I am a woman with passion for many things. Because of this, I tend to say yes to things that sound like I would like to do them. Often I say yes based on my enthusiasm, and not on the amount of time available to do them.

Right now I’m in the process of crossing off as many of the items I’ve said yes to, which are starting to pile up in an embarrassing way. If you say yes, people think you mean you have time. I need to realize that many things take a LOT more time than I imagine they might.

From Friday night until Monday evening, I had a chock-full schedule. It was good stuff but I was not home much. Tuesday was wonderful but it involved seeing Sarah, Deb, Sara, Jo, Mom and Altu. Mostly one person at a time, except for Sara & Jo who I saw together.

And I did see Brian, of course. I left at 10am and got home after 9pm, did a little email and listened to Progressive Torch and Twang on WDBM and then it’s already past time to sleep. I’m nodding off as I type this, but that’s part of my life right now.

The wonderful part of all this is seeing the life I have. It is full of people I care about, people who make my life worthwhile. The hard part is trying to do things like get enough sleep and get things done that I promised. I’m working on a project for my Mom right now that I had hoped to do in December. Sigh.

I had a series of yesses to deal with, a list that got too long back in 2007. I got over-yessed back in the fall. And I’m working out of that situation slowly. After the job for Mom, I have a few knitting promises for the kids I teach at Foster Center. Then I’m working on not doing that again without really thinking about it. I do love helping where I can, especially when I truly have a skill my loved one does not have.

Also I keep losing things and that makes it hard to be efficient. I can not find the cord for my Kodak digital camera anywhere. I have not been able to download photos from my camera since the 5th of May, over a week ago. I will now need to give up and just go buy a replacement cord, but that takes time.

Meanwhile, the photo today is a tulip that showed up at our house in an odd spot. I may remember seeing tulip leaves there before but I had never seen a bloom. This one showed up a couple of weeks ago against the house. About a yard/meter and a half out from the house, was a single grape hyacinth as well. The second was surely buried there by a squirrel, as I planted those in the side yard, not the back yard, and this was just in a random place. The tulip, I’m not sure.

On April 27, five members of the Habibi Dancers (including me/Eudora, front right in first photo) performed as guests in a show at Hannah Community Center in East Lansing. We were invited by a troupe which rehearses at Foster Community Center, as we do. The Ballet Maria Luz, another troupe which rehearses at Foster, was also represented in the show.

I stood at the side of the stage as I often do, taking photos when I was not preparing to dance myself. I have uploaded a number of photos (34 total) to my flickr site as a photoset of just that show.

There are some fun shots, and some quite expressive ones with wonderful costumes… the photoset contains a lot more photos of the Mexican dance with double-circle skirts and the flamenco soloist, among others.

I have decided to give in to my enthusiasm for these photos and share a good number of them here. If you enjoy these, click the link above to see more.

If only you could see them actually dancing! There was so much good perfoming at that show, it seemed every single dancer was at their best. Wonderful.

I’m so glad we were invited. (I have lost my program so I don’t know the name of the troupe… if anyone out there knows, please feel free to let me know and I’ll update this post.)

Of course, this was three weeks ago. Life sure gets in the way… I finally processed the photos last Tuesday and now a week later I’m telling you about it. Whew!

Photos, though? They are timeless. The time passed since the performance does nothing to mar the excitement of these images.

We spent the day with Brian’s family on Saturday. Many photographs were taken. Brian took this one of his sister Kathy, using my camera. Yes, this is the magnificent cook behind “Kathleen’s Vegetarian Kitchen.”

She is an artist, in the painting/drawing studio as well as in the kitchen. We get along really well, and I often wish I lived next door to Kath and Pedro (in Jacksonville, Florida… that will not happen this year, anyway). However, it is always wonderful to see them and we do usually connect at least once or twice a year.

I think this photo shows the fun, beautiful person I call my friend… in a most excellent way. Maybe you would like to go and visit her cooking blog. Even if you eat meat, you will find wonderful recipes and links to recipes she found and liked on other websites.

I’m excited about a link she includes to Strawberry Ice Cream (without egg, which works for my allergies). I also just found a link to homemade ricotta cheese which would make a really wonderful lasagna, after years without cheese in lasagna. (I can not have yeast/mold foods such as cheese and yogurt, but after 5 years of not eating dairy I can have milk and non-aged dairy products, it’s a wonderful gift to have it back.)

For the record, the 50th Anniversary event was delightful. We played a lot of music both at the official luncheon and at a gathering at another sister’s home after the luncheon. This family is very big on jam sessions, and there were two jams happening at the same time at Karen’s house.

I again have over 300 photos on my camera which I have not unloaded to my laptop. And since my friend Rae is out of state visiting her Mom for Mother’s Day, I’m going to do my best to help out at her store a few hours on a few different days… we will see how much blogging I get done with this more-busy-than-usual week. I may be posting without photos if need be.

Brian’s parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary Saturday. It will be a very big deal, with their 8 kids and a zillion spouses and grandkids, plus other relatives and friends all gathered. I’m particularly excited to see Brian’s sisters (and a brother-in-law) who live in far away states.

This clan gets along very well. In fact, at Thanksgiving a few years back I sat with the young adults (our nieces and nephews) and one exclaimed out loud how much they loved their family. This was followed by other young adult family members agreeing wholeheartedly.

Personally, I am the proud spouse of their 3rd child. I adore Brian deep down into my cells. He is one of the finest human beings I have ever met, and he loves me and treats me well every day. I don’t know his parents as well as I might, but I am deeply grateful for their son who is now my husband, and all the bits that they contributed to how he became the person I appreciate today.

I am not used to big crowds; the gatherings this family can put together sometimes overwhelm me. (My family, on both sides, has six people in this state even if you count our partners.) I love people, and I like every single one in this crowd. It embarrasses me sometimes that the more activity in the room, the more I sort of get fired up, over-active and anywhere from a little too loud to distracting. When I can stay at the physical edge of the crowd, where it’s a little less crowded, I do better.

I want everything to go well for Larry and Marilyn in their event tomorrow so I am going to focus on calmness and moderation for the day. I’m taking some knitting to keep my hands busy during the parts of the event where that would be appropriate. They know I knit pretty much all the time I sit still, it is not a problem for them, though I won’t knit at their special church service.

Of course, since we had a concert event in Pontiac (north of Detroit) Friday night and got home past midnight… well, we won’t be getting much sleep. It should be a wonderful day, in any case. The weather service says sun tomorrow, though it will be chilly. We’ll take sun!

These photos have been taken over the last week and a half. I do not remember a spring so full of flowers. Often the flowers start too soon and we have a frost which kills a lot of buds. This year, the cold held on so long that nothing bloomed until we were pretty much past freeze warnings. We have not had many really warm days, maybe two, so spring still feels tentative, but it’s clear we will not see any more snow, at least.

Here are the daffodils my father planted in the early 1970s, still coming up at Mom’s house:

I took that photo in the twilight so I ended up with flash, and the yellow is sort of over-exposed. Still, I delight in the big standard yellow daffodils and the big standard red tulips that return each year, more than 30 years after my father died. What a gift these are!

Here is a view in the neighborhood behind our house:

What a view! Look at all the colors on the trees and bushes, all at one time. Wonderful.

And two views of a bush I have never noticed before. Actually, it seems I’ve seen these as small decorative bushes, but this one is as tall as me and in front of a victorian brick house in Old Town. Does anyone out there know what this bush is? It is absolutely beautiful and I think I’m in love… (unfortunately, our yard is very small and I don’t think there is room for a bush as tall as me, but I can dream)

Here is a detail. The flowers turn lacy and white at the edges when they start to fade and wither. This actually makes them more beautiful, if you ask me:

I think all that knitting and other creative work we have done on behalf of the spring’s arrival, may just be starting to work!

Paulette came to me not two months ago. She had a dream, to knit socks. First she had purchased a hat pattern, and I showed you that project two weeks ago. She finished that first hat, did a second, and started in with toe-up socks.

I present to you the foot portion of Paulette’s debut sock:

At this point she needs to knit ribbing for the leg as long as she wants to do so, and bind off loosely, and she will have a wearable sock.

I have never seen an adult starter knitter progress so quickly. I don’t expect this but she’s a determined person who is plowing through the learning curve with lightning speed. Go, Paulette!

In other news, I taught my Polymer Clay Translucents & Foils class at Yarn Garden in Charlotte last weekend. Lindsay, who has owned that shop for one year now, filled that room with 8 happy participants. One was her grandma. Grandma had this gorgeous wound “cake” of Noro wool/angora yarn and wanted buttons to go with it. Even though I confess I’m not a neutral person, have never been known for subtlety (I go for contrast every time), I helped her figure out how to make what *she* wanted for *her own project.* Just look at how nice those buttons are for the yarn!

Of course, the web is just not good at displaying subtleties in color but trust me when I say that she was pleased, I was pleased, and the whole group agreed that she got the buttons she had been working for.

Bonnie in Illinois (blcknits on Ravelry) has posted a few projects which were her spring-inducing projects this year. She has given gracious consent to sharing the photos here with you. Thanks, Bonnie!

First she posts a Breabag by Norah Gaughan (I believe it’s a Berrocco pattern). This was a gift for her 18 yr old. She lined it and made a wonderful handle complete with beads:

She also made two-color footies (socks without legs) in colors I love for spring. These were for her 17 yr old. I tell you what, if she has teenaged girls liking her knitting, she is doing something right!!! (I sure wish I’d made those footies for me…):

Our friend Ben Hassenger is playing a musical gig with hubby Brian this Friday. I’ve been to a few concerts in the last few weeks where Ben played (one where Brian played, too). Ben wrote to ask me if I had a photo of the two of them next to one another, for promo purposes.

I had a few photos of the concert they both played, but they were not near one another. In fact, I was photographing from one side so Ben looked bigger in his photos than Brian in his. Here is what I found.

Photo of Brian:

Photo of Ben:

I made Ben’s photo smaller and cropped Brian. Then I changed the color balance on both of them so that the colors looked right together.

I overlapped the two photographs and then I had a problem with the microphone sort of being cut off in thin air. And Brian’s shoulder being totally cut off vertically behind the microphone. The background was easy to airbrush/rubberstamp so that it was seamless, the other bits were harder. I literally had to airbrush the background away from behind a microphone and superimpose it on top of the seam between the photographs. I also had to use a rubberstamp tool to paint in what looks something like Brian’s shoulder behind it.

In the end, here’s what I came up with:

Whew! It worked. you look at the faces, and it’s easy to ignore the imperfections of the seam in the middle.

I ran into Cyndi on Saturday at Threadbear as I was finishing up a class. She had to show me her finished SportZig. I was thrilled, of course.

Then she continued to flatter me (I eat it up). She had taken this project on a ski weekend (early March) and knit it in one day. In the end, she was able to get two bagz out of the yarn she purchased for one.

Way cool!

Here is a photo of my SportZig and hers. Guess which is whose? (Hint… purple is my neutral, or as Brian says, it’s my beige. Never mind I like turquoise, wild hot colors and rainbows… Cyndi looks wonderful in red. Hers looks more like cinnabar in person than in this photo, I just could not get the colors true. You can see the bags turned out well.

…but at Elderly Instruments, there is a divider in the CD department/ukulele section which reads “The Fabulous Heftones.” (That would be me… and Brian.) Next to us? Jake Shimabukuro, Janet Klein, James Hill.

Pardon me while I get giddy for a moment. That is serious company and I’m allowed to enjoy it.

Cathy wrote me a few weeks ago to say she had photos of her ZigBag progress, on her blog. I just love seeing everyone’s color choices. Hers looks like a spring garden, fresh and lovely.

Cathy, thanks for writing. You make my day.

Mary’s bag is beautiful, too. I have photos if I can only get time to put them on my laptop and develop them. One day at a time, right?

I really try to keep you guys up to date and not leave you waiting for posts… I’ve been crazy-busy so have fallen behind.

• We have been singing a bunch this week. Brian and I played for a private party on Friday and we have another private party next Thursday. All good.
• I have had a number of classes to teach, both computer and knitting. Saturday I teach polymer clay and Needlefelted Embellishments.
• The weather is springlike. This year it was not “April Showers bring May flowers.” This year we had flowers at the end of April, we still have them. But the last few days we have had rain. Friday it was coming down “in buckets” so to speak.
• I am knitting a baby outfit from my yarn and Knitting at Knoon’s pattern. More details and photos later.
• Brian bought me seeds for an herb garden. I have done well some years and not so well others, we will hope this year is a good one.
• I have been cooking and baking. Food is such a comfort and a joy at times!
• And I can never say enough about my beloved. How I got this lucky in life, I do not know. We play music together, we eat together, we go for walks together, we laugh and laugh. It is a good life.

Back when I can write a real column… for now it’s bits and pieces. I’m well, I’m happy… I’m busy. Hugs!

Last Wednesday my little friend Isabel turned 4 years old. She likes to sort things, such as my polymer clay buttons. She sorts by color, size, whether she can stack them or not.

I knit her eight hearts, two each in different sized yarns. All different colors.

Her first instinct after opening the package was to try to stack them. She did get 2 to stack but the 3rd did not work at all, and she went on without a hiccup to sorting by size.

This is what she came up with, at least at one point during her heart-exploration time. We had a lovely time together at the coffee shop.

I adore this child with every cell in my body. She’s wonderful company, and she turns my sour attitude around (when I have one) in about a minute or less. What would I do without Isabel? She lights up my world. In fact, I sometimes call her “Sunshine” as a nickname. It suits her.

Yarns in last photo, from top to bottom (I don’t have dye lots or color numbers handy, please understand I was knitting from stash, sometimes leftover balls I had hanging around…

Malabrigo Merino Worsted
Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (Wool/Alpaca)
Magic Garden Buttons wool/polyester “effect”
Filatura di Crosa Zara washable wool
Lion Brand Magic Stripes (sportweight sockyarn, wool/nylon)
Kroy 4ply sock yarn, wool/nylon
Fortissima Socka (?) cotton blend
Noro Kureyon Sockyarn wool/nylon

The pattern is from Anna H at Mochimochiland, free pattern here.

It’s beautiful here right now, though the temperatures have plummeted and we are having frost warnings for several days this week. The flowering trees are spectacular this spring, it seems every possible bloom has bloomed. Some years we get frost at just the wrong time, after buds have formed, and it’s just not this beautiful. I am drinking it all in.

I pass Mt. Hope Cemetery, a historical spot in Lansing, almost every day. The early important civic folks for Lansing are buried here, it seems every large stone has the name of someone whose name is also attached to a park somewhere. Ransom E. Olds (founder of Oldsmobile) is also interred there, his family mausoleum visible from the street.

I love taking photos there in the fall. This year I realized I wanted to photograph it again in full-flowering spring splendor. Here you can see both seasons, the same view from the other side of the road.

The year my cousin Karen got married in Houston in April, I was bowled over by the bold flowers and color there. I spent a long weekend drinking in the beauty. Then I returned to Lansing in mid-flowering-tree season. It took that trip to understand the kind of beauty Lansing displays in the spring. For all the bold in Houston, the balance was gentle, almost feminine beauty, covering the landscape. I’m glad to have that perspective.

(To be honest, this spring photo is about a week old and the trees are totally green now. I wish I had time to sneak over there again today and photograph it again, but that’s not how the schedule looks for now.)

I danced Friday and Sunday with the Habibi Dancers, for different events. Much fun but it does take time away from the desk. Saturday I taught polymer clay at Threadbear which was fun, Sunday I ended up with no students so I worked on a knitting project while at Rae’s. It was very busy there on account of the Black Sheep guild stopping in on the way home from their retreat.

I’ve been in this business long enough now to recognize folks not in my weekly routine. While the Black sheep people came around, Rita of Yarn Hollow/Grand Rapids area said hi and we chatted (above is a photo of Rita on the right, at Allegan/Michigan Fiber Festival last August). Then I talked with Linda who took a sock class from me at Heritage Spinning a long while ago with her mother. Here’s a photo of them together wearing their socks:

The pattern was originally called “Heritage Heirloom Socks” (for Heritage Spinning, the shop where I taught the class first… and for Heirloom yarn which was what the first prototype was knit up in). Now they are called Guitar Trim Socks because they match the Guitar Trim Hat I designed after the socks.

It was really warm Friday, the wind kicked up on Saturday and it was downright chilly Sunday. I did not see snow but the National Weather Service says rain/snow likely Monday and patchy frost through Wednesday. Ugh. I know there is always a chance of snow if it is still April, but ugh.

I’m doing some work for a friend, when I’m not falling asleep at the keyboard from exhaustion. It’s a good exhaustion, anyway. I’m grateful for work and dance and friends.

Monday I am having two music friends over for a simple soup lunch (Jen Sygit and Laura Bates) and that will be a lovely payback for the work I’m pushing to finish between classes and performances.

I tell you, nobody has a job as fun as mine can be some days. Today/Saturday I taught polymer clay canework (Jelly Rolls, Stripes, Bulls-eyes and Checkerboards), at Threadbear. It was a BLAST. It always is.

Tomorrow I am at Rae’s 11-1 for a mitten class. The weather has gone mean again, we are expecting “patchy frost” for 4 days in a row and I got out my earmuffs today (after 80F+ summer temps yesterday). Mittens are a decent topic for a little longer, I’m afraid.

Next Saturday (May 3) I teach my Polymer Translucents and Foils class at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan. The class is from 11a-3p. I am showing some photos here of buttons made with this technique. Some were made by me, some by my students. The technique can be very subtle where it looks almost like mother-of-pearl or obsidian, but it can be vibrant as well. Look at the variety here!

I sure hope some of you can join me for some of my upcoming classes (baby set, needlefelted embellishments, mentioned in my earlier post here). I think you might just have a good time, too.

Sorry to those out of town… do remember that I travel to teach. Let your local shop or guild know if you would like to have me come to your area and teach you (and your friends). We will all have a great time, I’m sure of it!

I would love to write all sorts of information about the wonderful weekend I had (last week) with the Habibi Dancers (I am one, my stage name is Eudora). This one column will have to suffice, however… there is SO much to write about, and so much work to do away from the computer!

We had our 25th anniversary concert last Saturday. We also had workshops all day Saturday and all afternoon Sunday. And those of us in the show had a special event after the show, at New Aladdin’s restaurant. It was wonderful fun, and exhausting.

Here is me wearing a Khaliji dance dress called a Thobe. This is a dance from Saudi Arabia, a dance traditionally done at all-female parties, dancing together for entertainment. It was/is *not* performed on stage there, though here in the USA dance troupes do perform variations on the theme.

I think those all-girl parties sound like our Wednesday night rehearsals, only more! I absolutely loved doing this dance. The music is wonderful, the dresses are beautiful (see second photo of us on stage showing off the dresses… I am the dancer at far right), and the women in the dance with me were much fun.

I put together a Flickr photoset with about 90 photos of our weekend. (The images are high resolution at Flickr so they load slowly, but you can start a slideshow, walk away for a good while, then come back and view the slideshow the second time without a lot of delays. Or get a cup of tea and just wait…)

We have spring, for the last several days (actually about a week). I hear it is supposed to snow on Sunday? Ugh. We can hope I heard wrong.

I do remember one April 25 where there were piles of snow still underneath any shady bush. It’s possible to get snow again. Let us hope it is not so extreme to get a ton of snow… it has been humid yesterday, and over 80F today. Sometimes when humid warmth is hit by super-cold air, we get piles and piles of snow.

Right now I’m typing this with bare feet and wearing a tank top, bare arms even. I typically get cold easily (I would be happier with a wrap or light sweater but I’m on my way to a cozy bed so I’m not layering anymore at this time). I love knowing it was over 80 today!!!

Photos? These forsythia bushes really look great this year. Some years the frost hits just wrong and they don’t bloom much at all. this year, every single yellow bush is totally covered. I love these when they are this happy! Notice how the trees around them have no green leaves at all.

These photos were taken about a week ago. Today we have so many leaves on the trees that there is shade on the street. Amazing. They took about 2 days from almost nonexistant to thriving. The change has been incredible to watch.

I teach what we call “Knitting Study Hall” at Rae’s Yarn Boutique every Thursday late afternoon (4:45pm). This is a time where I work with knitters on whatever project they choose, for the most part. They commit to 4 weeks and can add more at the end if they need/choose to do so.

I often get beginner or near-beginner knitters, or perhaps those coming back to it after many years away from yarn and needles. It’s really satisfying for me, teaching these folks.

Sometimes we who are comfortable with knitting, assume that someone starting out must work with a simple project. We suggest scarves or dishcloths, for example. This works fine if the person in question is interested in such a project. However, for some folks they have a particular project in mind, one that is not considered a beginner project. For those people, a simple project just keeps them from the dream and sometimes diminishes their passion for knitting.

I firmly believe that if you have a passion to make a particular thing and you are willing to make a good number of stitches, you should go after that goal. After all, if you can picture something finished in your mind, you can get there with a little guidance. I have seen relative beginners make amazing projects, be they lace (check out Sophia’s knitted corset) or ribbing or socks.

Right now I have two folks working with me who are making extra-ordinary beginner projects. Kate felt a real push to make a baby blanket, knowing full well how many stitches it would take to finish. Above is a photo of her project. Cool, huh?

And Paulette? Super cool… she wanted to make a hat for charity. She picked a pattern before I met her and it had garter fabric on the edge followed by ribbing and decreases. It started on circular needles and then when the number of stitches reduced, it switched to double-pointed needles. Look at her hat!!! Her first project (or so I believe, certainly her first in my class)! Soooo cool.

What’s more, she had the goal when she came to me, that she wanted to knit socks. Of course, I was all for it.

So on her third week she started a sock project, using my First-Time Toe-Up Socks pattern. She finished the toe, the heel flap, the heel turn and picking up stitches to start the gusset (the little triangles on both sides of the foot under the ankle). Next week we decrease for the gusset and then she can finish her leg/cuff without me. Woohoo!

I took these photos last week. For some reason, I did not think to take any photos today. I did not get a shot of Paulette’s sock, nor did I get a photo of the absolutely gorgeous progress Mary is making on her (not beginner) BiggieZig ZigBag (which was my evening class, after the study hall). Rats!

Our ukulele-musician friends from Australia, Bosko and Honey, are on a long journey which started with Japan and now includes many states in the USA. They were here visiting us for two nights last week.

The four of us recorded “Row, Row, Row” in our living room on the second night they were here. They did a great job editing, and the video is up now for your listening/viewing enjoyment.

This weekend was the Habibi Dancers‘ 25th Anniversary concert (and two days of dance workshops). It was a great time. You can imagine that the preparations for something that big distracted me a bit from the teaching part of my life. Now I’m diving back into my teaching realm.

On Saturday, April 26, I’m teaching polymer clay “Stripes, Jelly Rolls and Checkerboards” at Threadbear Fiberarts. (See buttons top left and bottom almost-left in photo.)

I’ve taught a buttons/beads class for years, which uses layering techniques (think thin woodgrain or ivory but in any colors you like) to make buttons that are easily wearable with handknits. I have also recently added a “Foils and Translucents” class which creates lovely pearlescent buttons which also are just great with handknitted garments.

In the polymer clay community, beads are the focus rather than buttons. Many of the beads are made with a millifiore technique, an ancient glassworking method which works best with sharp contrast, and which draws in the eye to analyze fine detail.

I have had the instinct that fancier buttons with this type of detail, might distract from a garment. However, I am reminded by students that detail is adorable in a child’s button and also great for beads.

I’ve had enough requests that I’m teaching my first millifiore (stripes, etc) polymer class ever at a yarn shop, at Threadbear (Lansing, Michigan) this Saturday from noon to 4pm. Call 517/703-9276 to register.

If you want a project on which you might place your new buttons, I’ll be starting a baby set class at Rae’s on Thursday nights starting May 1. We’ll have one class, then a week off, then 3 more weeks in a row. We’re knitting the Wee One Welcome Set from Knitting at Knoon, which includes a sweater, hat and booties.

Rae’s sample version at the shop (see photo, shown with purchased buttons) is knit with one large (half-pound) skein of my Cushy ColorSport DK washable merino yarn, in the Seaside colorway. (She had enough yarn left over from the newborn size to knit a pair of tiny pants to go with it as well.) Last I looked Rae had 6 skeins of my yarn in stock (it’s limited in supply, I dye yarn when I’m not busy teaching). She has other DK weight washable yarns in stock as well.

To sign up for the baby set class, call Rae at 517/336-9276 or email info@raesyarnboutique.com

Next week (Friday May 2, 6-8pm) I teach Needlefelted Embellishments at Threadbear. This is a fun, no-sew method of adding color to a purse, hat or other item you own. It works well on felted or non-felted items. Wool works best as a base, but I’ve seen folks needlefelt on T-shirts and denim jackets, too. (On this photo, I used yarn “squiggles” on a purchased felted beret. Click above link to see Linda’s class project from last year.)

Saturday, May 3, I teach Polymer Clay Foils and Translucents at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan, from 11-3pm. (See pink button in first photo for one possible look.) Call Lindsay at 517/541-9323 to register.

Facing Reality

In my mind, I think I don’t do routine well. In fact, in some areas I have none. I get ready in the morning every day, but the things I do to get ready I switch around. I sometimes have breakfast first, sometimes get dressed first, sometimes prepare my class materials before any of the above.

Because of this, on mornings with a very short getting-ready time I miss things that should be routine. I typically forget to wear earrings or a watch, or I’ll forget to take my vitamins or some other thing that theoretically should be automatic for me to do.

Routine is My Friend

However, on a larger scale I have a weekly schedule or routine. I seem to have trouble when it gets disrupted.

Monday nights I teach computer classes at community education. Tuesdays during the day I’m home, typically doing computer/writing work (occasionally I have a class or guild meeting at night).

Wednesday I have CityKidz Knit! program followed by Habibi Dancers’ practice. Thursdays I’m at Rae’s. Fridays and Saturdays I teach random classes or work at home, and when we have music performances they often are Saturday nights. Sundays I teach at Rae’s.

Recovering from Schedule-Chaos

So far this year, I have not fallen into that routine. Since January things have been too intense to run on my familiar schedule. January we were coming out of holiday season and our friend Rev came to visit for three nights. February I was sick almost the whole month.

March, fortunately, was busy with the release of the ZigBagZ pattern collections and making up for lost class time… plus there were taxes to deal with. April we had Bosko and Honey as guests for two nights, and I performed in (and therefore rehearsed heavily for) the Habibi Dancers‘ 25th anniversary dance concert.

Whew! Whirlwind! I’m looking forward to some change. Change in favor of routine, regardless of what I have previously thought worked for me.

Big Plans

I’m hoping to schedule some new classes and new musical performances for the next few months. If anyone out there reading this wants a particular class, do let me know and I’ll do what I can to schedule it, hopefully at a time that works for you and a handful of others. I can’t always do what you want, but I will see if I can work it out.

I have some promises to make good on, a list of four tasks (two of which have been waiting for months) for other folks who can’t do these things for themselves. After that, I’ll be free to focus even more on my business.

There are some patterns I need to finish up, and I am hoping to get some dyeing done in May. Therefore, I want to get these to-do tasks out of the way soon.

Thank You

On another topic, thanks to everyone who is sending me photos and other content for this blog. I’m drowning in wonderful photographs, which have been coming in at a rapid rate as I’ve been distracted elsewhere. I hope I can post a good portion of the photos coming my way.

The photos today I took a week ago, the first signs of spring, growing things in my own yard. The daffodil is a tiny variety that comes in early, and now the bigger ones are following suit. Also shown here are my beloved violets (others call them weeds but they may be my favorite spring flowers), and a few myrtle/periwinkle blossoms. It’s actually truly looking springlike today, there were even golfers on the course at MSU!

I wanted to knit spring into existence. I thought I’d use some spring green handpainted sockyarn, maybe along with some turquoise handdyed sockyarn. I made the yarns into balls. I did not even cast on.

I did choose some spring green Nashua Creative Focus Worsted (wool/alpaca, really soft and warm but not very springlike other than color). I started a hat. Today I ripped out all but about 12 rounds. I’m OK with that, but maybe I just needed to not do wooly, warm stuff while talking spring.

Then last week I taught at Threadbear and they had turquoise/aqua mohair yarn on a huge clearance price. I got enough to replace my wearing-thin favorite-of-all turquoise mohair sweater. I don’t know when I’ll knit a sweater when I don’t write patterns for sweaters, but if I can get started there will be a lot of knitting just around and around and around in circles. At least the color is very springlike. And I do wear mohair in spring and fall, as well as winter. (Do I sound convincing yet?)

I also picked up 2 balls of washable merino (about DK weight) to make some socks for me. Whenever that happens. Meanwhile the colors can speak spring to me.

Mary is taking my ZigBagZ Maxi Collection class at Rae’s Yarn Boutique right now. I took this photo of her bag a week ago (my, how time flies). This is the base of her “Biggie Zig” which is a sort of large purse carry-all. It’s bigger now, because it will be shrunk on purpose when she is done knitting.

She is thrilled with the colors she picked. I think they are dead-on perfect for her. (This is proof that you can make ColorJoy patterns with *your* colors and they can be absolutely ColorJoy for *you*.)

I am looking forward to the next time we meet (in a few weeks, I think) when I can see the sides of the bag, zigzagged in 4 yarns (the base used only 2 yarns).

Go, Mary!

Sriyana is on my ColorJoy! Ravelry discussion group (please join us, you will need to join the free Ravelry site first). I’ve mentioned her tapestry-crocheted mandalas here before. This time she has been crocheting spring into existence, and it appears to have worked, at least in her part of the world.

She participated in an art show where the theme was chickens (I can not help but wonder what the show as a whole looked like), and made this piece with a hen and wonderful textured leaves. I’m not good at crochet, but those leaves make me want to learn more, and fast!

She lives near Asheville, North Carolina. This is a wonderful community on a mountain, where they get a lot of sun. It doesn’t get too hot or too cold, and it almost always avoids the cloudcover we see here in Michigan so much of the winter. My brother nearly moved there not too long ago. I’m glad he is closer to me right now, but I know he would have loved it there, had he made the move.

So… spring has arrived in the mountains. I am very happy she has chosen to share her photos with us. Thanks, Sriyana!

This Saturday, the Habibi Dancers (I am one) will be presenting their 25th anniversary concert at Hannah Community Center in East Lansing, Michigan. The City Pulse newspaper (I *love* these folks) put a relatively long article in their paper this week about the show.

They also included a photo of us in rehearsal for the show. I’m front/left, wearing green (though I’ll be wearing hot pink for the concert itself).

We first heard of Bosko and Honey (the ukulele act from Australia) on YouTube. Then last year in April we met them in person, at the New York Ukefest (we performed Friday, they were on Saturday). We really enjoyed talking with them but with all the distraction of a ukefest and conflicting travel arrangements, we did not get enough time to get to know them as we would have liked.

Luckily for us, they are on their way through the USA again. Tonight and tomorrow night they are staying with us. We have had much good food (Mama Bears and Altu’s) , some exploration (Old Town and East Lansing, and the weather has been wonderful for that), and a good deal of music making. Tomorrow we hope for more of the same.

The photo was taken last year at NYUkefest. I really love this video of their NY Farewell in the subway station. Wonderful.

Melissa lives in Australia. She is on my Ravelry ColorJoy discussion group and participates often. She wanted to participate in my “Knit Spring into Existence” project, except she is in the first bit of autumn where she lives.

Here is what she says:

When you suggested Knitting Spring into Existence, I wondered whether I might generate bad juju by joining your project, as here in Australia, Autumn clothes are appearing in stores. I never hesitate to march to a different drummer, but I also do my best to avoid contributing to undesirable climate change!

I settled on a rationalisation. I would knit (my first ever) baby booties as a symbol of new beginnings that can occur anytime in the year.

These booties are knit from yarn Melissa hand spun, and a guild friend hand dyed.

And now the coolest thing? The pattern for these booties came from a book which was written by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas. (This pair wrote the incredible Kids Knitting book I mentioned yesterday.)

Yes, the same Kristin Nicholas who gave a speech on color in Detroit yesterday/Monday. (Boo hoo. I missed it.) You see, we’re all in it together, if you are a knitter. It seems we are all related somehow.

Diana/Otterwise chose this beautiful yarn to Knit Spring into Existence. She has has some challenges this spring to say it kindly, thus the shawl she started had to be frogged (rip-it, rip-it). However, she says:

I didn’t finish this shawl, it got frogged when I totally screwed it up due to brain fog. But I did knit toward spring with it.

I’ve also attached a springy photo of tree buds from up north in Gaylord.

And can’t we all benefit from some hopeful, optimistic flower buds???

Note added later: Diana reminds me that the yarn is one I dyed (I had forgotten I’d done sockyarn in this colorway). It is TipToe Sockyarn in colorway “Spring Sunshine.” No wonder she chose it for this project!

Leeann sent me a photo of her springlike yarn for my “Knit Spring into Existence” project, and I posted that photo on March 30. Here she shows that she did dive in and start her first handknitted socks. She reports that it’s so much fun she doesn’t want to knit any of her other projects.

I say that you can not buy passion, and that sort of enthusiasm for knitting anything must be embraced. That’s what I say, anyway.

Knit on, Leeann!

Garnett Kepler (stage name Yasmina Amal) is in the State News (Michigan State Univ. student paper) today for her work at the World Languages Day at MSU. She taught a session called “Walk like an Egyptian” which included both dance and cultural awareness.

Garnett is my dance teacher and the Director of Habibi Dancers. The article is here.

Photo is the best one of Garnett I’ve ever taken; Minnesota, May 2005.