I certainly hope all is well

Had a talk with aforesaid friend yesterday and told her the gist of how I was feeling. She was very apologetic and I forgive here. There.

I don't think she will ever really get it and I had already abandoned expectations of that. So it goes. I hope I can forget about the whole thing. No comments here so I don't think anyone on the web has anything to worry about!

I've been SO EXHAUSTED since the play opened, I haven't really done anything knitting/spinning wise. I've been falling asleep at the least opportunity. But I did make it to the second ball of the laceweight mohair shawl, so this should be finished in a day or two. How long should it be? I could make it to eight feet if I use all the yarn (or more!)

I stare impotently at my spinning wheel. I'm spinning up the BFL I dyed for the play as a test run and it's really pretty. I call it Antique Pansies. But the schedules have not permitted any time to sit down and spin. I must just carve the time out.

Next week, I WILL WARP THE LOOM for the Brownies so they can make their flag. And then I never have to do it again, right? I can just tie new warp to the old? It's not that I don't want to, it's just that it took SO LONG the first time and that was SO LONG ago. I can get my teacher to help if I need it, though. She's great. I will post progress photos next week, too, that will be fun.

Happy spinning if you can get to it!

Pilgrim is GREAT!

I got to attend the opening night performance of Pilgrim at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Los Angeles this Saturday and it was WONDERFUL!

The cast is very talented, very energized. The singing is exceptional. The villains are frightening and contrast very well with each other. DH's performance was scary and creepy and very manly. Plus he looks great!

I know, I'm a relative and all, but I thinks the show really came together, the story is moving, the acrobats are INCREDIBLE and it really should get to have a further life. I don't think I am biased. Admittedly, if it were awful, I would not write about it here. But it is adamantly NOT.

Congratulations to John Stothers, the cast, the crew, the band, and especially to DH who waited so many years for this project to come to fruition!!

The Time Has Come

The Play is finally going to have a preview, WITH AN AUDIENCE, tonight. After much difficulty finding childcare, I am attending the ONLY RUNTHROUGH this afternoon. Pray for them, pray for them all. They have twenty (20!) confirmed critics for Saturday night and they had better not have to stop in the middle to have a chat. Have they had some time management issues? Oh, yes.

The show is really great, if they can pull it off.

I've been knitting on a shawl to wear on Saturday night, but last night found a giant HOLE in the thing about a foot back from where I was. Rip, rip, rip. But it's hard to get yarnovers and such back on the needles, it took a while. Plus, of course, I could not find a tapestry needle for putting in a lifeline to save my life.

What is the deal with tapestry needles, seam rippers and measuring tapes? I think this has been mentioned by Yarn Harlot, but five hundred years from now that's all the evidence of my existence there will be, a huge cache of tapestry needles, seam rippers and measuring tapes. What they will make of that, I can't imagine!

Finished DS's stripey socks, he loves them, but says they are too slippery to wear for running around. They are currently also too big to wear inside shoes. So they are bedsocks, but he loves them, thank goodness!

Aforesaid shawl, back to about 2.5 feet long, going for six or seven. Eek!

Jaywalkers are stalled. Also Duck hat for friend mentioned below. Having trouble getting up the motivation to knit for her AGAIN. My sweater/hat/socks were very well recieved and have been worn and photographed. But if she can't even work up the energy to call me once a week, I'm not jumping her in the queue, if you know what I mean.

I feel terribly behind on plans/spinning/knitting for the County Fair. But I need to remember that I already knit for First Grade Teacher and there are just too many preschool teachers (3!) to make socks for everyone. So I think the gifts will not be knitted this year. That gives me April, May, June for fair stuff and July/August/September for FIL's sweater. He's the only one on the list for Christmas this year, as I've never made a man's sweater before. Everyone in the family will appreciate it, I think, as they all live on a property together.
But I must STOP casting on silly projects and begin to focus on really even yarn for the yarn competition and whatever it is I'm putting in for the knitting. A shawl? I beat a shawl with socks two years ago. But I want something larger scale than socks this year, as I am going for a rosette (got the blue ribbon last year). The Log Cabin shawl is just TOO colorful and TOO simple.

Think, think, think.

Happy knitting and spinning and tell your Senator to VOTE FOR CENSURE!!!!

Over it

You might be happy to know I'm over it now. Whew! What a hissy fit!

Back to the real matter of this blog: the knitting.

Of course, I'm still in mega cast on mode. Started the Camille Shawl from Unwind (they got more yarn in). This is my LYS, lucky me! Trying to finish it by next weekend so I can wear it to the opening night of DH's play. (www.pilgrimla.com

Halfway through knitting the second stripey sock for DS from handspun Corriedale bought at a fiber show from Village Spinning and Weaving. It was a bag of one ounce each of eight colors. I spun it up to be self striping but have ended up pulling the colors apart anyway, just to be sure all the stripes are the same size. Who knows whether a four and a half year old would wear extremely fraternal sockies? Can't take that chance. He does like the first one, although it is a big long. He gets a chance to grow into them, yay!

No progress on Cul de Sac, but I did manage to order more yarn from Knitpicks today for a shrug in a MIssion Falls book (my excuse is I need to try their new worsted weight cotton to see how it knits up) and another baby sweater for another pregnant friend. Another person I would like to cultivate for a closer relationship, too. Hope it works out better this time! See, I never learn...but better to be hurt than never to try, I think.

I am also trying NOT to swatch any Shine just to see how it looks at 22 spi, 23, spi and 24 spi. I know 24 is probably the best, but I can afford Knitpicks almost all the time and would really like to have more freedom of stashing, oh, yeah! DH is not freaked out by my ordering more yarn as the new baby's mom is really a friend of his. I always have to sneak in enough yarn for a sweater for ME or else i have to pay shipping and that would be HORRIFYING!!

Happy knitting and spinning and tell your Senators to VOTE FOR CENSURE!!!

Some things you don't know about me

And maybe will wish you didn't...

I don't have a huge number of friends. I don't have a moderate number of friends. I have a few friends. These friends are VERY VERY dear to me and important to my way of life, as you can imagine.

I am always looking for new friends. I probably got this from not having very many growing up and wanting to have more connections with people. I am willing to reach out to anyone I meet that has any degree of compatibility, in hobby, in age of children, in location, in spirit, anything, really. I reach out often and am often, well, not rebuffed exactly, but people don't necessarily reach back. Everyone probably has this experience.

Sometimes I take this in stride better than others.

[This post has been heavily edited to remove lots of profanity and a crying jag.]

On the other hand, my other friend is FABULOUS and I can tell her all this stuff and she doesn't judge me. And I have another friend who lives far, far away that would hug me all day if she could and protect me from all harm, I know that. And my DH will stand up for me always. My children are great (loud) and very loving. My life is pretty good right now. I just will never understand people and cruelty and thoughtlessness. I just don't get it. But at least they can't make me be any way I don't want to be. I can stand up for her just the same. But in my heart, Lord, in my heart, I wish it were different.

Thanks for reading this. I admire you for it. Wanna be friends?

I had to recover from the Olympics

I've been away from the blog since the medal ceremony, yes. I went into a bit of a decline, perhaps. But I also had to do some dyeing test runs and a real run of wool for DH's show, so that the wool being spun on stage goes with the set and costume design colors. That was fun!

Now why have I gotten into an obsession with the color (drum roll, please) yellow-orange? Kind of a luminous orangey yellow of a t-shirt that my mom bought me on Cape Cod. Is Knitpicks Shine in Apricot the right color? I must order some and see. Can I dye this color? Dye experiments are in my future, but, of course, it's a weird schedule at school this week, drop off at 8:30, drop off younger one at 12:15, pick up older one at 1:13, pick up younger one at 3:15. Does it sound to you like I will have a lot of time to myself? Me neither.

I have been knitting:

Jaywalkers for me in Mountain Colors Bearfoot, halfway to the toe of first sock.
Third try at "stripey" socks for DS (4 1/2), finished first sock this morning before church.
Still at the same point on Cul de Sac (not enough brain). But soon...before it gets warm.

Starting this week: Oh, please, please, can I spin? Please?
A friend at church wants me to knit up a duck hat for our friend's new baby. I don't have any proper yellow. Shall I purchase? Shall I spin? Shall I dye? I want this to go fast. Hm. I have some yellow wool-ease...what about the bill?

This week I WILL finish the stripey socks. I hope by Tuesday evening. It's cold (for SoCal) and DS likes warm socks for bed.

I'll try for some pictures of WIP, too. None today. Too tired from Girl Scout Cookie boothing, Scout Sunday, too much work, not enough fun. We haven't even watched Survivor from this week yet, heavens!

Have fun!