Boxing and a Meme

Yup, you read it right. I started boxing lessons today. Reverend Chris Jones, a poet in the UNM MFA program is giving lessons to me and another school pal. We jumped rope. We shadowboxed. We embarrassed ourselves with bad punches. But there were a few good ones in there. And damn, did they feel good. Million Dollar Baby, I ain't, but I'm still serious about it!

We Abq SnB'ers get a hold of something fun and it spreads like wild fire. Take this, for instance, on Strange Little Mama's blog. Or Mama-E's Show Me Your Stash Monday. And this meme, which has been changing hands like a bad penny. But good. So, here goes.


Instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot.
Knitorious
Woman Obsessed
Scout's Knitted Swag
MookittyKnitting
Wearing Black in New Mexico

I'm tagging Mama-E, Adam Knits, Cari, and Erin.

What were you doing 10 years ago? Living with my ex-husband in a moldy basement apartment, working for Teatown Lake Reservation and finishing up my BA at Mercy College. Despite the mold, it was a very happy time.

What were you doing 1 year ago? Starting my second semester in UNM’s MFA program. Closing on my townhouse.

What were you doing 1 hour ago? Finishing up “Silence,” my first Creative Non-Fiction piece to submit to workshop on Wednesday.

List five creative things you want to achieve this year:
1. Write a full draft of my dissertation novel, “Queen of the Tobacco Field”
2. Become an adept spinner
3. Keep a watercolor journal
4. Start my Etsy shop
5. Learn Cat Bordhi’s mobeius cast on method

List five snacks you enjoy:
1. ginger cookies
2. Milk crackers crumbled in hot tea with milk and sugar
3. hummus and carrots
4. ice cubes
5. whoopie pies

List five things you would do if money were no object:
1. Ride my bike across the country
2. Buy a villa in Tuscany and live there part of every year
3. Buy a beach or lake house for my family
4. Set up a foundation to support young artists
5. Go to the Globe every season for every play

List five bad habits:
1. Distracted from homework by the Internet
2. Don't hold my tongue when I really disagree about something
3. Forget to moisturize my skin (no biggie in CT, but BAD in NM)
4. Don't drink near enough water
5. Never listen to driving directions. If they're not written down, I'm not following them.

List five things you like doing:
1. Knitting
2. Reading
3. Chasing the dogs around the woods
4. Watching plays (especially Shakespeare. Especially outside)
5. Kyaking with Neal

List five favorite gadgets:
1. Pink i-pod mini
2. My laptop, which I use to play dvd’s, too!
3. The frother that makes my hot chocolate so yummy
4. Swift and ball winder
5. Knitting needlesN

ame one thing you like about yourself: I’m really forgiving.

Short Story Sunday 3: "Letter to a Young Lady in Paris" by Julio Cortazar

Today I decided to read a story from a collection recommended by my workshop professor from last semester. There were two she recommended from Blow Up and Other Stories by Julio Cortazar, and I chose "Letter to a Young Lady in Paris."

I'm not convinced entirely by this story. I always wonder when I read translated texts what I'm missing, and I just won't know unless I learn Spanish. The tone of the story is a bit formal, but the content is crazy fun, albeit disturbing.

You see, our narrator, the fellow writing the letters to the lady from whom he's subletting the apartment pukes bunnies. Yup, you heard me right. Walking up the stairs, there's a little fuzziness in his throat, and blechh, up comes a bunny. For some reason that I don't get, he's doing a lot of puking after he moves into the apartment. Ten bunnies, and a housekeeper named Sara from whom he's trying to hide the bunnies. Then tragedy strikes.

I'm not one to give away plots, so I won't reveal said tragedy. I will reveal that despite some problems with the plot--mainly concerned around my never feeling convinced about the odd upchuck--I did enjoy the language. Cortazar writes with a high level of particularity. The details and images are on the spot. That's worth spending half an hour with a short story, isn't it?

Tell me what stories you've been reading.

Happy Chinese New Year!

To celebrate, I've searched out my horoscope. Can you guess what I am? My compatibility with Dog is pretty high, which means that I will have a good year. Don't I always? I'm a Monkey, after all!

By the way, the contest to guess what I'm making on Sewing Sunday (aka Superbowl Sunday) is still open. I'll keep it open until Friday at 5 p.m. Then the closest guess wins!

In knitting news, I felted the swatches from my gauge experiment to use to finish up my fancy green felted bag. I'll have pictures by the end of the week.

Getting Ready for Sewing Sunday

Ok, I created this post here, copied it here, then here, but none of the pictures showed up on blogger. So go to one of my trial sites to see them, ok? By the way...what do you think, should I stay Wearing Black in New Mexico when I move? Or become Wearing Black in New England?

Last night I taught two women how to knit at Crafty Friday. Thanks to everyone who came over, including Trevor, Liz's dear hubby, who knits and tends the fire to keep us all warm. And carries chairs. Trevor rocks.
At Tuesday's SnB, Scout gave me this for winning her "two days to knit" contest. Nifty tool holder, don'tchya think?

I met Ramona at Village Wools, where I bought yarn for my Secret Pal. So although it was a purchase, it was not for me. I can't give my SP stash yarn, can I? Doesn't seem right to me. On my way home, I stopped and bought this 100% cashmere sweater:
I have two thoughts on how to use this. One is as a part of Sewing Sunday next week in which I will create products for the Etsy store I plan to open (stay tuned). The other is to frog it and use the yarn to knit something else. I guess a third is to try on the darn thing and see how it fits. Maybe it's going to be cute on.
I also purchased this fabric, which I think you'll see better if you click on it. There's a sweet green plaidish type of stuff, a plain muslin, a silky Oriental-ish fabric, and best of all, a fabu purple fake fur. See how my hand likes to pet it? First person to guess what I'm making next week on Sewing Sunday will get a prize. Ramona can't play!

Pros and Cons

I'm playing around with a new blog. Scout set this up for me over coffee this morning (well, I had coffee in my jammies...don't know if she was doing the same): Wearing Black in New England. Sad, but true. Someday, that's where I'll be sporting it like Johnny Cash. I've also been messing around with the free trial at Typepad: Wearing Black in New Mexico. That site looks a little ugly right now as I was trying to load the banner Carole made me, but got tired before I succeeded. Anyway, I welcome your ideas re: pros and cons of each platform.

So I'm a Joiner. What of It?

Yeah, in a fit of avoidance, I've become a real joiner. I'm avoiding school. I have a bad attitude right now, but I'm sure that will get straightened up by the weekend. In the meantime, I've decided that hell, yeah, even I, Albuquerque's slowest knitter, can get through a pair of socks between 2/1 and 5/1. So, I joined Sockapalooza. Sign ups are on through midnight.

I also joined Mama-E's call for public displays of yarn porn. That sexy button did me in. And didya notice, I have a boatload of buttons? And they all link, now, thanks to a tip from my pal Scout. Ok, so it was more like she made it happen than a tip, but I'm learning!

Back to work, now, missy. SnB tonight, and don't forget to boycott SF/SE. Me, I bought the A-line skirt pattern from Sew Betsy Ross. Now that my machine's fixed, I'm gonna sew me a spring wardrobe. Right after I knit those socks.

My SP, My Haiku, My New Book, My Closet

My East Coast (hey, I can't help but see that Buzzard Bay postmark! A Cape girl!) SP7 sent me a package, which I got yesterday. Sunday? you ask. Are you special, Beverly, that the mail comes to you on Sunday? Special, sure, but not quite that special. I forgot to check the mail on Saturday after my quest to find a book for school that lasted until 11:00 p.m. In this delightful package was a selection of tea bags (I'm boiling water right now), two bundles of mohair roving, a big bundle of merino/silk roving, a dainty spindle, and a hank of chocolate brown alpaca that she spun--I can't wait to knit something with it, and it smells delicious. There were also two little cards with meditations--one called "The Rainbow" and the other, "Artist Zen" as well as a cheerful note!

Thank you SP! I can't wait to try spinning. Your yarn smells lovely, btw. What do you set it with? I'm off for a cup of special tea...xxx

Ramona posted about this haiku contest, and I'm such a joiner, I had to send one in, too. Remember, kids, I write fiction, not poetry. Check out Jessie's sock yarn. I'm gonna get me some come May!

Ruminations on My Time

I crochet, knit, spin
When I should grade, read, or write.
Don't tell my secret.

Noelle is a good listener and a generous friend. She saw this, remembered I had talked about how much Jenny liked it, and picked it up for me. What a sweetie, huh?

A glimpse into my closet. There are files with all my teaching/school/grantwriting archives; notecards for the letter writing I like to do; a few special papers for making books; my newly mended sewing machine, an almost finished felted purse, my old quilting bag, stuff for embroidery; some of the gajillion journals and notebooks I have (everyone loves to give writers journals. And we like them!); some linens; a few boxes of misc. junk I can't throw out; and of course, yarn. Real Simple suggests using yarn to decorate. Group it together and it will look pretty. Ha! As if we didn't know that already.

Treats in the Mail

My SP6, Brianne, sent me this, along with a great book mark that she and her little guy Owen made together, and some adorable knitting notecards. MWAH! Thanks, Brianne!

Short Story Sunday 2: “A Stone Woman” by A.S. Byatt

Hot dog, you can read the story for yourself.

I’ve read this story a number of times, and every time I do, it seems more richly crafted to me. I like Byatt a lot. Possession and Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye both sit on my bookshelf, and I read one or the other every year or so.

What is so appealing about this story, then? Byatt, who doesn’t hesitate to lead her reader into the world of magical realism, makes me believe in Ines’s transformation from woman to…well, I gave you the link, go read it.

More than anything I love Byatt’s images. Her descriptive language is precise, and her settings are real to me. “In September they had several days of driving rain, frost was thick on the turf roof, the glacial rivers swelled and boiled, and ice came down then in clumps and blocks, forming where the spray lay on the vegetation.” Can’t you see it? I love that Byatt moves me to Iceland in the second half of the story. I flew through Iceland once, and I cannot wait to go back. The little glimpse of the country that I had was enough to make me believe that her magical story could have happened there.

I taught this to my students last fall, and they did not seem to like it, citing more than anything, the magical realism elements. How about you? Did you like the story? Do you like magical realism? I also wrote about this in terms of Italo Calvino’s Six Memos for the Next Millinneum (if you’re a writer and haven’t read it, go right now and pick it up). If you like Byatt’s story and want to read more about what I thought about it, let me know, and I’ll send you the article.

How I Spent My Saturday Morning and Happy Birthday Dad!

I bought this. I should get it by mid-February.

I spent my Friday afternoon with Scout, who taught me about the pleasures and dangers of html. Dangers include ditching writing time to play with my blog. Must. Stay. Focussed.

Carole's been working on a new banner for me.

Things may be a little creaky as I learn my way around, but wbnm's gonna be a good looking site before we're through.

Best of all. Today is my dad's birthday...he's turning 68. My dad is the most gentle, kindhearted, fair person I know. He knows right from wrong, and he's good at giving the gentle reminder about that when needed. He believes in his kids with so much faith that I, for one, feel obligated to make something of myself so his faith is rewarded. But I know when he holds my first book in his hand, he'll have the same amount of love for me that he does when he opens his b'day package. Which contains these. He claims they're almost as good as his mother made. If you make them, they have to be thick...no sissy thin cookies here.

I'm off to spend the day with Noelle and the Knitters not Quitters gang

Eddie Along for the Olympics

Stitch and Bitch!!!



I'm going to join the Eddie Along. Maybe for Clappie, maybe for Jaywalkers. I'll let you know.

Lendrum vs. Kromski

Stitch and Bitch

Now that's out of the way... I'm in the process of buying my first spinning wheels. Although I have a chance at an Ashford Elizabeth (not the II) at a really good price, it's a single treadle, which I don't like. Also, it's big. And I'm moving in May. My choices right now, then, are an Original Lendrum, which I've used at Village Wools and like. Plus, that's what my girly Noelle spins her fabu stuff on. She's vouched for it being a great wheel. The other option is a Kromski Minstrel. My spinning guru, Kay, has discussed it with me, and my personal preference aside, she thinks this is a good wheel, a good deal. The double drive attracts me, and I also tried a different Kromski and felt like I was a pro. I haven't tried a Minstrel, though, and I don't know anyone who has one.

Any feedback? I'd like to order something in the next few days. I may be agonizing too much over this, but it's a big purchase for me.

Knit Bloggers, Unite!

STITCH AND BITCH
Stitch and Bitch
Stitch and Bitch
Stitch and Bitch
Stitch and Bitch

Chant it with me, sisters and brothers. Learn more here.

I propose that any knit bloggers who think this whole case stinks like last month's garbage start every blog entry for the next week with the forbidden words, just like Scout: Stitch and Bitch.
If you want to see what Stitching and Bitching is all about, visit Scout and Carole to see pictures of eight of us casting on for Jaywalker at the same time, and two of us paying tribute to Johnny Cash. We walk the line, baby, but not if you're getting our yarn in a knot!

Day 1: Yarn Diet

That's it, the last yarn purchase until the end of the semester. I plan to make the Loop-d-Loop Paisley Carpet Bag with this. Aren't Noelle's yarns yummy? I may add some pink to the mix.

I like Jenny's check in method for her resolutions. I think I'll follow her lead, there. BTW, she's the inspiration for my semester-long yarn embargo.

I'm going to start cataloguing my yarn, too. I have another blog, which I don't use for much other than keeping track of my projects (ok, already, I don't know much about sidebar stuff, but strange little mama's going to help me! ). Anyway, I'm going to take pictures of each set of yarn, along with my plans for it. Any I don't have plans for, I'll probably sell or trade. I'm moving in May, remember? And I don't think there's enough room at N's for my entire stash!

Jaywalkers OTN...

Maddie: Mama, what you been doing?
Mama: Knitting, baby.
Maddie: Mama, what you been knitting?
Mama: Jaywalker socks, baby.
Maddie: Let me see.
Mama: Shows tonight's knitting
Maddie: Mama, that don't look like a sock.
Mama: It will be, baby, it will be.

So, I cast on, and I got one complete round done and a second almost done. I'm a big slow knitter now, but I'm gonna get gauge, dammit.

A Lesson in Gauge

Remember the booty back in October? My gauge was a running joke with my AbqSnB girls, as well as my knitting pals back East. Now that I'm more interested in making things that need to fit (socks, sweaters), gauge needs to stop being a joke to me. Scout and Carole showed me English knitting, and although it felt awkward, I decided to give it a try.

Skip this if you already know the difference between English and Continental knitting. If not, the most basic difference is that in the English method you hold the yarn in your right hand--the left does no work other than holding the left needle--and you throw the yarn. In Continental knitting you hold the yarn in your left hand and "pick" it with the right needle. When I was first learning, this was the method that felt more comfortable to me. Very comfortable apparently, as I'm a crazy loose knitter (my stitches, folks, my stitches). One of the reasons, I've discovered, is that I wasn't wrapping the working yarn enough; I wasn't creating enough tension.

The first picture, in which my gauge is 4 sts/inch, was knit the way I normally knit. The bottom was also knit Continental, but I knit mindful of my tension, as suggested by Ramona, and it came in at 5 sts/inch. The picture on the right is of my first attempt at English. Sit down. Six sts/inch. That's right, my gauge changed a full two stitches per inch. I like having both methods in my toolbox now, and I may end up working in Mindful Continental.

Tonight I cast on for Jaywalkers for our AbqSnB KAL. I'm going to use 1's. Not 0000's. Mission Accomplished.

Swatching Away

I finished the Stitch and Bitch Nation Basic Cable hat on Saturday at Knitters Not Quitters. Byler Bear is modeling it in the back yard. He's from Pennsylvania Amish country. Doesn't he look dashing?


Cable Close up. Cables are fun.

Today I worked the Continental swatch as my sewing machine was being repaired (she's all better, thanks for asking) and started in on the English swatch. I'm starting to get the hang of this style, but it's still slow going. I took Ramona's advice on the Continental knitting--I pulled each stitch, and I was mindful of what I was doing. I also took the advice I got at Village Wools, which was to hold the working yarn wrapped around another finger.