Immortalists. If you can figure out the nature of this collaboration, let me know! 

Sometimes, though, I have mixed feelings about all the inspiration I get from you. Over at Lovely Yarn Escapes I learned about the Color Shifting Shawl, made with KnitPicks Hawthorne. Here I am, trying to knit from my stash, and then this lovely and affordable project is dangled in front of me. Will I give in???

One more stash hat almost done!

On the other hand, Karen at Pumpkin Sunrise is helping me stash bust. She introduced me to the Kindness Shawl. How did I miss this? It's designed by Madison's own Jaala Spiro at KnitCircus! As soon as I read her post, I downloaded the pattern and found some KnitCircus yarn in my stash.

Kathy at Compassionknit (don't you just love that name?) is also helping me knit down the stash. Her Project Peace Shawl is so lovely that I think I'll just have to knit one myself!

I could go on and on, so don't think I don't value you if I haven't mentioned you in this post! As a former journalist, I can't let any one post get too long. So, thanks to all of you for being there to cheer, sympathize, and share. You make my life richer.

Friends Rock

The upside to having surgery is that I've been overwhelmed by how many people have given me support. All the comments on my blog have meant so much to me. They truly helped me through this, especially those first few weeks.

And I have to give a special thanks to Rose of Sand in My Yarn, who sent me this bundle of knitting goodies:

I am so touched by all the thought she put into this. Inside the great mesh bag I found two darling tea strainers, fragrant Pumpkin Spice soap, darling crocheted Lantern Moon Stitch markers ...

... repositionable markers, washi tape, knitters gift tags that are adorable beyond belief, and sweet nail files that fit in any purse! Thank you so much, Rose! You really cheered me up at a tough time.

Another friend who went beyond and above is my childhood best friend, Joni. We were supposed to meet in Seattle, but my doctor said I could not fly this summer. Instead, she flew from Berkeley, Calif., to spend time with her post-surgical friend.

We had lots of craftsy adventures. But thats another post!

P.S. Now that she has headed back home, I'll be catching up on all your blogs.

Hugs to All of You

I am so blessed to have you all as friends. I actually cried -- in a good way! -- as I read your comments on my last post. Thanks you all so much for helping me chase away the blues. And for sharing your own struggles.

I have picked up my Vodka Lemonade sweater again, and it feels good to make progress on it. The actual color is much more yellow than this photo shows.

When I look at the large numbers of people taking anti-depressants and the long lists of titles of books to help people with depression and anxiety, I can't help but think that there is something terribly wrong with our society. For one thing, Americans work far more hours than people in any other industrialized country, and we take far less vacation. I know that this 13-week slog between breaks wore down not only me, but my colleagues and students, too.

My Year of Stitches project has been a source of joy and comfort these last few months.

Knitting -- along with our other creative ventures -- is one way to escape the high-pressure world we live in, don't you think? It's no accident that DIY and hand-made have become movements. Nor that a knit hat became the symbol of the women's march in Washington. Every stitch is a protest of the hyper-pressures of today's world.

They also bind us to other people. Another group of people who keep me afloat is the Jewish Artists Lab. You may remember that I painted a portrait of Judy Chicago as part of a project launched by my friend Pam, in which we are assembling a "dinner party" of Jewish artists. We got together last weekend for a painting round, and I did this one:

It's Diane Arbus, who is famous for photographing "outsiders." It doesn't look as much like her as I'd like, but it's close enough!

Again, my heart-felt thanks to all of you!

Not Quite a Snow Storm

We were supposed to get 9 or more inches of snow this weekend, but we'll have to settle for a mere four to five. But, it is pretty

The sky has been gray, but I was cheered by this fabulous package of homemade goodies from Araignee of Araignee's Tangled Web.

From top left: First there is heavenly scented Sleigh Ride Mike Bath. That incredibly cute box with the knitting sheep holds three of her amazing soaps: Cranberry Fig, Hot Cocoa, and Sleigh Ride. The box is tied up with two stitch markers. The tin holds Fresh Snow Lotion Bar. And that artistic bar of soap is Glycerin Facial Soap.

Thank you SO much, Araignee! I am so touched by these beautiful -- and artfully packaged -- gifts. You could sell this stuff! As good as it looks online, it is even better when you can smell and touch it. And your timing is amazing. Just last weekend, a friend clued me in on all the horrible ingredients in beauty products -- like parabens and sulfates -- so I am excited to have some safe products right here at my fingertips!

Expecting to be snowed in, I figured I'd take care of addressing cards and wrapping presents.

Though, I think Naji enjoyed it more than I did.

Fortunately it didn't start snowing until Saturday afternoon, so my drawing group was able to meet as planned in the morning. A few off us went to the student union, where there was -- no surprise -- a whole lot of studying going on:

This coming week will be one for handknits with highs as low as 9 degrees.

Shop with a Blogger

Earlier this year, I was lucky to receive a sampling of lotion bars in the beta stage. Maker and blogger Alicia Landi of Woolen Diversions was looking for feedback on three different samples she had made. I was not a very helpful sampler, though, as I loved them all!

Thankfully, other testers had some preferences and, with their help, Alicia went on to launch Sweet Sheep Solid Lotion Bars:

This is great stuff. At the risk of sounding like a paid ad (which this is not!), I can say that it's not even December and the air here is cold and dry. My Sweet Sheep Solid Lotion Bar is keeping my hands from being painfully dry!

The bars are handmade from all-natural ingredients, like cocoa butter, mango butter, sweet almond oil, coconut oil, meadowfoam oil, and vitamin E oil as well as lanolin. And the scents are amazing! I pulled a Turkish Mocha-scented bar out of my purse recently when I was at a restaurant with friends and everyone at the table was seduced by the scent. They all wanted to know how they could get one of these.

I bought enough for all the women in my family for Hanukkah (none of them knit, so I don't think I'm giving away anything).

By now, I'm sure that you want to know how you can get your dry, chapped hands on one of these. It's easy because Alicia has an Etsy shop here.

The only problem you'll have is deciding which one of the amazing scents you want. I do highly recommend the Turkish Mocha, but I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

And speaking of shops, I have my one craft fair of the year tomorrow. It's a great show that benefits Madison's Arboretum and the show features only local producers. You can get everything there from clothing to organic honey to jewelry. I have been taking it easy this weekend but I'm going to have to get going today.

I hope your Thanksgiving was lovely. I am always happy if I can have both my children at the table at the same time. Seth lives here in Madison, but he's in vet school so I don't see a lot of him. Rachel is in grad school at the University of Miami and she did not enjoy the wintery weather here. Still, it was great to have her home. She flew back yesterday and the house is too quiet without her.

Way Too Much Wooly Fun

I spent the entire day yesterday at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival yesterday with my friend Suzy, and we had a great time. It was a perfect  September day, blue sky and just cool enough to wear a lacy cowl.

I met Suzy at my writing program this past summer, and this was the longest time we've spent together. We were talking a mile a minute, which turned out to be somewhat of a problem ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

More and more, I value this event for reminding us of where wool comes from. Animal-sourced yarn is not primarily a manufactured product -- nor is lamb, for that matter. We knit and eat thanks to hard-working farmers. In my last newspaper job, I covered agriculture for Madison's morning paper, and I quickly learned that I could never have made it in farming. No one works harder -- with less job security -- than these folks.

Farmers are also smart -- and often very funny.  This fellow above lives on a farm called Queso Cabeza in Olivet, Michigan. We knew right away that this family had Wisconsin roots because the English translation of their name is Cheese Head (Go Packers!).

 Suzy and I shared so many laughs, one of which involved these sheared sheep:

 I could not help but calling them: Ku Klux Lambs (get it???).  I have to add that I am sure that this is purely coincidence and that the owners are wonderful people.

Also, I enjoyed a few moments of fame. I was standing in line at the Briar Rose booth (yes, there was shopping, but that's another post), and the woman in front of me kept looking at me. I checked my fly; it was zipped. After a few moments, she said, "Do you have a knitting blog?" It turned out to be Chicago blogger (with Wisconsin roots), Jodi of A Caffeinated Yarn! Wow! I can tell you that her little boy is even cuter in real life than in blog pics. '

And one other coincidence. We discovered that Suzy's best friend during her childhood lived in the house that I now live in (she hadn't been to my house, yet). Is that weird or what?

So, back to all that chatting. Suzy and I paid no attention to where we parked the car. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful, because we walked almost the entire parking lot before finding my car!

The Kindness of Knitters

So far, this summer has been the best of summers and the worst of summers. I am really loving my graduate writing class and we have had mild, lovely weather so I often bike the 14-mile round-trip to and from class.

However, my son has been quite ill and they can't figure out what it is. He has had flu-like symptoms for a long time and his bloodwork keeps coming back with odd results. We are now waiting for the results of the most recent tests. Of course, I am worrying about him all the time. It's almost harder to have him sick now that he is 26 and lives on his own. At least when he was little I could keep a close eye on him!

Sorry about the sideways photo. Sometimes I don't really get 

my i-Phone!

So in the midst of this, I was lucky enough to win a a Helen Stewart pattern from the lovely Deb Hickman of A World of Imagination (which you must check out if you aren't already a reader). When I wrote to thank her, I told her about my son -- and she added a second pattern. I am so touched. Knitters are truly the best, kindest people. I do appreciate all of you who read and comment here. I'm sure I don't say it enough, but you are all wonderful and you make a difference to me!

I looked through my stash, but I truly don't have anything that is just right for the Pebble Beach Shawl. I like the hombre coloring style that Deb is using, so I looked through the projects on Rav and discovered the beautiful skein you see above from Art-by-Ana. Check out her Etsy shop -- but be forewarned, you are going to have a hard time not buying something. She has an amazing color sense, and I love the way my "cake" (as she calls it) feels.

If only I didn't have so much homework tonight. I can't wait to swift up the "cake" and cast on!

Some Weeks Are Longer Than Others

This week was longer than five days. I can't explain how. Maybe there were more than 24 hours in each day this week. I don't know, but by this morning, our 8th-grade team felt the need to jolt ourselves out of the doldrums.

It worked. We got through the day. And now I have a couple hours at home before heading out for gallery night.

I'm going to spend a few of those moments apologizing for neither writing nor reading much in the blogosphere this week. It was a grueling week: long hours, IEP meetings, and challenging students. I spent time with both my parents and Keith's -- something I like's to do more. Doing all those things means less time for blogging.

And I really, really like blogging. The best part is meeting people from all over and forming friendships. The knitters I've met have taught me so much about knitting. They've encouraged me to try new techniques, helped me out of jams, and directed me to amazing patterns and yarns.

Having been a single mom for more than a decade, time management has dogged me for ages. Am I the only one who struggles to find time for other people and myself? I could hole up in my studio for weeks at a time -- but in the long run I'd regret not nourishing relationships. I'm always trying to set boundaries at work. There is so much I could do that teaching could take up every waking moment -- if I let it!

So, where does blogging fit in? Earlier this week, I emailed a former blogger.  She hadn't posted for a long time, but also hadn't said on the blog that she was quitting. I wondered if she was ill or dealing with a major problem. She replied that she stopped blogging because she often felt that she was knitting to "feed" the blog, a feeling I've struggled with, too. My monogamous knitting of the last few weeks has made blogging hard. And this isn't the first time I've felt like the blog was driving my knitting -- which does seem backward.

I really miss this blogger -- she was one of the best -- so we'll try to connect in other ways. Still, it won't be the same. I don't plan to quit blogging any time soon, but I am going to try to not feel pressure in the blogosphere. I know that none of us want that!

The Kindness Of A Knitter

Kathy of Knitting Off the Grid has to be one of the nicest knitters -- people, even -- on the planet. Out of sympathy for my broken leg, she sent me this package:

Isn't this amazing?! Two -- count'em two -- skeins of sock yarn and an adorable knitted bracelet. If you like the bracelet, check out her blog (link above) to see more. She's one of those people who can just knit stuff -- without a pattern. I don't think I'll ever get that far!

Anyway, my heartfelt thanks goes out to Kathy. This broken-leg stuff is hard. I keep reminding myself that at least my situation is temporary -- unlike so many of our soldiers and victims of terrorism. Still, it's the kindness of people like Kathy that gets me through each day.

And do check out Kathy's blog. They really do live off the grid in a beautiful part of California!

Am I Famous Yet?

So, I spent today selling jewelry at a very nice art show. It was a good day -- most profitable show I've had yet -- though I won't be resigning from my day tomorrow (as I had fantasized!).

This lovely young woman walks up to me and says, "I know you from Wordpress!"

I have a feeling that was my 15 seconds of fame.

It was CaityRosy of All She Wants To Do Is Knit. And she needs your help. She has just gotten engaged and is trying to decide what to knit for the occasion. She has three candidates posted on her blog. Go one over there and help the girl out!