here's to 2009

Sometimes you can't see something well unless you see it in sections. Small parts. Things that you didn't expect to see are better illuminated that way, and the whole is better appreciated. That's sometimes how I look at things, in details, and then, well, I can lose track of the big picture. Oddly, the photos I shot of my new knitted hat fit this metaphor, and helped me reflect on the year, too.

This hat isn't my design. I had some oddball yarns and thought it might be better all round to rely on someone else's ideas for a starting place. Melissa's Hat is a Green Mountain Spinnery Pattern, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. The pattern itself is a very spare one which I figured out, but then had to adjust. (You know, like most well laid plans...spare at the outset, and then adjustable!)

The yarns were special odd bits. The white is a Belfast Mini-Mill yarn, made of Samoyed (dog fur) and a small amount of Merino. That accounts for its warmth and the amazing halo. The black and purple are both Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran yarns, they have merino and silk in them, I think. Then, there's the cranberry colored yarn, a Polwarth/Leicester blend from Rovings. So, two out of 4 of the yarns are Canadian made, but the wool here is Australian. No point, I figured, in designing something out of this, because no one would likely be able to replicate it in these yarns!

The gauge was off. That resulted in a hat that was too big so I gave up on what I'd begun and ripped it out and started with a smaller size. I also suspect either the row gauge was off or that this hat is designed to look like a church with a Ukranian onion dome. It's hard to tell from the photos. Never mind. Once I get into a stranded knitting groove, I'm along for the ride! Also, it's hard to rip out a Samoyed yarn. It has quite a halo--just like the dog.

Many people claim that dog fur is super warm (true), stinky (false) or a lot like angora rabbit. (sorta.) This yarn was well made and the Samoyed was spotlessly clean. I know it didn't smell stinky like some other dog because I left the yarn lying around on couches and coffee tables. Neither of my dogs attacked it, licked it, or showed the slightest interest. That is likely because it doesn't smell--because they've gone after way too many other dogs, cats, rodents, snakes, etc. for me to believe that they have a poor sense of smell. Dog blend yarns have lovely drape, but isn't very elastic or springy in texture.

At the end, I found the hat needed a sturdy hat band to stay on my head, which definitely wasn't in the pattern. (I then improvised, cast on with more black wool, knit a hem casing, and added elastic.) I also found that without an "inner hat", it wasn't warm enough in a winter prairie breeze. (par for the course) Finally, I discovered that I kinda liked what the hat became, and I'm enjoying wearing it.
Note that the horizontal lines across my face in this photo are from the old mirror inset on our kitchen door. I'm older, but not that much older!

So, in conclusion, I would have to say that this hat is a good metaphor for my 2009. It's been a huge year for me. I've had my first two books published. I've moved to another country. I've shifted from doing a lot of freelance writing and design to some freelance editing and occasional teaching. I'm only doing a little writing and a little design, and it's a good break.

I tend to get absorbed in the details...whether it's knitting a hat or something else. I find myself bemoaning the fact that while I wrote two books, I haven't earned anything much yet...and I may never earn anything past the advances. (the sad fact of book publishing these days) I get too absorbed in the negative interactions/experiences that occasionally pop up and follow me around as I became a more public figure. (That's sometimes rough and surprisingly unexpected.) I focus on the book reviews, the personal comments, the details. If you too are interested in those things, Knit Green got a great review here in the latest Library Journal. Oops. never mind...

The big message for me is that, like enjoying the new hat (and not focusing on the gauge issues, the hat band issues, the Samoyed fluff, etc.), I need to remember the big picture. I've had a super year, with great changes and lots of excitements. I can only hope 2010 will be so good.

Oh, and today, the last day of 2009, I'm off to take a look at a loom. Cause, you know, I don't have enough projects and fiber arts gadgets around here...and it's been a 24? year hiatus since I had a floor loom. Maybe time for me to think about it again.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, productive and exciting 2010. May it include lots of joy, including seeing the big picture and--fluffy onion dome hats!

good reads

Thanks for the all the Hanukah greetings! We had a lovely busy holiday but it's now over. Also, the professor's brother and his wife came for a visit. Now they are back home in New York. We've had lots of excitement and are now settling in for some quiet time. Most everyone else will be busy this time of year with other holidays...we're prepared to do some home repairs, organizing, reading, and movie watching. (not to mention spinning, knitting,and petting dogs...)

For months now I've been meaning to write about books I've enjoyed, especially during the last six months of this year. A while back I scored a secondhand copy of Vikram Seth's book, A Suitable Boy. It sat on the shelf for nearly 2 years while I waited for the right time to read it. "The right time" ended up being while undertaking this big move across North America. I read each night in a different hotel room. I read it when we arrived here and had no furniture. I continued reading it until I finally finished it on our vacation in Crete. It was a stunning piece of literature...a family epic, a story of the early days of Indian Independence and most importantly, a very sweet focus on what it takes for one young woman to find a good life partner. My only regret is that I didn't have this reader's guide along for the ride: Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy: A Reader's Guide,which I think would have helped me understand a lot more about Indian culture and politics.

Talking about culture and politics...when I was visiting my family back in October, I happened to go to Second Story Books, a remarkable used bookstore in DC. I often buy books there that I wouldn't ever have chosen while browsing online. I ended up with at least two books I can recommend.

One is called Next Year in Jerusalem: Everyday Life in a Divided Land, written by Daphna Golan-Agnon. The author is a brave Israeli woman who wrote a heartfelt defense of human rights for all people--and particularly--Palestinians. She's from a distinguished family and married into a famous literary family, which makes her work all the more important as a leader in Israeli society. It's also a very intelligent and worthwhile book with lots of interesting details about daily life in that part of the world. Even before I'd read the book, I respected its contents because Rabbi Forman endorsed it. He's the founder of Rabbis for Human Rights. He's also the father of one of my childhood friends. I slept at his house when I visited Jerusalem as a teenager and he impressed me enormously at 16. I don't imagine (for me) there is a better endorsement!

The other book I found, A Flannel Shirt and Liberty: British Emigrant Gentlewomen in the Canadian West 1880-1914, by Susan Jackel, was also about brave women. This book collected narratives describing the experience of these women as they ventured to Winnipeg (gateway to the Canadian West) and beyond. I enjoyed the Canadian social history, the details of life on a new frontier. I also tried hard to understand the mindset of these women immigrants, who also carried forth the notion of British imperialism to the prairies and beyond. This book was a good counterpoint to all the information I've been learning about First Nations people in Manitoba, and the many immigrant communities (Ukrainian, Polish, Polish and Russian Jewish, Italian, Greek, Filipino,etc.) that have moved to Manitoba since.

In the food department, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the joy I've gotten out of reading a few of Claudia Roden's books this year. (and of course cooking and eating from them...) I majored in Near Eastern Studies and Comparative Literature as an undergraduate and I don't think my interests have strayed too far when you read these!
They are:
The New Book of Middle Eastern Food
Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
The Book of Jewish Food: An Odyssey from Samarkand to New York

Many times, I write something but the end result (an article, essay, or book review) never gets published. One such book review this year was for Anita Diamant's novel, Day After Night. While I won't "publish" the review here, I can sum it up. Holocaust literature is a hard field these days; many important works have already been published. Diamant's novel fills in the gaps in explaining what happened next. After the war, when some survivors made it to Palestine, what were their lives like? How did they cope? This novel is compelling, inspiring, and hard to put down. Worth reading, full stop.

Finally, in the category of beach book read, I've been listening to these fun Greek-American adventure novels by Tori Carrington. The first one is called Sofie Metropolis - A Sofie Metropolis Novel (#1). These are great while knitting or spinning, and it feels like I have company while I'm drinking a Greek coffee at home by myself! (I like the reader for the first two books especially.)

It seems to me that it's a writer's job to read a lot. That's one of the ways I "feed" myself, get excited about new places and ideas, and stay inspired. 2009 was a big year for me--I moved to another country and both Fiber Gathering and Knit Green came out--but I wrote (and rewrote and reread) those books a while back. For me, every day is a chance to read new things!

Hope I boosted your "to be read" list for 2010! Please leave me comments about books, especially if you have additional books to add to my list. :)