yarn spinner

Lost

2012-01-21T08:07:00.000-08:00

Lost:

One pound of coffee...this was lost sometime last summer. After the babies were born, I went back to drinking a large strong cup of (french press) coffee each morning. This has a lot of caffeine in it. I have needed it.

Most people who know me know that I do not lose things with any frequency. I try hard to keep track of things...but I lost a whole pound of coffee.
This is, in retrospect, entirely reasonable. Anyone who has as little sleep as I have had would be losing a lot of stuff. At this point I estimate that I have not had a complete, long, full night of sleep in a year...since I had to get up every 2-3 hours starting last January while I was pregnant. (Twins in the womb don't leave a lot of room for, err, liquids to collect at night.)

I started asking everyone to keep a look out in case they found the coffee someplace weird, like in a baking pan or something. Nobody found it.

A very unhelpful person wondered if I had early onset Alzheimer's. (Really.) It wasn't funny...

The professor has been in charge of baby bottle stuff, since I am not to fully supply two babies with breast milk. He lost some very expensive plastic baby nipples, new in the package, at the same time.

The conclusion? A friend determined that somewhere, we had some nipples very hopped up on caffeine.

More recently, I seem to have lost something that upsets me more. Remember these mitts?

I seem to have lost them, too. I can't figure out if I left them somewhere outside the house (unlikely, since my hands would have been cold all the way home) or if someone picked them up inadvertently when they left our house...or??

I just don't know.

All this brings me to the bigger point. Time, at least for us right now, is not elastic. It doesn't stretch anymore. I cannot find any more of it by managing my time better. Believe me, I've tried. I am using the twins' morning nap time (20 minutes of shared sleep is a great nap around here, I don't get more of a break than that. Ever.)

We are finding it so very hard to get basic tasks done, like making dinner, or doing all the laundry, etc. Why? Well, I had a taste of what it is like to have one baby this week. The professor had to take Leo to some appointments. I had blocks of time with just one baby. WHOA! Amazing!

I could take a shower. (bouncy chair in the bathroom kept Sam amused.) I could use both hands when I put ONE baby down. When one baby napped, I didn't have to try to help the other baby fall asleep. I fed only one baby at a time. WOW.

The professor's undergraduate research mentor had twins. She told him being with just one twin was like being by yourself. I get it now. Really, I do.

All this is to say that time--time to blog, sleep, shower, eat, shovel snow, go to the bathroom, etc. is in very short supply. Having someone around to care for the twins occasionally does not allow me time to work yet, or even to rest. I run around cooking 3 dinners in an hour to feed us for the week. I try to take a shower. I rush off to do laundry...

Ooops. Nap time is over. Crying is starting. If you find my mittens...or the last 7-8 months? Please let me know!

Hanukah

2011-12-20T18:15:00.000-08:00

The babies are 6.5 months old now. They are finally, very occasionally, sleeping through the night. (Sleeping through the night is defined as sleeping 4-6 hours in a row without waking up.) They sometimes even do this at the same time.

This is a marvelous thing.

It doesn't happen consistently. I am still very sleep deprived and maybe a little stinky. Showers still aren't easy to come by!

I am again relying on the professor to gift me the time to post this on the first night of Hanukah.

I am also excited to say that today we had our appointment with the Canadian immigration folks. We can now transition from being on work permits here to being "Permanent Residents." This is huge. It means we can be sure that we'll stay in the same country as our little Canadian citizens. (see these photos for who I mean...)

(The professor's work permit relied on his job, which meant he might have to leave if for some reason, he was no longer a professor here.) This is even more important because although the twins are also US citizens, we still don't have passports for them. It's a long story, so I won't go into it here.

Instead, I will mention a brief encounter I saw this summer. Each morning, I get the chance to leave the house every day to walk my dogs. Sometimes this 20 minutes a day is the only outdoor, baby-free time I have all day or all week.

It was summer, about 9-1o in the morning. An older gentleman, 75 or so, hailed his friend as he crossed the street. The older gentleman (OG for short) had a British accent.

"Hubert," he said (I think it was Hubert, but it might have been Herbert--forgive me, I'm sleep deprived), "How are you?"

"OY!" Hubert said. "I'm Shvitzing! It's already 26C out here! It's going to be so hot today!"

"Yes," OG, nodding. "I know. Quite. Hot."

I walked on, smiling. First off, 26C is really not that hot. (79F) We were maybe aiming for a high of 90F?!

Second, I realized I'd had a special, uniquely Canadian encounter. A man emigrated from Britain. Another man emigrated from Eastern Europe. I walked by, and I'm here from the U.S. One in five Canadian citizens is born outside of Canada.

Today I got a potential chance to enter that club someday. In any case, my two babies? They are those other Canadians--you know, the 4 out of 5 born in Canada. That was my realization.

Neat gift on the first night of Hanukah.

treading water

2011-10-25T17:20:00.001-07:00

My friends have been asking me--"When will you post new things to your blog?" It has been more a problem of...when will I be able to open my computer up again?

Right now, I am taking advantage of an absolutely unusual thing. Both babies are napping at the same time. To get to this place, we had a day of fussiness and then I took the babies on a long walk in the stroller. (While editing this post, one of the babies woke up. Oh well.)

Usually when this rare thing happens, it is a mad chance to:

go to the bathroom

take a shower

eat

pump (I am still breastfeeding/pumping/bottle feeding with formula--all of it. Yes.)

I don't get to do any of these things very often, so blog posts seem like an impossible luxury right now! I promise I'll try to drop in when I can.

So, here is a brief update. In both of these photos, you can see Leo on the left and Sam on the right. The top photo features a multicolored blue baby surprise sweater knit by a friend. (hi Liz!)

The other two sweaters (cotton light blue and light green) are also versions of the same pattern, knit for the babies by my mom.

I am still working on the same knit toy that I started when I came home from the hospital 4.5 months ago...yes, the babies are nearly 5 months old now. I have knit this toy previously (before these babies) for one of my nephews. It took me two evenings.

Yup...there is NO TIME for anything at all. I can't even remember the last time I was able to go to my office on the third floor. It's getting dusty.

People have asked how one manages with twin infants. Some lifesaving things:

1) a baby carrier or sling. I wear a baby in a sling (and nurse using the sling, while feeding the other baby a bottle) for hours every day. Yes, my back hurts after a long while, so I use more than one kind of sling so that the weight is distributed differently using the two different slings. Wearing a baby allows me to do crazy two handed things like fold laundry, make dinner, or even change the other baby's diaper.

2) The stroller. Yes. I walk around the neighborhood a lot, and I am dreading winter. When real winter happens, I'm not sure what we'll do...hopefully by then the babies will be older and do better at napping on their own. We've had an outstandingly wonderful fall with lots of good weather so far, and I've walked miles while pushing a really big stroller.

3) A very involved spouse. Baby #2 just woke up, they are crying, and the professor is managing it for now.

4) Really helpful friends...the kind who come over, face two babies screaming with a calm aplomb, pick up a baby, and give me a chance to cook or eat dinner, shower, or well, have a strong drink. :)

5) Hired guns. We've got a variety of people helping us for about 16 hours a week, and they all have different strengths. It is expensive, and a financial stretch and I can't leave home most of the time anyway because there are TWO babies here, never mind the laundry, bottles, and other chores. It is a really good week when I can be out for 2-4 hours without babies. Not 4 hours all at once, mind you, but a few minutes here and there.

6) I hear that this phase of childrearing ends and I can't wait. I miss my friends, my work life (now on hold), and getting more than 2 to 3 hours of sleep at a time!

A lot of folks have asked me how things are and I hardly have time to email back. Forgive me if this post sounds blatantly honest...but things are sort of a blur at present. People stop me on the street, address me by name, talk about the babies--and I have no idea who they are! I hope someday to have enough sleep again to do better.

In the meanwhile, if I smile and nod at you, but look vacant? It's not you. It's me...and juggling two 4.5 month babies. Please keep the cheery emails, visits, and good vibes coming in our direction...I appreciate it all even if I can't manage good responses. Those communications mean the world to me.

Thanks so much.

Joanne

PS: Yes, if you were curious, those U.S. passports are still lost in the mail. We have a couple of senators, a congressman, the U.S. Consul and some other folks working on it. It's kind of a bureaucratic mess. This problem on its own makes me need to take deep cleansing yoga breaths, never mind the baby stuff.

stained glass colored glasses

2011-09-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Thought you'd enjoy seeing our newest acquisition...we got this stained glass panel Sunday at an old house warehouse/antique mall place. (Old House Revival, if you live in Winnipeg.)

We hung it immediately in our dining room. Check out the photos! We're hoping that this will:
A) Block out some views of the ugly new condo across the street, which is growing uglier by the day. The latest is the landscaping, which appears to be all rocks....no greenery at all so far.

B) Screen views from the street so people can't look in and see the babies all the time.

C) Beautify our lives a bit.

So far, option C is working. I think it looks great and that makes me happy! I have a call into the store to find out if they know anything more about the history behind this piece. I am so sleep deprived that I am surprised by how nice it looks every time I enter the dining room. I just can't remember that we bought it. :)

It doesn't entirely screen out the condo (very little would) and now it appears that some of the lighting they've installed on the staircase directly facing our house is purple. GROSS.

We acquired this really quickly--went looking at stained glass with the babies in tow on Saturday. We asked for the Old House Revival folks to get a price quote on this piece for us. They called us on Sunday, and the professor went and bought it, brought it home and hung it.

It was a great way to make a decision about decorating! Quickly!

I am posting this colorful set of images to offset the not-so-wonderful other complications we're encountering. This summer I had some big postpartum health complications which I'm not going to go into here. The major stuff is mostly resolved now, but I won't lie, it hasn't been an easy haul. Meanwhile, my professor has been juggling his busy laboratory, teaching a course with 50 some students, life with new twins, taking care of me and two dogs...and a lot of bureaucracy.

You see, we're American citizens living in Canada. The twins are eligible for both U.S. and Canadian citizenship. There's a lot of paperwork involved in all of this passport, Social Security Number and Social Insurance Number acquisition, of course, and the bureaucracy around it is boggling. If, for instance, we want to visit our families in the US, we must straighten all this out before we leave home so the babies' papers are in order to cross the border.

Anyway, as you might imagine, life with two infants is very busy. The babies eat every 2-3 hours, and at night, they stretch that out sometimes to 4 hours. So, we don't get much sleep. A rare and great night is more than 6 hours of sleep with only a single interruption. Usual is 4-5 hours, with perhaps two feeding or diaper changing interruptions.

When patience is stretched to the breaking point by crying, barking, and passports potentially lost in the mail (no kidding) and the new parents in question are seriously tired, sometimes maybe one needs a bit of colored glass (rose colored glasses?) to try to see the world in a more cheerful light.

Sometimes one needs bread as nourishment. Sometimes too, I need art nourishment. This stained glass is helping make the bread feel more like a meal these days. I think it belongs in our dining room.

first knitting project

2011-09-07T19:22:00.001-07:00

There is knitting after giving birth to twins. It involves multiple people holding babies--so I can knit. Every stitch takes a village.

This is my first postpartum personal design project. It's a sleeping bag for a baby who is often cold in the middle of the night, no matter how many flannel blankets he's wrapped in.

Size 15 needles, 2.25 stitches to the inch and wool blend, machine washable yarn.

It's been warm here, but I chose a cool morning to try it out. Thirty seconds after putting the baby in? He was asleep.

The project cost me about $44, but with a $30 gift certificate, I paid $14.

The cost of a warm and sleeping twin baby for one very tired Joanne? Priceless...

Baby Want Ads

2011-08-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm cute, available, and 9 lbs.

Pick me up.

(Pick up line courtesy of the professor and his 9 lb date, Sam. Here, Sam is two timing with his brother and me...yes, slings are a lifesaver with twins.)

Active twins seek well-rested playmates. Parents need not apply.

Want to save the earth? Do more laundry. Cloth diapers are a great choice for us--economical, ecologically friendly AND?

(Joanne adds: incredibly time intensive with twins...this is the closest I've gotten to fiber arts or textile creativity of any kind since the babies were born June 1. I hope this changes some day...)

late nights

2011-07-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to post a bunch of photos of a month now. This isn't all the gifts and since I am typing one handed at 11 at night while a baby feeds,I suspect this post won't have any fancy links or anything, either.

I spend a lot of time like this in the middle of the night. These twins eat every two to three hours, day and night. I am awake and seeing 1AM through 5 AM more often since becoming pregnant and having twins than I ever did while in college or grad school. Babies sure do know how to make a noise in the middle of the night. It makes a frat party seem quiet.

OK, back to posting about knitting. Check out all these amazing handknits and handsewn flannel blankies! All sizes, tasteful colors and designs -my friends have good taste!

So far, we've been managing here with a hodgepodge of helpers. A few hours of paid help here and there. (not much, we can't afford a nanny or housekeeper although heaven knows one would be helpful about now) The professor has only been working a very little bit on school stuff. Instead, we've been working flat out on baby stuff and barely keeping up. A team of kind and thoughtful friends have brought over food, held babies, run errands and generally been so supportive. I can't believe how many people have helped fold our laundry, for instance. If you're one of those people...thank you.

The dogs are continuing to adjust well and do a lot to protect and support their babies. More on that another time, I guess.

In the daytime, the babies can both look very active, bright eyed and alert. I try to remember this when there is a lot of fussing. (and since one of the guys has problems with his digestion just now and is on medication, there is a lot of fussing...) That's the update for now! I hope thisfinds you well...I'll try to tell you more stories someday soon when I am not giving up sleep to do so. :)

A spare moment

2011-07-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

I keep hoping for a spare moment to open my computer and post. I can't even find time to upload photos! Apparently people are very busy with one newborn...but those who know these things say that twins aren't just twice the work. It is maybe more an exponential increase in busy-ness! The professor and I are both working flat out to take care of these boys, the dogs, and our household. Hopefully I'll find a way to post again properly soon. In the meanwhile, if you're enjoying regular meals or more than 2-3 hours of sleep at a time? Count yourself lucky! (posted with my iPod and while holding a sleeping baby- please forgive any typos)

Introducing...

2011-06-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Leo and Sam had their bris on Thursday morning and we announced their names to a gathering of about 30 family members and friends. Our local friends were fiber artists and crafts people, academics, biologists and folks from the Jewish community--a mix of the wonderful community of friends we've made here in just under 2 years. Each of the boys' names, first and middle, English and Hebrew, has significance and meaning but I'll leave that for another time.

The bris is usually done 8 days after birth but was delayed until Sam came home from the hospital and was big enough for the procedure to be done. Both boys are gaining weight like champs and now these photos are already out of date. Leo has topped 7 lbs as of his last weight check and Sam has topped 5. We're eating like it's going out of style around here.

The family members who came included 3 grandparents and a significant other and 2 out of 3 of our brothers. One of our brothers even showed up as a surprise! Wednesday night, there were 8 people and two dogs sleeping in 4 different places in our house. It was a busy time.

On Saturday, the last of the relatives left and the new "normal" commenced. (Normal means our household of two grown ups, two newborns, and two dogs) We do have some local friends visiting most days and other help coming by but it is definitely challenging keeping up with everything right now. I am very tired out as I am still healing and trying to nurse some and of course, getting up every 2-3 hours at night for feedings. This has made posting to the blog a difficult endeavor...sorry for the delays.

To add to our complications, Canada Post and Air Canada were on strike this past week. Luckily, my brother managed to fly here and home again on Air Canada...and my parents were happy to bring thank you notes to the USA to mail them via USPS to US addresses. There has now been a sabbatical from thank you notes as we try to figure out who will fit in times to write them, when they will be written and--whether we're going to send them via email or wait for the mail service to start again...stay tuned!

Leo and Sam have gotten some truly amazing knitted presents as part of the baby gifts. I look forward to sharing that with you in the days to come, as soon as I can spare a few more moments to sort through the photos and think of what to say. As my mom, a lifelong knitter, said, "Most people get one handmade baby gift at their baby showers. You've gotten more than a dozen. Think of all the hours of work and love that went into all those stitches!"

She is right. I am truly honored by this labor of love and am struggling with what to say. I guess the short version would be: Thank you.

twin B comes home

2011-06-12T13:37:00.001-07:00

from a couple of somewhat manic/tired parents:

On Wednesday, June 8th, our younger twin came home from the neo-natal intensive care unit at the hospital. He weighed 4 lbs, 5 oz then. We've been working hard to keep everybody fed, clean, and happy here. This is no small feat. Three adults (two parents, and my mom) working round the clock, still sometimes do not have enough hands to feed, change, and comfort two newborns. (Due to the small size of the babies, long labor and unexpected drugs and c-section I had, the babies need to have formula supplementation along with breast milk, so that means everyone feeds babies, not just me.) Needless to say, I haven't been able to keep up with my email, blog comments, or even phone calls. Sorry!

The dogs are working full time as well. Sally alerts us right away when someone starts crying. She starts alarm barking and pacing until someone picks up whichever of her babies is unhappy. Harry is thrilled but not as involved--he seems like a very enthusiastic and laid back uncle. He wants to be right near by but does not mind or attend to the crying at all.

Tomorrow, more relatives start to arrive...we'll be busy with baby festivities through next weekend. Then, all the out of town relatives will leave and the professor and I will be left on our own to figure this twin thing out. I'm hoping by then Sally will be able to give a bottle and change diapers on her own. (just kidding? I wish it were possible!)

Hopefully next time I'll be able to update you on the amazing knitting present I received this week...a baby shower in a box, filled with beautiful handmade knitted and sewn presents! Lots of photos to come, I hope! Truly this was a labor of love and I am honored to receive these gifts. I hope to write thank you notes to everybody soon.

Thanks again for all your warm wishes. Thanks so much for being part of my cyber community. It's wonderful hearing from everyone.

Fondly,

Joanne

birthday

2011-06-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

The professor and Joanne Seiff -and Harry and Sally, the dogs- are very pleased to announce the arrival of their twins!
(written by the professor, with small contributions from Joanne)

Note that we have chosen to follow Jewish custom and will not formally announce the names of our two baby boys until they are circumcised a few days after they are released from the hospital (in Yiddish, a circumcision is called a bris). Until then, we're calling them Lokshen and Kugel. (Lokshen Kugel means Noodle Pudding in Yiddish. When they get old enough for solid food, we suspect that the Kugel twins will love this stuff.)

Joanne went into labor at about 7 pm on Monday, May 30, we reported to St. Boniface hospital soon afterwards. After laboring naturally for about 10 hours, they began inducing Joanne. After 24 hours of increasing dosages, we concluded that the induction was not working, and Joanne decided that she was ready for a C-section after 36 hours of labor. Our two boys joined the world as we know it on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 just before 9 am.

Baby A weighed 5 lbs, 15 oz. and was 20 inches long.
Baby B weight 4 lbs., 3 oz. and was 18.5 inches long.

Baby A was released from the NICU within 2 hours of birth, and roomed in with Joanne in the hospital. Baby B is almost as long as his brother, is extremely active, and their heads are the same size, but Baby B is very thin. They are watching him carefully in the NICU to make sure he is feeding well and gaining weight, but everyone is encouraged by how vigorous he is. Joanne is recovering well. Her mother took turns with the professor when it came to staying in the hospital with her. Joanne and Baby A were released from the hospital on Saturday. Baby B may remain in the hospital a little longer, depending on how quickly he gains weight. So far, all signs are very encouraging! We hope Baby B will be able to join us at home sometime this week.

The dogs are thrilled by the new arrival and will be in for a surprise when Baby B comes home to add to their litter of puppies. Harry likes kissing babies and Sally points out (by barking, of course) every time when her baby is crying. They are quite the nannies.

As might be expected, Joanne is really worn out from the long labor and c-section, but is slowly trying to respond to emails and other online comments. Please don't be surprised if it takes her a while to respond to you.

Thanks to everyone who has shared their well wishes and congratulations with us!

Yup.

2011-05-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

Still here. Still pregnant with twins at 38 and a half weeks. Haven't posted for a while because I'm spending a lot of time going back and forth to doctor's appointments and ultrasounds. I am at the hospital for appointments and ultrasounds 2-3 times a week right now...it's all I can do to rest up in between trips! Hopefully something will happen soon, because the medical professionals are getting a bit itchy with my willingness to wait it out. There are some things (not scary things, in my opinion, but medically worth discussing) they are concerned about, so I may end up being induced anyway if Mother Nature doesn't kick in soon.

On the knitting front, I just posted a photo of a whole sweater, handknit, designed by me, etc. and no one even commented on it on my blog! (I did get a couple of nice emails though, thanks!) So, is that because everyone else is so absorbed in the "when will she give birth drama?!" The other option is that everyone thinks it is a downright ugly sweater. I like it though, so here is a bigger photo. :)

Sorry it's not a new picture...I'm not much for snapping photos these days!

More news to come, I hope...just no idea when that will happen. I sort of like the idea that going into labor is one of the few things that we can't plan exactly. It's driving everybody else nuts, but heck, I gave up being in control a long time ago...

Things to celebrate

2011-05-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

1. I've made it to 37 weeks of pregnancy--full term with twins! Now I am just waiting for them to decide to arrive naturally, which I don't mind doing at all. I figure the discomforts I know are easier than the unknown ones to come... The good news is that when they arrive, they should hopefully be fully developed. The bad news is that the doctor can't imagine why anyone would willingly hang around waiting, and wants me to be induced. I'm holding out for now. The pressure to have a medicalized birth when carrying twins seems to be pretty big. That's ok though, I'm pretty big now too--I'm carrying around roughly 50 lbs of twins here. I'm hoping I can take it.

2. I've finally finished the red sweater! I started this back in September and described all my yarn choices there. This is one of those "Joanne designs" that will be unlikely to be repeated. I wrote down all my choices, but this sweater took a long long time to do. The mohair boucle on the bottom raced by, but the dk weight yarns for the upper body and the arms took long time due to my swollen hands. Even sewing in the sleeves took me way too long. I designed it to be flattering with a big belly...but I think I misjudged how big a belly I would produce. For now, I think it looks great on this very skinny clothes hanger!

The pin is a special thing on its own. It was a gift from my nephew Nate's mom. She worried it would be a bit too gaudy for me--I tend to wear plain things--but I've been eyeing it for months because I thought it would work perfectly for this kind of sweater. Here is a link to the artist who makes these. They are truly masterpieces of felt. Very quirky and interesting things...

3. We had a lovely visit earlier this week with the professor's brother and sister-in-law. They came to Winnipeg and soaked up our sunny spring weather and we enjoyed their company enormously. They went to see things with the professor, saw Assiniboine Park and enjoyed lots of good food and gelato. They were also very patient with me when I disappeared to take naps all the time. It's hard working shlepping around twins and I need lots of rests.

4. It's "May Long" this weekend-a three day weekend! The professor says things have emptied out at the university and overall, it is relatively quiet in town. I am hoping that means we'll have a lot of good quality time this weekend to rest and enjoy each others' company. Either that, or it means we'll be hanging out at the hospital. Just have to see what happens...

That's the news from here.

Springing along

2011-05-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Nanking cherry blossoms in our yard are making a gorgeous display here! Here's a close up that the professor took. Everything is "greening up" nicely and we are having some gorgeous sunny weather after a week of clouds and rain.

Normally a little spring rain is "good for the flowers" but we have very serious flooding in our province right now. This happened because of a combination of factors--a lot of precipitation in the fall and winter, for one thing. However, so far, here in Winnipeg, we have very high water in both rivers but are doing fine with the help of some sandbags here in there. In other parts of the province, folks aren't so lucky. (over 3,000 people evacuated so far)

I mention this because some of those close to us read our local news on occasion and it does sound like Armageddon if you read or listen to the news. To reassure you, we are pretty darn sure we can still cross the bridges necessary to get to a hospital in time. :)

I am now at 36.5 weeks pregnant and doing a lot of resting. The doctor has indicated that it could be "any time now" and that most women with twins who give birth to healthy babies at this point do not have to worry about prematurity issues too much...usually they can go home from the hospital with the babies at the same time. That is good news!

However, the fetuses inside me seem perfectly comfortable (I am not!) so I am being patient for now.

The other big news of the week is that for now, our big fix-it projects in the house seem to be complete. The professor put on a last coat of paint on a wall on the 3rd floor last weekend--and we think that is the end of the ice dam/roofing/insulation mess that started in January. (Finally complete!)

The other big fix-it was our front door lock. You see, one of the charming parts of having old house is that sometimes, everything in it is, well, OLD. Our front door lock was roughly as old as our house. Just shy of 100 years old. Last year, we had a problem where the temperature shifted abruptly from very cold temperatures to warmer ones--and the lock wouldn't work. We found the locksmith in town who could help. They came out, reconditioned our old lock, and put it back together for us. It worked again.

The fix came with a warning...this lock lasted a good long time. Don't expect it to last forever.

This winter, we had the same problem and the professor suggested I just wait for spring and it would work again...who needs two exits from a house? (Uhh, our house is wood...in case of fire? I do.) The difference? I was now pregnant with twins and trying to imagine getting out of this house with my lumbering pace, only one dependably working door lock and two dogs in a dangerous situation worried me.

We again called the locksmith. This time, they did a temporary fix and recommended getting a replacement lock. We ordered one from the USA and discovered when it arrived that every measurement would fit in our (original) door but one crucial measurement. Since replacing the door as well didn't sound good, we decided to return the lock.

Guess what got damaged in the post? $400 plus dollars later, we're waiting for that claim to be settled. In the meanwhile, the locksmith helped us find a perfect solution, and the new (but old looking) lock was installed on Friday. It looks beautiful. This is the photo of the new lock so you can see it too!

Should I mention that everyone has admired the old lock? It had been repaired at one point and it was a beautiful welding job. It was worn, but it served us very well. It has been hard to part with that old lock.

How long did that repair project take? Well, I think I last wrote about it in March...about two months total, perhaps.

We're hoping that in the next few weeks, the only thing likely to shift, change, fall apart or re-structure itself might be me! We'll keep you updated on the baby front as best we can.

Thanks for all the lovely emails and check-ins--I'm mostly resting (and eating) these days. We'll tell you when something changes!

Next year?

2011-05-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

I don't want to leave any readers hanging--so a short update is in order. I am fine, I'm still pregnant at 35 weeks, and I'm trying to wait patiently with my feet up. I don't go out much these days and I'm doing a lot of reading and resting. Harry and Sally are the best dogs ever. One or both of them are almost always by my side.. possibly the best companions ever in the circumstances!

I'm a bit sad to be missing festivals this year but my mom went to Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and gave me a brief report. Wonderful weather, a good time, my friends say hello...but it's not quite the same as going myself! (Honestly though, I couldn't stand up for more than about 10 minutes at a time, so there's no way I'd manage it, never mind all the traveling!) That said, it is hard to smell the sheep barns over the phone. :)

Locally, the professor went to a plant sale and got herbs, flowers and other delights for the summer. He planted them, and the rain is now hopefully going to make them grow big. When I'm up for walking around the yard later on, I'll get to enjoy his efforts. Our forsythia is blooming and everything is beginning to look green around here. I am finding the prospect of spring exciting!

That's the news from here. I kept hoping I'd feel up to snapping photos for the blog, but in any case, haven't seen any sheep at all in downtown Winnipeg! Perhaps you'll just have to refer to past years...look for the beginning of May and you're likely to see sheep in those posts. In any case, I am now much more empathetic when it comes to those ewes who always bear twins, triplets, or quads.

(Oy. I think I know how you feel!)

hot, hot, NOT!

2011-05-01T22:46:00.000-07:00

Like a game of duck, duck, goose, the weather has been playing with us. Last week was warm (70F/20C) and sunny. On Saturday it rained a lot, which didn't help our enormously flooded rivers. Then, overnight the temperature dropped way, way down and it turned to snow.

The professor knows that I am missing some of our regular household routine. My world has gotten increasingly small. I am now 34 weeks pregnant and have to spend a lot of time in bed with my feet up. (I've got a lot of swelling going on, as well as a variety of other symptoms--it isn't so fun just now.) Anyhow, I usually wake up earlier on the weekends to feed the dogs so my lovely spouse can sleep. Since I'm not so able-bodied, the professor is doing this too.

Here is a photo he caught of Sally the dog, rushing into the house for breakfast. I love how it is all ears and tail and long pointer/hound legs in a blur. This is definitely Sally's morning attitude!

In order to prove to the world that indeed, all the snow had melted and we did have sunny days last week, the professor includes this photo of the new condo construction across the street. We are baffled as to why they changed the design and construction plans to make a frowning face that is pointed directly across from our house. When the professor sits at the dining room table, he looks out the window at this building and spends time debating what would make the face more cheerful. I'm wondering if we need really thick curtains or something so he'll stop worrying about this!

After breakfast, the dogs go on their walk. I have not gotten to take a solitary dog walk since January, and I really miss it. The professor brought his camera along to show me how much everyone still enjoys their walk. You can see the amazing skeletal canopy of our elm trees, which line the streets. Even in winter/spring/late fall, their size and natural architecture is impressive. Although Winnipeg has to actively fight against Dutch Elm Disease and a percentage of the trees die each year, it is one of the few cities in North America that still has its elm trees left. This is one advantage of our very cold climate. I love the majesty of these trees!

Sorry for the brevity of this post--wanted to tell you that I am still alive over here and that there are no babies on the scene as of yet. I'm just waiting patiently and now having a doctor's appointment and an ultrasound every week....along with a lot of unpleasant "twin pregnancy" symptoms that I'd prefer to live without.

Patience is a virtue, right?

A book and its cover

2011-04-25T14:02:00.000-07:00

I took my time reading One Man's Meat... E. B. White's essays are engrossing. In fact, if I had to describe this experience, I might call it "chewy." That is, when you really have to chew your food, think it over, and get back to it later. Sometimes I had to ponder the historical context of his words, think on his perspectives in context, and appreciate his reflections on war and history in an age when media was NOT omnipresent the way it is today.

Some of the essays were incredibly straightforward and relevant today. Written 70 years ago, the points they make about our automobile society, the changes in regional language from one state to another (New York to Maine, in White's case) or even his insanely stressful "to do" list, called "Memorandum" are all still relevant. His clear competence as a professional--both as a writer and his adaptation to life on a farm were all well-worth reflecting on because he combined two things I often think are well-suited to one another. (The professor keeps steering us towards buying houses "in town" because he thinks I'd acquire an awful lot of sheep, llamas, goats, etc. in a hurry if I had a house in the country. My imagined garden and orchard would also be enormous. It's enough to scare a person into buying houses near lots of bus routes, I suspect.)

White's essay, "Memorandum" reminded me of my most scattered, stressed-out "to do" list and how much there is always left to get done at the end. I read that one before bed and you can bet I didn't sleep much afterwards!

I also felt stimulated by this book in a way that I haven't been lately. I admit that I've lately been guilty of reading lightweight British mysteries and other novels that pass the time without too much thought required. In part, I figured I was giving myself a brain break while my body works overtime. In part, I was just being lazy during a time when I do have plenty of time to read..and think. Reading these essays required me to do research as I went along, reading more about E.B. White, his life, his family members and his times.

I was reminded, this past summer, by the heavyweight books that our resident student took on as her leisure time reading. I too read depressing/intellectual/inspiring/well-written/classics (etc) for fun when I was 20, and she did too. Recently when I spoke to her on the phone, I heard from her that her favorite book of the summer was The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera.

Really? I asked her. Did you buy that here or bring it with you from home? Or did you borrow it from our shelves?

Oh, she said, I borrowed it....

and I laughed, because the copy she'd read was perfect for a knitter. I'd read it so many times (at about her age) that the spine was perfectly cracked, the book lay flat, and any knitter could read it slowly, while knitting, over and over again. It was also one of my favorites at that time of life. These days, I don't push myself as often to read books about big ideas, and I should.

Reflecting on these essays made me ponder a few things.
1) Some writers are lifelong companions. Charlotte's Web was one of my favorite books as a kid. My mother studied that book in her children's literature class in college. My father cried as he read it to me, and I've read it over and over. I'm still distraught that I seem to have misplaced my mother's copy of The Elements of Style. In any case, I bought another, as it is a reference book I can't teach writing without...and well, you get my point.

2) While I write lots of different things, I think at heart I am most fond of the essay. The problem with this is that being an essayist is no longer so profitable. I think the closest I come to getting to write essays all the time is on the blog--and I don't earn anything here. I've thought over that one long and hard and have yet to find good solutions to that. I'm hoping that some day I'll make the big time with an essay I sell, but so far, at $100 or less for most of the ones I sell, I'll have to stick to other kinds of writing to make my way in the world.

3) I am still very fond of books. That is, actual books rather than electronic ones. I don't have an e-reader of any kind and have debated long and hard over whether I need one. The gadgetry of it is tempting but they are quite pricey for someone who reads as much as I do. Usually, I conclude it's safer NOT to have one when I spill tea at breakfast while reading, or when I notice one of the dogs sidling up and licking a book on the coffee table. Neither would be ideal for an e-reader, I'd imagine.

However, it would also keep me from learning about the history of the actual book in my hands. (Check out the photos to see these details) My copy of One Man's Meat was purchased in 1963 for the Owensboro, Kentucky High School Library. I found this book to be fairly sophisticated, so while I am sure that somebody enjoyed it while it spent 35 years there, I was surprised to see it spent so long in a high school library! I might have read it in high school but I'm not sure what I would have gotten out of it at that time...

It was discarded in November of 1998 (a few months after the professor and I got married). It next turned up at a Bowling Green, Kentucky public library book sale sometime between 2003 and 2009, since I must have bought it sometime in there. I suspect I bought it sometime in the range of 2007-2009 but hadn't yet gotten to reading it. I moved it to Canada with me...and finally enjoyed its well-cracked spine and soft paper over the past few months.

That's just a few thoughts on this wonderful essay collection. I'm sure I'll think back on it over and over again over the coming months or years. I may have to read it again. If I teach a writing class where it's relevant, I might have to use one of these essays--each one is a gem from which I (and my students) could learn a great deal.

If you're a reader and you like essays, do check it out. It's well worth it!

left leaning

2011-04-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

This post is not about politics.

I know you'd assume it would be, since we are about to have an election in Canada (in which I cannot vote, because I am not a Canadian citizen) and because there has been a lot of political news in the USA lately. Neither of these is particularly relevant to this blog post.*

I will, of course, refer to religion, health, and wealth in this post, so you can feel I've violated the "taboo in polite company" subjects. This makes up for the lack of photos! (Photos would be way too much information here...you'll see!)

On Passover, at the Passover seder, some people have the custom of leaning to the left as they drink the four cups of wine. Don't worry, I had grape juice this year. If you're curious as to why, I've included information from this website below to explain.**

Anyhow, at the seders I attended this year, nobody did this, but I was reminded of the custom.

Why? Well, when you're pregnant, you're supposed to be sleeping on your left side. This is because you can't physically sleep on your stomach...that would be seriously uncomfortable for everybody involved. If you sleep on your right side, you can apparently cut off circulation because as the uterus gets larger, it can cut off blood flow. Apparently sleeping on your back isn't ideal either. You should only, if possible, lean to your left as you sleep. (I am usually a stomach or side sleeper, but well, everything changes when pregnant with twins, apparently.)

I'd like to point out here that before the days of medicalized advice, many pregnant women managed to sleep through the night without any instructions at all. Apparently, humanity survived this lack of sleeping instructions....but now women must rely on medical intervention to enjoy poor sleep and miserable nights during pregnancy.

Now, I can't speak for anybody else, but for the last few months, the only way I managed to sleep at all was in a sort of boosted up reclining position, on my back. This cut down on my heartburn, shortness of breath, and numbness in my arms and hands while I slept...until recently, when my legs and feet started to get seriously swollen, too. I have had low or normal blood pressure all along, and my doctor assures me all my symptoms are entirely normal for a twin pregnancy.

Last night in the dark, while pondering the notion of leaning left on Passover (and going to the bathroom about 500 times), I tried rebuilding my pillow fort in bed and trying sleeping on my left side again. The ligaments in my abdomen didn't like this added pressure. The fetus in the lower part of my abdomen didn't like it. However, when morning finally arrived, I discovered that the swelling in my legs and feet had subsided. It worked.

Leaning left was a good (if totally uncomfortable) idea. It only takes about 5 pillows, a duvet, a wool blanket, a bed entirely to oneself and a very long night of discomfort. It does, however, really reduce swelling in my legs.

When the professor got up this AM, he saw my frustration and asked if he could make me more comfortable. First, I offered a string of suggestions, none of which can be described in polite company here...I was grouchier than Oscar the Grouch. Second, I sprung out of bed at 6:30 in the morning, giving up entirely on sleep.

Stay tuned--the pillow fort research approach to circulation, swelling and numbness is likely to continue over here.

Now, don't you wish this WERE about politics?!

*Except for this quirky story: When I was a kid, I had a book about Native American/Indian/First Nations/Aboriginal culture. (Choose the category that people use in your area--this terminology varies in the US and Canada.) I loved this book and my parents read it to me over and over. In particular, I was enthralled with the notion of the Potlatch. I especially loved the idea of giving away presents to other people at a big party--and the effort to equalize status through redistribution. I still love throwing dinner parties today and giving people presents when I have just the right thing for someone. When we decided to move to Winnipeg, my father concluded--as a joke-- that I'd fit right in as I was always leaning "left" towards socialism anyway. Further, he figured I just wanted to move farther west --"left" when looking at a map--in order to really participate in all those potlatches. :)

**The Talmudic Sages created a rabbinic injunction that a Jewish person was obligated to drink 4 Cups of Wine during the Seder in a way (leaning or reclining to the left) that expresses their freedom (Babylonian Talmud, Gemara, Pesachim 108b, 117b). The drinking of Four Cups of Wine represents the most prominent rabbinical injunction or obligation or mitzvah to be performed during the Seder. Furthermore, each of the 4 Cups of Wine symbolizes a commandment or mitzvah I.E. an obligation to perform, unto itself (Babylonian Talmud, Gemara, Pesachim 109b-110a).

Why Must One Recline or Lean to the Left When Drinking The Four Cups of Wine? Why Not Recline or Lean to the Right or Not At All?

The Talmudic rabbis cautioned against reclining or leaning to the right when drinking the Four Cups of Wine or when drinking any other beverage or when eating because there was and is a greater danger of accidentally consuming the liquid or food down the windpipe or trachea when one is reclining or leaning toward the right. In addition, the custom of the Greeks and then Romans during the time of the Talmudic rabbis (the latter about 10 B.C.E. until 500 C.E.) was to drink and eat while reclining or leaning to the left, which symbolically indicated that the rulers of Judea - the Romans, who were preceded by the Greeks - were the only free people in Judea and so they were the only ones who were able to do that.

spring in Manitoba

2011-04-19T11:16:00.001-07:00

On the weekends, I try to let the professor sleep in a little bit. I often get up earlier than he does to let out the dogs. This is what greeted me last weekend at 7 or so in the morning--a nice sloppy spring snowscape. All of the accumulated winter snow had melted off previously, so this was just a fluke spring storm.

We could enjoy it because, well, we have a new roof and knew it would melt quickly! Yes, I still like snow. I like snow even AFTER living in Buffalo, which gets about 250 cm (about 100 inches) average a year! You can see in the picture that includes the streets that it wasn't too cold--the snow melted right off the streets but accumulated on the grassy areas.

Last night was the start of Passover. Traditionally, I wouldn't be posting right now--it's a holiday--but I wanted to share our technological solution to the Passover Seder. The professor and I had never had a seder for just the two of us...it's meant to be a big event for family and friends. We've always traveled to be with family or had a full table of friends and family at our house. Just the idea of a two person seder got me sort of down. It was the most practical solution, of course, as I couldn't have managed to travel or cook a meal for a lot of people, but I still felt sad.

However, my dad's idea came to the rescue--we decided to use skype for our seder. Here is our modest set up for two at the dining room table. On the far left of the picture, you can see the computer...we skyped with my family in Virginia so we could all "be together" for the holiday. It's a non-traditional thing to do--the seder is not really a time for phones or the internet--but in this case, it allowed us all to be together. It was pretty special. Other things to note about our table this year:

1) The professor drank some of his homemade wine--hence the bottle with the weird blue label.
2) I got to eat Egg Matzah because I'm pregnant. (I like it and think it tastes better but usually stick to regular matzah on Passover because egg matzah is considered to be for the "infirm." I qualify this year!)
3) We used the matzah cover my grandmother embroidered for me--she finished it when I graduated from college. She was at my parents' seder and I was pleased as punch that she is still around to share a seder with me 16 years later!
4) We finished our seder very early, so I was off to sleep early as well...note it is still light outside in Winnipeg if you can see the window beyond the table.

All in all, a great solution for a challenging confluence of holidays, health, etc. Tonight, we're going to a friend's house for an informal second seder-I'm hoping I'll be able to stay awake!

Other random notes about spring time and your comments:
-Today, the professor reports he saw his first crocuses while walking the dogs. I thought he was joking but he said no, they were actually growing outside. Spring does eventually come to Winnipeg. Really.

-I'm still enjoying E.B. White's essays and am so pleased to pass along the recommendation to Alison and to discuss an oldie but goodie with Deb!

-Are the fix-its in my house finished? (Uhh, no. We live in an old house. They will never be finished.) There is someone coming this week to finish the painting on the third floor. After that, we will likely take a break on house repairs if nothing further goes wrong. There's still plenty to fix, but the chaos can be unsettling, and now is maybe not the time for further fixes. We're running out of money and patience for now!

flooded

2011-04-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

We are in the midst of flood season here in Manitoba. Winnipeg is located where two rivers meet, the Red River and the Assiniboine River. Both rivers are really high at the moment. There is a wonderful system of ditches and diversions, known as the Red River Floodway or "Duff's Ditch," that keep large parts of the city from being flooded each time there is a lot of winter melt and precipitation. At this time of year, it can be bright and sunny, but the melt off of the snow can cause a flood at the same time.

The professor was driving to the university earlier this week when he took some time to rubberneck at the river near where he parks his car. (Everyone does, the rivers are mammoth this time of year...) What did he see but two hawks! He pulled over his car and whipped out his camera. Others immediately slowed down their cars, and a couple even got out their cameras. Here are a couple of photos of what the professor saw by the river...he knew they were hawks, but not what kind. He brought his photos to one of his colleagues, who told him they were mates--a pair of Cooper's Hawks. Pretty amazing sighting!

The new roof and attic insulation are all finished at this point. (We now have more than the original 1912 wood shavings in the attic.) The professor also took photos of this event--it was quite a scene while it took place. While the outside "fixes" are now complete, we're still going to have some more painting inside next week. The plaster, dust, and noise are still messy, but there is hope in sight. The dogs and I enjoy every quiet moment in between repair jobs. Who knew ice dams would cause so much damage and so much expense?!

These days I have to spend a lot of time with my feet up to reduce swelling. I'm also doing a lot of resting...Since my hands are also swollen, knitting, cooking, and other pursuits requiring dexterity have to remain limited. To fill up the time, I've been reading a book by E.B. White called One Man's Meat. It was published in the early 1940's and is still in print. Each essay is a jewel. I can see why, in a new time of war around the world, there is much to cherish about this depiction of life during another war and time. I hope to finish it soon so I can write more about it. It's well worth reading.

Hope you're well and dry, wherever you live!

new sweater!

2011-04-11T09:24:00.001-07:00

I finally finished my Tilted Duster sweater. These photos aren't so good--I was trying to do them myself and used one of the mirrors in my house. The mirrors are on the (original) doors and therefore are about 100 years old. This means that no matter how much you clean them, they are still a bit distorted and spotty at times.

Caption: Sally mainly watched the activity at a distance while I did my photo shoot...

The professor declared my photos "artistic" which was a nice way of saying they weren't that good...sorry about that. If you liked this pattern, you could buy a download of it here. Every so often, I try to knit someone else's design from start to finish to learn from their writing and design ideas. I find it particularly interesting if the design has an interesting construction or if I really respect the designer. (I really respect Norah Gaughan. Her designs are so innovative!) In this case, I used Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran yarn, which is now discontinued. In fact, Jo Sharp yarn is now no longer available in North America, for the most part. Very sad. Some of it was purchased in Australia when we travelled to Brisbane in 2004.

Of course, it is hard for me to restrain myself, so I went into this thinking I'd just knit a black sweater and ended up making changes anyway. The collar and sleeves are knit out of a purple color called "quartz" and I lengthened the ribbing on the sleeves and shorted the sleeves themselves as well. (I have short arms.) The sweater took way too long for me to finish, largely because knitting has been hard with my sore hands. The professor helped me choose the perfect buttons from my large button stash. (The button collection is mostly inherited from his mother and grandmother, but I do frequent building of stash to keep things interesting!)

We looked at gray mother of pearl buttons with a purple tinge, which came in at a close second. They were very dressy and gorgeous, but maybe a bit too flashy. I bought those mother of pearl buttons at an antique shop to match my -second hand-winter coat in the fall of 1991, when I was a freshman in college in Ithaca, New York. When the winter coat finally wore out, I cut the buttons back off again--they've been waiting for the next right garment ever since!

We looked at purple buttons (not a great match) and silver and black buttons (also a bit flash). In the end, we chose some plain black plastic buttons that looked as though a thrifty relative had cut them off of an outfit long ago.

Before I began sewing them on, I blocked the sweater. I usually block things by handwashing and pinning them out to dry. That seemed like a long time to wait and a lot of heavy damp material in this case, so instead, I used a steamy iron to block things. The collar flopped down immediately into a sailor suit collar, and when I put that on, I saw it suited "the big belly" far better than a high collar. I'm saving the buttons for later on, and for now, a pin will do. Temperatures are now reaching into the 50's (10-15C) here so it is a perfect outdoor sweater. I've taken to wearing this frequently now.

See, every so often I do talk about fibery things... I'm now trying to refocus my efforts on the last sleeve of this red sweater, which I first talked about last September. It's a good thing I'm also creating twins over here, because the sweater production sure has slowed down!

I want to thank everyone who left me a comment or sent me an email saying they were sending good vibes in my direction. I really appreciate it. I've felt a bit isolated lately and your notes have been very cheery. I am also expecting to have a very low key celebration this Passover ...very different than the travelling to see family or complicated holiday meals I've made at home in the past. It feels a little strange but as Nina mentions in her comment, "it's all good" --it will all work itself out. (It doesn't seem to be a good time to exert myself in the cooking and cleaning department!)

update on random stuff

2011-04-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

1) I heard tell that a lot of folks ate some sundaes last week. I even heard they were good! Thanks for all the email reports! (We had sweet cream/cookie dough ice cream and hot fudge here. It was delicious.)

2) We now have a new roof and new insulation. It's hard to believe how incredibly quiet it is now that this banging is over. Even the dogs are exhausted.

3) It ain't over 'til it's over. Next week, I get to see a drywaller and a painter again--some of the roofing did a wee bit of damage on the inside of the house. Some day, all this renovation will be over and I will have a whole day without banging, noise, or disorder...(at least, while I'm still pregnant...I know toddlers offer all of the above.)

4) I'm still healthy, in week 31 of the pregnancy, and big as a house. More news on that another time, I guess.

5) I am slowly, slowly, finishing up a handknit black sweater. My swollen and sore hands don't enjoy sewing anymore either, so it is slow.

Hope you're all well out there. I see people are reading the blog, but don't hear from many of you. Wanted you to know all is fine here. Next time, I'll even try to post a photo...

Sundae Sunday!

2011-04-03T10:06:00.001-07:00

Did you know that the ice cream sundae was invented 119 years ago today in Ithaca, New York? Learn more about it here! The professor and I are considering celebrating this important birthday together later. We met in Ithaca, while we were undergraduates at Cornell. One of our first dates was at an ice cream parlor. We're serious about ice cream around here...it's snowing/raining/slushy out today in Winnipeg, but we wouldn't let a little ithacating get in our way. We're thinking of an ice cream sundae date later. Celebrate with us! Tell me about the delicious sundae you had today?

shot of color

2011-04-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

It is downright dreary outside right now...overcast and damp. Roofing has been put off until next week. The painting is almost complete--aside from the carpentry/painting that needs to happen next week. I knew all this would take a while. Some of it has gone very quickly, but some has not. Even though I'm not getting out much these days anyhow, I am beginning to miss leaving the house. (It's hard to leave home when you know someone is coming over at "mid-day"--and by the time that work is done, well, the day is mostly gone!)

I am really appreciating your messages on the blog. Sometimes I write you back via email, sometimes I visit your blogs (Adriene's post on citizenship was really something!) and sometimes, I just read your notes, smile, and read them again. I read them all. Thank you for keeping me company!

I am still doing some writing and editing for work, but am trying to wind this down. I can still type but my hands are very sore most of the time. This, like most of the pregnancy symptoms, will go away--sometime AFTER the babies are born. Between now and then, well, I have to take it one day at a time. From everything I've been told, nothing is likely to disappear in the symptoms department during this last trimester. It's all likely to get worse or stay the same.

One thing I can still do is dye things. A couple of days ago, I handwashed a wool blanket and while I was at it, went on a brief spurt of handdyeing. I started with an old short white cotton blend bathrobe. This was part of a nightgown set I got so many years ago that the rest of the set is long gone. I hardly ever wear robes and in any case, a white robe wasn't so useful in our household of muddy dog paws and spills. I decided that dyeing this might make it useful. I started with some garnet colored dye. (Before you ask where I got it and what I use...the professor used to buy me lots of this dye from here as presents. I have a life time supply of random colors!)

I like these packets of dye because they are self-contained, don't sprinkle powder everywhere, and allow me to dye in a one step, afternoon process rather than a multi-step one requiring mordants, etc.

I started with the bathrobe, but since the dye is an all-purpose one for both protein and cellulose, cotton/poly blends will not absorb all the dye bath. I decided to throw in some wool for fun. I soaked too small bunches of roving (wrapped up gently with rubber bands) in some vinegar. The weird color is because I used red wine vinegar. It was close by and didn't weigh too much for me to lift. (We buy white vinegar in enormous jugs and I now find a full one of these too heavy to lift!)

Then I threw these in the dye pot along with the robe. The white wool is a Romney roving and the natural gray color is a Romney-cross wool blended with a small amount of mohair. It turns out I could have dyed more wool, but I ran out of energy after this so ended up dumping a bit of colored dye water down the drain. That's reasonably safe with this dye, as compared to dumping something scary like copper sulfate-a mordant that fixes dye to fiber- down the drain as someone recently did in rural Manitoba. That harmed their water local water treatment plant and waterways.

In these photos, I included a ball of handspun laceweight natural gray wool/mohair so you can see how the darker color takes up a richer color of dye. I happen to like the rich cranberry color to the right better than the pinkish red...but in either case, this is enough for a spindle full of yarn, or perhaps a contrast color if I am filling up a bobbin on a spinning wheel sometime in the future. The robe came out a deep rose/red color. Ideal for hospital stays and perhaps more forgiving of stains than a white robe.

While all this dried, I had a remarkable turn-around in the mail service karma situation..I think it was all the professor's good luck. Yesterday, the professor was home from work as we dealt with two different things at once. (a painter and a locksmith/carpenter) First, my package of baggy maternity dresses arrived. Hurray!!

Everything I bought still fit (double Hurray!) although it turns out that one of the dresses I ordered, in brown, looks remarkably like a monk's brown cassock. I am wearing it today and trying to liven it up with some accessories. I am also having to put my feet up all the time because my ankles and feet are swelling these days as well as my hands. I usually try to remember to take my shoes off before putting my feet on the coffee table. Please don't think I'm a big slob! This is merely so you can see my oxblood colored shoes...good for livening up dreary weather.

Second, I finally received some black discontinued Jo Sharp yarn that I'd ordered to finish a sweater...back at the end of February. Both the seller and I had just about given it up for lost. It appeared yesterday. This photo shows the yarn (in a plastic bag) along with the black sweater, the red sweater, and some green t-shirts of the professor's -- fabric I am recycling by handsewing into something new and more useful, I hope.

This is the side table in my living room--it seems disporportionately messy. I am stuck on sleeves (second sleeve for the black sweater and first sleeve for the red sweater) and can only knit a few rows a day because of my swollen hands, but it LOOKS like I'm being really busy as a knitter! Either that, or really slovenly...!

If you live in a place where spring hasn't "sprung" yet (like me), I hope this shot of color brightened your day. If you're currently enjoying the end of daffodil season? Well, maybe you should keep that to yourself for a bit....don't rub it in!

constant renovations

2011-03-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'd meant to include knitting photos in this post, but honestly, renovation has been on my mind. Every day, we have some new surprising change. We haven't been up in my sunny office on the 3rd floor to work in a week--the plasterer was working up there so I relocated the laptop to the first floor to avoid any stinkiness or dust.

Meanwhile, on the first floor I can actually answer the door when people arrive without rushing down 2 flights of steps. This is fine except that Harry really misses going to work upstairs with me. Instead, every time there is a stranger trying to work in the house, the dogs have to go to their crates in order to avoid bad run-ins with fur/plaster/paint or other messes.

This morning, we were surprised to find a forklift in the backlane, delivering our shingles. They were deposited on our back yard path here. This is not a small delivery...you can see our (tall) fence and my car beyond it for a sense of scale. At the same time, the roofers are a bit concerned about the weather prediction for tomorrow (flurries and/or rain) so the insulation will happen tomorrow and the roof work will perhaps start on Thursday. Did I mention that tomorrow the painter arrives to work inside for the first time?

My bad postal service karma seems to be continuing. I still haven't received the yarn I ordered at the end of February (the seller is trying to track it down) and no big dresses have arrived yet to offer me enough for a week's worth of twin maternity clothing. I know it is just me because anything the professor orders arrives promptly. I am trying not to take it personally!

In the meanwhile, I present this wacky photo of my belly. It's not the best angle for seeing the whole thing....but last I measured, I was 45" around where there used to be a waist. For comparison --for those of you who know the professor in person? That is several inches bigger than his waist size. The mirror in the kitchen is a bit old and wavy so the best photo of my belly is streaky. Here it is on the left.

People say some mighty quirky things at this time...I'll be 30 weeks' pregnant on Thursday. I'm this big because I'm carrying twins--I don't have a cute little basketball bulge like the full-term folks in my childbirth class who are just expecting one kid. It's more like an old-fashioned watermelon!

I've heard everything from "Gosh, she's pregnant? I just thought she got really fat!" (gee, thanks, you look great too!) to "Oh, you're not that big, I was bigger" (Said in a disparaging way, like if I just tried harder, I could lug around an even bigger belly!) The test was going out to dinner last week. I just looked at what the other customers' expressions were. If I had to guess, it was something like "Oh my gosh, I hope she doesn't go into labor right here while I'm eating..." Of course, I still have roughly a couple of months before these fetuses are full term, so I will be even bigger then.

I meant to tell you about the dyeing I did today as well as some knitting and sewing stuff, but I imagine that will wait for another post. In the meanwhile, you might understand why taking a nap with Sally is top on my list for afternoon activities. I am not going out much anymore--I don't really enjoy the commentary I get all the time. Sally, on the other hand, says very little and curls up with me every day to be sure I am cared for. There is something to be said for the dog as nursemaid. Peter Pan's Nana had it right.

plasterer, locksmith, candlestick maker

2011-03-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

-kidding about the candlestick maker....I hope.

This week, our house has had a continuous stream of construction-oriented visitors. First, there was a carpenter--he did drywall fixes to ceiling holes, among other things. Then, hot on his heels, the plasterer came. The plasterer now visits me for about one to two hours a day, working on the 2nd and 3rd floor ceilings. He is making those ceilings look good for the painter, who might come next week. (So far, I've heard that I'll be seeing the plasterer again on Monday and Tuesday, so the painter might come to visit after that.)

Next Wednesday, weather permitting, the roofers and insulation guys will start work on our roof. They will be able to blow insulation in from the outside because--there are now no holes in our ceilings inside. Whew!

In a separate kind of house repair, we're working with a locksmith that specializes in older houses. In one part of our house, we have a gorgeous lock that we really like--and it is just shy of 100 years old. It needs a little help. That is not related to the ice dam repairs or the roof repair. It just needed fixing at the same time.

Meanwhile, outside of our front door, there is a backhoe digging up our boulevard (the grassy bit between the sidewalk and the street) to install a new gas line for the new building across the street. The ground is not free of frost, so there is a complicated process of banging and digging going on. Also, they appear to have a big tube on a truck that blows hot air at the ground. The tube makes a loud droning noise that reminds me of the driers at an old fashioned beauty parlor.
All this makes me wonder how anyone could manage to fix their house AND work at an office that wasn't at home. I have moved my laptop and my current freelance job to the living room, where I can easily answer the front door and cope with the stream of folk coming and going. I never know exactly when they will arrive, when they will finish, or who might come next.

On one hand, I am thrilled that all this work is getting done before the stork arrives. It is amazing how quickly the tradespeople made this work when they saw my big belly and asked about the twins' due date. (Early June if it were one fetus, but sometime in May for twins, we'd guess, although they come when they are ready, we hear.) That has been miraculous so far.

On the other hand, the chaos, noise, and doorbell ringing is intense. There are a few moments when, seized by irrational hormones, I just want to scream, "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! YOU ARE STRANGERS! GO AWAY!" I've managed to hold this in, believe me.

Yesterday, I spent a long time rifling through my stash to find this. Two skeins of bulky weight burgundy tweed cashmere yarn...purchased 3 years ago, with no real project in mind. In fact, I'm not even sure if they will turn into a project now, as my swollen hands are sore, numb and tingly--making it hard to knit much.

I've placed the cashmere skeins right next to where I am working. Every so often, I grab one and have a reviving snuggle with it. A whiff of luxury and a really soft yarn hug every time I feel out of control...so far, it's working. Something about fiber is very reassuring and comforting to me. Maybe this should be a new method recommended to maintain calm. "Grab cashmere. Inhale its comforting soft smell. Repeat." (sign me up for that cure)

Walking the walk

2011-03-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

When I wrote Knit Green: 20 Projects and Ideas for Sustainability, I tried to give information on sustainable ideas as choices that anybody could make. That's how I see it--we each make choices based on our individual values. One of the things I wrote is that I'm a moderate...I haven't given up my car or gone off the grid. That said, I feel like I have to strive to do more.

When I wrote the book, no babies were on the horizon for us. We had a long struggle with fertility and designing and knitting for babies was hard. I did a few baby designs anyhow. (Lots of people knit for babies, so it was just one of the parts of my job that wasn't my favorite....)

In doing research about fertility issues, I found a lot of recent research has gone into environmental pollutants that cause hormonal disruptions. Hormonal disruptions affect fertility. Plastics, like Bisphenol_A, can significantly affect the human body. While humans are actively using plastics in all parts of life, we're not sure yet what its long term effects are for our health. Some of those research results and effects are pretty worrisome. We often only find out long term affects of our inventions a long time after they are developed. (nuclear reactors and radiation, for instance)

In our case, there were no clear causes to why we didn't get pregnant, so no easy way to fix the problem.

Yet, the information I learned about plastics--a petroleum based product--led me to think a lot about why and how it is used.

I am now applying the same research skills to things one needs for babies...and I am stunned by how much baby stuff out there is synthetic. Synthetic: Plastic, man-made, petroleum-based, not natural, etc. It's hard to avoid the sheer number of plastic things out there--right down to basics like disposable diapers or bottles.

As I research, I'm making different decisions than I think many people may make when it comes to these fetuses I'm toting around. The professor and I are trying to find a lot of second-hand things, because if the stuff is plastic, it off gasses and doesn't break down in landfills. We can reuse it instead and reduce waste. For instance--we can try cloth diapers to reuse materials, reduce landfill waste, and avoid plastics. Yes, cleaning them takes energy, but it takes less energy and costs less than manufacturing new diapers and throwing them away after one use.

We are trying NOT to buy or acquire polyester or synthetic materials if we can avoid it. Not only is this oil dependent (oil is a non-renewable resource) but on a practical safety level, it is very flammable. Put your kid in synthetics like fleece all the time? Have you done a burn test on that? It melts!! Wool, on the other hand, is naturally flame resistant.

Since we aren't zealots, we're not going to be able to avoid plastics in everything we do. Our house has plenty of it. Despite my best efforts, my wardrobe is certainly not free of synthetics.

That said, here are answers to a couple of questions that have been posed to me:

So-and-so (average 5 year old) loves his fleece vests! What have you got against all that? (As in, Joanne, what is your problem!? Just buy synthetics and stop being such a vigilante.)

Answer: Kids wear what their families offer them to wear. (So-and-so also loves sugary cereals, but doesn't have to eat them if they aren't offered to him.) Just because someone loves something doesn't mean it is good for them. A fleece synthetic is made from oil (a non-renewable resource), is flammable and melts on the body, and doesn't biodegrade easily. It may cause health issues--researchers are still trying to figure that out. Further, many people find that polyester based materials do not breathe well, so people sweat more and have more skin-related problems with that.

Will I manage to avoid all polartecs/fleeces, etc.? No, but I can make an effort not to buy more of them. I can hope to raise kids who love soft wool, organic cotton, or cool linens instead.

Some babies CAN'T wear wool!! NOT even superwash! What will you do if your kid is extra-sensitive? (This has been extended to...some babies can't tolerate or thrive with cloth diapering/nursing/etc.)

My first response would be REALLY? So, you're saying that plastics/synthetics/polyesters (been around for 100 to 150 years) are always better for babies than natural fibers? That I am essentially going to be abusing these kids by putting them in things like cotton/hemp/linen/wool? While we've had humans in natural fibers for, at minimum, the last several thousand years--and they've done admirably-- we really don't have that long a track record for synthetics.

I'd argue that a very small percentage of people are sensitive to certain commonly used natural fibers. It is the exception and not the rule. It is also likely that someone sensitive to superwash wool is sensitive to the chemical process used to make the wool "superwash" as compared to the actual fiber itself. (Chemicals used to process wool or cotton commercially can be very toxic--a good reason to try organic fibers or locally handprocessed fibers instead. Cotton commercially processed with formaldehyde or wool "cleaned" with sulfuric acid can be toxic...no doubt about it.)

It is also just as likely that the kid is having a reaction to plastics as natural fibers. The kid might be allergic to detergent rather then the fiber. In some cases, the person might just have sensitive skin. That is, he/she is sensitive to everything.

Conclusion? I know that the last few generations of babies have been raised with lots of polyester/plastic/synthetics in their environments. That's what many households are used to--but it doesn't have be that way. We can think it over and review these things. These are just habits/tools for childrearing and we can try to create new habits instead.

Am I being naive? Perhaps. We'll see...but new is not always better when it comes to using plastic. There are reasons I am trying to "walk the walk" and "talk the talk" that I wrote about in Knit Green.

At the end of the book, I mention that it's important to find people who support your new "green" choices. I'm working on that for myself, because it does get tiring to be told that "of course plastics are the right, better, intelligent choice." Sometimes surrounding oneself with positive or neutral opinions is the way to go. I hope I can do that for others. I hope that sometimes, people can also do that for me, too.

Omar the tentmaker

2011-03-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been a whirlwind. If the stars align and the weather is good, it looks like we could have our roof, insulation, and inside repairs done much sooner than we'd thought. That means it's possible they could start next week and potentially end in early April sometime. I was almost afraid to talk about this at first--for fear of jinxing it. We'll see how all the arrangments line up and how the weather looks. (It is no where near "spring" here, but it is warmer, roughly near freezing, which makes roofing possible.)

At the same time, this week, I hit a new size. That would be--very big. At last measurement, my belly was around 43" around, but I am growing by the day. All of a sudden, I have outgrown much of my maternity clothing. While I can still wear many of the professor's shirts (he is a big guy), his sweatpants are too small. Frankly, most everything is too small. Maternity clothes are really only designed for a woman with one fetus in her tummy!

When I was in Florida a few months ago, I happened to go to a boutique called Oh My Gauze. I bought one tunic, a dress, and a bathrobe thing there. It was a little out of my price range. Also, in January, buying cotton gauze clothing seemed bizarre since it was so cold in Manitoba. However, that clothing has now come in very handy! First off, I am not spending great amounts of time out doors, and with a shirt underneath and leggings (if they fit) and a sweater on top, a gauze dress is warm enough.

That is good because very little else is fitting around my middle! Today I had to order more clothes from them. Here are photos from their website as a sort of free advertisement...ideal for pregnancy with twins!

My one concern is that the clothes might not arrive quickly. Packages sent from the U.S. to Canada can be sort of uneven in terms of how long they take to arrive. Some yarn I ordered in late February has not arrived yet. The professor placed an order less than a week ago and the box arrived yesterday. There's no telling, really. Here's hoping it arrives soon--and way before the twins also arrive.

In the meanwhile, if you see some extremely rotund pregnant lady walking around looking like a hobo in an enormous flannel shirt...please be nice. That might be me!

(caption for these photos? Just add belly)

blizzarding onward

2011-03-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

I don't want you to feel I have fallen down a well or something! I am doing OK over here, but so much has been happening, both at home and in the world, that I wasn't sure what to post.

The story with a picture wins though! Last Friday and Saturday, the professor went off to give a talk at the North Dakota State University in Fargo. When the professor was in graduate school, he had a wonderful lab community. His advisor, the lab technician, and the grad. students all became pretty close. It was the kind of place where I always felt welcomed and most of his fellow students were good friends and colleagues. (This was in comparison to my grad. school experience--I have only one or two people that I made relationships like that with from those days.)

One of those other grad. students became a professor at NDSU in Fargo, so the professor went off to give a lecture and visit her, her husband, and kids. Unfortunately that planned trip corresponded with a blizzard. A blizzard here on the prairies is defined as some--usually small-- amount of snow and a lot of wind, which reduces visibility and lowers temperatures drastically...fairly dangerous conditions. A blizzard in on the East Coast in the USA usually consists of heavy snow (think a foot or more...) and some wind. Also very dangerous, but different conditions altogether.

The professor made it to Fargo safely, but there were a lot of cars that went off the road entirely on his way. (It's a four hour drive) His lecture went fine, his visit with friends was good, and after he returned to his hotel, he headed outside to shoot some photos. The hotel staff said something like, "Sir? Sir? Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go out on a walk tonight?"

Apparently, the professor smiled and said "It's ok. I'm from Winnipeg. This is winter." (If you know my husband, he is KING of understatement.) The hotel staff understood he knew what the conditions were...so he went out and caught this photo of the old downtown theater in the snow. Can you feel the windchill temperatures of -30F? I think it's a gorgeous shot.

On Saturday, the highways, both in the US and Canada, were closed because of the blowing and drifting snow. After a leisurely breakfast, some shopping, and even lunch in Fargo, the roads opened and he came home again, to my relief.

What happened at home? Well, I was lucky. A friend came by on Friday to visit for a couple of hours and keep me company. I had a long distance phone call or two from family to "check" on me. On Saturday, our cheerful new dog sitter showed up on my doorstep at 9 AM in his woollies, ready to walk the dogs for me so I did not have to attempt it.

All in all, this went fine. I was nervous, I won't lie. Here I am, waddling around at 27+ weeks of pregnancy with twins, and being left alone for a while scared me. I haven't felt great-the newest problem is that my hands get tingly, numb and go to sleep because of (entirely normal) circulation problems. This hurts, and it isn't fun as someone who types and knits all the time. Little things become difficult--our recycling bin blew around in the bad weather, but I decided it was not a good idea for me to chase it down --it was very slippery--and bending over to get it seemed scary with such strong winds. What if I couldn't get up? Meanwhile, just listening to the blizzard warnings and the horrible things happening in Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami left me so worried and upset I had to shut off the radio. News blackout seemed the wisest course...so I read library books and curled up with dogs on the couch.

So this post is about being lucky. I felt incredibly lucky that I had a couple of locals checking on me during bad weather and time alone. I was also grateful to have a warm house, lots of food, and safety when hearing about the terrible things happening in the world this week.

In the past, when I lived in other places, the professor has gone off on a collecting trip for his work for a week or two. During that time, I sometimes never even had one local person check on me. I sometimes was alone for the whole time with no good emergency contact nearby. I feel lucky that things are different here...but even so, I'm glad the professor is home and is not planning any more trips for the foreseeable future.

Knitting is going very slowly right now, typing doesn't feel great either, but I am still lucky. I think it might be a good week to count one's blessings.

International Women's Day

2011-03-08T14:56:00.000-08:00

Last year, I posted about International Women's Day here. I wanted to post again today, but I haven't been feeling well and this post got delayed. (I didn't sleep much last night and am very out of breath lately from these twin fetuses squishing my lungs.) Then, I saw the Yarn Harlot's outstanding post and it spurred me on. I didn't have to cover that ground--cause Stephanie Pearl-McPhee did that part already. Well done...but I didn't want to miss my chance. So, I hauled myself back up to the third floor to post this.

I was reflecting on something important with the professor yesterday, and it fits here. The thing is, I was raised by a working mother who embodied a lot of the ideas of how feminism works. She was raised by a mom who worked, and a grandmother who worked...all strong women -- but there were two true feminists in my parents' household. My dad is a feminist, too. He took over a lot of childcare, cleaning, and other things when my mother couldn't do it all, and in the middle of the night, well, they were both there, taking turns, when one of us got sick.

I'm reading a lot of "this is how you give birth/care for a baby/care for twins" guides right now. I feel so lucky that I don't have to live in the households described in of some of these books. The world described there is one where mothers might have to "convince" fathers to help. That isn't how my parents did it, and it's not how we do it either. How do I know? Well, first, I worked hard to choose a person who would try to be an equal participant in my household. I was lucky to find one.

As my belly gets bigger and bigger, I have a hard time doing basic stuff in the house that I used to do or chores we used to share. That's ok, because the professor is doing it. Things like ALL the laundry, changing the bedding, walking the dogs, cooking a lot of the meals, all the grocery shopping...all of that and more. He also goes with me to all the doctor's appointments, and that is a huge support.

This past weekend, besides all the grocery shopping and laundry, he put in bannisters. A lot of bannisters. We have an old house, and matching up the bannisters or trying to make them fit properly was sort of difficult. Some of the details aren't perfect because the house is quirky, but the professor put up bannisters for 3 separate staircases this past weekend. Basement to first floor, first floor to second, and second to third floor. He knows I want to keep climbing these darn steps (dang it!) and now I can use my hands to haul myself up if necessary.

Many things in our society are still unequal. For instance, this week, I've been dealing with roofing estimates. (Fixing the roof will ultimately solve our ice dam/"raining inside" problems.) The amount it will cost to fix our roof? It's a lot. The cheapest estimate was $20,000. The most expensive ballpark figures are ridiculous--2 to 3 times that amount. Why is it ridiculous? Well, if I've never earned it in a year ($40,000?) in a "traditionally female" full-time profession like teaching? It seems ridiculous for me to even consider those figures, especially if only men quote them to me. One of them, I might add, had a bombastic macho confidence that leaves me somewhat speechless...won't be hiring him! Women's status in terms of income/health/well-being are so far behind men's status in most countries that it is still hard to imagine what it will look like when we're equal.

I keep hoping for change, and on a daily basis, the professor and I work on it together. My parents work on it, as do my brothers and their wives. I am often inspired by the men (and the women who raised them) who seek change and who make change in their daily lives. They work hard to break down stereotypes, and I want to support that. It goes without saying that I am incredibly inspired by the women who often fight on the front lines for equality on this front.

I know, too, that all these assumptions about nurturing being a "female" thing are just that. Assumptions. Harry (posing in a favorite position here) is a born nurturer...and he's not even a human male. He follows me around, kissing me, sleeping near me, and being absolutely sure I am safe while pregnant. He walks with me up and down every staircase. Sally helps too, of course, but lately, Harry is taking more of the on duty shifts.

I guess what I'm trying to say today is this:
I don't think being pregnant or giving birth or nurturing defines me as a woman. Not at all. That said, now that I am pregnant, it is even more clear to me how imperative it is that not just women are feminists. Men need to nurture women (and each other) as we all demand, support, and work towards creating equality. It's hard to do this stuff alone--and women don't have to. There are men out there who also can help make this world a better place. Sadly, not all men are working on this, but they could be.

In the meanwhile, we just have to start getting everyone else to step up to the plate and do their share. That's the kind of environment I dream of for my future offspring.

(I'm also thinking of how yarn might be used as insulation and roofing...cause I do have a lot of that, and it certainly doesn't cost $40,000. I'm also thinking babies, whether they are female or male, need a roof and a way to avoid getting rained on inside...can one spin/knit or weave a roof?!)

Here's to hoping that in a few years, this kind of post will seem hopelessly old-fashioned..like when women couldn't legally vote or drive. I can't wait.

Festival du Voyageur

2011-03-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

The professor and I are both really, really tired. It has been sort of a long week, and it isn't over yet. That said, I think I should post about his adventures last weekend before we completely "lose the plot" and become too tired to reflect on the fun stuff.

Festival du Voyageur is a festival held here in February that celebrates the French fur traders and First Nations' roots of Manitoba's history. There are lots of people who dress up in traditional fur trader clothing, interesting displays, and plenty of time to stand around outside in the (very cold) beautiful out of doors.

I loved it last year but nixed going this year because a) I can't stand up for too long b) the twins in my belly do not dig the cold and c)bathrooms (washrooms for you Canadians) are in short supply--which really doesn't work for me these days.

Instead, I sort of helped the professor arrange a "play date." I still want him to go out and do fun stuff even if I am just better equipped to sit on the couch these days. He went to Festival with a biomedical engineering professor and a microbiology professor. I daresay they had fun together! This is a photo he took of his two friends admiring one of the snow sculptures. Note the sculpture has 3 knights and their steeds. 3 friends? 3 knights? sweet, huh?

Since it was cold, they spent time inside the heated tents. They made maple syrup taffy with the snow.

They visited with the blacksmith, who was apparently a one man show. A bunch of school kids visited, and one said, "I saw you here last year!" The blacksmith never missed a beat and said, "Is that so? You know, I think I recognize you too! You grew a lot!! Oh, and is that a new pair of winter boots? A new coat?"

This was said very earnestly. The professor and his friends were laughing quietly because of course, this would apply to most any kid who came by the blacksmith display. That said, the kid felt very proud and acknowledged, I'd bet! The professor told me that just in case we were considering doing living history at some point in the future? He thought maybe he could try out blacksmithing... You know, for when butterfly and moth genetics research wasn't paying the bills or something?!
They visited the fur trading/general store area and saw the "store" doing a brisk trade. Just as an aside here, the fur trade is still alive and well in Canada these days and you can buy all sorts of pelts in Winnipeg to make your winter time mukluks or your caribou parka. I'm serious about this--you see people wearing mukluks all the time here in winter. Every year on the CBC, you hear radio features about the warmest winter garb. Someone is ALWAYS swearing by his handmade parka, and usually it is made by a friend or family member. Check out this recent article in the newspaper to learn more about this traditional process.

The professor saw several handspun yarn displays, including this one. He made sure to snap a picture in honor of all the new spindlers I taught in February!

I am sure they visited another tent and listened to a band or two. They might just have visited a First Nations living history interpreter who talked about winter time activities in his teepee. The teepee I visited last winter was remarkably warm, considering the outdoor temperatures...

Eventually, they made their way over to see my friend (and wife of the microbiologist) Carol. She is well known for her beautiful fingerwoven sashes. Check out more about her and her work here.

All in all, a great day out that I have enjoyed vicariously--I hope you did, too. I could go into detail about why we're so tired (a grant proposal for the professor, a lot of doctors' appointments for me, and a childbirth class that lasted over 2 hours...but I won't. I will say though that either I am really old, or carrying twins is just hard, or maybe I just am NOT a night owl. I'm not sure I will make it through these 7-9:30 pm classes. I get the feeling the babies will come out one way or the other in any case....but next week, I've got to schedule in a nap somehow.)

poke in the eye?

2011-03-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

My letter to the editor appeared today here in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.
For those who haven't heard about this case, recently a judge decided that a Manitoba rape victim's clothing implied "consent" and decided not to assign the rapist ANY jail time. Here's the latest on the case.

Unfortunately, one of the newspaper columnists had some convoluted reasoning when it came to this case. Her conclusions involved thinking that knitters were safe from sexual assault. I wish it were so...but alas, that is just not the case.

On a lighter note, I have more to post this week--the professor took some lovely photos of Festival du Voyageur. He went with some friends last weekend. --I stayed home as the windchills were -40 this year. However, I look forward to sharing the photos with you!

Permanent Residency

2011-02-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to all the readers of my blog who sent me wonderful comments and emails in response to my last post. I appreciate all of your amazing words of encouragement and read them over and over! Thank you. (I write you today from the sunny 3rd floor office...!)

Today, the professor and I are off to have our medical physicals for our Permanent Residency application. When we moved to Canada in July of 2009, we were granted work permits. The professor's permit is tied to his job. These work permits mean we're allowed to live and work here, but if something should happen to the professor's job...we'd need to leave. Of course, we hope that doesn't happen!

This is unsettling, as we've moved all our belongings here, bought a house, and set up our home in Winnipeg! So, we started the process to gain what's called "Permanent Residency." This step is much like a green card in the USA, but we don't have to compete in quite the same way to gain a place. (Immigration rules are different in different countries.)

Another thing is that the step of gaining "permanent residency" is a step along the way to gaining Canadian citizenship, if we want to do that. We could also keep our US citizenship in this case. When the babies are born here(hopefully healthy and full-term...), they will be both Canadian and U.S. citizens.

One thing most Canadians don't realize about this residency process is that it takes a while. It's also not free. We've been saving up so that we can afford to pay the fees associated with this application for Permanent Residency when the time comes.

Although Manitoba really encourages immigration--it's in the news here all the time-- I don't think the average local realizes how expensive this is for newcomers. For instance, it took us about a year to get access to a regular Canadian credit card. (with a very low credit limit...) That's because, even though we'd bought a house and came upon the invitation of the Canadian government... we didn't have any credit history in Canada! Instead, we had to pay a currency exchange fee both every time we used a US credit card, and more fees every time we had to move money from one country to the other to pay a bill. It was an expensive year. We paid for things in cash whenever we could.

Today, we'll need to pay something in the range of $400 cash just for these physicals (Not free as they are part of a residency application and not for our basic health and well being) and I will have to return later to follow up with another expense, an X-ray, since I can't do that today. (X-rays aren't ok for pregnant women who can avoid them...)

Why do I mention all this? Immigration is a fairly complicated (and expensive) experience. Lately, I've been thinking about all the political upheaval in the news. This causes refugees and immigrants to move every day. They do not all have the advantage of speaking the local language or having access to bank accounts...let's face it, they have very few advantages. Some escape with just the clothes on their backs.

Today, the windchill is -40 in Manitoba. I feel very lucky to have warm clothes so when I go out in a few minutes, I won't get frostbite. I think the North American "locals" --be they Manitobans, Canadians, Americans, etc. take their status, their safety and their citizenship for granted. Sometimes we need to be reminded of all the luck and privilege we've been afforded.

The professor and I have had to turn down a lot of wonderful invitations to the theater, fancy dinners out, etc. in the past year and a half when we realized we'd need to save up our money instead for all these expenses--and of course, fixing up our house so we'll have a roof over our heads. In the end though, we don't feel we've suffered...because actually, we feel pretty dang lucky most of the time...

(It's a "count your blessings" kind of thing.)

view from the office

2011-02-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

You may remember last summer a house was demolished right across from our house. Since then, I've been watching a new building take shape across the street. This is a building that will house 3 condos and even has garages in the back. It's quite an undertaking. Today is bright and sunny (and even warm for a Winnipeg February, at 16F/-9C). I decided to snap a photo so you can see the construction progress too. It's through a window, so that's why it is a bit smudgy.

Lately my world has gotten much smaller, so I haven't been able to come up with a lot of blog photos. The professor provides me with some, but a bright and sunny February day in my office is now worthy of a photo...let me explain. As the "pregnant with twins" experience progresses, I am learning more about my body and about the human body than I expected.

For instance, when I saw the doctor last, he pointed out that right now, in the middle of my second trimester pregnant with twins, I was experiencing the symptoms and physical size of a normal woman at the end of a normal singleton pregnancy. That, when I got to the third trimester, I would be in a place (in terms of size, symptoms, etc.) that most pregnant women never go. He told me this at a morning appointment and I must admit that it took me the rest of the work day to process the information and/or block it out. He probably just thought he was being honest with me, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know that information!

So, yes, here it is, week 24 and I can't lie, I am out of breath quite a bit these days. I take medicine for heartburn (which I have nearly continuously) and I have to eat in only small amounts--all the time. I have to rest a lot. I am outgrowing the maternity clothes. This experience is causing me to slow down and take notice. I do a lot of sitting still and I haven't been going out as much. I don't cook as much, either. I do a lot of reading, working, knitting, and hanging out with a dog or two.

That said, I do not want to have to give up my sunny 3rd floor office just yet! My house has 3 floors and a basement. Some days, I really need to limit my stair climbing, so I plan out my trips carefully and make little piles to bring from one floor to the next. (The professor does a lot of the transporting so I don't have to...) I bring snacks with me when I go up to my office, because a quick trip to the kitchen (1st floor) is really out of the question on an hourly basis!

When I get settled on the futon (note the extra pillow to support my back!), I don't get up very much. The laptop gets put on my lap and that rolling stool becomes my foot stool. My feet are up and I start working and answering emails.

I am also slowly--very slowly--trying to tidy things up in here. This is because I suspect that someone may end up staying in this room and sleeping on the futon when it is time for the babies to arrive. Perhaps it will be the dog sitter, or a relative--it's hard to tell. I also don't know when or if I will no longer make it up to my office anymore. While I don't keep things very tidy normally, I'd rather not leave it in a mess for months, either!

There's no reason to suspect I won't be able to get up to my 3rd floor office. I'm in good health and no one in the medical profession has said a thing to me about bed rest. No one with any medical training has said anything much to me about twins and how they often are premature. However, lately I've been constantly reminded by others that I should "prepare" for all this. The others are relatives, acquaintances--random, well-meaning people who don't actually know the status of my health or well-being. Usually they are doing this long distance, so if I do have a problem, they won't be here to help, either. They just want to worry me with scary information that I probably don't need to hear--at all. If something more serious should happen, I'll experience it myself soon enough. No need to anticipate what probably won't happen...yet, I hear a lot of people who can't wait to tell me what they think is "the worst." I can't see how this is helpful, but it surely does produce needless anxiety.

Every day that I go up to my cluttered, sunny 3rd floor lair makes me happy. I am trying to clean up, really I am, simply because I'd feel embarrassed if anyone had to maneuver around here right now but me.

What I am hoping is that the visiting person who ends up staying in this room appreciates all the fibery books and supplies on hand. Imagine all that reading material... I'd love to be put up in someone else's studio--but in the meanwhile...

If you get an email from me in the next few weeks, please keep hoping it comes from up here. You know, from my sunny 3rd floor retreat, where Harry the dog usually sleeps on the futon next to me. I hear one can do email and write/edit on bedrest, but I'd really rather not find out!

meetings?

2011-02-17T08:58:00.001-08:00

I am at home today, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. In fact, I am really excited about not going anywhere at all. On Monday, I was supposed to have a work meeting. It got cancelled. I was so relieved...turns out that teaching spinning while pregnant with twins is more work than I'd expected and I needed an entire day to recuperate.

On Tuesday, I had a meeting with the buyer of the Winnipeg Art Gallery Shop. I love this shop and several people had suggested that I see if my handwoven rugs would possibly be something they would be interested in stocking. The short answer is no--they don't have room for it, and tend towards chenille handwoven scarves and painted silk ones. While these are nice things, my scarves are all, umm, warmer, made from natural fibers and planned with actual use in our cold climate. So, even my wool/silk/mohair/pygora scarves were not appropriate for them at this time...they seem to like stocking the floaty impractical ones instead. That's ok though, if they are looking towards spring, good luck to them! (spring is a long way off here!)

All this said, it was a fine experience because the buyer treated me with respect and was a real professional. I never felt like I did bad work or that my rugs weren't worthy. "Not enough room for things this size" was an ok outcome. I could live with that and maintain my self-esteem. Good. I still have a lot of 2 foot by 3 foot handwoven rugs on hand, but someday, I'll manage to sell them or give them away...I hope.

Afterwards, I got to go see my friend Margaret (who organized the spinning class) and who works at the Cornish Library. The Cornish Library was built in 1914 and has just the right mixture of old library hush, good organization, and friendliness. I was over the rejection quickly.

Yesterday I had a business meeting for a freelance editing opportunity. It was downtown in a building with 24 floors. I had to park on the street, negotiate some icy/melty sidewalks, and spend a good deal of time during the meeting worrying whether my 2 hour parking meter was up! It was also scheduled over the lunch hour (11-1:30) which wreaked havoc on the pregnant-with-twins eating schedule, which is near constant, these days. (That is, when I am not having heartburn or throwing up, both of which also happened this week.) I was likely the most on-task person in that meeting, because between thinking about food, the bathroom, and whether my car would get towed, I wasn't in the mood for small talk! Turns out I don't like meetings as much as I used to.

All this coincided with reading When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads: Proven Guidelines for a Healthy Multiple Pregnancy, 3rd Edition--well, I don't know that I had the 3rd edition, but reading an earlier edition from the library still worried me. Apparently I should be eating and resting a whole lot more than I am doing right now. If I do enough eating and enough resting, there is some chance that my future offspring might be born at a good birthweight and maybe, just maybe, not born too prematurely. This seemed sort of important information that no one has told me at the doctor's and I'm trying to take the advice to heart.

So, I am thoroughly enjoying a whole day at home. I am trying to keep my feet up. I'm off to eat again...and I'm going to try to take this seriously.

Good thing that I can do editing while sitting down...babies also need a roof over their heads, and our ice dam experience means we likely need a lot of insulation and a new roof this spring.

That's the news from here! Hope you're well and considering putting your feet up too...

spindle secrets

2011-02-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

1. Ice dams seem to be under control for now. Demolition of our 3rd floor bathroom plaster was successful--we now have an entire wall that is covered with insulation and plastic/taping. It isn't pretty but the plumbing all works, so that is fine for the present time... our second floor bedroom still has an enormous hole in the ceiling and will have that until the spring melt. I have been knocked for a loop by all this weird unexpected house renovation. That said, we're now working on roof estimates so if you have a roofing company recommendation in Winnipeg that does insulation too, let me know, please!

2. My spinning class on Sunday went very well. I'm very tired out --shlepping around twin fetuses while teaching is a lot of work, it seems--
but there are 10 new spinners in the world! Hurray!

3. Geri asks:

What are the specifics of the spindles you're assembling for your class? Are the whorls readily available from a home centre? Does the hole in them readily fit a particular dowel size? What is the size of the dowel (spindle)? I'd love to learn the specifics if you don't mind sharing.

---
Well, the short version is that there are some very basic "making a spindle" instructions in practically every how-to spindle book. There are even instructions in my book, Fiber Gathering.

The basic information is: you need a weight and a stick. Here are some other great books that have illustrations or information on how to make/use a spindle:
Spindle Spinning: From Novice to Expert

Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool

Spinning in the Old Way: How (and Why) To Make Your Own Yarn With A High-Whorl Handspindle

Productive Spindling

I strongly encourage anyone who is even remotely interested in spindling to check out some of these extremely useful books. There are also many wonderful resources online and at your local spinning store/guild/friend's house/spinning class.

Now, some of you are wondering why I'm not revealing all the exact details of these spindles. Well, first I'd refer you to this post. One summary on this end is--I sometimes get paid to teach people how to spin. I've been spinning about 25 years, and I spend a lot of time learning and thinking about it. I don't think any of the information is top secret. I am also certainly not the only one who knows how to spin out there!! However, I also am sure you will understand when I say that I don't need to help you re-invent the wheel (err, spindle) either. There's lots of information out there...seek and ye shall find.

Even if I did want to write a "recipe" for how to make a spindle and give it away for free, I'm afraid it wouldn't work. Everyone lives near a different hardware store. Some folks sell dowels or sticks in metric and some don't. Some people use whorls that aren't toy wheels and some use other kinds of weights. Oh--and I don't always use the same size dowel and whorl. I buy what's available and I teach people to spin on many different types of spindles with different weights and sizes. I don't always make/teach the same thing because there isn't just one way to make a spindle or spin. I'm flexible about it.

Thankfully, all these spindles will work. If they didn't, humans wouldn't exist--we humans would all have frozen to death, naked without textiles, thousands of years ago!!

I know some one out there will think I'm purposely withholding vital information here, and that's not my intention. I just don't have the time/mental energy/desire to create a pattern/design/recipe for this that I can then have edited, formatted and sell efficiently online right now. I also can't afford to always do this kind of thing for free. However, I can point you in the right direction towards making your own, and I hope this post is a good first step.

Congratulations to the 10 new spinners in Manitoba! I am so excited to welcome you to the world of spinning!!

Icy Silence? (no)

2011-02-09T08:16:00.000-08:00

The delay in communicating with you, dear blog readers, is not because things were quiet over here. On Saturday, there was an emergency effort by a roofing company to remove ice and snow from our roof to get rid of some of the ice dams. This was good, but the not good part is when it took 4 hours of work because they had forgotten their extra tall ladder and couldn't reach the roof and needed to go home and get it. (whoops!) I'm more concerned because they may be charging us for that time. Oh well, I have to say, it is only money...and my impression is that we'll be spending a lot of it very soon to fix up this situation.

So, the saga continued. On Tuesday, a nice contractor came out to visit because the insurance adjuster sent him. He determined that our beautifully painted 2nd floor bedroom would need the entire ceiling replaced, and there was no point doing that until spring when the last snow melt happened. Until then, it will likely just drip and rain indoors. Good thing we can sleep in the room next door. Good thing #2? We are not setting up any kind of nursery before the babies arrive, because right now, we're sleeping in that space. (No, this aspect of things doesn't worry me in the slightest. Two babies can sleep in dresser drawers or laundry baskets if necessary...) My only regret is that I wish I hadn't happened into a construction zone in my house in this way.

Also on Tuesday, we were encouraged to start calling roofers because we need to get this fixed in a permanent way. Of course, roofers too only start work after the snow melts. I found myself at the top of the call back list when I explained that, well, I was due to have twins this May/early June so could the insulation/vapor barrier/re-roofing maybe happen quickly? (I don't usually take advantage of physical issues in this way, but heck, this shlepping around of two fetuses is hard work. I was at a low point.)

Then, Tuesday, in the late afternoon, the contractor calls back. He says that the 3rd floor bathroom plaster is too wet to be safe. It is an "emergency" job and can he send two guys and a plumber to rip out that plaster and put up a temporary vapor barrier (plastic) and some insulation right away? He gave me the option of today, Wednesday, or tomorrow, Thursday. I chose Thursday. I needed a bit of breathing room.

These pictures show how small our little guest bathroom is--and if you see this sloping ceiling on the left above the toilet? It is all crinkly, saggy and wet. Most important, you can notice the yucky brown cave color. I don't think the professor and I will miss this color scheme at all...we're looking forward to this somewhat inopportune chance to repaint this space and make it slightly brighter and less cave-like. (Removing the drippy damp will go a long way to help with that, right?!)

Meanwhile, I've been making spindles and assembling spindling kits for my "learn to spin" class on Sunday. Every bag gets filled with a certain amount of wool roving in different colors, some informational brochures, and the spindle, of course...The show must go on. Today I need to finish doing that, because starting tomorrow, I'll need to have all that organized and sheltered from a bathroom plaster demolition.

Oy. By evening, I had resorted to a comfort food dinner of oatmeal, an apple, and ice cream. I couldn't even knit. Demolition? Yes, demolition.

Must go--I just got a phone call from the gas company. We're about to have our gas fireplaces (installed in September) officially inspected. Is our number up this week for house fix-its and repairs?

Dam

2011-02-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

That is, ice dam. We don't have leaky pipe damage. We have ice damming. In case you haven't heard of this, the Wall Street Journal helpfully explains it here. Apparently, lots of folks in our neighborhood have ice damming this year. Lucky us.

-No photos of this. Imagine icicles hanging from the eaves of our house and you've just about got it. Otherwise, the photos would look just like this text--black and white. It's cloudy out today.

I've had a nice appointment with the insurance adjuster to discuss the damage in our bedroom and elsewhere...We didn't like the color of the guest bathroom anyhow, right?! I've put in a call to see if someone wants to wander over and remove this snow from our roof in the meanwhile. We'll likely be having a contractor come in and do estimates.

It also looks like this summer might be the time to have our roof redone...Cause, you know, after the babies are born, I won't be getting a lot of rest anyhow, right? What's a little hammering in the meanwhile?

Here are a few reviving views of Florida from our trip to keep sunshine in mind. Actually, we've had a remarkable thaw over the last day or two. It's gone from -40 to just about freezing! No wonder why it is leaking water indoors... that's 70 degrees Fahrenheit! 40 degrees Celsius!

I've taken advantage of the weather to go out to visit a friend, to take a walk in the neighborhood to have dinner out with another friend and even to stop for a gelato on the way home. The sad part is that it turns out that even in wonderful warm weather... (32F, 0C is WARM!), I still get out of breath. That is just because at this point, I've got two fetuses pushing on my breathing parts. Oh well. I did enjoy the outing!

distracting views

2011-02-01T13:17:00.001-08:00

Well, the boiler pipe leak hasn't gotten worse. The house is warm and toasty and I am almost over being grouchy and tired by yet another stupid plumbing malfunction. That doesn't mean it's fixed yet--oh no, the plumbers are busy (and/or sick) and in the great scheme of things, this is probably a small leak and a minor house disaster. Also, before I hear the "I told you so" chorus from people who think we shouldn't own an old house, (Uhh, yes, you know who you are, family members) well, I'll repeat my refrain...new houses and new repairs sometimes cause problems, too. These things just happen sometimes. For some reason, these things are happening to us A LOT these days. Oh well. Life is like that!

If only this had happened BEFORE the big bedroom paint job!! We're trying not to cry about that, but the professor did such a beautiful job before this happened.

OK, in order to avoid dwelling on something we cannot fix, let's distract ourselves. If this reminds you of the way you keep a toddler from crying by distracting him with a new toy? Well, yes, that still works on me. I'm all for distraction when these unavoidable housing problems spring up.

Quick, look at that lovely Lido Key beach photo from Florida. Yes, this is what the beach looks like in Sarasota. White sand, nice views, warmer weather....Ahhh. I'm taking a deep breath here.

Since beach views are not always reviving, here are a couple of pictures the professor took during my book signing at Picasson's Moon.

This is a really fun yarn shop where the staff is so kind and helpful and the yarn choices are pretty interesting. The interior decoration--funky clutter, complete with lots of chairs and cushions, books and antiques--really makes it stand out.

I was there signing books and visiting from 4-7 pm and my charming professor kept stopping in to make sure I was still doing ok. He took several photos, including this close up of me signing someone's copy of Fiber Gathering. You may notice here that I am wearing the Tank Empire pattern sample from Knit Green. I am amazed by how versatile this tank top is in practice. It's good in hot weather worn with just a camisole underneath it and it is a superb vest during the Florida winter. What I didn't expect to find is that the A line shape makes it a very useful maternity item as well. You can't see my belly here, but it really covers it up!

It looks to me as though few or no people have posted or attempted this pattern, at least when you look at the Ravelry.com statistics. My only guess is that the gauge information is offputting. The gauge information is for a cotton/linen yarn that shrinks when blocked. If you'd like to make this for yourself but want to substitute another kind of yarn, look at the gauge after blocking. Knit up a swatch in your yarn choice, block it, and then worry about matching gauge to the information for after blocking. That's how you'll come out with the right size when you knit this.

I hope sometime to knit this project again in another color or two...this tank/vest is a staple of my wardrobe, especially when I travel or teach about my books!

Distraction accomplished, I feel calmer now. I will keep slowly posting Florida photos while waiting for the next housing fix to take place...I hope this post distracted you as well!

We interrupt this program...

2011-01-31T07:49:00.000-08:00

I am trying so hard to have a good attitude today. Really I am. Can you see me straining over here while I try to smile?

Remember the newly painted bedroom? I posted about it here. We stalled a while when it came to moving back into the bedroom...we wanted all the paint fumes to dissipate before we slept there again. We also needed a chunk of time to get everything moved and maybe a helper to make the move easier. (I'm not moving furniture these days.)

Yesterday, while I was teaching, the professor and a friend of his moved the whole kit and kaboodle back into our newly painted room. When I came home, I was thrilled to see it. The room looked bigger, even with the same amount of furniture in it. I was excited to get into bed in our "old" bedroom last night. It looked gorgeous.

The dogs made themselves at home right away too. They were thrilled to be back in their regular territory. We knew we'd had a successful home reno job.

Then, last night, right as I was beginning to put on my pjs, the professor and I looked up at the newly painted ceiling right above my part of the bed (ahh, it looked so beautiful when he painted it...) and we saw the plaster had buckled. There was cracking. The professor touched it. It was wet. This just happened- yesterday.

We said a few bad words. We tried to isolate the problem, and as best we can tell, it is a leaking or broken boiler pipe between the second and third floors. Yet, our house is toasty warm, even on the third floor. The ancient boiler is doing an admirable job. Even so, we determined that it wasn't safe to sleep under something leaky that might spew hot water in the middle of the night.

The professor sent the dogs and me down to the living room. The dogs were sleepy and curled up for cuddles and I called my mom. Who else can you call at 10 pm CT (11 pm ET-- her time...) to have commiseration about these kinds of *^#%^!! things?

Somehow, the professor moved all our furniture on his own back into the "back up" bedroom where we'd been sleeping for a little over a month. This is where the nursery will be when the babies are born. He put down plastic tarp and a trash can in our -again empty-bedroom to catch any spills.

We went back to trying to sleep a little before midnight. I was exhausted...but somehow, the city decided that last night was the time to use the construction equipment bobcats to clear large snow piles on the main street outside our house. (Beep beep beep every time they backed up, all night long) Also, we had an endless number of dump trucks, filled with snow, idling on the street as they headed to snow disposal sites. This idling and enormous gas wastage apparently must be done between midnight and 6 AM to avoid traffic problems?

This AM, the professor called the plumbers, who now treat us like family. They explained that they are very busy and that both of their master plumbers are out sick. Luckily, we still have heat so there is no desperate emergency--we're all hoping it is a small little leak...but we'll wait until they come by to cut into that section of freshly painted (and now ruined) plaster ceiling.

Oy.
Have I mentioned that it's downright cold here lately? I am considering throwing in the towel on this day and creeping back under the covers again with a dog or two to keep me warm.

Good news? The carding class went well. There are still more Florida pictures to enjoy later in the week. We're all safe and warm and no one was burnt by leaking hot water in the middle of the night...I guess it's time to be grateful for all these things...right?

Sarasota Farmers' Market

2011-01-30T09:01:00.000-08:00

Last week in this time, we were in Sarasota, Florida. The professor, his father and I went to the Farmers' Market. There was a lot of produce (strawberries, greens, citrus, etc.) and a lot of other vendors. I couldn't dally too much in front of the seafood stalls with the stinky fish smells--still dealing with nausea--so we focused on other things. There were plenty of things to see!

First, since the professor's father is an architect and we are great fans of old houses and old things, the architectural salvage stand was pretty cool. The colored glass bottles appealed to the professor and I had to remind him of how heavy our luggage was already...

Then we saw some amazing flowers for sale. All sorts of exotic varieties of flowers, usually only for sale at a florist's shop, right here at the Farmers' Market!

We were also serenaded by these teenagers, who played remarkably well together considering their instruments. All of their instruments were made of discarded materials. Yes, a TRASH band...check out the cereal box guitar. It's a shame you can't see the drummer in this picture, he was really going to town on a drum set made up entirely of overturned pails and other junk. It was a treat to hear and see!
This market was also absolutely dog obsessed. We were missing our dogs at that point, so the professor got busy taking pictures of what we found most entertaining in the dog world. I focused mainly on petting the dogs I met instead. First, there's the coffee vendor: JAVA DAWG. (Note, my head is in the bottom right of the photo...I leaned longingly towards this stand until I saw the line up of customers. I gave up immediately when I saw that even the dogs were forced to wait in line...)

The professor and I knew that our dogs would not enjoy these crowds even if they were in Florida with us. (they were in the kennel in Manitoba) Even so, we met some dogs who did. We're pretty sure their humans never even noticed we were petting their dogs, taking photos, or smiling at them!

It was about 50F (10C) when we were at the Farmers' Market. The Floridians thought this was cold. I wore just a sweater and it felt like a heatwave to me. Bear in mind, of course, that today it is -25F (-32C) here in Winnipeg, with a windchill which brings the temperature down much further. Of course, the professor and our dogs wore their sweaters today for their walk. I think the professor even wore insulated jeans, and he is very tolerant of cold temperatures, so you can imagine that it was actually cold outside this AM.

Apparently dogs in Sarasota needed their sweaters, too. I sat outside eating a strawberry chocolate crepe while the locals said how very "cold" it felt that day in Florida. It was hard for me to figure out what to say! In any case, the crepe was good and the weather seemed very pleasant to me as well. Obviously, I wasn't the sympathetic ear these strangers needed as they complained!

We have more photos of nature and I'll try to draw out our vacation so you too can have a vicarious vacation through the blog. I've got the photos for at least one more post. In any case, I hope you'll feel amused by the dogs in sweaters on a 50F day! We were!

Most sweet were the puppies, who were trying to meet everyone at the market. I am a sucker for puppy fur, puppy teeth, and puppy breath. (Always have been) I love my middle aged dogs very much and it is fabulous to have mostly trained and cooperative family members. That said, every so often, every 10 years or so, I yearn for a puppy. I try to get my fill by visiting with other folks' puppies. I certainly think it makes life easier. Housetraining one's puppy at -25F? Now that does sound unappealing!

I'm off to eat lunch before teaching my hand carding class this afternoon. I hope it goes well--and maybe I'll even meet some of my blog readers there.

Carding Class Coming Up!

2011-01-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

The professor and I got home after midnight last night...I am exhausted from the trip! I've got more Florida photos to show you (of sunshine, palm trees, ocean, and more) but my next workshop is coming up and I wanted to post a reminder. Please sign up right away if you're interested. I'd love to see you on Sunday!

In Winnipeg:
– Learn to Card
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library Workshop
If you’re a hand spinner, felter, or fibre artist who works with wool, alpaca, cotton, or other fibres, this is an opportunity to “brush up" on your carding! Hand carding and drum carding produce light, fluffy batts and rolls of wool, called rolags, for brushing and blending fibres. This hands-on class will give you the skills you need to process clean wool for woollen spinning, felting and other crafts. Please bring your hand cards or a drum carder, if you have one.
Instructor: Joanne Seiff.
Joanne has been carding, spinning, and knitting for 25 years. Joanne teaches spinning and other fibre arts classes throughout North America and is the author of two books, Knit Green and Fiber Gathering. http://www.joanneseiff.com.
Fee: $40, Members $35, plus $10 kit fee
When:
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
2pm – 4pm

Where:
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library
1B-183 Kennedy St. (between St. Mary & York)
Winnipeg, MB R3C 1S6

A 95th and other small treats

2011-01-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Part of my trip to Virginia was spent in celebration of grandmother's 95th birthday. The real event isn't happening until the beginning of February, but my mom invited lots of relatives for a family dinner. My mother expected a total of 14 dinner guests. When I fell asleep my first night in Virginia, I realized there were 8 people in the house, and usually there are half that many occupants. Even so, the day before, my uncle and his partner decided they shouldn't come from Boston because he had a bad cold and didn't want to get anyone else sick.

My mom had just cleared away their place settings when my best friend's parents called...they were travelling from Pensacola, Florida, to their home in Vermont when their car broke down. Luckily, it broke down nearby in Virginia. Shortly afterwards, the tow truck delivered my "second set of parents" and their two dogs (German shorthair pointers) to my parents' house! Next thing we knew, the place settings were back! Also, the professor and I played musical beds--we went to stay at my brother's house and guestroom (about 5 minutes away), so that my brother's dog wouldn't also have to play host. We all figured that 3 dogs and two little boys who are 5 and under seemed like too much chaos at his house. Instead, we just added one pregnant sister and her husband...

The short version is that our trip to Virginia was lots of fun family time, lots of food, and very social. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the family. I especially enjoyed my nephews, who saved up all their screaming and crying jags for us...but I didn't mind the quiet afterwards when they left, either! (One of my nephews had a couple of ear infections which were only diagnosed after we left.)

We arrived in Florida yesterday to see some of the professor's family. The temperature shift is enormous, fully 100 degrees Fahrenheit warmer. When our plane landed, it was 80F. When we left Winnipeg, it was around -25F. While it is still warm here, I continue to bring the weather with me. This morning, there was a huge thundershower and lots of fog. While this means the professor cannot go out to do his field work and collect his butterflies, it does mean we have some quality time together instead. Butterflies don't fly while it is rainy, windy, cold or foggy out.

We went to Whole Foods (fancy grocery store) where the professor found these tomatoes. He loves heirloom tomatoes, but I think the package is pretty funny, too. Fibery people, I am sure you will see the joke here. I found myself wondering how they'd gotten one of these into the package.

Next, we found a Florida grown Pomelo, one of my favorite fruits. When I was a teenager, I lived on a kibbutz for a year as a study abroad program. Behind our class dorm area, there was a citrus grove with Pomelos. We could pick them after school and eat them as a snack. My roommate and I used to share one. It always takes a long time to eat! I am thrilled to see these are now being grown in North America as they used to be hard to come by. I used to only be able to buy them in Asian groceries each winter, since they are mostly grown in Asia.

We also found moose dog toys with squeakers--so weird to find these in Florida. In Manitoba, we actually have moose living in the province. I have never seen a moose in Florida, but apparently the dogs needed us to travel to Florida to get them provincially appropriate squeaker toys. (As some of you know, my dogs are suckers for these toys...they love them.) We had to buy two, of course, as they fight over any toy without two exact replicas. Good practice for twins, we figure.

We've also seen egrets, armadillos, sand cranes, palm trees, a great sunset and lots of flowers...but I never had my camera ready to catch those images. My knitting for this trip is mainly black wool, so it is very difficult to photograph.

My father-in-law has saved me months' worth of New York Times "dining out" sections to enjoy. He must have waited unconsciously until I stopped being quite so sick to my stomach. I am now still occasionally nauseous, but at this point, I can eat out and read about food. It makes all the difference. Note the section on top--about how pies are now gaining popularity over cupcakes. (Those who know me know I am very serious about pie...especially fruit pie. I love it.) Of course pies are now the newest fad in NYC and San Francisco. Of course--they were the most popular fad in my house a long long time ago!

Just thought you might like a vicarious slice of vacation frivolousness. I'm off to eat some chocolate and take a nap. Ain't vacation grand?

Making Green Choices...cancelled

2011-01-18T11:47:00.001-08:00

If you're in Virginia and eagerly awaiting my talk tonight, I hope you check online first!

Making Green Choices, scheduled for this evening, has been cancelled due to the bad weather here. (Last night's freezing rain, sleet, and ice hasn't melted the way the weather reports said it would.) In fact, this evening is supposed to have more precipitation. In terms of safety--and making the most green choice--I hope everybody will stay home instead!

While the temperature was roughly 50 degrees warmer (Fahrenheit) than in Winnipeg this morning, it's still below freezing and like an ice rink outside on many of the side roads. Apparently, I do take the weather with me. My sincerest apologies to Virginians!

take the weather

2011-01-14T08:27:00.000-08:00

Everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you...
--Crowded House

This song is racing through my head. I think it doesn't entirely make sense but I'm going with it...

A few days ago, I went on an adventure with our resident student. (Sadly, she is not in residence anymore, but went home yesterday...I missed her presence right after she left!) The adventure involved going to Value Village to hunt up wool sweaters. It's harder than one might think to buy 100% wool sweaters in Kentucky. Winter in Kentucky gets cold, definitely below freezing, including snow and ice on rare occasions, but for some reason, retailers and consumers there don't think that people need natural fiber gear for winter.

Our visiting student needed serious winter clothing for her visit, so we gifted her with several wool sweaters and went to shop for more. Then, another friend of mine in Northern Kentucky sent in a request--would we shop for her, too? In the end, I washed and sent our student home with an extra suitcase and something like 12 fabulous natural fiber sweaters from Winnipeg thrift shops. Our student also received 3 sweaters as gifts from us--sweaters that were hanging around, including this one that I knit but never wore. It just didn't suit me in the end.

It was fun to shop for gorgeous wool, cashmere and silk sweaters for other people. As the professor has pointed out, I have more enough sweaters, so this was a good excuse to sweater shop for others!

Today is the day I prepare for my trip. I haven't actually flown anywhere since May--and that is a long time for me to go between trips. I've missed travelling. At the same time, I am finding packing hard this time around. Never mind the belly, which changes from day to day, I am confused about how to pack for the temperatures we'll experience in Virginia and Florida.

I likely won't need my winter boots on this trip. (I wear winter boots every single time I go outside here in Winnipeg from November through April) Right, that makes sense, but we've got several feet of snow on the ground here, so I just will wear shoes with good tread to the airport. What about sweaters? What weight jacket do you wear when the predicted low is -10F (-23C) tomorrow here and 29F (-2C) there?

No matter how hard I think about it or sing the Crowded House song, I don't take the weather with me! I take my Winnipeg adjusted body temperatures and ideas about the weather and hopefully my clothing, assuming my suitcase gets there. So, yeah, no wonder I'm confused. To think that I lived about 20 years in Virginia...and I can't remember the winter weather there. Sort of interesting.

So, if you feel the weather is snowy and cold where you are, you're probably right. If you were wondering if it is cold in Virginia right now, well, yes, they think it is. It is MUCH colder here. All things being equal, I'm quite sure my relatives would prefer I do not take the weather with me. :)

How much snow do you have right now? What's the temperature!? (Celsius or Fahrenheit?) What's cold where you live?

Classes, book signings, and more...

2011-01-12T08:32:00.001-08:00

Here is the full schedule of upcoming fiber arts events...I am going to be busy for the next month!

--I'm pasting in the announcements for each event below.
Green Choices Talk-Falls Church, Virginia
I’m going to be in Virginia this January! I’ll be giving a talk for the “Green Team” at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia…
When: Tuesday, January 18 at 7:30
Where: 2100 Westmoreland St., Falls Church, VA
How Much: Free!

All are welcome…I’d love to see you! There will also be a chance to buy books and/or have me sign your books after the event.

Making Green Choices: Your clothing, Your Knitting, and in Your Household

Biodiversity, Fair Trade, Sustainability, Vegan, Organic, Recycling, Buy Local…

These are all terms we now associate with our food choices. Did you know all this relates to your clothes and your hobbies, too? Join Joanne Seiff, author of Knit Green: 20 Projects & Ideas for Sustainability, as she helps you navigate through the many complicated “Green” decisions out there. While Joanne’s book focuses in particular on the hand knitting industry, the implications of this information go far beyond hand knitted socks and scarves.

Do you care about green issues and wear clothes?
Then this presentation is relevant to you.
If you are one of the approximately 50 million people in North America who knit, crochet, or do fiber art, please join us in learning about how to make ethical and sustainable choices in needlework and in clothing, too.

Joanne Seiff is the author of two books published by Wiley & Sons, Knit Green and Fiber Gathering. Joanne is a freelance writer, educator and knitwear designer. Although Joanne practically grew up at TRS, she now lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba with her husband, a biology professor, and her Jewish bird dogs, Harry and Sally. She enjoys wearing lots of hand knits during Canadian winters.

---

Upcoming Book Signing at Picasso’s Moon in Sarasota, Florida!
January 24th
Picasso's Moon Yarn
1524 Fruitville Road
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 954-8696
www.picassosmoonyarn.com

Please join me at this wonderful yarn shop in Sarasota on Monday, January 24th, 2011, from 4-7pm. I will be visiting the shop and signing copies of Knit Green and Fiber Gathering.

If you live nearby or are on vacation in Florida this January, I hope you can stop by Picasso’s Moon so I can meet you!
---

In Winnipeg:
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library
Workshop – Learn to Card
If you’re a hand spinner, felter, or fibre artist who works with wool, alpaca, cotton, or other fibres, this is an opportunity to “brush up" on your carding! Hand carding and drum carding produce light, fluffy batts and rolls of wool, called rolags, for brushing and blending fibres. This hands-on class will give you the skills you need to process clean wool for woollen spinning, felting and other crafts. Please bring your hand cards or a drum carder, if you have one.
Instructor: Joanne Seiff.
Joanne has been carding, spinning, and knitting for 25 years. Joanne teaches spinning and other fibre arts classes throughout North America and is the author of two books, Knit Green and Fiber Gathering. http://www.joanneseiff.com.
Fee: $40, Members $35, plus $10 kit fee
When:
Sunday, January 30th, 2011
2pm – 4pm

Where:
Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library
1B-183 Kennedy St. (between St. Mary & York)
Winnipeg, MB R3C 1S6
---
Cloverleaf Art & Fibre and Joanne Seiff present a class in Winnipeg:
Learn to Spin!
Taught by Joanne Seiff
Handspinning with a spindle is an ancient craft that is still important even today. Everyone in a household, including children as young as four, used to help spin yarn that clothed the family and kept them warm! Join Joanne and learn a bit about wool and learn to use a handspindle to make your own yarn. When you leave this class, you’ll own a spindle, some practice wool, and you’ll be able to practice spinning at home.

Note: This class is all you’ll need to begin spinning. It’s also a great introduction to the skills you’ll need if you decide to learn to spin on a spinning wheel.

When: February 13th from 1:30-4:30 pm
Where: Henderson Library
1-1050 Henderson Highway, Winnipeg, MB
Cost: $60
This includes: a $30 materials fee for a beginner’s spindle, wool, room fee and other materials & a $30 class fee per person

Spaces are Limited! Register by February 6th to reserve your spot!
Please email Margaret of Cloverleaf Art & Fibre at cloverleaf.fibre@gmail.com

Want to stock up on fibery goodness while you learn? Cloverleaf Art & Fibre will bring a selection of Shetland wool fleece, roving and art straight from their lovingly raised Shetland flock! Also purchase signed copies of Joanne’s books as well as other goodies…all while learning to spin in a friendly, hands-on environment.

Hope y'all can come to something in the above list! Apologies in advance if I am not coming to a city near you...travelling is going to be somewhat limited for a while-with good reason.

the big painting effort

2011-01-10T08:22:00.001-08:00

Thanks so much for all your wonderful well wishes! The professor and I appreciate it so much! I've been longing to tell you a funny story, and now that I've revealed the big news, the other stuff can follow.

In the spring time, we moved around all sorts of furniture to clear out a small room for our summer undergradate resident student. She got this (storage) room on the 3rd floor which didn't have a radiator. Time passed, she went home, and over winter break, the professor took on a big painting project. He decided to paint our bedroom.

The bedroom color was a yellowish brown which could only be described as looking vaguely (in my view) like, well, baby poop. I found it dark and depressing, but I can't seem to find a photo of it to share with you, so you'll have to take my word for it. The professor thought the paint job itself was atrocious, and we would lay in bed and discuss how awful it was.

This is the new light blue color of our bedroom...the professor did a great job. Such a good job, in fact, that a friend is using the room for a photo shoot for her new book this morning! (Then we'll move back into it.)

In order to empty out this room, we had to empty out the "loom room" next door so we'd have a place to sleep. We then moved all that fibery stuff up to the 3rd floor, into the little "student" room. Early on in my pregnancy I moved all the lightweight boxes filled with wool upstairs. Two or three weeks later, I went to rearrange those same boxes and they had become very heavy! The professor announced my box moving days were over...and friends helped us move the loom upstairs.

During this massive reshuffling of wool (I have a lot), the resident student from Kentucky scheduled a return visit to Winnipeg to do more work with the professor. She was absolutely crushed that she couldn't use her "old" room. I told her I could not let her sleep there in winter since there is no radiator in the room. It isn't warm enough! She'd never been to Winnipeg in winter so hadn't quite cottoned on to what I was saying. Then, feeling frustrated, she asked why the loom wouldn't be moved right back downstairs when the painting was over.

That's when the professor couldn't keep the secret any longer and said, "But then where would the babies go?!" (we've planned to leave this other room, next door to our bedroom, mostly empty after the painting shuffle until the babies arrive.) The student was so surprised she nearly cried. I laughed a lot. Luckily, the student has been ok in the guest room so far. :) She hasn't complained about the extra space, the larger bed or the radiator. Not one bit.

PS: I haven't been spinning or weaving much in the last several months since getting pregnant. Turns out that these activities relax me and lower my (already kind of low) blood pressure. Then I would stand up from spinning or the weaving bench feeling so teetery that I thought I might keel over. (Yes, I have fainted in the past, though not lately) The doctor also suggested I only take showers when someone else is home, because I might keel over in the warm shower, and hit my head on the cast iron claw foot tub. So, you know, knitting is still safe because I mostly do it sitting still!

PPS: I am doing a lot of teaching, booksignings, and even a lecture in January and early February! I will post more about that soon. For now, there is more information about a spinning class, booksigning and Knit Green talk here and about the January 30th handcarding class here.

Big big big belly

2011-01-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

Last year, on my birthday, I thought I had lots of big news. I had a big new-to-me floor loom, for instance.

This year, the birthday news is bigger. You may remember from my posts this fall that I felt under the weather a lot...with both asthma and with nausea. I was also on a medicine that made me feel stoned and made it hard to drive.

That is because, with the help of a little technology, I am pregnant. With twins.

(Apparently, twin fetuses offer twice as many hormones--so twice as much nausea.) Yup, it's been a long haul so far.

I am celebrating tonight because the professor and our visiting resident student took me out for a birthday dinner. So far, I am even keeping it down, which is wonderful. I've learned to be grateful for small things!

These twin fetuses, formerly nicknamed Nausea & Vomit, have now been renamed. The professor objected to those nicknames, but then, he was only a helpful bystander to why I called them that! (A bystander who did the shopping, cleaning, cooking, and all sorts of other things to help me cope.) Lately I've been calling them the kugel twins, after Lokshen Kugel...one of my favorite childhood foods. Lokshen and Kugel are doing fine so far. The stork should deliver them in May or early June. Their due date is in early June, but twins often arrive early, just like I tend to do, if you know me!

Locally, people already know about this because I've already got quite a belly and have been wearing maternity pants since November now. Twin fetuses take up a lot of room! It's hard to hide such a big belly!

In order to head off any questions:
We are adhering to traditional Jewish customs and will not be announcing any names, genders, or other details before the babies are born. We're not acquiring anything for these guys until they are born healthy--so no baby shower before the big day, no nursery acquisitions, etc. Of course, if you had a big urge to knit baby clothes or soakers or longies or something for no baby in particular, well, I can't stop you...and I'll send you grateful thanks and my address in May/June!

Thanks to all of you who have been cheering quietly behind the scenes for me as I went through many years of trying to get pregnant. Thank you so much for your gentle support. I appreciate you more than you will know.

Taking a risk

2010-12-30T07:50:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about this post for a while but no matter what I did, the photos don't seem to represent the ideas well. I'm trying hard, bear with me!

Several folks mentioned that my last post was a good one. For those nice comments, I thank you! My dad particularly wanted to point out though that the first photo of Sally the dog looks like a black swan. I only saw a black dog in my snowy backyard, but heck, we always need other people to point out new ways of seeing things, whether it is the value of relationships or our photographs!

That leads me to this post. The professor and I are remarkably dependable "first" children. We are very duty bound. If family or friends ask us to do something (teach, help, whatever), we do what we say we are going to, with few exceptions. That said, both of us also seem willing to do more risk taking than many people I know. We take big trips overseas, move to other countries, experiment in weird ways in our work lives, and we try to reach out to new people--friends that are perhaps unlikely choices.

One reason I feel confident in experimenting in fiber arts is because I know the dependable parts of things...what is the worst thing that could happen? (Not much, actually, because it is just wool! Far worse things have happened to us during big moves or our travels!) Last summer, in the midst of teaching, entertaining, and running around like a chicken with my head cut off, I started a project. I used polar weight wool rug yarn I got for free on a challenging day. Using enormous needles, I doubled the yarn and knit it into a long flat rectangle. I planned to make it into a cushion, but when I got "done" (tired of it), it didn't look cushion-like.

Using an enormous tapestry needle, I stitched up one short side of the rectangle and pulled the stitches tight like a draw string. I stitched up the "open" end of the rectangle, and I made something that looked like a very floppy and deep bowl or hat. It still didn't look like anything.

I threw it aside and ruminated on the situation. One day, the professor was doing laundry...and I asked him to throw this "thingee" into the washing machine with a hot water wash. I imagined a hard felted bowl shaped thing would emerge. What came out surprised us both.

The washing fulled the wool (but hadn't quite felted it) and the bottom of the tube folded up on itself. It emerged all on its own as a rather sturdy looking hat. The shape reminds me of a Russian style hat, or the sheepskin trooper hat I bought for the professor. (He hardly wears it and says it is "too warm" to wear it most of the time. Note, it is -4F or-20C outdoors at the moment.)

The new "hat" is a bit too large for my head, but I think it might fit our resident student, who is coming back for a week or two this January to experience winter in Manitoba. She might just need a warm hat.

If that doesn't work out, it's not a bad felted bowl, either. Full of balls of yarn or a knitting project, I imagine there will always be another use for another yarn containment basket!

While I was getting ready to post about this experiment (a good metaphor for the much bigger risks we all should consider taking in 2011...), the phone rang. A local friend called, asking for coaching in replacing a zipper. It wasn't just any zipper though, it was a tallit (prayer shawl) bag used by his father. So, it was an old textile and a sentimentally meaningful one--this was something his father used for prayer, and now he uses, on a daily basis.

I could not believe the serendipity. I guess maybe I became known for taking risks in 2010.

That said, I coached our friend on the phone rather than in person, because the professor has a bad cold. I don't want our friend to get sick--and there is such a thing as too much risk taking for people like us (dutiful eldest children who worry about others)!

May you take risks in whatever makes you happy--safe risks only, please--in 2011, to discover new and wonderful things! Happy New Year!

The underappreciated

2010-12-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

While most of those around us are concentrating on a seriously big holiday, for us, this is generally a quiet time since it isn't our holiday. The professor took me out to lunch today and we watched everyone else rushing around. It's actually a relief not to have to engage in the hoopla of Christmas...so many people appear very stressed by it. (We do, after all, have our own hoopla several times a year--for instance, getting ready for Passover each spring or the High Holy Days in the Fall)

Early this evening, we may go out to a movie with some friends. Tomorrow we might go to services at synagogue since it's a Saturday. Anyhow, this time when things slow down for us makes me think about how people perceive "value."

The professor and I value quality time--with friends, with family, and with each other. A really stellar evening is one where we have a good meal with friends. Another kind of fantastic time is just a week night, where we sit on the couch, each busy near one another with his/her own task. The professor is often working on research or answering student email. I am often knitting. We take time to pet dogs.

All this means that we don't necessarily value big expensive things. Rather, we tend to value ideas, handmade things, and special experiences like travel. As a result, I save money elsewhere. I often buy things as a 'good deal'- for instance, yarn that others consider discards or leftovers.
Last summer, when I was teaching a lot and we had our resident student living with us, (she's a knitter, btw), we saw that there was an amazing deal online. A yarn company had some yarn they considered a mistake. They called it "overspun yarn." They sold this wool sport weight yarn online in big bags of 10 skeins for a dollar a skein and said it knit up at 6 stitches to an inch.. I could barely contain my excitement.

This first photo is only a small portion of the yarn I bought. (It got a bit out of hand...) I've since used some of this yarn for weaving a scarf. Lately I've been knitting a skein of it into a sock. It turns out that I LOVE to knit with this yarn. The yarn's hand is firm and the resulting fabric (at 7 stitches to an inch) is a delight. I cannot wait to see how it will wear over time...but so far, I see no fear of biasing or other problems that were predicted. Sometimes, a handspinner's knowledge of yarn construction is a valuable thing! If the socks wear well, I can imagine knitting whole sweaters out of this yarn sometime in the future, either at this fingering weight or doubling it for a firm textured thicker yarn.

This is what it looks like up close in the skein.

When I encounter yarns like this, I can only use them for my own personal projects. Since these "deal" yarns are a one time offer, discontinued, unavailable, or otherwise hard to find, I can't really sell a knitting pattern using this yarn since other knitters will want to knit the pattern in the same yarn as I used. Instead, I find I brainstorm ideas. Sometimes I reknit a whole project for a design in a more widely available yarn later, but the first project usually gets worn at home instead.

I'm also including Sally the dog in my post about the "underappreciated." Sally sometimes scares people who come to visit us because she immediately does an alarm bark and tries to protect me. She is a nervous, high strung kind of girl. Some of that is the Pointer in her. She's definitely a mixed breed dog, but if you look at her body and her behaviors, she might also have some coonhound in her...which wouldn't be a surprise since we got her from the pound in Kentucky, where there are a lot of hunting dogs.

She is a fast runner and an amazing hunter...even though we really don't hunt. (need a rabbit, squirrel or snake? Just ask Sally!) Sally is also very intelligent and practically trains herself to do all sorts of things. She taught herself to retrieve by watching Harry do it--and it took a while to teach Harry this skill! She is a wonderful nursemaid and will spend hours with me in bed if I am not feeling well. She brings me lots of squeaky dog toys and makes a nest for us!

Sally can sense if a new person is nervous around her. She doesn't like loud voices or quick movements. That said, once Sally makes a friend, you're really part of her pack for life. Certain friends and relatives who are either very calm or dog people have been rewarded with Sally's love. It is truly delicious, but not everyone has the patience or the right kind of calm nature to see it.

The professor is finishing up grading his final exam. He sits on the couch and either Harry or Sally "helps" him. Here is Sally, dropping by for a visit. She will paw at one of us gently until we pet her the way she likes. She knows that if she paws me twice, she gets 2 "pets!" Three times? Three pets...she is clever.
I think we all have a tendency to fall for the dog who is immediately affectionate (Harry comes to mind, if you've met him!), the super soft knitting yarn, or the things that are easy and/or expensive. Sometimes, it is a discarded yarn, an abandoned and skittish dog, or a conversation with a friend that can be really valuable in the longterm. I am counting up the things I value--and sometimes, it can be more work to see how truly incredible that overspun yarn, that anxious dog, or a complicated friendship can be. For me, this effort is truly worthwhile. Sally, and the lessons she teaches, are really blessings.

If you celebrate a holiday around now, I hope it is a joyous and meaningful one! If you don't, please come by (via the comments?) and visit with us over here on the couch...

fiery Sunday

2010-12-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning, we heard there had been a fire overnight, just a block away. (I guess I've been sleeping pretty soundly lately!) The professor walked up to take a photo of what it looked like and shot a photo. The house was vacant and a block from ours. Here's a news article about this story.

Later in the afternoon, I settled down on the sofa to listen to my audiobook and do some knitting. I looked out the front window of my house. I saw an enormous plume of smoke and fire trucks rushing to the scene...the house caught fire a second time.

The professor went out to see what was going on, along with about half the neighborhood...(bear in mind that the temperature was maybe about 10F, tops)

During the first fire, the firefighters had used nearby hydrants, which had then frozen over. (these are apparently steam cleaned later to keep them safe for use during the winter, but it was a weekend.)

Those hydrants were too frozen to use, so the fire trucks began to access hydrants on our block and on Corydon Avenue, which meant that 2 or 3 blocks of Stafford, a very busy street, were completely blocked off. We had been planning to over to a friend's house for our usual Sunday night discussion group. I got kind of nervous about leaving the dogs or leaving home. (This was a big fire- a block away from our house.)

Here's a photo of our house, with a fire truck right beside it...
A few phone calls later, our friends agreed to come over to our house instead...but I had to give them instructions about where to drive and park! Usually, we all bring along side dishes and dessert to go with pizza that someone has ordered. I tried to figure out how we would easily order pizza given the hoopla outside our front door. I decided to start some pizza dough--and I made pizza at home instead.

Our friends came over and we settled down to a cozy evening--with flashing light accompaniment. There was a fire truck and a police cruiser parked directly in the intersection outside our house, complete with flashing lights. The fire fighting continued. The firefighters had to chop down trees to access the house to fight the fire. It was a busy night.

Just as we were eating our (homemade)pizza at the dining room table, the doorbell rang. I rushed out to answer it, and there was a pizza delivery guy! He had our address. I double/triple checked with our friends. Had anyone ordered a pizza by mistake?
The pizza delivery guy called the unfamiliar number on the order.

"Oops!" The two young police officers said, as they rushed up to our door. "We got hungry and ordered pizza...we had to use your address! Sorry about that..." (I wish I'd known, I would have just handed them some of our homemade pizza!)

At bed time, we had to close all our blinds carefully, as the flashing lights and blocked off roadways were still an issue. Luckily, our house was closed up tight against winter wind and weather so we didn't smell too much smoke.

The next morning, the professor got up bright and early and read in the paper that a woman named Gayle (with a last name the same as the professor's surname) owned these two adjacent vacant houses (including the one that burned down) and she'd been planning to tear these down to build a condo complex--a block from our house. This was news to us, but the "news" continued.
At 7:15AM on Monday, the CBC called, asking to speak to Gayle. (No Gayle here, the professor explained, as I bolted out of bed...sure there was another emergency...)

Again later on Monday, another news gathering source called asking to speak to Gayle. Again, I had to explain, "No, Gayle doesn't live here...we don't know anyone by that name."

This is what the house looked like when we saw it on Monday. The sidewalks outside are an ice rink, and the house is pretty well destroyed.

In general, I am frustrated that people have been buying up 100 year old houses and property in our mostly residential neighborhood without maintaining or restoring them. These folks are then allowing the houses to sit vacant and deteriorate, and then hoping to turn it into commercial or multi-family development opportunities. In particular, if I ever bump into Gayle, well, I'll ask for her phone number so I can direct those early morning news hounds in her direction...!

Mostly, I'm grateful to the firefighters, who kept us and our big old wooden house safe only a block away from this enormous fire.

I'm also hoping this week will be quiet and much less eventful!

Winter projects

2010-12-17T08:41:00.001-08:00

I am a fan of winter and hibernation. It's been a season I have always enjoyed, and this cold season, so far, is really living up to my expectations. Snow, cold, and lots of time to cuddle up near our new gas fireplaces...

My red sweater project has now gotten so large that it is no longer very portable. I'm working on sleeves, but they aren't very photogenic. Here are some portable projects I'm also pursuing. The teddy in the picture is from a Knitty.com pattern, called Bubby. My version was whipped up quickly in honor of my new nephew, who was born happy and healthy on December 5th. Congrats to my youngest brother and his wife on their joint production! Bubby and I will be going to Virginia in January to see the nephews and I'll go bearing at least one handknit gift.

The sock in the photo is my own design in progress. I'm comfortable posting it here in public since there is really nothing to see at present but a brown toe-up sock, but this is probably your last viewing because it will likely become more distinct/unique as I continue!

In other projects, the professor has been practicing his winter time photography. He sends along these two shots of cedar waxwings..he somehow managed to be outside at the university campus when 30 or 40 of these birds all settled to feed on a tree at once. I love the winter time colors here, and yes, this is proof that things do live outside in Winnipeg in the winter time, even when it is -20F!

What is harder to imagine is how the professor got his camera to work at those temperatures...but I didn't ask that!

In connection with my last post, I think this one is continuing this theme of keeping intellectually active. On one hand, I see winter as a healthy period of rest and rejuvenation. On the other, I also see it as a time to foster one's inner reserves of creativity. It's a chance to create and imagine, dream and reach for new things...and I hope you too will have time to do that this season.

Now I am off, into the snow, to take a walk with the dogs...dogs around here don't take winter off!

knowing smart people

2010-12-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Last year, the professor wandered across the university campus to meet with a Biomedical Engineering professor to talk about a collaborative grant proposal. They hit it off and became friends. This friend invited us to his house for a Sunday night discussion group. Originally, we based our discussions on college courses on DVD. We'd watch a lecture and then we'd discuss it. Invariably, one of us knew more than the introductory lecture. Others learned the material for the first time. This was all pretty interesting.

As time passed, we found we didn't need to start with someone else's lecture. Someone would come in with a short video clip or an idea, and we'd be off to the races, thick in discussion. Since then, things have blossomed. We make world-cuisine potluck meals (bring whatever you feel like, while respecting people's dietary issues) and we enjoy hanging out. In the summer time, we rotated houses and went to outdoor concerts. In the fall, a few folks went off to watch the bird migrations together.

Although most of us have some academic affiliation, we try not to get bogged down in "shop" talk. We are so different in some ways that conversation is inevitable. Our ages range from the mid-30s to mid-60s. The people in the group were born all over the world: Iran, Australia, Egypt, Canada, US, etc. Our religious backgrounds are really different, too. This all makes for rich conversation.

The tendency, as we get older, is to get comfortable in our peer groups. Maybe people hang out with family, friends with common interests, or people from their religious community. These habits tend to keep us from meeting amazing people who might not be just like us. For some, it's just hard to get up off the couch to try something new. The chance for intellectual growth is so great when we push ourselves to reach beyond those usual circles.

Today I was proud to know some of these people. This article about their important Alzheimer's research came out in the local paper. The researchers (my friends) were interviewed on TV news as well. In big ways, some of our friends are making a difference in the world. In small ways, we're helping each other move furniture, cope with job issues, or sharing recipes.

I don't think I could underestimate how it feels to know such clever, intellectually curious people. It's amazing...and, although I often bring my knitting on Sunday nights, sometimes I am just too immersed in stimulating conversation to knit as well. Now, that's saying something.

So, did you know that intellectual growth and activities (like knitting) help prevent Alzheimer's? What are you doing to keep mentally active?

Hanukah and winter stimulation

2010-12-08T11:42:00.001-08:00

Hanukah's nearly over and we've had a nice, quiet holiday. Aside from being grateful for plumbing (every night!), it turns out the professor bought the dogs a game before our drainage woes began.
We both notice that Harry and Sally become restless and bored in the winter time. Although they get a walk every day, in the winter, it is too cold for them to spend long periods playing together in the backyard. By "too cold," I don't mean below freezing. I mean, when the high temperature of the day is 9F (-13C), that is too cold to be playing outside for extended periods. It isn't unusual for it to get down to -40 (C or F, it doesn't matter) this time of year, so we need to be careful about how long we spend outdoors.

This year we splurged and bought a fancy dog toy that helps encourage mental stimulation. It requires play with dog and owner. Since there are two dogs in our household, one of us holds a dog in the sit/stay position while the other dog gets to play. The game, called "The Brick," has been perfect to play while the candles are burning...it fits exactly this relatively minor holiday's "30 minutes of fun while the candles burn" each night perfectly.

If you're interested in learning more about the game, it's called Company of Animals Nina Ottosson Dog Brick Interactive Game. We bought it from a local pet store but I'm pretty sure it's easy to buy on Amazon, too. You do have to train your dog to play with it and you can't let the dog play with it on his/her own. That said, when I go anywhere near where the game is stored, the dogs now get very excited. Obviously, this worked in terms of keeping our brains stimulated around here!

In human terms, new knitting patterns do keep our brains stimulated too! Someone from Saskatoon asked how one can buy my downloadable patterns. My full line of patterns is available for download on my website. Most of these patterns are also available for download on Ravelry as well. Of course, you need to use Paypal for most of these transactions.

I don't make these patterns available to stores. That is because it costs a lot to print, mail, and stock paper patterns...and it increases the carbon footprint of each pattern. It's just not cost effective if I want to keep the pattern price low. I made this decision back in 2005, and I've chosen to stick by it. For most people, it works.

If you want to buy a pattern but cannot download it yourself for some reason, you have these options:
1) Ask a friend with a computer/printer/Paypal account to help.
2) Contact me via my email address or Ravelry personal message to make other arrangements. On rare occasions, folks send checks through the mail--and if you do this, please add $1 US to the price of the pattern to cover postage, etc.

Unfortunately, I can't do business through my blog. It's very hard to track people's contact information down this way!

I hope everyone's staying stimulated mentally, physically, and socially this winter. I am off to take some homemade meringues out of the oven to enjoy some treats that look just like snow!

Why plumbing is great...

2010-12-05T09:07:00.001-08:00

I am sorry I haven't updated you on the drainage pipe excitement around here...it's an interesting tale. (For the sake of your stomachs, I'm avoiding any photos in this post. There wasn't anything too disturbing, but still...)

I'll preface this by saying that for the most part, we had access to reasonable plumbing last week. We could flush, we could shower, etc. We knew that the broken pipe wasn't allowing full drainage, so everything was just done very gently!

In the middle of last week, the nice tradesmen who do evacavating started dropping by. The first guy said--"let me see your basement" and "let me see this broken pipe dvd." Then he said something that was actually quite wonderful. He suggested we call our regular plumber back. He said he thought the broken pipe was actually "inside" the house, in our basement. This meant we wouldn't need a backhoe to dig up our outdoor pipes. It was a smaller problem than we'd feared.
(Think $2000 total and not, say, a potential $8 to 10 grand)

Our regular plumbing company -who are now like relatives- came along on Thursday and started fixing things. That involved:
-Cutting up the plywood false floor in our basement
-Hammering out not one but two concrete floors, complete with rubble in between them. The rubble included old lathe and plaster walls, so we know why concrete floor number 2 was unstable and the wooden floor was built. (laying a new concrete floor on top of uneven rubble is not a recipe for a stable new floor!)
-Digging down to wherever the broken pipe was.

When the plumber hit the broken pipe, the issues were obvious. A few owners ago, our house was "fixed up" by someone who lived here or somebody they hired. This person was a reasonable carpenter, an ok electrician and his plumbing left something to be desired. We knew this already--my professor has fixed nearly every plumbing fixture in the house, and we've also gotten to hire a professional plumber on multiple occasions already.

The short version? One PVC pipe forced into another pipe--without being glued together--had flexed over the years of freezing and thawing. The flexing pipe had carefully dumped out a lot of water drained from our washer over the years as someone washed clothes. This eroded all the dirt around it, and eventually, with no glue holding the pipes together and dirt holding the pipes in place, we had our little collapse this last week.

I felt so reassured on Thursday afternoon by the mere idea that the plumber was taking care of the problem that I fell asleep on the couch in the living room (just above the basement) while he worked. I slept through someone jackhammering concrete. Really.

By Thursday evening, the new pipes were glued in place. By Friday morning, the problem was nearly entirely solved, right down to a new concrete floor. We probably need to rebuild the false wooden floor above it, but that's minor in the great scheme of things. Our basement is not finished and we don't do a lot of entertaining down there!

We were reminded, over and over again this week, how amazing plumbing is and how bad it is when something goes wrong. Something good happened to us. We remembered to be grateful for one of the basics of modern life. Plumbing is an outstanding thing that really improves the quality of our lives and our basic health!

Now the professor is on to other things. Today he's trying out some new paint colors--doing a small sample paint job for our bedroom. This will be the project for winter break. The color when we got here? A very unpleasant yellowish brown with lot of sloppy paint mess ups. We're hoping for a light blue when all is done.

One last thought--we know all this is happening in part because our charming old house wasn't always maintained well...but we also know that things just happen. We know people with brand new houses who have had serious problems. Houses (like bodies) require upkeep! It's been a week where I've reflected (a lot) on how much we take for granted. If you're warm and dry, if you have a home and all the electricity, plumbing and heat work, it is a great thing. It's ok to say a little thank you about that, to whomever you thank. (The Almighty, the local House God, whoever!)

And yeah, if your body is mostly working right? That might be a great thing too. It's amazing when everything works right. A thing of wonder to behold...

Spill Over

2010-11-30T13:34:00.001-08:00

The big juried craft show is over and I am on the way to recovery--sort of. I find that these things really exhaust me. I try hard but am probably not cut out to be a retailer! Right now, I have these little piles of stuff in the living room, loom room, etc. that are all migrating slowly to be put"away" in slow motion. I find that everything is very tidy before I go off to teach, etc., but when I come home, there is this spill over exhaustion that keeps me from putting everything away as neatly as I got it out in the first place.

The craft show itself was interesting. The crowd was a lot younger and more hip than I expected. As a result, they spent smaller amounts of money. I did sell a bunch of stuff, but it was almost entirely handspun yarn and signed copies of my books. A lot of knitters and crocheters (again, majority of them under 45) snapped up my handspun. They fondled and talked about it with me, lovingly discussing gauge, texture, fiber, and yardage. In one case, a twenty something guy who knits came up, proudly showed me his handknit alpaca toque (hat) and then saw Fiber Gathering on the table. "Hey," he says, grinning, "I have that book!! NO WAY! You wrote that book?!" That was fun.

By contrast, occasionally, it was difficult not to be snappy or sarcastic...like when people doubted that I'd made the things for sale at my table. (NO, this is all an elaborate farce where I import things from developing countries and pretend I made them at juried craft shows!)

Here's another one. These same people started picking up copies of Knit Green and Fiber Gathering and I said I'd be happy to sign copies of my books. "You wrote these books?" those folks said, in an entirely shocked and surprised tone. (NO! I thought, I'm volunteering to sign other people's books.) Luckily, I didn't let that thought out even once, although this scenario happened more times than I'd care to admit. I'm telling you, my dear blog readers, because it was hard to hold this one in, believe me.

What didn't sell? Most of my handwoven stuff...you know, the stuff I've been working so hard on this past year. I sold 1 rug to a friend (and I would have just given her a rug, honest), 2 scarves, and 2 pillows. The rest came home with me. I even had people tell me that the rugs were "too nice to put on the floor" and I told them they could put them on sofas, chairs, or even on the wall if they liked. They fondled, touched, let their babies drool and roll on, and even put their purses and belongings on the rugs as they sorted through their other purchases...but they were apparently too good to put on the floor! (that one confused me...) I haven't quite figured out what to do with those, because although I wouldn't hesitate to put my rugs on the floor, I'm not going to put 14 of them on the floor. There is such a thing as, umm, over decorating...

The second case of spillover happened right in the middle of the craft show. Saturday morning, I wandered downstairs to have breakfast and noticed a weird grassy smell on our first floor. I raced back upstairs and accused the professor of having watered all our houseplants at once. (apparently a crime?!) He apparently hadn't watered them that morning, and the sceptical look he gave me was amazing. I mean, I know I've been weird while on this wacko medicine..and maybe I've accused him of some strange things, but obviously, even his patience has limits...

I decided to check out the basement while the kettle was heating water for tea. Uh Oh. Water on the floor in the distinctly grassy smelling basement. Not a good sign. I raced back up to the 2nd floor--the poor professor. I mean, poor guy was about to step into the shower when I told him the news.

We had to divide and conquer. He stayed home to have a date with the plumber. I rushed off to the craft show by myself.

A couple of hours and $440 later, the professor joined me and told me that the drainage pipe "had been cleared" but that we might have a problem with the sewer pipe that went out to the street. We'd find out on Monday, when the plumber could come back with a special camera that saw such things.

You'll note today is Tuesday. The news is not so good and we have a dvd of the pipe to prove it. At the least, some pipe is mis-aligned, but given that our house is nearly 100 years old, it's probably time to replace all those pipes before they all misalign, disintegrate or fill up with more tree roots...yup, we saw dirt and tree roots in there. Since the plumbing pipes in Winnipeg are roughly 8 feet underground (and under 15" or more of snow)--we'll be having another plumbing appointment with a backhoe soon.

Even if I'd sold all of those rugs, it probably wouldn't pay for this. Maybe it's good I'm on this stoner medicine. I feel very accepting about all this "spillover" in my life. Mess? Complication? Plumbing problems? Par for the course. Whoa. That's very laid back of me.

If you've known me a while, you know this is SO not usual...

The professor and I are having a very low key Hanukah. We're giving each other gifts:
On night #1: We'll get to flush our toilets. Hurray!
night #2? wash our hands!
night #3: take a shower!
night #4: do laundry!
You get the picture...? Little presents and sweets?--we can skip those. Sewer drainage from our house? That's priceless.

A winner!

2010-11-23T13:43:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to StephCat, who just won the gift certificate contest! Thanks to everybody for participating. I am slowly (very slowly) going through everyone's comments, visiting your blogs or dropping you emails, and enjoying all your thoughts. Thank you so much for saying hello. Some of you are old friends--for instance, we spun together in a guild in North Carolina 8 years ago...and others are new acquaintances I am meeting via the internet. It has been delightful to hear from everyone. Please keep it up when you might have something to say via comment. I love hearing back when I post.

The professor took this photo of our house in the snow as he was out shovelling. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow, so there will be more white stuff to come!

You may wonder how I chose the winner for the blog comment contest. Well, the truth is that this time, I had the professor do it with the Random integer program online. I used to do it myself, but well, it's a funny story. When you add my looney toons, anti-histamine addled brain into the mix, well, I set it up (1-21=the total number of comments, 1=winner), and then it chose a number. Wow, I said! That was fun. Then I did it again. I chose another number. And again. Then, by the time I had 3 numbers, I realized I no longer had one winner...and if I did, the one winner wouldn't be random. I would have chosen 1 out of 3. In fact, I had forgotten the first number by the time I'd gotten to the third. This seemed funny, but then I realized, uhh, this is how come I'm not driving when I'm on this medicine... so I had my lovely husband do the hard work of being objective.

Luckily, the doctor has suggested I can reduce my dosage and stop taking this medicine in December, if all is well. That is probably good. In the meanwhile, I might go back to entertaining myself with random numbers. Apparently that's all it takes. :) (yes, I'm easily affected by medicines...)

Snow!!

2010-11-21T12:42:00.001-08:00

Remember to leave a comment on that last blog post (the one that says "Win Something!") before Monday afternoon! I am loving the comments and enjoying hearing from all of you, including some new-to-me lurkers. Thank you so much for making me feel cheery this week with your comments. I loved reading them! One more day left...comment on!

Our weather in Winnipeg this week has been fantastic if you're a snow lover, like me. Yes, I love snow, even after living in Ithaca, NY--yearly snowfall average? 67.3"or 171 cm and Buffalo, NY--93.6" or 238cm. By comparison. I think we've gotten about 20-30 cm (8-12") in two separate snow falls this week here. This is a lot in one go for Winnipeg, according to the radio. The picture at right is one that my professor took from his laboratory window. It's the U. of Manitoba administration building--but it looks like it's in a snowglobe!

Better yet, the "asthma and allergy" portion of my health has improved immensely with the cold weather. I'm not quite fixed in the health department, but every time I step outside, I'm grateful for the weather change. No more leaf mold! Deep breaths again-- Hurray!

Inside, I'm working hard to get ready for the Handmade Holiday Sale, which is happening on Friday and Saturday this week. Since I'm still a bit, umm, mentally challenged with the antihistamine medicine I'm on, I work slowly. However, this week, I did some weaving and dyeing.

I will be selling a bunch of handspun yarn at this sale, and some of my stockpile was a very boring natural white color. I dyed all that blue yarn in the front of the stash there this week. While I was doing that, I decided to do some renovations of some of my winter woolens. Long ago, I wrote this article for Knitty, an online magazine. Each fall, I do a bit of "renovation" to make my older handknits seem fresh or interesting. This year, a white Icelandic wool hat (pattern in Fiber Gathering), a pair of plain white medium wool mittens and a handspun Rambouillet scarf cowl took a dip in the dye bath. Check out the result...brand new (old) knits!

When I was a kid, my mother always wanted my accessories to match. I've never managed the matchy matchy stuff particularly well--and this dyeing job was no exception! If you look carefully, you'll see that the cowl doesn't exactly match the hat and mitts--it's pinker. This is because they were different breeds of wool, different kinds of processing/knitting, etc. That's ok though--because I doubt I'd be able to remember to wear them all together in any case!

I also was able to finally finish this light green scarf for the sale this week. It has been a struggle, as I haven't felt up to weaving much. Even so, I forced myself to get it done, and I'm very pleased by how it came out! I combined two different yarns with very close (but not matching) spring greens. The plain weave has texture and tonality from these two yarns, and I am sure it is just right for someone. I hope that someone (whoever he or she is!) comes to the sale next weekend.

That's the fibery stuff from here. I've also managed to make a chocolate hazelnut cake for a friend's birthday, and we'll brave the un-plowed streets to see him this evening. I love snow--it makes everyday life an exciting adventure...

Win Something!

2010-11-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

I am so sorry, blog readers--it's been a whole week since I've posted. I feel like I'm letting you down!

Here's a sunshiney photo of my loom in action while I explain. I've still been feeling under the weather. I haven't been going out much and I'm a little lonely. I feel a bit teetery, like I'm sitting on a counter stool and my feet are dangling off the edge with no (steadying) floor in sight! I'm also trying hard to keep up with my work--including getting ready for the Handmade Holiday sale, put on by Manitoba Craft Council, which is taking place November 26th and 27th.

Comments on the blog have been few and far between for a while, so I was a slacker and didn't post as much as usual. (I find your comments and those interactions very encouraging. Otherwise, I don't much feel like posting sometimes!) I'm sorry for my silence over here, and I'd like to make that up to you. I figured I'd combine a few topics at once. Here it is:

I notice that a lot of people read my blog each day...but I don't actually know who most of you are. Are you friends and family? Fellow knitters/spinners/weavers? People who like dogs? People who like old house stories? People I met once? I wish I knew more. If only 3 people comment on a post left up for a week but 30 people visit each day...there are a lot of you out there who I don't hear from very often!

At the same time, the lovely folks at CSN Stores contacted me out of the blue and asked me if I'd like to give away a $45 gift certificate to any of their over 200 online stores on my blog. (They sell dog beds, kitchen tools, shoes, bar stools...and more!) Well, gosh--this seems like a really good time for someone to win a $45 gift certificate!

So, if you read my blog, and you'd like to say who you are, and why you visit the blog--I'd love to know. I will read everybody's comments and (assuming you actually say who you are and answer why you visit my blog) will enter you into a completely random drawing. Please leave your comment by next Monday afternoon - 3pm North American Central Time-, November 22nd. (I will hop on to the blog and officially close the drawing at that time.)

A few little notes:
1: Please be sure I will be able to contact you via your email address, blog, smoke signals, etc. Even if I know you in real life, I might not know your secret blog log in nickname, so be sure I can figure out how to find you!

2: CSN only ships to U.S. and Canadian addresses, and if you live in Canada, you may have to pay international shipping charges. (Sorry!) If you live farther afield, please feel free to leave a comment-I'd love to hear from you-but I won't be able to give you the gift certificate, as the shipping won't work out.

So, tell me, dahlink...why do you visit the blog? What interests you? I look forward to hearing from you! I hope you win the $45 gift certificate, too!!

1 pair of socks+other random stuff

2010-11-08T12:05:00.000-08:00

The other night I finished my Mary Jane Socks (pattern found in Fiber Gathering) and I tried them on before I'd woven in all the ends. Before I knew it, the professor snapped a couple of photos. While the socks themselves aren't exactly the right color here-they are much darker purple in real life- the professor thought the tableau was perfect.

Note the copy of the book, the socks, and Harry the dog snoozing across the room. Beyond, you can see my Canadian Production Wheel. If you happen to have a copy of Fiber Gathering, you may have seen this pattern, these feet, and that spinning wheel before. Quick! Go look at it--does it look familiar? (hint: It should.) Only difference is the shade of yarn used in the socks themselves!

In other news, the professor installed a new wireless router over the weekend to our replace our 7 year old router. Who knew wireless could be this fast? Well, now I do. Whew, it sure does make downloading big files easier!

The other random thing (I'm listing them in threes here) is that yesterday, I was talking on the phone to my very nice knitting buddy, Christine. She's the kind of person who I really value as a friend...as my mom would say, she's got her head screwed on straight. (translation? Her priorities seem really ethical to me and make good common sense.) So, there we are, talking, and I look out the front window. Uh oh.

Ten skateboarders between the ages of, say, 14-20, drive up in two cars. They suddenly start using the construction site across the street as a skate park. They move some wood to make a ramp. They are doing tricks off the second story of an unfinished structure. You know, the kind with big holes and concrete everywhere? The kind of building where the construction workers are working hard every single work day. They didn't deserve that.

I got to make a wee little phone call to the cops then. Christine let me call her back, cause, you know, she is a nice person. Plus, I think seeing someone crack his head open would really turn my stomach. All that blood? Yuck. On a practical note, if they hurt themselves while being stupid, well, we're all responsible for the medical bill here in Canada, aren't we?

Luckily, the police don't seem to be busy on Sunday afternoon, and maybe someone else called too, because they chase the skateboarders away not once, but twice. As Christine would say, Good on ya, police guys!

So, three random good things--I hope this doesn't mean I'm due for anything randomly bad to happen. Anything good happening with you? Do tell!

slow progress

2010-11-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, that title's a lie there. For those who know me, I'm usually sort of fast on the uptake. Lately, all progress around here has been glacial. I'm getting better, but the weather does persist on being warm (dang it!) so my lungs hurt (asthma) and I am just feeling under the weather. I've been prescribed some nice medicine that makes me feel loopy.

That said, sewing on a sewing machine always feel like such a speed demon (compared to spinning, knitting, weaving, or sewing by hand) that I decided to get mine out. I mean, I felt too loopy to drive, so why not operate a sewing machine? (logic was lost for a little while there, but don't worry, I haven't hurt myself or others.) I put the spinning wheels on the window seat out of the way and set to sewing...about 6 seams, maybe.

For a long time, I haven't wanted to look out my kitchen windows. (I took this scenic view from the third floor, but I pushed aside a curtain first!) That would be because I have an awful view of the back door and parking lot of this place. The back door is where all the super skinny ladies sneak out after their face is all red and scary looking from the "beauty treatments." I could say a lot about why I don't think we need to have this place in the neighborhood, but I'll skip it for now...and talk about curtains.

I've had several ideas about the kitchen curtains, which even included weaving fabric for curtains. That plan went very well until I went to finish the handwoven fabric. It unexpectedly felted together and shrunk. Uh OH. That fabric will now become textured pillows as soon as I cut it up and sew them with my sewing machine. (scissors+loopy meds+ handwoven fabric? Uh oh. I'm waiting on that, too.)

A few months ago, I happened upon the perfect colored gingham fabric at Artsjunktion. Have I mentioned how I love that place? It wasn't a large piece of fabric, but fine for making cafe curtains for two windows...not enough for enormous gathers, but good enough and it was free. What held me up? Getting out the sewing machine and finding the right size tension rods. I went to several stores this summer looking for tension rods. (curtain rods/pressure rods--I thought of every name I could think of) I could not find the smaller sizes of tension rods. I couldn't use the magnetic rods, because my old window casements are made of --wood. It was frustrating. So, since I was at home and not driving anyhow, I made the curtains and thought: If I sew it, they (the curtain rods) will come. (Like building a baseball diamond, only different, right?!)

My kind professor sat next to me on the sofa and surfed the web with me until he found the right sized tension rods. (At Home Depot, of course. Why didn't I look there?) So, after my curtains were all made and washed, he went by the hardware store on his way to work and brought home the final ingredient to making kitchen curtains.

You'll note that you can still see the sky and trees above the curtains. Good. You can also see the ground and grass below the curtains. (Good for monitoring dogs at play.) Also, when you look at the photos, it sort of looks like I've always had these totally bland looking matching curtains there. (Perfect.) So, I feel satisfied with this project. I won't even tell you how stupid and loopy I felt while discovering I had the casing on one side and the hemming on the other at first..but I fixed that. They look ok now, and that's all that matters.

My sock KAL over on Ravelry is winding down, I think. My Mary Jane socks from Fiber Gathering are nearly done. I've decided to extend the ribbing as far as I can to use up every last bit of this lovely hand-dyed yarn. I'm sure I'll being doing the picot edging with the tail end of things, but my ankles will be warmer, come winter.

That is the knitting/sewing/fiber art-y news around here. Please--feel free to admire my (incredibly basic) kitchen curtains. :)
Every time I go downstairs for a cup of tea, I am still smiling in a somewhat loopy way at them. Maybe it's the antihistamine that's making me do that?!

Ice in the puddles

2010-10-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

We've had a pretty warm fall here. As a result, the birds hung around later than usual. Winnipeg is in the middle of the continent, so you can see all sorts of interesting bird migrations. A spinner friend of mine in Kentucky (who is also a biologist) asked me about the migrations, and although I'd always looked casually, this caused me to pay more attention. Now I'm a fan of the late summer and fall sky activity.

For weeks before actually migrating, I watch the Canadian geese in particular. They do these funny practice runs, getting ready to migrate. There wouldn't be a full V of lined up birds or even a sort of haphazard one. There's maybe a basic "back slash" in the sky.
(I have to spell this out because this blogspot software thinks I'm doing coding and deletes the post when I really use a sideways V or backslash...)
Then I end up imagining the coaching sessions, complete with what the honking means:
--Guys! Guys! Let's get started! Pull to the Right! Go on! You can DO IT!

--Joe?? Where's Joe? Joe, come back here. Get yourself in line. Where are you....JOE??

(Joe drops lower, lower, lower until he falls beyond the other geese, beyond the horizon, likely taking a rest in some schoolyard...he's skipping practice again. How will he EVER do in the big game?)

In the back of line, maybe those honks were two geese (Eloise and Mildred? Albert and Stan?) who were catching everybody else's air. Maybe they were cruising along and gossiping about things. You know, like the next place they'd rest, some sports game they saw from the air, or maybe the excellent tail feathers of the goose just up ahead. I could come up with a whole imaginary community life story for these geese...except--

Usually I'm walking the dogs while I do this, so I have to pay attention to things like street corners, cars, and other excitement...other dogs, cats, and bunnies. (Bunnies can really cause a serious yank on the end of the leash, along with a hound-y, beagle-y, bird dog sound that is like no other...but I was talking about geese. Right?)

The professor went off to Fort Whyte recently with some friends to see the sunset and take photos of the birds. The photos here are his. I asked particularly after Canadian geese and Snow geese but he said there were also a lot of sea gulls in the mix, but that it was worth seeing.

I should note here that I too was invited to go off to see the geese. I am still feeling a bit under the weather, so I enjoyed the warmth of the couch and the company of Harry and Sally, the dogs, while he had a night out.

Today, for the very first time this fall, there was ice in the puddles I saw as I walked the dogs. A change in season is upon us! I am actually quite excited. Part of my health issues have been some bad allergies/asthma--and frost kills the leaf molds with which I appear to struggle. Bring on the frost! (Breathing is fun! Breathing is fundamental!)

Thought you'd enjoy the professor's lovely images as you imagine fall weather up here in Manitoba. Oh, and when you see the geese farther on their way south? Say hi from me. I'll miss their conversations while I'm on the daily dog walk.

Those books...

2010-10-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that just last September, I got to introduce Knit Green on this blog. In fact, in October 2009, I got to introduce a new knitting project from the book in nearly every post! That said, the book release was sort of a quiet occasion. We'd just moved to a new country. I only managed to to travel a small amount to promote the book...(unless I get a teaching gig, I can't afford to cover those travel expenses.) I also sent out some postcards to offer yarn shops the possibility of a trunk show...and I never heard from a single yarn shop. I guess it was a quiet book release!

In fact, in looking back on it, it's only been a year and a half since Fiber Gathering was published. It's been quite a year and a half...

Why am I mentioning this?

Well, I know there are likely lots of people who decided that they'd wait a while before buying my books. Maybe they wanted to know if Library Journal reviewed them well (they did!) or if the price would go down. The prices have gone way down...just check out the Amazon links over there for more information on that...

Books also make great gifts. It's possible you're not a knitter, (what?! Not a knitter?) but given the statistics, (1 in 3 women in North America knit or crochet) I bet you know someone who is. Even if you're not aware of any knitters, there are spinning, dyeing, crochet, rug hooking and other projects in my books. Oh, and if you're wearing clothes? There's eco-friendly information in Knit Green that you will find useful.

This is definitely the time of year that people start buying things for their friends and families. However, I know that times are rough, so it's possible you might not be in a big buying mood. Have you considered asking your library to buy copies of Fiber Gathering and Knit Green? That way you know lots of people can enjoy reading them without any expense at all.

Many people will be getting e-readers for the holidays, too--what about purchasing an ebook? That too makes a great gift...

I try hard not to be too pushy about this sort of thing on my blog...but it is technically a part of my living. So far, I haven't earned anything past my advance on either book. For each book sold, I earn a very small amount. (Think roughly 80 cents to a $1. That's an average many authors have to live with...but unless your book is a best seller, it's hard to live on it.)

I imagine I'm preaching to the choir here, and that most of you have already bought my books. If so, thank you so much! I'm incredibly proud of them, and so happy to hear every time someone says that they've enjoyed them. Thank you for saying that, too. I'm grateful for every kind word.

Now, don't you know someone else who might like a book?! :) (wink wink nudge nudge?)

Random

2010-10-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd include some photos of life around here...and narrate them. This is my second attempt (I somehow hit two keys and deleted the post...) so this may not be as insightful or patient as the first post attempted to be!

This is a photo of scarf #1. It's coming along. What's it made of? It's got a silk/wool warp (and it's nubbly silk) and a mishmash of yarns in the weft. A commercial mohair/wool/nylon boucle that I bought from a mill in Ireland, a handspun Polwarth single ply yarn that I spun with bits of gray, pearl, pink, peach and copper silk waste threads mixed in, and an odd ball of Lion Brand's long discontinued Kool Wool, a wool/nylon yarn I really liked when it was being produced. Dealing with the broken and uneven tension in the warp has been an exercise in patience--I'll look forward to getting this first scarf off the loom so I can readjust things again.

The second photo is of some 3 ply chained handspun yarn I finally washed this week after plying. (Chained plying is also called Navajo ply) It looks non-descript, until you remember this post. This is the Rideau Arcott cross wool I was given last spring that was full of burrs. This is a great example of how you can use (and enjoy) wool that is less than perfect. I get tired of hearing the phrase "trash in, trash out" when people talk about wool for spinning. Throughout history, spinners have not always had perfectly clean fleeces without vegetable-matter, yet we've managed to make it work! You can do beautiful, useful and functional things out of less-than-perfect materials. It sometimes takes work. (Good metaphor for people sometimes, huh?)

My husband, the professor, continues to find "views" without having to climb large observation towers! He went to run an errand before work and caught this photo in a parking lot while waiting for the shop to open. This is just a snap shot of the prairie sky above a parking lot. What a view... It sure isn't like the sky in other places.

At the university campus, someone is feeding the squirrels and birds some peanuts. Here's a magpie having a snack.

Finally, the construction across the street continues at a brisk pace. It's pretty interesting to see what gets accomplished each day. Staring out the window has been fascinating, particularly because my loom faces the construction site. While I weave, I watch the building commence.

It's been a long week...some very sad news from a good friend, as well as a lot of work for the professor...and he has also been doing a lot at home as I have been under the weather... but despite all this, I think our household really enjoys finding small things to admire and appreciate whenever we can.

I hope, wherever you are, that you'll get to find beauty in small, every day wonders this weekend.

ain't doing no Twist

2010-10-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

To follow up on that last post--I can't say that I've been doing the Twist here. (nor the Mashed Potato....) No dancing at all, really. I've been feeling a little under the weather and also accompanied by bad allergies. As a result, I've been spending time staring out the window. I tried to catch a photo of the daily construction taking place across the street. It's hard to tell in this photo, but on the left of the picture, there's an enormous truck on the street. Then you can see an elm tree (bisected by the sun) and a straight up and down thing. That was a bright orange thing, easily several stories high, that I think they were using to shoot concrete into the structure. The building itself now has a basement, and a floor on top of that, and it grows more by the day.

It is pretty dusty in our house as a result of this construction. That said, I've been amazed by the quick progress. Also, the workers have been pretty respectful. They come early, they stay late, they work hard. They don't make unnecessary noise and they seem to avoid the usual trash and other mess that I have seen around other construction sites. So, if you have to feel off your game and staring at something, this isn't a bad thing to watch.

Last weekend, I warped my loom with some cream color, 60% silk, 40% wool yarn. The silk is filled with "nups" which means that it is shorter staple and likely from cocoons where the bug emerged from it, leaving a hole rather than being stifled by heat or steam. The shiny silk that comes from the stifled cocoons is very strong; this yarn wasn't.

I envisioned yards and yards of easy to weave scarves in my near future. About 6" into my weaving, I went to advance the warp and the worst possible thing happened. The tension was too much for the yarn and about two-thirds of my warp just broke off where it was tied to the front of the loom.

I acted fast and retied the ends as best as I could. I can't lie--I did pause briefly to mutter a few choice bad words! It isn't easy weaving right now, and I'm not thrilled with how the first scarf is coming out--the weft is all uneven because of the uneven tension of the retied warp. I will likely cut this off the loom when I am done with it, and try to retie the warp ends again to hope for better results. I am still new at choosing good warp yarns, and maybe this wasn't the best choice.

Some weeks are like this...maybe not memorable, a little yucky, and yet, there to be gotten through anyhow. The good part is that I've been doing a lot of reading! I've loaded up on library books, including Margery Allingham's mysteries. I find it amazing how entertaining and compelling they feel, despite the fact that many of them are 50 or 60 years old. Definitely still worth reading.

Had any warp end disasters? Reading anything good? Do tell.

the sanding

2010-10-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting--I couldn't think of anything fiber-related to post, and it looks like my non-fiber posts seem to get more comments anyway these days, so here's a different tale.

This is an old house story. You may remember that our second story bathroom has a fabulous mosaic floor. It's not all in perfect shape but it's original to our nearly 100 year old house. In fact, if you walk a block up the street, you can even see the entry hall of an apartment building with a mosaic that matches ours exactly. I imagine the mosaic tile workers were busy 100 years ago in our neighborhood!

Over the last year, every time someone closed the door to the bathroom, there was an enormous grummmmfh rummmfh noise as the door scraped over the tile floor. This wasn't good. It was bad for the tile floor. It also meant that if you had dinner guests and one of them went up to do their business? Everyone downstairs knew just how long those guests were in there.

The Professor said that the only way to fix this properly was to rehang the door, which had obviously started to hang lopsided (dang gravity) and scrape on the floor. This, he said, would take hours to do properly and he'd put it on his fix-it list. After over a year, I noticed it hadn't gotten any higher on the list...there was always something more pressing! The noise and the potential damage to the floor was making me nuts. When no one is in the house but the Professor and me, I never shut the door. He shuts the door. Have I mentioned that the noise made me crazy?

I suggested sanding the bottom of the door. The Professor didn't think this was an option, but when my dad visited, he said it was definitely worth a try...obviously the rubbing was only a few milimeters in one direction or the other, because we could still shut the door. The Professor washed his hands of the situation, but handed me some sandpaper.

On the first day, my face got all red from leaning over as I rubbed that sandpaper back and forth on the bottom of the doorjamb. I improved on this the second day, when I set up a stool and sat on the stool as I worked on the problem. After a few days, I discovered:

1) This hurt my arm muscles
2) I got a tummy ache from leaning over that much
3) It was slow going

I called my dad. Wise man who is my father suggested that maybe I should hold the sandpaper on the ground, between my feet, and use the ground as my sanding block and the door's weight would help it to sand itself. This worked better. My face wasn't quite as red.

I held onto the door handles for dear life, clamped the sandpaper between my feet, and using my knees as extra help, sanded the bottom of the door jamb. After a few days, I discovered:

1) The next time I dance the Twist, I'll be ready!
2) I now also had little bruises on the insides of my knees.
3) This worked--slowly, and you can work up quite a sweat while sanding.

I also realized that while the door shifted downward, the mosaic wasn't flat either. The floor shifted upwards in places, too. Given the nature of the sanding and my low tolerance level for this sort of thing, I worked on the door for a few minutes every day. 5-10 max. I saw it as my "discipline. " Eventually, I hoped to learn something from it.

After a week or so, I put away the sandpaper. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.

What I've learned?
(nothing deep)
You can go to the bathroom in my house and I don't have to hear that door rubbing against a 100 year old tile floor.

Now I just have to convince Sally the dog that she does not have to guard the second story bathroom any more by barking. This still scares the pants off dinner guests--sometimes before they get to the washroom! Worse, I don't know if they've managed to make it inside yet and shut the door because I can't hear the door noises any more!

I imagined (while red faced, sweaty, and doing a weird approximation of the Twist) that this was all sort of comical in the home repair department... At least, I try to see it that way.

It's either that, or it's some weird new exercise routine.

knitwear past and present

2010-10-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

I'll start out by saying that I found all the comments to the last post very interesting and thought provoking. I've lived in lots of places (summarized list in the last post's comments) and seen beauty and scenic views in all of them. I think what I was trying to say was that the prairie "scenic views" do not have to be seen at the top of an observation tower--I see them every day. Maybe my thoughts weren't just written out clearly. On reflection, maybe I also assumed some things about travel since I've done a bit of it and lived in a lot of places.

For instance, it is not a small thing to say that a road enables good knitting time. I've been on some roads in North America and abroad (In the U.S., for instance, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Colorado, New England and upstate New York) that basically made knitting impossible. If the hills are straight up and down, the turns are "hairpin" and you're trying hard to keep your lunch down, well, it's not a good time to knit. In fact, in winter, just staying on the road seemed a real achievement in some places. You know, the places where the snow on either side makes the twisty, ice covered road feel like a tunnel?

Obviously, I should get back to knitting talk here.

Photo one is of my first sock for the KAL. I have just turned the heel (this photo was a bit before that) and things are going very well, for the most part. I think the socks will be roomy, but I find that superwash wool tends to sort of tighten up in washing, so I think roomy is fine as a starting place.

Yesterday, I took advantage of our lovely warm fall weather to wash a lot of woolens. We have a big basket of scarves, hats, mitts, and dog sweaters in our front entry. I turned out the pockets of every one of my coats and sorted things into dark and white washes. Using the washing machine as a set tub (Fill up with hot water and detergent, stop, let things soak, spin out. Fill up with hot water, rinse, spin...) I gave some hard working wool items a good wash. I won't even tell you how dark the water looked in my "white" wash.

The Professor reminded me that we get used to thinking some things don't need to get washed too often. Mittens are one of those things I could do with washing a little more often! All in all, I counted 6 pairs of handknit mittens that I wore on a regular basis last winter. These are rotated among at least 3 different winter coats depending on temperature and occasion. I tend to wear a double layer of knitted mitts when I'm out walking the dogs. This means that it is "all hands on deck" in terms of my mitten usage. In this collection, I saw some mittens I'd spun and knit 15-18 years ago (in college) as well as mittens I'd made in the last 3 years. I also have too much white in there--some of these should definitely visit the dyepot!

I washed my Cuddle Coat too, the white sweater that you can see me wearing in the little picture of me on my blog. (the one with Harry the dog) This sweater was so easy to design and knit and has seen hard wear for the last 5 years. I love it and sleep in it nearly every night in the middle of winter. None of the photos I've done or others have done have shown how truly comfy it looks/feels.

Since I can't seem to give up knitting along on my red sweater at the same time as the socks, here are a couple of photos of my progress. When I design a sweater for myself, I often do it as I go, on the needles. The directions I gave myself here were: "Cast on 300 sts on #15 needles. Knit garter stitch for 18" or so. Then you can change yarn and stitch pattern." I am nearing 18" at this point and have created a lap full of sweater. While mohair boucle can be tricky to knit, the luminous nature of the finished knitted fabric is something else. I tried to catch that in this last photo.

The complicated bits with dk weight alpaca and wool yarns, shaping armholes and sleeve lengths, edgings and neck--all that is to come. What I think people will notice about this sweater? This mohair boucle's shine and energy. That's probably true with most things--the most difficult parts look plain jane and simple...even unglamorous. (turning a heel, for instance) It's only the maker that can tell which parts were easy glitzy attention seekers and which parts were prim, proper, and took hours of care.

Ain't that life for you?

Prairie Day Trip

2010-10-04T11:23:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we drove down to Pembina, North Dakota. We brought some things to mail off in the United States and we met a friend. This friend not only studies and restores antique spinning wheels but also happens to be a biologist. Obviously the Professor and I both enjoyed the visit!

Our friend showed us a handspun, handknitted flax lace scarf she'd made, and let me touch it. In person, it is a soft and fluttery piece of art. We also delighted together in the many (processed food) delights of the truck stop in Pembina. It appeared to be the only joint in town to eat lunch, so that's where we ate.

We did stop at an outstanding museum. The Pembina State Museum was small but very well done. Every exhibit was up to date and interesting. I suspect I'll be going back there the next time we go through that area. The most interesting part of the museum's architecture is the observation tower, which we did not go up. Since everything is F-L-A-T on the prairies, it is hard to have scenic views. Obviously, that has to be fixed, so people build observation towers, toboggan runs and even big city sky scrapers to be sure you can see "the view."

Since both of us are from much more hilly regions (and we've even spent time in places with genuine mountains), we find this kind of amusing. The Professor took my camera and made sure to take comparison shots so you can see the height of this tower.

The drive takes about an hour and a half to two hours each way, depending on the weather and the border crossing. Lots of Manitobans were going to the U.S. for the weekend, so we had a wait to get into the United States, and no wait at all to go home. (This puzzles us, as Winnipeg is a pretty great shopping destination when compared to, say, Grand Forks, but maybe we're just missing something about the interests of the average North Dakotan shopper?) Most of the drive looked just like this:

This allowed for a lot of good knitting time, and even a nap on the way home, since I wasn't driving. The view is open and gorgeous, with very few things that interrupt the big sky. However, it does get a bit boring to drive.

At the Pembina exit, we were amazed by the amount of traffic. I mean, who knew that silos of this size were portable? Obviously, now we know they are, but it was quite a sight to see several being towed to their new farm destination. Behind those silos, you can just about see a red dump truck. In one direction, it was full to the brim with sugar beets. After it dumped off the beets for processing, it would return for another load. The Red River Valley grows a lot of sugar beets.

We also saw several cattle trucks as well as other long haul truckers. It was a pretty happening intersection for a small town. We took only a few photos because as usual, my camera battery decided it was low right after we left home! That said, I think this might give you a taste of our trip.

Next time, I might just show you how much I've knit since Friday! (hint: a day trip on the Prairies is good solid sock knitting time...!)

So, have you seen what the prairies look like before? Was this what your neighborhood looks like, or was it new to you? I'm curious--it was all new to me when we moved here a little over a year ago... I have no idea if most of my readers are already prairie dwellers or whether this exotic and new to you!

KAL starts tomorrow!

2010-09-30T13:54:00.001-07:00

The Sock Knit Along starts tomorrow on Ravelry! Although most of the participants will be doing the Ploughed Acre Socks from Knit Green, I am going to do Mary Jane Socks from Fiber Gathering. I even got the skein of yarn all ready in a ball to start knitting right away on October 1. (For those that know me, yes, that yarn has purple, green, blue, black, and even a bit of white in it. Perfect to match nearly everything in my wardrobe.)

The hole across the street that used to be a house? Today they poured concrete for the new building's foundation. I could watch the process from my office. After the truck left, the workers walked the top of the wooden shell, carefully smoothing out the concrete at the top.

It's hard to see here through the trees but it was quite an interesting thing to watch. I'm sorry I didn't catch a photo of the enormous yellow crane thing they used to shoot the concrete into the wooden foundation molds...every time I got up from my loom (I wove today) I watched the action! Despite these photos, it was a very sunny day today. I shot these through a window, and the window itself is, well, a bit cloudy.

It's been a quiet but very joyful day here. Lots of sunlight and a breeze to dry some laundry outdoors on the clothes line, some dog cuddles, and I wove about half a rug. Tonight is the first weaving guild meeting of the year, too.

Tomorrow, I get to start my first KAL with friends and I have plenty of time to knit tomorrow for starters! What could be better?

(Mint chocolate chip ice cream with fudge sauce? World peace? A self-cleaning house?)

away in wool and sunshine

2010-09-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've been away from the computer lately, enjoying a visit with my father. The happy confluence of sunshine, warm fall weather, and time to be outside took precedence over all else! We had friends over to our sukkah for wine tasting and dinners and desserts. We had fancy cheeses and 2 kinds of fish and homemade potato/leek soup. We've had make your own pizza night and fudge brown pie and apple pie and...lots of ice cream on top. We also ate out at lots of restaurants with my dad. It's been a great few days together.

While my dad was here, we took a boat ride on the river. We happened to pass the Manitoba Legislature Building, and you can see from this shot that it was a) a beautiful day and b)we've had more than our share of rain this season. (Look at the steps...underwater.) You might remember this view from 2008, when I took the boat tour for the first time and spotted a spinner right here...where the water is now. Here's a link to another sunny day in drier times! When our boat ride went under one of Winnipeg's bridges, we saw the knitting installation that crossed the bridge 2.5 times! It was a weekend full of arts and activity here.

Also, because it was Culture Days, there were events all over the city. We stopped to watch First Nations' drumming and hoop dancers. We saw big hoop dancers...and little ones.

My father left on Monday morning and began his long drive home. He complained while he was here that he hadn't gotten to see any moose. I mentioned that wasn't surprising--they don't just hang out on city street corners waiting for tourists to spot them. Imagine my surprise when he just happened upon not one but several moose on his drive east through rural Ontario. He even got a photo!

My recent photos are of more domesticated things...In my basement, I've got, oh, about 10 fleeces or so. I spent today packing up 7 of them to be sent off for processing. In order to do this, you have to stuff the wool tightly into bags. It's a bit like putting your sleeping bag in a stuff sack if you're more familiar with camping terms. Imagine doing that for a couple of hours or so. Right. It's been sort of a long day in the basement.

The good news is that I've got them almost ready for their trip to the post office. We're taking a drive on Friday to mail off some things south of the border in the U.S. This isn't worthwhile, say, for one small package, but if you've got multiple things to ship and need a little drive out of town, it seems like a nice day out. I'm excited because the Sock Knit Along starts on Friday, October 1st. I seem to have organized several hours of knitting in the car to coincide with the start of the KAL, and I can't wait!

In the meanwhile, it's off to prepare Cotswold and Cotswold cross wool, Jacob/Icelandic cross, Icelandic, and Romney wool for mailing. Hope you're having a warm, sunny fall day!

Party like it's Sukkot

2010-09-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is our first official Sukkah in Manitoba! Last year we were just too busy trying to cope with our real house and our new lives in another country to build one. This year, the Professor got it up quickly, with the help of a friend who cycled by to help. The greenery on top came directly from an enormous lilac bush in the front yard. It's now substantially smaller, and I'm pleased about that, too!

At first, it seemed like it might be too rainy and cool to be outside too much, but tonight is different. It is already sunny and drying up, and I imagine that we could have a lovely meal outside this evening, beginning with hot soup to warm us from inside. That forecast's good, because we have a series of dinner guests coming over. Tonight, Sunday night, and onward into next week, I think. Luckily, the weather seems to be cooperating.

We like this holiday because it combines being outside with talking about being thankful for the harvest, and connects us with long ago ancestors. A nice sort of living history exercise, really...

That said, we've found our new gas fireplaces very warming and look forward to sitting inside next to those as it gets cold, as well!

Now, briefly back to the last post. The four comments left were so insightful that I had nothing to add and couldn't quite figure out what else to say. I've also had several people say to me on the phone or via email that they too understood this conflict...and yes, while one can buy something at a big box store for much much less, some of us will always prefer handmade, locally made, one of a kind objects instead. It's nice to know that the "handmade" folks are out there too. I don't think the handmade metaphor is there just for fiber arts though--it extends as well to most things. Experts often cost more (in consulting costs, or whatever!) but may also be worth it in the long run. After all, as one commenter wrote... "Wrong Answers, only $5, Dumb Looks? Free!"

I am likely to be wrestling with these issues for a long time. In the meanwhile, it is off to make potato leek soup and to get ready to enjoy a party out of doors. Have a good weekend! Make sure to celebrate harvest! :) (Unless, of course, you are like my best bud, Dr. Anne, who just moved off to live in that other hemisphere, where it is spring...in which case, never mind...!)

creating stuff from scratch

2010-09-20T07:14:00.001-07:00

Our October sock KAL is still open to joiners! Visit our group on Ravelry and say which socks you think you'll be doing. The options include Ploughed Acre Knee Socks from Knit Green, Mary Jane Socks from Fiber Gathering, and three other pairs of socks: Molly Baby Socks (an interesting sock knit on straight needles, ideal for toddlers or kids, available both on Ravelry and my website), Heart's Ease Socks, a stranded knitting pattern available on Ravelry, my website, and at a special rate here, and finally, these Polka Dot Socks, available on Ravelry, my website, in Tops and Toes, a book available for sale, and also at Knit Picks online.

Now, on to our regular post...last night, after a busy day, I couldn't sleep. This may have been because of a supposedly decaffeinated cappucino I had after a dinner out, or because my charming Professor had a stuffy nose and was snoring to beat the band. (It happens sometimes to the best of us!)

I got up and wove on my loom in the next room. At first I worried the noise would wake somebody up, but one human and two dogs slumbered on, so the weaving happened for about an hour until I could fall asleep. I was thinking particularly about this...here is a partial quote from a comment, but the sentiment is pretty common:

"I... would love to see more pictures and details. That's something I'm interested in doing as well."

I struggle with this kind of request. On one hand, many of the things I do--teaching, fiber arts (spinning, weaving, knitting, dyeing), writing, etc. --are things that I believe should be within reach for many people. What I mean by that is that people have lots of potential. As a teacher, I believe that I can help people learn, whether I am teaching them to write, or doing a Religious Studies workshop, or teaching them to spin. I believe that for a determined person, many things are possible.

On the other hand, at the same time, we all have gifts. These are things we're good at when compared to other people. Do we deserve to be compensated specially for our gifts? Should we use our gifts in our professional lives? Should our gifts be our livelihood?

Many of the things that might be called my "strengths" are things that are traditionally offered for free or for less than a fair wage. For instance, for many generations, women passed along their fiber art skills to their friends, neighbors and children. These same women were sometimes were natural born teachers. Eventually, women teachers were paid for their work in school houses all over North America...and often earned much less than male school teachers. The same is true, of course, for instruction in religious topics. Even though I have an academic graduate degree in this, many times this sort of knowledge is offered up for free.

Sometimes I'm paid to teach for a short time, and then someone (without this training) concludes that it would be better and easier if they did this for free...and I'm relieved of my "duties."

So, the question becomes--how much information should I offer for free? I think there are several options, using a fiber arts context as an example:
1) Pretend it is all top secret, and offer very little. (this looks stingy..)
2) Write up the instructions for any projects I mention, and try to sell them.
3) Offer all the information for free, with the understanding that not everybody has the same gifts and that somehow good fortune will come to me through this notion.

What is the answer? Well, lately I have been creating finished fiber arts goods for a juried craft sale. It's called the Handmade Holiday Sale (this is from last year's sale) and it will be held in November at the West End Cultural Centre here in Winnipeg. It is run by the Manitoba Craft Council and I applied and competed to be accepted into this juried event. The rugs you've seen me feature on the website will be for sale there.

Anybody could make these rugs. Anybody who:
-sourced mill ends and locally made materials
-used handspun and knew how to spin to produce weaving materials
-hand-dyed materials to the right colors for the rugs in question
-had a floor loom suitable for creating rugs
-could do a simple weave or twill tie up
-could refer to a few books on rug weaving
-could find the time to produce one to two rugs a week whenever possible!

I really believe that anyone with reasonable intelligence and determination can learn most anything. The question for me as a teacher is, at what level do I start explaining things? Do I start with learning to spin, weave or knit? Do I start with "this is the tie up for this particular loom?" I am not sure.

Of course, beyond this is the question I have to face as a freelancer and small business owner. How will I earn a living doing things like this? When is it worthwhile to ask for compensation? What should I give away for free? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this...

More next time on our beautiful new sukkah--Sukkot starts this week!

sitting by the fire & a KAL

2010-09-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading my blog a while, you may remember our fireplace saga. Yesterday was the big day. The day where we got the new gas fireplaces installed. It was also the day I had a doctor's appointment (I'm fine, thanks) and the Professor's first class lecture, but we're talking about fireplaces here. This was, by the way, the third time these had been scheduled for installation. Something always happened. It rained. The crew couldn't make it. Whatever...we've been working on this for nearly a year, and the scaffolding for the chimney repair went up at the end of June, and finally--Houston, we have fireplaces that work!

(This first photo is of the professor's study...On the top shelf there are his diplomas. Below that? The dogs' obedience certificates...and below that, TA DA, a working gas fireplace.)

There are a couple of minor repairs still to be done. This rounded shape fireplace in our living room works just fine but leaves a couple of spaces where you can see the old fire box at the top left and right. We're having an additional piece of metal made to fit snugly around the outside of it. This is because I imagined having a preschool visitor (my nephew, perhaps?) pitch plastic action figures in those triangular, tiny holes and then tearing apart the fireplace or the house to retrieve them before they melted or caught on fire. Uh---No.
We're waiting for that, and then it will all be done. Hurray!

(In the living room photo here, you'll see the dog sculpture we have guarding the new fireplace. It keeps folks and dogs from backing into something hot and dangerous. Harry only tried to play with the dog sculpture once before he figured out it wasn't a real dog. Smart guy, huh?)

I am working away on this dusty rose rug. The good news? I have more than half done. The bad news? I ran out of wool dyed the right color. I dyed another pound of wool yesterday in the middle of the fireplace installation. The workers hardly noticed... really, the chaos was huge. It matches well enough so I bet you can't see where the old wool ended and the newly dyed stuff began. Sheer luck, that...

Now, about this KAL thing. That stands for Knit Along. No idea who thought of this abbreviation, which I always thought of as K.A.L. Then a knitter friend and a pastor's wife I knew in Kentucky said --with a big Southern accent, "I just can't keep up with all these Cals I'm doing!" (Did I mention her husband was named David?)

I nearly keeled over with the effort but I managed not to laugh. I knew there had to be some sort of misunderstanding on my part...after all, she did look stressed out and worried.

Yes, now where was I? I've never done one of these KAL things...never participated or run one. Don't even know how to say it, as a matter of fact! Some friends suggested I try it out, so in October, we're doing the Seiff Sock KAL over on Ravelry. There are 4 different patterns available for socks I've designed, and you can choose any of those to participate. If you're interested, hop on over there and join the fun!

Harry the dog has already taken up residence in an armchair, directly facing the new gas fireplace in the living room. He is ready for colder weather and serious winter sock knitting to commence!
I hope some of you will join us! (beside the fireplace or the KAL, either way...)