Thinking about gifting. Or, For Doug.

The adults in the Jazzman's family draw names every Thanksgiving for Christmas gifting. Financial limits are set, and the holiday becomes manageable in this economically horrific era.

One niece's significant other drew my name. And, to prevent trauma, I thought instead of just double-checking my Amazon wish list, I'd stop to think about the things I enjoy.

Many holiday gifters wrinkle their noses at gift cards. Not I!!! Whoever invented gift cards should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. With gift cards, everybody is happy. (Except those Scrooges who think they're not a real gift.)

So here's my list, which readers other than Doug might find interesting if they are interested in any of the pastimes I'm into. I hope you'll find some new treasure trove to feed your passion.

Doug - A gift card to any of these sites would be greatly welcomed (she wrote, smiling).
Or you can just visit my Amazon wish list.

Knitting
Webs, America's Yarn Store
Jimmy Beans Wool
Yarn Paradise, my guilty getaway whenever I'm in Asheville (6/30/26 edit: no longer in business)

Sewing
Waechter's Fine Fabrics, my other Asheville guilty getaway (6/30/26 edit: very sadly, no longer in business
Marcy Tilton's Art Barn Marcy is one of my teachers/mentors, and she carries some fabulous fabric and silk screens that I love to use.
Thai Silks, in Los Altos, CA, carries the most affordable and highest quality silks I've ever found.

Fabric Dyeing
Pro Chemical and Dye carries the dyes I use on silks and wools.
And Dharma Trading carries the dyes as well as scarves and silks.

Beading & Jewelry Making
Rings & Things - I sat next to one of their employees in a class at Bead Fest Philly, and this store carries everything one could imagine for beading.

That's probably enough to confuse Doug and amuse other readers.

Ho, ho, ho.

Remote Knit Along

I started knitting for the second time in my life two-and-a-half years ago. Now if I take a trip and don't have at least two skeins of yarn with me, I become very anxious. Gotta keep those hands and that brain busy.

I have several knitting blogs feeding my Google Reader. One of these, Random Musings on Crazy For Ewe, is written by Ellen, the owner of a local yarn store (LYS) in southern Maryland. A couple of weeks ago, Ellen posted a couple of photos of an interesting and challenging scarf. The more I looked at the second photo, knit with yarn from my favorite yarn manufacturer, Noro, the more I wanted to knit that scarf.

This is the hardest pattern I've attempted since my knitting rebirth. It's absolutely not a pattern where you go on auto-knit while you watch TV or carry on a conversation. I cannot tell you the number of times I've had to backtrack a row or more to correct errors. The pattern includes lace stitches (the holes you see in the picture) and left- and right-leaning decreases (the angled blocks).

There are sixteen rows to one repeated section, and 25 sections in the scarf. Those sixteen rows are A&B (repeated four times) followed by C&D (repeated four times). Ever the geek, I set up a spreadsheet to be able to keep track of where I am in the pattern.

I've chosen Noro Aya for the scarf. Aya is a combination of cotton, silk and wool. And Noro's hand-dyed colors are a treat to the eye.

I have to admit I don't totally love this color. (I like to support LYSs, so ordered from Crazy for Ewe without actually seeing the color.) The part I don't like is the pink and the blue. I'm not a pink or blue person, although the pink and blue give it a little feel of spring (which we need right now!). I asked Ellen for suggestions, as my most-favorite color was out of stock. I told her what colors I normally wear, along with my hair and eye colors, and accepted her suggestion.

When I pulled the yarn out of the bag, I loved it. But Noro, in winding the balls after dyeing, had deftly tucked the pink and blue deep inside the ball. Had I been in the yarn store and actually seen the ball of yarn (or had I spent more time on the link Ellen sent me), I probably still would have bought it. I can't blame this lack of love on Ellen! Maybe this scarf will force me out of my box a little (she says, smiling).


The blue is an ice blue, which is gorgeous (although not so much on me). The pink is delicate and lovely (although not so much on me). And the greens and browns—totally my colors—are fabulous. I really could cut the yarn when I reached the blue part and remove the blue and pink from each skein, using the blue and pink on some project for my girly-girl granddaughter. But I'm way beyond that point now, being 170 rows into the scarf!

So I will complete it, and grow to love it. Maybe I'll even buy a pink tee-shirt to wear it with this summer! Or green. Or brown. There are lots of possibilities.

(And—really!—I could have given you better images! I coulda shoulda taken it to the basement and set up my Soft Box to take the photos. I'll do that when it's finished.)

The downsides of knitting along remotely is that you don't get to participate in conversations, make new friends, and learn from others' mistakes.

But each Thursday afternoon, as I make time to sit and knit, I'm buoyed by the knowledge that a number of women with like interests are sitting together not far from my old hometown, knitting and enjoying each other's company.

[Not so] Random Acts of Kindness

I have a friend, Ypsi, whom I've mentioned here before. I met her, oddly enough, in the play space at the mall when I first arrived in Youngstown. Her daughter and my grandson hit it off, and she was over-the-top gracious to me, inviting me to join her book group and her knitting group. She became the first friend I made on my own in Y'town and, as such, is treasured.

She's been oohing and aahing over my mesh tote bags since she first saw one. Lately she's been thinking aloud that she wanted one to use as a knitting bag, and started proposing a swap—hand-knitted socks for a new knitting bag. Last fall while exploring and petting my stash of quilting-quality cottons, I found the perfect cat print for her, a fellow cat-lady. I posted a note on Facebook asking if she wanted to make good on that trade. At about the same time, her father became very ill in Texas and she had to make two quick trips down, preparing for his passing. Her mind was preoccupied and she didn't see my post. But our fellow knitting-group and book-group friend Nesha—who is a fellow native Orlandoan and works at the Montessori school where she sees my grandchildren every day—saw my post and jumped right in there.

Would I consider making the bag for her to gift to Ypsi, in exchange for a pair of socks that she had knit? Of course I would. Hand-knit socks from a friend are hand-knit socks from a friend, regardless of the identify of the friend. Right?

Last week I finally finished the bag and dropped it off at the school on Tuesday morning, where I picked up my new socks.

I'm betting you want the details. Cool cats, in purples and blues and a great coffee tone. Coordinating hand-paint-looking coffee, with some purples thrown in. The inside pocket is a double pocket—black denim for the front and back, purple cotton in the middle. Both pockets are zippered. The lower pocket has a lampwork bead and seed beads wire-wrapped onto the pull. The upper pocket has the most fab cat-head ceramic bead made by a clay artisan in Tucson. I picked it up at the Whole Bead Show in Tucson about ten years ago. To the right of the pocket(s) is a hanging hook to hold keys or whatever. And there's another separate bag sized to tuck in several circular knitting needles or credit cards and spare yarn money or …. From its zipper hangs a black tassel. Très chic! The big bag closes with an elasticized band and a big purple button, embellished with a couple of small beads. The bag base is in the coffee fabric and both bags and all their cotton pockets and embellishments are treated with Scotchgard™ to prevent stains.

The most fun of the entire transaction happened last week. As I was nearing the end of the project, I posted a photo of the bag on Facebook to alert Nesha to the fact that it was almost done. Ypsi saw it and immediately commented "WANT!". I smiled to myself, excited for how excited she would be when she realized it was hers. On Wednesday, Nesha delivered the bag to Ypsi, who immediately went back to my Facebook page and posted "GOT!!!!!!". I felt giddy with the joy of doing something nice for someone nice (meaning both Ypsi and Nesha!).

And now you really, really want to see the socks, don't you?

Here you go:

Thanks, Nesha!

---

Postscript Thoughts: I've been trying to come up with a header image for my Etsy page. I really like my white-painted-brick basement wall, which you see behind the bag in the first image, above. Wouldn't it be cool to use a picture of that as the background, with Jan Crews Designs superimposed? I don't have a niche, so it's kind of hard to use sewing or quilting or beading or knitting for the image. Wouldn't that wall work?

Done Frogging

You are to be commended for not complaining when I left my "Frogging" post up for so long. PianoLady did send me an e-mail saying, essentially, "Get off your butt, Woman!" So I am getting off my butt and back to this blog.

I finished the sweater Tuesday a week ago (1/25/11), blocked it overnight, and wore it on Wednesday afternoon to pick up the babes from dance class for Dinner-with-Grandma. Why? Because my knitting buddies Tani and Jen have kids in dance at the same time. I knew they would appreciate my sweater.

As I walked into the waiting room, they applauded. And I smiled!

Tani whipped out her phone and snapped these pics.

Love this sweater!!!



(Okay, I must learn better ways to stand when modeling a new garment. This pic could be sooo much more attractive if I didn't look like a paper doll!)

I'm Frogging!

No, my headline does not have anything to do with frogs. Or Fire-Bellied Toads, which today's photo shows. Miss Ridley recently got a Fire-Bellied Toad, but I digress.

I've been working on knitting a sweater for the past couple of months. My activity really heated up when we went to Hilton Head for New Year's. It was so cold outside that we just stayed inside and I got a lot of knitting done. The drive down and back each gave me four uninterrupted hours of knitting.

This is a sweater for me! Most things I knit become gifts for friends or the grandkids' teachers. But this is for me!

I bought some beautiful yarn a year-and-a-half ago during a visit to Pocket Meadow Farm in Berkeley Springs, WV, with my friend, Maureen. (If you're a knitter and dying to know what I got, it's Cascade 220 in 8886-Italian Plum and 7802-Cerise, and Louet Riverstone in Kumquat and Carribean.) The colors were chosen to go with two big pieces of mixed-media art that are hanging in my library. Hot pink, purple, mustard and teal. I was going to make a throw for the library. Then I repurposed some rayon tape yarn from another project and it became a throw. So now I don't want another throw. In love with this kimono-style sweater, I decided to deviate from the pattern—which I never do!— and mix up the colors on this sweater.

When I got started on the sweater, I was certain it would take me a year to finish. But the more I got into it, the more I loved it. Now I'm very near to the end—I'm working on the two-inch neckband, and in about eight more rows will bind off and sew the side seams, then block it. And wear it!!!!

I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Last night I took it with me to pick up the kids from dance for our Wednesday night dinner. I knew my knitting friend Tani would be there, and I wanted to show it off. Of course, with 15 minutes to wait for the kids, I pulled it out and started working on it again.

And goofed up. I have added a stitch somewhere about three rows back. And now I'm frogging!

From Urban Dictionary: In knitting, a frog says "rip it rip it" and fogging refers to unraveling rows of knitted work due to an error found.

I've got an row-and-a-half to frog, and then will go forward again. I'll show you a pic when it's done.

It's for me!!!!

P.S. As you know I sew even more than I knit, I'll tell you the crowd of sewists I run with call it "unsewing", not "ripping"!

I Don't Need Any Help!

I have some bee-YUU-tiful wool yarn I bought a year ago in a darling little shop in Berkeley Springs, WV. When I bought it, I thought I'd make an afghan or throw for the living room. This year I'm in the mood to knit a short kimono sweater.

<Sidebar On>
In case you're a knitter and dying to know, the colors I bought are deep hot pink, deep purple, mustard and teal. I'm making Dofuko on page 67 of "Knit Kimono: 18 Designs with Simple Shapes" by Vicki Square, published by Interweave Press. I'll make the body pink, one sleeve teal and one sleeve mustard, then use the purple for the cording between the color and the body. Yes, I will have to order more yarn. It should take me, oh, the next two years.
<Sidebar Off>

I've got a couple of trips coming up and wanted to get the project together for traveling. Last night, when I got home from rehearsal, I sat in front of the television for half an hour to wind the first ball. (Of course the Jazzman wanted to know why it didn't come already wound into a ball, and I couldn't answer him. My best answer was that the really good, high quality wool doesn't come in a ball. I don't know if that answer is anywhere near factual, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

This morning when I was in the shower, I heard some thumping and bumping outside the bathroom. Of course my mind immediately went to a burglar being in the house stealing all my arts and crafts books or cans of paint or shredded bank statements or something.

When I got out of the shower, I started searching for the thumper-bumper. As I walked into the family room, I saw about 50 feet of yarn spread all over the room. Angel was crouched down, peering under a small chest, where I found—ta dah—my newly-wound ball of yarn, less the 50 feet of yarn that had become its tail.

Listen, Cat, if I wanted your help I'd ask for it! Right now you're treading on very thin ice. The day may come where you live permanently in the basement!

Oh, wait, there's far more mischief to be had in the basement. I guess I'll just suck it up and put my yarn in a drawer when I'm done with it.

The Answer to Your Dreams?

Two weeks ago I started work on a new felted bag. The base and body is Lion Brand^® Fishermen's Wool from Jo-Ann's. About two inches up from the base I added a strand of Karabella Silky Tape in Spring Green. This yard, made of silk, viscose and rayon, is hand dyed in a yummy range of greens and browns, with a little glitter to add interest.

But I digress. After adding the Silky Tape to the project on Tuesday of last week, I knitted for a day before noticing my hands were itching. All day Thursday my hands itched. When I picked up the Jazzman on Thursday evening to head for NC, my knuckles on both hands were red and inflamed. By Friday morning, I was in bad shape. We ran into a drugstore in Beckley before resuming our drive, and picked up some Benadryl, plus a non-drowsy antihistamine, and some cortisone cream.

On Friday afternoon as we were sitting on the front porch of the cottage, I was dying to knit, despite, the itching, so put on some non-latex rubber gloves and tried to add a few rows to the project. Nope. The non-latex gloves don't have any elasticity to them, so the tips of the fingers hang off and keep getting knitted into the pattern!

While wearing the gloves, I didn't really feel the itching, but once I took them off, I was itching again. And that night the itching and redness was worse.

On Saturday and Sunday the itching and redness and swelling kept getting worse, and I could hardly not keep myself from scratching. By Monday evening, back in Youngstown and attending a friend's Memorial Day party, I began notice spots elsewhere—on my forearms, on my wrist.

Tuesday I went to the dermatologist, who prescribed Doxepin to ease the itching. Holy Mother of Naps! I couldn't stay awake on Wednesday. When I visited my internist Wednesday morning for a followup to an earlier appointment, she was surprised I had driven to her office on the Doxepin.

And the dreams. Oh. My. God. Wild and crazy, frenetic, busy, exhausting dreams. I remember when I went on Paxil eight or so years ago. When I was trying to wean off the Paxil, I hated going to sleep because I knew the dreams were going to begin and I was going to be exhausted when I woke up.

So the bottom line of this long, drawn-out story? The dermatologist thinks the itching has nothing to do with the yarn, so I continued working on the bag last night. We'll see if the itching picks up tomorrow. And I'm going to cut my dose of the Doxepin in half tonight and tomorrow because I just can't stand the fatigue—life is too short to be so tired.

And the funny story of the day? I pointed out a raised place at the base of my thumb to the dermatologist to ask if that should be zapped. "Nah," he said, "that's just like a barnacle on an old ship." Excuuuuse me? I'm almost 60, not almost 90!!!

We'll give this boy an F in bedside manner this week.

And for the knitters in the audience, here are a couple of pics.

This is the Silky Tape in Spring Green.






And this is the Work In Progress bag, in poor lighting so you can't see how fabulous the yarns are together. Once I finish the bag—oh, and find my camera—I'll post a finished pic.

---

Updated at 10:39 a.m.

So, you wanted to know what the dreams were, didn't you.

The first morning, I dreamed I was still with my second husband. (Refresher: Montgomery Village, MD; 48 to my 33 when we married; daughter who told him lies about me and he believed them and didn't ask me to confirm or deny—i.e. guilty until proven innocent; would get severely depressed and not speak to me for five days at a time.) In my dream, he had decided I was moving out of his house so he brought in movers and packers to get all of my stuff out of his space and I had no idea where I was going.

This morning, I was on a group tour with my mother. (Note: this would never happen.) We needed to pack up to go to the next stop on the tour, and I was finding way too many things that needed to go back into my bag, including four New Yorker magazines!

These dreams have wayyy too much detail and wayyy too many old painful emotions!