teaching

So I don't really know what to post about today, but it's been a week.

Oh yeah! My classes! I taught two classes this past week and they both went really well. Monday was part 1 of Beginning Knitting and Wednesday was Felted Bag. I could tell I'd been feeling a little more confident about it cause I was actually able to get to sleep the nights before, which I was unable to do the first few times I taught classes. I would toss and turn and have dreams that I forgot something really important or got stuck running late. Another thing that helped me to not stammer and sweat was writing the hand outs outlining everything for the students. I'm pleased with how they turned out, but I need to add more. I also want to come up with some illustrations. I just saw that the Knitting and Crochet Show in Oakland next month is having a teacher's workshop that I want to sign up for.

Here's a picture of some stuff I bring in to show my beginning students ideas of what they can do with limited skills and practice.

And some other stuff so they can see what they have to look forward to.

This is a sweater I made for my friend's newborn nephew in Paris that she mailed off to him today. I can't wait to see pictures of him in it! This was the project that turned me off to intarsia. Or at least intarsia with cotton. It is made of Cascade Pima Silk.

WTF?!? #6: Someone (a councilman I guess) in Atlanta is proposing a law banning baggy pants/ visible underwear because he is "tired" of seeing boxers etc. above guys' waistbands. Many are outraged, saying it's nothing more than racial profiling. This ban would also extend to visible thongs, bra straps, and wearing a sports bra as a top in public. This definitely sounds like a tyrant at work. Having a "Falling Down" moment. I mean I sure could do without seeing peoples' thong (just using the word makes gag - but I have a "thing" about certain words), but what's next? Can we start banning peoples' cheap after shave too?

Bobby and color neurosis

Today is Robert Deniro's 64th birthday. Happy birthday Bobby! Here's strange shot of him with Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen. I guess it's a press shot from when they produced this stinking nugget back in 2002. I'm really glad I was completely unaware of it because I am a huge Queen fan.

It's also Sean Penn's birthday, Independence Day in Indonesia, and the day rastafarians celebrate the birth of Marcus Garvey, whom they consider a prophet.

This is my new favorite project. It is Noro Silk Garden in colors #84, #255, and #251. It's one of those where I can't wait to get home so I can see what happens next. I've only ripped out and redone two sections so far (if you don't count the fact that I started it 3 or 4 times). So yeah I get a little weird about the way certain colors look next to eachother. That's what I mean by color neurosis (or Norosis as the case may be). Unfortunately I dont have Jared a.k.a. brooklyn tweed (my inspiration for this project) to photograph it for me.

This project has had me thinking about ripping out the afghan in progress and redoing it in two row stripes. What a delicious assault of color that would be. I guess this makes me a "process knitter".

WTF?!? #5: Chevy Chase as "Fletch" being introduced as Eldridge Cleaver in "Fletch Lives". Definitely what I would call a made for TV movie.

Ha!

There. I did it. And as soon as it dries I'll be sending it off to Locks of Love so a bald child can wear it. It was driving me crazy. It's been in the high 90's to low 100's here pretty much every day for months, and it's really dry. I feel much better now.

So I've had an exciting week. I got to go to the city for a couple days. I spent some time with my dear old friend Sarah and her 18 month old nephew who is so cool. You should see his teeth. I also got to see her sister Julia who is one of the craftiest people I know. Her creations are impressive in a way that's hard to describe. They have so much character and yet they are so perfectly simple. I talked with her a little about knitting. She started telling me something about "finger knitting" which I had only ever heard of but knew nothing about. I'm guessing it follows a similar (if not the same) principle as a knitting loom or "rake". She said she figured out a way to finger knit in the round, and made a long tube! Of course I spend an hour and a half with this person and she manages to blow my mind. She reminded me also of the scientific term for "short thumbs" of which she has two. Dees has one. The term is brachymegalodactylism.

I also made a point of going to Sarah's to see Henny Penny and Wilbur. They are the cats that she and I adopted as tiny kittens in 1990. I haven't lived with them since 1996, so of course I'm amazed that they're still alive. Apparently Wilbur isn't doing so well.

And Thursday I spent the whole day and evening with some girls that I was friends with at Marina junior high (and one from before) that I haven't seen in over 20 years! It was wonderful. And I think I like all of us even better as adults.

I never mentioned that I also make jewelry. I also never mentioned that the yarn store I work at is actually primarily a bead store. (and I NEVER want to hear another person mindlessly babble "I feel like a kid in a candy store" EVER AGAIN. Unfortunately it will happen. And I will want to rip my own fucking head off.) We have many amazing classes there. I just got to take another chainmail class from Colin Mahler. She's a great instructor and a big sweetie. And I'm not just saying that cause she gave me a ride home all the way from San Francisco. Although I would.

These are the pieces I've made in her classes. (I know the picture didn't come out so good. It's hard to photograph shiny stuff.) They are all sterling silver and they feel great. (Left) Byzantine bracelet, which my mom swiped the second I brought it home. I had planned to give it to her anyway. She deserves it, and besides, how much of this stuff does any one person need? (Center) Double Helm. (Right) European 4-in-1. This is the traditional weave used to make chainmail armor.

German chocolate, etc.

Yesterday was the 62nd anniversary of the U.S. dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Takashi Tanemori is one of the few survivors of this bombing, and lives in Berkeley, California. I've been looking at his artwork. It's pretty awesome*. Unfortunately, he is now almost completely blind due to radiation exposure from the Hiroshima blast.
* when I use the word awesome I truly mean it. Not as in "OMG my bus actually arrived on time" or "I like the way your shoes match that jacket".

WTF?!? #4: According to Deborah Oduwa, the voice mailbox of the Oakland Police Dept. Homicide unit is full. They can't keep up with the messages or receive any new ones. And I guess that also means they don't have anyone actually answering the phones either. That's fucked up. Deborah Oduwa is the fiance of Chauncey Bailey, an "outspoken African American news reporter" for the Oakland Post who was murdered last week.

Obligatory knitting content: About the lace... After I posted about it I was thinking to myself "hmm. I've never used one of those life lines, I wonder if that would be wise. I guess I don't really need one if I keep diligently counting my stitches after each row..." So of course the one time I didn't do this I made a mistake which I didn't discover until passing it again on a RS row. I couldn't figure out the problem at first, with my confusion being compounded by the placement of stitch markers under yarn overs. Thoughts of it actually pained me while I was at work the next day. Anyway I finally got it undone and fixed after an hour and a half Saturday evening. (It was a missed yarn over. ack.)

Ok so I'm merrily finishing up the row with the fixed mistake behind me and Dees comes home. He can tell by looking at me (maybe by the creases in my forehead) that I'm working on something complicated and maybe even a little precarious and gets the grin on his face. The one where the dimples are in full effect and you can see all his teeth. Oh no. He gets a bounce in his step. I immediately panic because I know he's about to come poking and grabbing and going "what's that? what's that? what are you doing?", etc. Aaarg. It ended up okay, but I had to put away and work on something much more mindless: flower petal shawl #2. It's in dark blue Frog Tree Alpaca. Yes. I'm daydreaming about chilly weather.

Dessert: Friday I made cupcakes for my friend's 40th birthday. It was my first attempt at German chocolate. They were delicious, I must say. Dees inhaled 5 of them in one day. Most importantly, Joe loved them!

Here's a nice shot of Trixie at our swimming hole. Our property is right on Kelsey Creek! Beautiful. (Heh heh - wanna buy a house?)

Lace

The way this guy John summed up lace knitting was so well put that I'm not going bother to say all the same stuff about it. This is the Diamond Fantasy Scarf by Sivia Harding. I'm using Schaefer Anne. I have absolutely no clue how to photograph lace yet, so I'm experimenting. This pattern is really well written. Definitely worth the $7.50. There is nothing confusing in it. And I love that I only need one skein of the yarn I chose to do it in because I loathe dealing with ends of yarn, especially in a lace project.

This is a pattern I got from the book Romantic Style. (I know, any of you who know me are thinking "Romantic Style"? Yeah, right) I did this with Madil Kid Seta on size 10.5 US Clover bamboo needles that I sharpened. hee hee. (I had a spare pair). It seems like knitting "lace" on large needles is kind of cheating. I like this pattern regardless. I'm sure I will give it to my mom because she keeps saying it is her favorite thing I've knit so far.

Is it me?

What the *%@# is wrong with the formatting here? I've just been looking over my entries to date and my fonts and font sizes are different everywhere! It's totally maddening! Is there some trick I don't know about? Is it a browser issue? Is it an evil Microsoft conspiracy? (it looks fine in Explorer, but screwy in Firefox and Safari) I am so irritated by this I must stop typing. I'm afraid it's going to screw this one up too.