After this row . . .

I don’t have much to say today- but I wanted to share this:

Knit squares for blankets for the families of Virgina Tech.

Cool!

Look . . .

Knitting!!!

Just like I promised!

This is my current obsession!  Knit hand towels.  I do them top down.  With the little flap you can then hang on the handle to the fridge or the oven.  My grandmother, Goose (not her real name, but what we ALL called her . . . she used to get letters from camp addressed to Goose Fruits)  always had one of these in the kitchen.  I miss them.

I looked all over the net to find a top down kitchen towel pattern.  Couldn’t find one.  I wanted top down, so I could just end the towel when I was out of yarn.  I think I will write this pattern up and post it at some point.

Right now, I am doing them all with feather and fan lace.  I love this pattern.  I can do it from memory.  It looks really cool and fancy, but isn’t all that hard to do!  That is what I LOVE!

It is hard to believe, but this little guy

just turned 4!

I know all parents love and adore thier kids, so I won’t talk about that.  But I will say that I am proud of the person he is becoming.  Zae is sure of himself, confident yet respectful (most of the time, but he is 4).  He is Creative and Imaginative.  He loves to learn. 

If you had asked me years ago to describe the child I hoped I would have, what they loved, their personality . . . who they were, the child would look a lot like the kid I have now.  And that brings me great joy.

On a knitting note:  life is getting back to normal.  I shall return to my knitting blog at that time. thank you!

to my wonderful mother.

My mom’s birthday was on Sunday.  I planned to write this yesterday, but spent the whole day doing Teacher of the Year stuff at school.

My mom is the most wonderful, supportive parent one could ever ask for. 

Now that I am an adult, I am even more amazed and touched by her love and support.  She is always there when I need her, when anyone needs here.  She is the quite one, who keeps everything moving without making a fuss.

I can call on my mom for anything.  Help with a play, baby-sitting fixing up my yard or keeping me company at Wal-Mart.  She is ALWAYS there!

My brother and I have joked for years that she never sleeps.  Bro is in Germany, and knows he can call whenever he needs.  She seems to have this ablity to know when she will be needed before we call.

I don’t know how I would do my job without her help. Especially when I first started.  She has been my costume designer, moral support and sounding board.  She has helped chaperone every  major trip I have ever taken the kids on.  She is such a part of my program that my kids all call her Mom. 

Everyone calls her Mom,  all our friends and my kids.  She is just one of those.  Those woman who care for everyone!

The world would be a much better place if there were more people like my mom!

I love you Mom!  Happy Birthday!

OH MY GOSH!  I went with my mom, and a high school age cousin and his friend last night to see Kathleen Turner and Bill Irvin in Albee’s Whose Afraid of Virgina Woolf.  OH MY GOSH!!!  WOW!  I love when I get to go to “Big” theatre (tour shows from New  York and the like) and they are as good as I want them to be!  Last night was.

Ms. Turner is as wonderful live as you would think.  When you go see BIG theatre with BIG names, there is what I think is this STUPID moment when the NAME comes on stage and the house claps.   I hate this.  As a massive theatre geek, I think that real clapping, more than just the polite thank you for performing for us, should be earned.  I think that just because you have had amazing performances BEFORE the one I am about to see does not mean that you deserve to be clapped for BEFORE you perform for me.  Live theatre is just that Live . . . I can’t count the number of times I have told my kids that no matter how good last nights show was, it doesn’t count and might as well not have ever happened for all it matters.  It is this show, this audience that counts, everything else is under the bridge.

Having said that- SHE REALLY DESERVED IT!  WOW!  The whole cast (all 4 of them) were great, amazing really.   If you ever get the chance to see the show- DO IT!  Wow- it is dark, funny, twisted and one of the saddest thing I have ever seen- but SEE IT.

They other joy for the evening, my cousin and his friend.  Both are in or will be next year an arts academy program.  Friend is in the Drama portion.  It was fun to get to attend such a show with 2 kids who wanted to know more.  We talked about false arches (when you make the traditional stage opening smaller in order to focus the attention in on a drama).  We talked about the acting challenges to holding the attention of thousands of people when the house is so open and large and designed for things like musicals (I saw CATS and Fiddler and RENT in the same theatre we were in last night).  It was fun.  It was also really sweet to hear cousin’s friend say, “WOW your cousin is brilliant!”  to which cousin said, “Yep, if you want to learn about theatre, you want to go with Kae and Auntie( what he calls my  mom).”

Later, they both said they wished they could come to my school instead of theirs.  That my program sounded much better than thiers!

It was a great night!  Today we are off to a children’s museum!  Have a great one!

I can’t get photos to work on this silly thing when i am at home.  I will have to work on this before the summer – I don’t want to think about 2 months without this!

It is Spring Break here in the East Bay.  The weather has been nice.  We (Zae and I) went to the Lawrence Hall of Science yesterday.  The big exibit is Science of the Circus!  Pretty cool.  Zae’s real interest was in the costume section (I LOVE MY KID!).

Yesterday morning, I went to the eye dr.  I AM GETING CONTACTS!  I have a fitting (like it is a wedding dress) tonight and then I should have the contacts by the end of the week.  I am so excited. I have kind of been wearing glasses since I was 18 (we won’t talk about how many years ago that was), the last 2 1/2 years I have been unable to go without the glasses.  I didn’t mind glasses until I didn’t have a choice.  If I want to get all cute and go to the theatre with my husband, something about the glasses lessones teh look to me.  I don’t know . . . maybe i ams till stuck on that whole 4 eyes thing from school you know . . .  anyway I get contacts!  YEAH ME!

On the knitting front.  I just finshed a whole set of kitchen towels for my Father in Law.  They turned out GREAT (of course, I didn’t take a picture).  I knit 2 dishclots, 2 handtowels and 2 toppers, I was able to find a set of wal-mart cloths that matched the yarn I choose PERFECTLY!  It really looked cool.  The buttons for the toppers were perfect (Zae picked them out), 2 cabins and “Gone Fishing” signs.  Perfect for the fishing cabin!

I am now sitting here looking at a small stash (big enough for my small house) and I have nothing I want to knit.  Lots of cotton, esp in blues (baby sweater gone crazy!), the yoda sweater which is not a yoda sweater anymore (I thought 2 cotton wrap sweaters for the Germany baby would be silling, so yoda has become a cardi).  Not that I have a pattern, but I have made two baby cardis already and they turned out.  I know, this is not a good sign. 

I just got the Harlot’s new book, she talks about process vs. product knitters- I am all about the process.  I don’t really care what comes out, I just like to do it- I don’t mind what I am working out.  I have a pile of finished things almost a large as my stash.  I finish and I move on.  It has become a bit of a joke that that when a Birthday rolls around, I did through the pile to find a gift.  A number of Chritmas gifts were done this way too!  (I am not worried about this getting out to the wrong people, those who I “Know” who read this all got things I made JUST FOR THEM!Really!).

I am going to see the Harlot in June.  I am excited for a few reasons.  First, She kills ME! Second, I can’t wait to get rid of all the hats!

 Well that is the news over here.  I get to go see Who’s Afraid of Virgina Wolfe in SF  on Wednesday!  I am pretty excited!

Ok- I have a few confessions to make about the Yarn Harlot!

1.  I was a kind of knitter for about a year.  I could do a few stitches.  I had made a scarf or two.  You know the beginner scarf- 1 ball of Noro bought in July, knit on size 11 needles, only 3 inches wide- finished just in time for Christmas! A kind of knitter- then I was in Borders with the family and found this book:

Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter

My sweetie bought it for me for Mother’s day!  I read the whole thing in a few hours (I read at a freakish speed).  I laughed, I cried, I thought- heck, I can do that!  and I did!

2.  September of 2006, I MET the HARLOT!  She was at Full Thread Ahead, in Los Gatos, CA and I heard her talk!  Laughed my Rear off!  This is when I started the blog.  This is when I was doing nothing but knitting and felting purses and bags.  This was when I started bringing Kniting EVERYWHERE!  I was a knitter.

3. Now I always have Knitting with me.  I think I am well on the way to being a KNITTER- you know, with yarn instead of blood!  She is coming to the area again in June- I will be there!  Mom has gotten us seating passes (if you are in the Bay Area and want to go, call the store ASAP- they are only giving 200 seating passes, 300+ of us were at Full Thread Ahead, be prepared).

4. Tuesday, I posted a comment to the Harlot’s Blog (7th comment).  I have done this a few times before.  Nothing thrilling.  But Tuesday. . .  SHE WROTE ME BACK!  I just about croked!  Now I know what I DORK I am.  I know this is just nuts!  But you would think Bernadette Peters (another hero) had called me to say Hi!  I called the sweetie- he was very amused at the giggle fit I had.  I called Mom, she mentioned something about it being a bit odd that I am so fond of Mrs. Pearl-McPhee (I think she said something about worship, but I think that was going just a bit far- I think . . .).  I treid to explain to my Advanced Kids why I was so excited and giggly . . . they didn’t get it.

(I would like to tkae a moment to point out that Mom got the seats did all the hoops to get the seating charts to see the Harlot again, yet she does not even knit.  I love you Mom!)

I tried to figure out why I am so fond of our Harlot.  And I came up with this . . . I truly believe that if we ran into each other in a yarn shop- we could go have a beer!  I think each of us who read her work feel as if she is a friend. She makes KNITTING seem less stressful, she reminds us that it is just string and sticks, not rocket science!  She writes and I feel I can do it. 

So thank you Stephanie.  I can’t wait for the new book (it is in the mail right now) and I will see you in June. I will be the one trying to be cool!

There are those among us who will say that Red Heart yarn is not worth knitting with.  Normally, I would agree.  I much prefer my yarn to have at least SOMETHING natural in it-  and lets be honest, most Red Heart feels like springy plastic. 

However, it does have a few things worthy of it.  I give you a baby doll blanket/cape:

Now Zae has a real superman cape. He has a whole BOX of costumes (after all, I do teach theatre, dress up is a BIG part of my life).  But when he needs to be a REAL superhero,  when the world REALLY needs him, he needs his knitted cape!  Because that is where the REAL magic is (his words!)

I whipped this thing up in a few hours- doubled the yarn, big needles, K1, K2TG, YO, K till end- repeat each row- the ULTIMATE in mindless knitting. His baby Arthur was cold and needed a baby size blanket- how could a mom say no? Now the corners are all streached out, becuase he uses the YO’s to tie the cape on.

There is nothing more heart warming than seeing something I made for him used and abused and played with till it is thrashed.  I am so proud that he can feel the “magic” in even the most simple item made by hand with love.  He knows it is more powerful than any store bought costume.

Imagine what will happen when I get around to knitting him a whole sweater-  I am not sure the world is ready for that much magic!

Ok- life is getting back to normal!

I have finished the first of my fingerless glvoes from the Alpaca I scored at Stitches.  They came out a little short for me, but a dear friends sister is going to LOVE them!  They still need to be blocked a bit- but I do like them.

I think I am going to do the Dashing ones for me from the same yarn, these should be for me.

 Other knitting news- I finally got the Mason/Dixion book last weekend.  I went looking for the Harlots new one and none of the bookstores near me have it!!!!  It is starting to bug!

I LOVE THE MASON/DIXION book!  Finally, others who love the dishcloth.  I can’t even tell you how much I love Sugar and Cream dishcloth cotton!  I started the baby kimono (from the book) last night for the little one on its way in Germany (we still don’t know boy/girl, seems little one is a bit shy! or at least is hiding its flasher side for now!). 

 I am also doing a towel & dishcloth set for my Father in Law.  He has a FAB cabin (Fab doesn’t begin to explain the amazing wonder of the cabin).  The cabin is about 20 years old, as are most of the kitchen towels.  Last season (it is a fishing cabin), I said I would work out a new set for him for this season.  Fishing season opens in 2 weeks (I think) and I am way behind.  I have a good handful of dishcloths, but no towels.  We will see him on Easter.  I have the first (only handmade I fear) on the needles on my desk right now:

I am making up the pattern as I go.  I only have 1 ball of the cotton in question left- all the patterns I had called for 2, so I am doing Fan and Feather lace, hoping to make the yarn last with lots of holes.  I CO 60 stitches, will do 10 repeats of the full pattern, then I need to figure out how to decrease without looking lame.  It will be the kind of towel that has a button thing on top so you can hang it on a handle without it slipping off.  If I can’t make

I like Feather and Fan, it goes pretty fast and I can memorize it.  This is a good thing.  I know there are people who love to knit hard things.  Who love the challege. I am not one of those!  I knit to zone out.  I love to get lost in a pattern and just veg out!  I do not like SS (I get into the garter parts and forget to purl!). I like the little cables on Fetching, enough to look cool, but not so much I have to pay attention!  I like a lace I can remember, I don’t want to follow a chart, I just want to knit!

Ok- enough soap box for easy knitting!  I do love me some garter!