Armed with Pointy Sticks

Drive by ABC's

Worry not, Mr. Roger's did not move to a new 'hood, and we aren't discussing playground violence.

I'm just really behind on my ABC along.

F is for Finished.

I'm not nuts about that picture.  I can't take pictures of myself, though.  So oh well.  I have plans to rip out the neck band and the lapel borders and knit them smaller.  Kaffe designs, but he doesn't know a whole lot about womanly curves.  Anyhow, there's my colorwork for the decade.

G is for Garden.

No picture here.  Imagine three pots with tomato plants.  And a few other pots with dirt.  Yay dirt.  Wet dirt.  Lots of rain.

H is for Harlot. 

No pictures of said harlot.  The flash went off, I'm pretty sure, but oh well.

We had a great time seeing Steph.  I always really enjoy seeing her, and I love to hear her talk.  I do feel sad that she seems so worn out this time around.  I hope she gets the week of sleep that she seems to need.  Shoot, sometimes seeing my small band of friends is tiring.  People wear me out!  I can't imagine meet n greeting with 1000 knitters in a few hours.

She should have gone our route.  By the time we go to Webs, we were buzzed.

It's not our fault.  See the bottom of the beer?  They hid blueberries in the bottom of our beers!  Of course I had to find them. 

Twice.

And then Heather's, because she didn't finish her last drink.

Webs drunk?  I fully recommend.  I got up to Steph and told her about those bastards who hid fruit at the bottom of my beers.  I'm not quite sure how she labels me in her head, but I'll be you this will be a defining moment.  Then I told her about The Champions of Cumulative Action (which I named for one of the concepts she spoke of last time I saw her).  So, it wasn't all drunk girl talk. 

 

But you know what?  Drunkenness affects my yarn buying almost as much as my knitting, which is to say almost not at all.  I will warn you, I am a hell of an enabler when I'm drunk.  Actually, I am when I'm sober, too.  So much for the warning.  I'm as dangerous to your yarn budget drunk as sober.  Caroline said that shopping with me was the way to go, though :D  That makes me happy.  We got her a bag of Jaeger Pure Silk, which is in my top 5 yarns to roll around naked in. 

But I almost didn't buy any yarn for myself.  I was on my way out the door, happy, when Chris talked me into some Greater Adirondack Lolita in the Foliage colorway.  It's purty, and I'm happy aging it until I can knit it.

So, the Harlot, the yarn, and the people.  The people are sublime.  I got to see old friends and make some new ones.  I got to carpool with some of my best friends.  I'd say that there may not have been one thing I could have done to improve Sunday.  Except I wish Steph was well rested.  Poor gal, we wear her out.  (((Huge note here, do not take this blog post as a declaration of Steph's failing health.  I am not her doctor.  I am not her mother.  I am not her.  I'm merely expressing concern and well wishes.  I want all of my friends to have as many naps as they want.)))  Jesus, can you tell I've been spending a bit too much time on Ravelry's main boards, leaving a disclaimer like that?

I is for Invisibility.

I don't know if we're on J yet.  I'm not, anyhow.

The Champions of Cumulative Action!

2008 was a success!

The Champions of Cumulative action raised over 1,000 dollars, contributing to the over 55,000 raised in total, and you helped!

We ended up walking 7 strong, and we'll be doing it again next year.  How could we not?

We were surrounded by people who had love for the cause.  Great company and high spirits.  The weather was absolutely sublime, and it didn't hurt that they had respite and snacks for us every two miles or so.  (food is never not a good reason for me, honestly.)

Want to see the team I have so much love for?  I don't know how it happened, but I didn't get pictures of everyone (I didn't know Christina could move that fast)  but here's a sampling of the day.

First, we all got tshirts.  I'm collecting these now, and I like this year's design.

This is Amanda exhibiting the "change your tshirt in public" technique, with my help.  Classy broad, ain't she?

Here's the closest thing I have to a team picture.  We have "official" ones coming from the chapter, but for now this will do.  Before anyone asks, Chris does still have both of his legs and is not hobbling on a badly-aligned prosthetic.

And here's the start!  This picture does nothing to show the huge crowd that just boiled out of the schoolyard and onto the street, but it's an idea.

Did I mention that the weather was sublime?

After the 5 miles they fed us, and we all got medals!  This is Chris and my dad-in-law.  There's a serenity here that overcomes the tired legs.  Seriously, where is Christina hiding in all of these pictures?

There was a guy there letting people ride his Segway, and I'll have to tell you.  I love this little gadget.  It  is incredibly intuitive, and it has a whole bunch of giddyup.  I only wish I had a practical application for one.

Don't laugh.  I challenge you to look cool on a Segway.  It just can't be done.

And that was our day. 

But that's not it for you!  I have prizes! 

To the lovely Noolie and Donna H. go one skein of Can-Do!
To Gigi, the Wollmeise gift certificate!
To Caroline, the Knitter's Critter, Shiver!
And... a surprise 5th gift goes to Patti.  We'll let it stay a surprise for the now :)

I used a random number generator over at random.org and contacted the winners through Ravelry.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who donated or linked this walk on their blog.  I love this community so much.  We will be walking again next year, and come about February we'll start putting the word out for donations and walkers.  I want to hit that 2500 this year, and maybe have ten walkers on the team.

I want tshirts.  Something with an awesome design proclaiming the awesomeness of COCA.

Yes.  It will only get better.  All of it.

One Week Left!

One week left to donate for the walk to end MS!  One week to be registered for wonderful prizes!  One week left for me to figure out how much Motrin I'll need after walking FIVE FREAKIN' MILES.

I am so friggin excited.  I'm anxious to see how much everyone raised.  I can see who donated on line (and that's all of you lovely people!) but I have 5 other people on my team, and I know that they're all doing fantastically.  Honestly, I just can't wait for the walk.  I know I'll suffer with people I like.

MS Walk!

Two weeks until we walk!  The Champions of Cumulative Action is 6 strong and ready to kick ass on MS!

Thank you to everyone who has donated!  I have a surprise.  I'm giving prizes!  Heather has donated 2 skeins of her Can-Do colorway, and I have a 15 euro gift certificate for Wollmeise (enough for a skein of sock yarn and most of the shipping), and a very cute, nay, adorable Knitter's Critter from Popsie Daisy's etsy site. 

Want in on this great raffle?  I'll be drawing names after the walk (April 20th) and it is not too late to donate!  Hop on over to my site for the MS Walk, and then over to my blog.  Leave me a comment letting me know you've donated (doesn't matter which post, I get them all) and you'll be entered.

2 weeks away!  I'm getting so excited :D  Thank you!

The Debate Within

The MS community is a little daunting for the newly diagnosed.  It is so daunting, that after finding it, I decided to go it alone.  The on line community that I found five (yes, five) years ago was small, defeatist, and depressing.  There were shining spots, but I didn't feel the love that I later found in other communities.  Like the knitting community. 

I was recently found by Lisa Emrich who fosters Brass and Ivory, a blog which finds and cultivates the very community environment that I so badly needed five years ago.  I may still need it now.  And if I don't need it now, I may find myself profoundly grateful for it in the future.

Lisa is looking for people to contribute to an upcoming issue of Carnival of MS Bloggers.  She is looking specifically for bits on what we do to express ourselves creatively.  I thought about it for a while.  This is not an MS blog.  It's a knitting and cats and whimsies and life blog.  Its blogger just happens to have MS.  But, you know, I really kind of like what Lisa is doing.  Life is hard.  It's harder alone.  While I have many, wonderful, various friends, I don't have many people I can call on that have MS.  I know most of you would listen and come over in a flash if I fell and couldn't get up, but sometimes you just want someone who understands.  If you don't understand that, you've never excitedly run through the house full of non-knitters trying to find someone to impress with your new technique on how to turn a heel.  No matter how much they love you, most people just can't wrap their heads around it.  In hopes that there will always be someone around who understands the humor behind fall down and getting up before anyone knows you fell, I do believe I'll write.

But about what facet?  The fact that I started knitting after my MS felt it wise to steel my hands is a good one,  but I've written it before.  I'm proud of it.  There are other things that could be said, though.  I'm sure.  The fact that I have such wonderful friends and great things to look forward to each week is a result of my knitting, so why not that?  I just don't know, but if I'm going to help, I'll have to know soon. 

To cheer me up from the writers' block, I have good news!  The Champions of Cumulative Action is now 4 strong, with Melissa having joined us.   That goal is looking better every day.

It gets even better, though.  I am a little bit more overjoyed with each donation, and I want to show all of you people just how wonderful I think you all are.  I didn't think I was going to be able to do this before, but... I'm going to draw some names and award some prizes for my lovely pledge makers.

Each 10 dollar donation will get your name entered into the drawing.  Prizes are not yet solidified, but there will be 2 skeins of Heather's new sock yarn, Can-Do, (I urge you to go read this post and learn what goes into the making and selling of this wonderful colorway) and a gift certificate for Wollmeise yarn.   More to come.

So thank you to everyone who has helped us raise money, and thank you to everyone who is thinking of it, and thank you to everyone who has spread the word on your own blogs.  You are my community, and you keep me strong, even if you don't find falling down the stairs funny under the right circumstances :D

More soon.  Good night everyone!  Go Red Sox!

E is for...

ENDS!!!!

Oh yes, ends.  Ends and ends and ends and ends.  In fact, I don't have an exact count, but there were over 1,000 of the little bastards.

I haven't really blogged about this piece yet, because it almost felt like talking about it would steal it's momentum.  This is my Kaffe Stripe from Rowan 43.  It's knit in Rowan Cotton Glace, and I have been knitting on it almost exclusively since the beginning on January. 

Am I done?

Very close to almost.  I've got all these pieces sewn together.  The only thing left is to sew borders for the neck and panels, and ties.  Easy peazy lemon squeazy.  I should have a finished object picture for you soon.  I'm really proud of myself for this one.  Even after 3 months of going steady with this piece, I could still hold it at arm's length, drink in all the color and perfect stitches, and go "Damn."  so I know it's love.

Ends.

See, I told you this blog was still about knitting.  And cats.

As an aside, I want to warmly thank everyone who has helped out the Champions of Cumulative Action in some way.  Some of you donated, some of you spread the word by blogging this wonderful cause, and one of you even joined the team.  Thank you, thank you, thank you :)  2,500 is a large goal, but being a part of this incredible community (heh, commuknity) makes it easy to count the drops needed to fill the bucket.  Thank you.  We've still got a long way to go, but what's the point of setting a goal if it's easy to reach?

All right, I'm going to bed.  Gigi, you'd better be there tomorrow.  I've already packed your shawl in my bag.  See?  All kinds of things to be proud of tonight :D

Time to Walk

Hello everyone!

It is truly getting to be spring time.  More melty than freezy, the birds are coming back, and it's time for the MS Walk.

Many of us know someone with MS (I know most of you do ;)).  They may be older, wheelchair bound, or they may be younger, with very few signs of the disease.  They may be male or female, any color, any walk of life.  The disease rarely discriminates.  It just comes in and changes stuff around.  It's annoying, it's embarrassing, and it's a thief.  It steals stability (har har), self reliability, and pride.  I have lost vision, lost balance, lost control of facilities that no one should lose control of, and once or twice, I've lost faith in myself.

There as my savior stands the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  NMSS funds research, treatment, and education.  It is a beacon in a world filled with people who could very easily make a hobby of hating them selves.   The NMSS gives hope.  Hope that we will continue to treat this disease, taking away it's hold on the lives that it affects.  Hope that one day there will be a cure.  Hope that I won't ever have to knit a wheelchair cozy. 

This year I am incredibly lucky to be walking with a team.  We have named ourselves The Champions of Cumulative Action.  Those of you who have seen The Yarn Harlot speak know part of the reason for this name.  The rest of you yarn wranglers will catch up quick.

When you knit a sock, you don't knit it all at once.  You knit it one stitch at a time.  You make thousands of stitches, one at a time, and you have a sock.  When we walk 5 miles next month, we will do it one step at a time.  Through many small, repetitive actions, we will achieve great things. 

Which brings me to the peanut butter.  Why we walk.  We walk to raise money for the NMSS, and we'd be deeply touched if you'd help us do that.  If you can only give 5 dollars, that may not seem like a big deal to you.  If I can get 19 other people to donate 5 dollars, well, all of us together, cumulatively, if you will, have just raised 100 dollars to kiss MS goodbye.

Please help us by donating to the Champions of Cumulative Action.  Or, if you feel like it, you can use the same link to join us and walk with us on April 20th (we'll probably be knitting while we walk).

Please feel free to look over the NMSS website to answer some further questions about MS.  It was the first place that I went when I was diagnosed.

And please keep in mind, I started knitting after I was diagnosed with MS.  One day I lost feeling in my hands.  I couldn't do anything with my hands without looking at them.  It irritated me so badly that I decided to teach myself how to knit.  I wouldn't know most of you if it weren't for my MS.  Is that a mixed blessing, or what? :D

Thank you :)

Picasso in my Fever Dreams

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it" ~Pablo Picasso

Wise words.  Let me get back to them.

For those of you who read my blog through a feeder (mostly Google feeder, it would seem), Typepad made a blunder with my (and other) RSS feeds early yesterday morning.  For those of you who like the London Post, wonderful, for those of you who don't, worry not, it's been fixed.  Yay Typepad!

Onto our cute crazy cubist. 

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in oder that I may learn how to do it. 

I found this quote yesterday, or the day before (the last three days have been one big fever dream) and it just stuck with me.  This is something that someone needs to stitch in a sampler for every person with knitting needles who has ever said "oh, I don't know if I can do that.  It looks hard."

There is no fear or reluctance in Pablo's statement.  None.  There is a declaration that when he comes across something that he can't do, he does it, and then he can do it.  Now, if Pablo (can I call you Pabs? How bout Pabbi P?) if Pabs were a knitter, I'm pretty sure he'd have his Ravelry account filled with steeked sweaters, Orenberg lace, and any other manner of "daring knits", but he wouldn't see them as daring.  Only things that he could not do, until he did them.

Maybe it's lace.  I have a fond friend who knits gorgeous aran sweaters from memory.  She's recently picked up socks for the first time and is doing them flawlessly, two at once, one needle.  She turned to me last Wednesday and said "I've never done lace."  I told her that it was about time to wander down that path.  She is one of the people I think of when I read Pabsie's quote.  She has no fear of the technique, she is pretty comfortable that she can do it.  So I'm going to print her out some lace patterns (nothing hair raising) and bring them to her on Wednesday. 

Maybe it's color work with lots of carries.  This shouldn't scare you.  There is only one new trick, carrying a color in back, not tugging too tightly, and twisting the colors ever 3 or so stitches so it carries smoothly.  Someone you know would love to help you with this, I'm sure.

Maybe it's working with cotton.  This is rarely an overcoming of fear, merely an overcoming of distaste.   Many of us who have entered the knitting world on our own, without a knitting knursemaid, have started at big stores that sell dishcloth cotton.  Many of us decide right there that cotton is not worth our time.  I'm guilty.  I found all kinds of excuses to not knit with cotton, until I found a garment made out of a cotton that had so many wonderful colors (and this garment used about 14 of those colors) that I had to give it a go.  This was my most recent Pablo moment.

I think we should all have more Pablo moments.  We're playing with sticks and string, and mistakes are easily repaired or eradicated (step away from the stove, that's not what I meant).  There is no life and death, if it doesn't fit you it will fit someone else, and don't worry, if you don't finish the blanket, the baby will still be born.  I think more of us should look at patterns that are beyond our current range of expertise and go "I'm going to try that.  I'll learn something and be a better knitter." instead of "Oooh, I love that!  Oh, but it's marked intermediate.  I should find something else."  Hogwash.  Be the knitter you want to be.

As I've typed this out, I've decided that this needs a knit along.  No structure, and not now.  Pablo's birthday is in October, so maybe the whole month of October, people could just do something with their craft that they've never done before, whether it be because they don't think they can, or they don't have time, or they don't like the thought of it.  Or maybe April, the month that he left us (which doesn't mess with Christmas knitting, which people start at different times).  Maybe that's lace.  Maybe that's entrelac.  Maybe that's learning to read a chart.  It will be a personal goal, like the Knitting Olympics.

Give me your feedback, think about what you "can't do" so you can do it, and learn it.  I'll be coming back with this sooner or later.

I want to thank you all for being a part of my latest fever dream.  I'd post pictures, but the colors scare me right now.

Post edited to focus less on the concept of "fear" and add other reasons that may keep us from doing something different.  Thank you, Naomi :)

D is for...

Apparently, the rest of the world is already on E.  Oh, I've got a good one for E.  I've been plotting it.  Or it's been plotting me.  Anyway.  D.

D is for Difranco.  Ani Difranco.

Chris and I went to see Ms. Difranco on Thursday night.  Ani has been a hero of mine since I discovered her at age 16.  I consider her music a huge part of the soundtrack of my life.  I've been to see her 4 times now, the last 3 being with Chris, the first in Tokyo in 2003.  In 2004 Chris bought me tickets for my birthday.  It was our first birthday together, and incredibly special.  Just one more reason for me to have warm fuzzies for Ani.

I looked all over for a  good you tube (my batteries bit the dust half way through her first song) and I decided on this.  Can I make a suggestion to all of you youtube artists?  If it's crap, don't post it.  If it's sideways, don't post it.  Keep the stuff that sounds like someone is licking your sound input.  Keep the Blair Witch escapades.  Just stop, okay?  And I don't need to see every college boy with a guitar and no girlfriend covering  Ani on youtube.  Please.  It's kind of sacred to me.

And since I was youtube trolling, I figured I'd find a clip of the band that opened for her, Over the Rhine.  Let me tell you, this band was so amazing.  The lead singer has these smoky vocals.  Whiskey tinted like Stevie Nicks, full and rich like Aretha.   This is the song that they opened with, and my favorite.  The video sucks, but the video isn't important. 

So yes, D is for Difranco.  Ani Fuckin' Difranco.  Ask me how!

C is For...

C.  C is for Cats, and Cold (it's been cold), and Cookies (Heather, you need to email me something, remember?), and Cuddles, and Color (the Kaffe Stripe is coming along swimmingly, pictures on the way).  And Cocoa (to stave off the Cold), and Cinnamon Candy, and Cut (as in hair Cut)

But mostly, C is for Chris.

He's been away all week and he gets home tonight.  The Cats are good company for short times, but no substitute for my favorite C.