Imperfection

This is a quick post--I had an article run in the Vancouver Jewish Independent on Friday:
The comfort in imperfection

and speaking of imperfection, we have imperfect immune systems...and spent much of our weekend resting on the couch and playing indoors here.  We've got a revolving door of colds and respiratory viruses going on, nothing important, but keeping us from feeling perfectly good, too.

I continue to slowly update my knitting patterns so that those with vision challenges can use them more easily.  I've created a bundle here on Ravelry so that the Low Vision Accessible ones are easier to find.  So far, I've done ten patterns...but I've a lot more to go!

Wishing you a healthy week!

The ups and the downs

Right after I posted last time, I had an article come out online--for a Vancouver publication:
Generations struggle together
I also had a series of experiences which, all told, have left me sort of exhausted. On Friday morning, early, I was out walking my dogs and I fell on the ice.  There was no one on the entire block and it hurt like crazy.  I am very lucky, I was able to get up again and get home.  I have really severe bruising on my right shin and knee...

And of course my muscles are sore from the move, but the dogs stood by patiently and waited while I gasped on the ice and got up.  They were so good.

However, I had a big day planned so I put some ice on my bruises (oh, the irony). I drove downtown to do a three hour spinning/fibre arts demo for the Manitoba Crafts Museum’s “Made in the Middle” curated craft show at the Manitoba Hydro building.  Keeping moving ended up being a good thing and it was lucky I was wearing dark wool tights.  (It looks like a changing purple, navy, red and pink silk screen,  it is gross.)  This, by the way, was definitely the very best part of the day!

I get myself home and have a coffee and pull myself together... as my kids are just about to get off the school bus and come home.  So one twin, who had been acting weird, tells me he had felt bad all day and nobody let him call home.  And then, he walks into our front hall and starts vomiting like crazy.  So, you know, I am cleaning up vomit and trying to calm the other kid down (He starts screaming over the whole thing, it was a scene) and oh, my goodness. Poor kids.  Throw-up everywhere.

And then I threw up my hands, let both kids eat the banana and other snack I had out for them, and we watch the prerecorded Macy’s parade while I try to pull things together again.   Shabbat dinner for four was oatmeal. And some challah and grape juice.

 Then I was already in my pjs, ready for bed, when the vomiting started again, all over the bed, at 9:30.  He got better, but obviously we were not able to go to services on Saturday, either.

We had dog training Sunday AM and managed it, but even the dog was not doing too well at regular stuff and got into a tussle with another dog at the end of the class.  (All my fault, I let go of her leash while putting on my coat.) 

When we got back, my stomach decided to rebel ...so that was most of the day today!  (stress? Something I ate?  Some version of the virus? Who knows.) And the other twin started having stomach pain and gas tonight so who knows what that may mean...maybe round two of the stomach bug.

It has been a crazy weekend.  Lots of sitting around interspersed by crazy health issues.  And my leg looks horrendous.  Thank goodness I can move around normally though...

I did get out to support our local yarn store and may have purchased some stuff.  Cause, sometimes you need to find something distracting and positive... (now, what to make for dinner for a household with this many sensitive tummies....)  Here are two hole-less buttons from Purl and Hank, some locally made toffee for people who wanted to eat it, and...some yarn.  Cause who doesn't need some purple/cranberry alpaca and wool? 

Plugging along

 For a while now, I had this cotton white and green ticking sitting on top of my sewing machine.  When I worked at the computer, I looked at it, and thought about making more napkins for our household.

Then I realized, well, it won't get done this way, and I like doing this...so I scraped together enough time to make one napkin at a time.  This resulted in--2 napkins, done after I'd gotten work done...in between other writing and household jobs.
On Wednesday, I felt a big need to make and do something for myself, for the household, something tangible and real.  I did 2 napkins.  All done, a set of four (all the matching fabric I had!) is complete.  These napkins have already been used, well decorated with chocolate, blueberries and bread pudding (we're messy eaters!) and washed once.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to boost my work productivity when I can.  One article was rejected this week, several more are being considered, and...it turns out two were published when I wasn't looking!
Here are a couple from the Vancouver Jewish Independent:
1) Complexity and Perspective: This one is about the challenges of loving friends with serious illness and --along the way--acknowledging that Jewish tradition has always taught that we can respect, love and care about others who may not be "like us." (They may not share religious traditions, customs, physical characteristics, etc.)

2) Some things better in person--This piece is about the recent decision to close Kutz Camp, a Jewish summer camp for teenagers with international reach in Warwick, NY.  While technology has allowed us to make many more connections online and closer to home, sometimes it is worth travelling to see new ideas, people and geography....  The image, borrowed from onehappycampernj.org,  captures only some of the magic this place had for me as a young adult.

Finally, I am home with a sick kid (this is what January is for, right?  It's -40 windchill, why not stay home?) and while he sniffles through his virus, I've been reading some interesting articles online about race and religious identity. Even though Jewish people come from all over the world and some are very definitely People of Color, I was recently asked, during a discussion about inclusion and diversity, to "check my white privilege" by another person who says she is of "Jewish extraction."  It forced me to realize that no matter how often I try to be an ally, to do tikkun olam (efforts to fix the world) make connections with other minorities--to some, I will never have tried hard enough.

Yet, being Jews these days is pretty fraught--there is a lot of hate out there.  There was hate on the streets in Anacostia when I did my year of student teaching in inner-city DC.  There was hate and a swastika on the playground here just after the killings in Pittsburgh.  There was hate in my classrooms as a kid, and when someone shot at the windows of my childhood synagogue and vandalized it. There's a lot of hate to go around.

 Here are pieces from the Atlantic, The American Prospect, The Yale Daily News and Slate.com.  There's more out there.  What did I google?  "Are Jews white?" 

This person told me it wasn't "time" for me to bring up Jewish issues when discussing issues for Black and Indigenous People of Color.  I told her my Jewish community members, friends and family who were Black or Indigenous might think otherwise.  Anyway, I was reminded--January 27th is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  That seems as good a time as any to think about hate, prejudice, discrimination, and race.  

This is stuff I think about... you know, while making napkins.

Taking steps towards future...

So, this year, my kids needed multiple pairs of mitts, as always...someone's always showing up with wet or (momentarily) lost mitts at the last moment.  -And by the way, they are still wearing at least one pair of mitts, snowpants, parkas, and hats to school every day.  The high is -1C today (just below freezing) and the low for tonight is -10C. (14F)  It's currently overcast and...flurrying.  However, with someone sick at home from December until April, my knitting output has been limited.  The latest has involved the Professor and both twins, three separate illnesses, as best we can figure out.  Between three guys, four sets of antibiotics, one allergic reaction, some fevers, some unexplained ongoing stuff...it's been a heck of a winter for illness around here.

This is the year when I began to see how longterm investments pay off. :)

...Meals I put into the freezer for later, bulk buying that worked out when I couldn't get to the grocery store or we didn't do laundry, the whole nine yards of planning ahead for a "rainy day."

These white mitts are the top layer for a cold day.  Underneath are these are a pair of The Hole Inside Mitts and a homemade mitt liner. (to keep things dry and windproof.)  Where did the white mitts come from?  This, friends, is a pair of size small women's mitts.  I spun and knit these for myself while I was in university.  They are probably 23 or 24 years old, give or take.  (I was the kid who brought her trusty Ashford spinning wheel to the dorm.  Really.)  These have never been fancy, show off mitts but have been worn, off and on, for years.  This year they got nearly daily use for a while.  They looked a bit dingy, so I washed them.  That's it.  Medium wool, spun into a chunky single, knit using an old Penny Straker mitten pattern.

Many of my projects are in use throughout our house.  I don't "see" them most days, but on a winter like this one, I began to notice things I've made--and use-- again.  I am beginning to update some of my Love knitting patterns. Some of them used small batch yarns that are hard to get, and maybe I could make suggestions...so I'm doing it, a little at a time.  Here are some examples:  I noticed the Ploughed Acre Socks had a project over on Ravelry worked up in a widely available yarn, Dream in Color Smooshy.  They look great!  So, I've updated the pattern to suggest that yarn.

My Zafu cushion is still hard at work in our house.  It's currently in use as one of my twin's "quiet corner," which involves a big old box, a dark sheet, the cushion inside, and some special quiet toys to keep him busy while he's hiding out in there.  The cushion has been well used and loved.  The Churro rug yarn wears like iron!  However, it's hard to find, Churro is a rare breed wool. Several people have worked up this pattern on Ravelry.  The most interesting options include yarns I hadn't thought about.  They include: multiple strands of mill end yarns, three strands of Red Heart Super Saver (an inexpensive, hard wearing acrylic yarn) and more.  I don't usually use acrylic, but I can really appreciate the reasoning of this knitter...she wanted an inexpensive project with lasting results--and she planned for everyone to put their feet on this.  So, she wanted to make something easily washable, too.  Everybody makes choices based on their household's needs...I get that.

One of my pleasures as a designer is watching others quietly create different and interesting versions of an idea that first came out of my head long ago.  Each pattern available as a weird eternal life that I love seeing as it evolves...and some of the originals also have staying power!

Thoughts like these have been heartening during this winter.  There have been days when I did not feel well enough to knit, or could not manage much knitting after doing all the chores by myself.  (The professor was down like a fallen tree for a while, he was really sick.)  However, if I looked around, I realized there was plenty of knitwear around the house to buoy us forward.  We have extra handknit afghans for those days on the couch, and a felted sweater blanket as an extra layer on the bed.

I wish this long winter were over already and everyone in our household felt better!  In the meanwhile though, planning ahead for that unknown future need seems to be serving us well.

A little story about health care

As a dual citizen, (and my husband and I have each lived abroad in a third country--so, experience with 4 countries' health care systems between the 2 of us) I am often asked to compare our health care system in Manitoba with US health care.  This is an impossibility; it's like comparing anchovies with oranges.  If someone asked you to do this, you'd say, HUH?  Why?

In the US, health care is different in every state. Even more complicated, it varies enormously from one city or region to another.  (Health care in Northern Virginia, near DC, as compared to, say, the stats from Appalachian Virginia)  Health care in upstate New York or Durham, North Carolina was vastly different than when I lived in Kentucky...it varies so much in the US from one place to another and is so uneven that if you've lived in a variety of places, you know these generalizations are useless.

The same can be said about Canada--although health care is "free" here, it's actually paid for by our taxes, and there are fees on top of "free" that vary from province to province.  It's also different in each province, and again different, when comparing regions: a city, for instance, as compared to a rural area.

Just a couple days after I got diagnosed with pneumonia, one of my kids woke up in the middle of the night with something that looked a lot like mumps.  (and yes, we are fully vaccinated at our house.)

Here's my most recent CBC-Manitoba opinion piece about our experience, which ran on Saturday:
How would Manitoba handle an epidemic?

On the brink

You may have been wondering what happened to me.  (Me too, frankly....)  So, first, there was winter break. It was long. And hard. We'd hoped to do all sorts of fun things. We did fit in a play date, a classmate's birthday party, 2 museum visits, and a couple of meals out. We went to a kid's theatre production. We tried hard to set up fun things to do. However, we were stymied by a few crucial things:

1) The professor was sick.  He often gets sick at the end of a term, as an academic term can feel a bit like a marathon to a teacher sometimes, but this time, he was sick with what we thought was a respiratory or cold virus, more or less all break.

2) Like much of North America, we had some extreme cold which meant that it was just too cold to go anywhere.  Unlike most of North America, our extreme cold means you can get frostbite on exposed skin in 8-10 minutes.  We aren't talking "put on an extra tuque" weather, or zip up your parka, wear some snow pants or anything like that.  That's normal cold for Winnipeg. We're talking wind chills of -40 or lower for days on end.

We get this in Winnipeg, it's not a huge shocker, but it's hard over winter break when you are trapped indoors.  Plus, although our hot water radiator heat works well and gas fire places, designed for British Victorian homes without central heating, were pouring out the supplemental heat...there were problem areas.  Like, our 100 year old house does not have insulation in the outside walls, and if you stood next to an outdoor wall for more than a moment, it felt like Harry Potter's dementors were sucking out your soul.

3) Kids can get restless when trapped indoors. We had indoor toys and games lined up, but ended up resorting to weird made up games like "button hockey" and "Swedish scooting" and other things you could play on the floor without hurting anybody or freezing to death.

4)Somewhere during break, one twin got sick with a virus with a fever, and even though we'd all gotten the flu shot, we now suspect it was a mild case of the flu.

5) On January 5th, I had a big birthday, and I announced we would go out to dinner, since I didn't want to have to bake my own cake or make dinner.  The windchill was about -25F(-32C) when the family walked to the restaurant and back.

Finally, after many days, we were rounding the bend. The kids would go back to school. I would start working again. Finally, I would get to be alone sometime soon...  On January 7th, we went back to a normal routine, and on Sunday morning, we went to a kid music class, where I didn't feel all that well. Yeah.  Hah.

I started running a fever on January 7th, and it got pretty high before it went back down again.  I ran a fever for 5 days.  I had the flu the way everyone is scared to get it--the reason for getting the darn flu shot in the first place. (I did, honest!)  I literally helped get the boys on the bus, went back to bed, and stayed there nearly all day every day, all week. The dog kept me company. I felt like dying was a really good idea somewhere in there. I wished someone would loan me a 2 by 4 once or twice.

I did get to a medical appointment ("congrats, you have flu") and my temp was over 39C at that point. (103.5F) I eventually got a chest x ray on Thursday morning, but I still have not heard back about it.  A person could have died of pneumonia by now... and although my fever is down, I'm still coughing a lot.

I had to reschedule several appointments last week, and I'm hoping to catch up sometime soon, assuming I get better sometime. Twin #2 and the professor seem to now be having mild versions of the flu, but we may be kidding ourselves, we are running no marathons over here. In the meanwhile, here's a new article I wrote during winter break.  It has an odd resonance; I hadn't mentioned the flu as a plague, but now I think maybe it's relevant too:
We should be more civilized

Stay warm and stay well, everybody!

Responsibilities and Sale

Today is the last day of 25% off sale for all my Rav patterns.  The sale ends tonight, Monday night at midnight, Central Time, US &Canada.
 Use this coupon code: Thanks 
to get 25% off all my patterns!  

(I'll be honest, very few people have taken advantage of this sale as of yet.  I haven't been the best at marketing it either--both my twins had a stomach bug this weekend.  We did a lot of laundry Saturday night--it was an all-night event. --Not much sleep for this mommy! Things seem better now.  I heard 17 kids had to go home from their school on Friday with the same virus, so it's not just us...but it sure is yucky!)

This leads me to other news.  On Saturday, the CBC Manitoba webpage ran my article:  (Note, I do not choose or write the headlines.)

Premier Brian Pallister needs to give up risky solo hikes or job

As I cleaned up little boys in the middle of the night, I also got to watch the CBC Facebook feed fill up with comments.  Some thought I had a point...and others belittled me, my writing, my concerns about responsible parenting, and more.  It was an interesting thing--one wonders why people need to take time to say all the negative stuff...did I make points that bothered them?  Did they feel guilty? Were they truly interested in defending the privacy of our politicians' vacations?  

(My husband, the Professor, pointed out that he and his colleagues need to submit emergency phone numbers and ways they can always be reached when they go away, whether it's to visit relatives or off-grid.  The Premier apparently doesn't...)

I have heard of writers who never read public comments on their work, and others who read everything and respond.  I don't respond, for the most part, unless someone has written me privately.  I do read the comments when I can though--and it would seem this piece struck a nerve.

Please take advantage of the pattern sale while it lasts if you are knitter!  Who knows if you too will be stuck on the couch with sick kids...and need your knitting...?

You are here.

Here's my latest opinion piece on the CBC-Manitoba website:

7 parenting strategies to help you skate through the end of winter

Although my boys are now definitely older than this stock photo, this is how several of us felt this past week!  We have been taking turns with having a bad stomach bug (rotavirus) that is going around.  I keep hoping we are done with it, but as one of my twins said yesterday (and his face looked green), his tummy felt all 'wiggle waggly.'  So far, both adults in our household have had it the worst.  I wouldn't wish this on anyone!

This morning, while walking dogs and dodging ice and puddles, I heard honking and saw long lines of Canada geese flying north in formation.  It's getting warmer outside...and that is a very good thing.    Take care!

Women's Health: Hysteria and illness

Here's a link to my latest CBC article--it came out this morning:
Hysteria, medical mysteries, and bias:sometimes unversity helps with life

The brief summary is that although hysteria is no longer a valid medical diagnosis--medical professionals still discount women's illness...and disregard the risks of Lyme disease, which is now prevalent in many places.  I felt relieved that this got published; I hope it brings attention to a real issue of concern.

It was my second "advocacy" post of the week; My current column for the Jewish Post & News is also about how women can make change during times of political unrest.  I related it to Yocheved, Moses, and her handmade, waterproofed baby basket.  My mom knit pussy hats instead...but these were both lawful and powerful, skillful ways of speaking up during a difficult time.

My mom, dad, sister-in-law, and many others marched in Washington, D.C. today, and I am so proud of them and glad that they represented us.  If we can remind the world and the U.S. political powers that be that women's rights are human rights and that women's bodies, health and well-being are human bodies, health and well-being--well, that is a huge and important step.  It's a necessary step, and it seems like one we keep having to mention.  (Oh, Doctor, do you think this could possibly be Lyme?  --I can't tell you frustrated I felt to be dismissed out of hand so often, without being offered any viable solutions for how to get better.)

Winnipeggers had a march here, as they did in Yellowknife, Ottawa, Halifax, Vancouver, Toronto...and in many other places around the world.  We weren't there...because we're still fighting this endless twin stomach bug.  It's lasting forever!

Towards the late afternoon, my husband and one of our twins (the healthier one) decided to go out yarn shopping for Mommy.  They set out through the back gate and faced a woman whose car was absolutely stuck in the deep slushy ruts of snow in our back lane...and blocking our cars' exit.  Our temperatures have gone from frigid to crazy warm for January.  As a result, everything is melting.  It took the Professor an hour of effort to try to get this car out, and finally, another man with a truck came along and pulled her out...it took team work.

Nobody got out to buy a yarn treat, but that was just fine!  I won't be running out any time soon. :)
  It was the thought that counted, and the hope that someday, someone might help me just this way if I were stuck in the snow.  Let's hope so.

new sweater for a new year

A week ago, I finally finished knitting the second twin sweater...but the timing was off. Last Friday night, I took care of this guy all night while he fought a terrible stomach bug.  When he finished being completely sick all over three sets of bedding (and was resting on a beach towel, with another towel for a blanket), he was so wan and weak that he spent much of last Saturday in bed.  He wanted to pose for photos, but did not feel up to it.  He said he wanted the photos to look good, "since people knit Mommy's patterns" but I promised him--this is a one-off.  It is specially designed for him.

He wanted a sweater that was "dressy" and described it as "big brown, little white, big white, with dots."  He seemed delighted with how it came out.  He wanted to make sure to show that it was completely reversible, too.

The sweater was knitted on size 6(4mm) needles, in the round.  Three tubes, joined at the yoke, sized to fit a skinny but long limbed five year old.  The yarns were all from stash: Jo Sharp DK wool (white) that I bought in Australia, the tweedy brown is a Rowan DK wool that was given to me, and the darker brown is from Cushendale Woollen mills in Ireland (well-aged stash, we went to Ireland in 2004, I think) but is sold in the US as Blackwater Abbey yarn.  I wasn't sure I'd have enough of any of the colors for a whole sweater, so this worked out well.

Although it has been brutally cold out, both boys made it mostly through a whole week of kindergarten. (Yesterday it was -32F without windchill.  The windchills were something like -46C.  Yeah.  I do not even want to convert these back and forth.  Awful.)

 I knew that the stomach bug was a rough one.  I've been waiting for the other twin to get sick.  Today we rested at home again...and this afternoon/evening, we dealt with round 2, which seems to involve Mommy spending a lot of time in the bathroom with little boys. Ugh.

(The kid wanted a lot of close ups with the sweater, so you could "SEE IT"!)

Then, at bedtime, the guy with the new sweater took a flying leap towards bed and just ripped his toe open.  YUCK.  Blood and a very upset, brave kid.  We bandaged him up, propped it up, and hope things will be better tomorrow.  That would be good...I could do with a better day tomorrow.  I'm hoping we do not skip both dance and our first ice skating lesson...

In between bouts of sickness, we played super twins.  Here are the dudes in action.  I could not resist showing the photo off...it was an amazing game.  (Note Pillow case capes, pipe cleaner/sun glasses, and the superhero boot slippers?!)

PS: Remember to get your copy of my new book if you haven't already!?  Please tell people about it, too...I am going to need help promoting this one while I take care of these super heroes...

The Cuddle Coat--a new release!

It's been snowing again.  One of my boys has another (insert expletive here) head cold.  Both boys have been moaning about when summer will get here... and the answer is?  Not yet.

Long ago, I designed the Cuddle Coat as a Knit Picks exclusive.  Eventually, the pattern copyright returned to me, and I put it up on Ravelry, but gosh darn it, it had world's worst pictures.  It never improved, either.  I wore out TWO cuddle coats (they are seriously, well, cuddly) but could never snap the perfect shot that showed off the sweater.  However, if you look over to my profile shot on this blog?  I'm wearing a Cuddle Coat!

So, I've just revised and re-released the pattern.  I've added metric measurements, I've updated yarn selections, the whole 9 yards (and equivalent number of meters.)  Also, I've left it at the old price, which means it is really permanently on sale...It's easy, it's a fast knit, and it's seriously cozy.  That said, last week, I wore this with a skirt to a dress up occasion, too, so it's versatile.  Did I say warm?  It's warm. So, here it is, re-introducing...the Cuddle Coat.  

Everything else here is still in a serious jumble, but I've tidied up this one pattern AND submitted my Canadian taxes ahead of the deadline, so you know, things are good, right?

PS: Dear Readers, I'm so hoping that one of you buys a Cuddle Coat pattern, knits it up and takes a gorgeous photo...because this is my third try...and I'm still not showing you how danged comfortable it is!

fibery update

I think this is the preschooler virus winter.  There are kids at school who have been more sick, with antibiotics and there are kids who have bypassed it all.  For us, it has amounted to a day or two on the couch with one or two sick kids nearly every single school week since January, and many weekends.  Both boys had a pretty quiet weekend and stayed home on Monday, and I assigned them each a living room couch.  They went back to school Tuesday, and they seem to be doing ok for now.  That might change at any time.

We normally pvr the specific educational kids' shows that we let them watch, but I have given in to the inevitable...when somebody is home now, we have "sick TV."  That is just leaving on CBC kids or PBS or Family Jr (the three kid oriented channels we get) on.  I know some kids watch this much TV every day--crazy! but we only do it when somebody is too sick to make it at preschool.

Older kids read when they are sick (I certainly did) but my guys aren't readers yet.  So, we take naps, have snacks, and watch a lot of "sick TV" on the couch.  Oh well.  They seem to learn stuff from it.  As soon as they are well enough to play normally, the two of them raise heck, so then it's time to go back to school!

Sick TV lets me do the bare minimum in our house.  I used to think that a sick day would allow for endless knitting time.  Not so.  It allows me to do the three extra loads of laundry (sick kids, remember?) and figure out the next meal and snack.  It lets me do crazy things like trying to answer emails in a timely fashion.  It lets me (gasp here) go to the bathroom by myself, although even that requires strategies.

When folks are well enough to play, I can spin on my wheel in the basement playroom.  Here are four new skeins of hand spun yarn produced recently:

The fuschia/burgundy skein is a one ply single of burgundy/fuschia medium wool, with multi-color wool locks spun in.  It was then plied with a commercial yarn: a matching high twist mercerized cotton embroidery floss with a lot of shine.

The white/pink skein is one ply of Romney/Texel wool (Manitoba wool) spun from the lock, plied with a commercial pink cotton/viscose yarn with little added bits of silk warp leftovers/thrums.

Then, there's one skein of Border Leicester wool (naturally brown, washed, picked, carded and spun by me) plied with an aqua commercial silk yarn, and a 2 ply Border Leicester skein of yarn that matches this.  

I dropped those 4 skeins of at Ram Wools this week; they're for sale if you're interested.  I think the art yarns would look great with a laceweight yarn or thread, knitted up as scribble lace.  If you buy two matching skeins, it would be enough for a cowl or hat.

When my fiber time is so short, I look at old projects in a new way.  I want to save old things, darn and fix and renovate.  My best guess is that I started the first version of Heart's Ease Socks in 2006, according to this blog post.  My Heart's Ease socks have been worn faithfully most Februaries, right around Valentine's.  However, this year found me pulling the socks out of my drawer permanently.  Knit Picks' Palette yarn is not a super wash wool, and my sock had fulled (nearly felted) through wear.  I wear my clothing very hard, so this isn't a real surprise, but now the socks were hard to pull over my heel to get on.

However, they seem to make mighty fine mitts.  I cut a hole in the heel, picked up stitches on a set of  2.5mm double point needles, and knitted a thumb tip for each sock.  I went back after I knitted the thumbs and reinforced that join between the old heel stitches and the new thumbs.  I haven't gotten a chance to wear them yet, but I think they will be a warm and cheery winter layer.

The reason I haven't worn them yet is that it has been unseasonably warm!  Only around freezing (OC, 32F) and that is shockingly warm for March in Manitoba.  All the snow is melting early, and I hardly need double layer mitts anymore.  What a surprise.

I was extremely lucky in that weather on Tuesday, when my whole day spiraled out of control.  I brought the boys to preschool (kicking and screaming that they were TOO SICK, MOMMY!  I ignored that.  If they are well enough to scream like that?  They're fine.) and dropped them off at school.  There, I discovered there was a parent board meeting, and I felt guilty so I went.  When that ended, I rushed to the grocery store.

I did a big shop, got everything into the car, and sat down to look at the receipt, where I discovered an error.  Rushing in to try to get it fixed?  I locked my keys in the car.  AHHHH!  The professor was in the middle of lecturing to his class, and his car was in the shop, so no help there, he couldn't help me.  I hiked through the yucky dirty melting snow drifts to the boys' preschool.  A teacher (an angel in disguise!) was outside and drove me home.  I dug through another dirty snow drift to find that special hidden key...let myself in, got the spare key, the teacher drove me back to the car in the grocery store parking lot, and I could drive home.  Thank goodness.

Then I unloaded all those groceries, rushed to a physio/physical therapy class, and came back to pick up the boys.  That was it.  The whole day.  Gone.  No work time to speak of.

All I could think of was how lucky I'd been.  It wasn't -40 out, I could walk places.  I found help.  I hadn't been trying to do it with both 4 year olds in tow.  All good.  Not exactly time for writing or spinning or teaching, but given the situation?  It could have been much, much worse...  

Accessibility Matters

Our local CBC website has been running a series on disabilities and accessibility in Manitoba.  By some strange coincidence, I had submitted an opinion piece on the issue as they were organizing the series behind the scenes.  I feel proud to have my piece included:
Let's get serious about making Winnipeg public schools more accessible

This is so important.  I wrote this for every kid who has broken a leg (I have) or had any sort of disability, short or long term, that makes gaining access to school difficult.  I feel so lucky to have had a place to submit this essay, because, well, we all deserve equal access to education, no matter how we get there.

On a lighter note:  Thanks to all who have taken part in my February sale opportunity on Ravelry!  Knitting (and dreaming of new projects) is a great way to get through a cold, cloudy, and long February.  I sure would like to kick my cough and get to enjoying knitting (and everything else) again.  Viruses, be gone!  :)

Gray February

Most exciting things first:
This weekend I submitted an opinion piece to the CBC and it went live less than a day later:
Why Manitoba needs a more diverse teaching force

I'd want to point out, of course, that good teaching is crucial, but it is only one part of this assessment; we have no idea if Manitoba's students' test scores are representative of their skills, if the tests done were biased, on and on.  There are a lot of unanswered variables in social science, but, well, this is only one essay about the U of Manitoba's faculty of Education's new diversity admissions policy.
You can't say all that in less than 1000 words. :)

The best part of it all, I felt, was reading the (as usual) mostly knucklehead comments, which sort of illustrate why a diverse, effective teaching force is a good thing. (in aiding tolerance, for instance, which was seriously lacking in some comments) Then there was one absolutely erudite comment about the certification standards from a really qualified Manitoba teacher, educated in Britain.  That made my week.

Other things that are making my week... We have completed our first weaving, with a lot of Mommy help.  These were done on picture frames, using loopers cut from wool socks with holes in them.  The warp was cut up felted sweater strips, leftover from all the wool soakers I made for cloth diapering.

We've had perhaps another 2 or three more preschooler viruses since the last time I posted...digestive issues, colds, coughs...; to be honest, I've lost track.  I have become remarkably zen about the whole thing.  When someone is too sick for preschool, or needs to come home, I take a deep breath, drop all my plans...and just resign myself to returning to the couch with whoever needs me.  I've not done a lot of things this winter.  Oh well.  The house is pretty mucky, too.  I'm thinking of trying to clean up this week, since Didi (my mom, twins' grandma) is coming to visit, but I don't have high expectations.  It doesn't help to expect too much, cause then I feel upset with myself when things are back to basics all over again.
Perhaps because of the great retirement sale at Shuttleworks or maybe just because I needed a pick-me-up, I decided to go crazy and order the bulky flyer set ups for both my Schacht Matchless spinning wheel and my Majacraft Little Gem.  Maybe it was my Valentine's Day gift to myself? This is, I think, my first big wheel-related purchase in maybe 8 years.  It's been a bit of adjustment to figure out how the new things work, but it's exciting, too.  I see very big skeins of handspun in my future...someday!

Before I switched the flyers on the Majacraft, I amazed this kid, home sick, by whipping the wheel out of its carrying case and setting it up so he could check it out.  He was stunned; I don't think he had ever seen how it folded it up before.  He got to treadle and do some wool teasing, which he enjoyed.  (fluffing up locks of wool into clouds for spinning.)  I was rewarded for all this with a seriously firm admonition to "Clean up, Mommy, your office is very messy."  He then offered helpful hints.  Great.  Thanks, kid.

 Finally, I am planning to relaunch some older patterns and reknit some too, this year.  I am also working on a sweater for myself, the third time I am reknitting the Cuddle Coat.  Honestly, this sweater design has a curse, it has never had a decent photo of it.  However, the first one (in my little headshot, that is #1, with Harry the dog) is so worn that I have to mend it, the second one was trashed after it was absolutely worn to pieces, and here's the third.  Yup.  That is some boring looking gray/brown knitting!  If you click on it though, you may see the texture, little bits of color, and softness of the yarn.  Feels great.  Looks just like?  February.

In honor of that....stretch of time, cold, dirty snow, cloudy February, I have a brief sale on Ravelry:
20% off all my designs on Ravelry, through the end of February, with the coupon code....you guessed it:
February

Here's some more gray-brown in case you missed it or it happens to be sunny in your neck of the woods.... :)

Big day

Yesterday seemed like a big day; a soaring end to a good week...my twins were back at preschool all week.  I had time to work and even make banana chocolate chip muffins. (full of spelt flour, oats, and other secret healthy bits) We had a really fun children's program at synagogue Saturday morning, everyone seemed good.

I also had an opinion piece come out on the CBC:
Snow removal-more precisely, lack of snow removal-carries hidden costs

and today we are having a blizzard warning, so it seemed like great timing.

I also was quoted in a Winnipeg Free Press article, called Wool Warriors:Knitters use their craft to campaign for change.  The online version is different from the one in the newspaper...the paper actually features a photo of me as well!  I was proud to see the focus on knitting as an activist enterprise, full of political and social repercussions...and it linked in nicely to what I heard at Ram Wools when I visited the yarn shop a couple of days ago...the campaign to provide handknit woollies (and other warm clothes) for newcomers to Canada has reached something like 1800 pieces, very nearly reaching its goal of 2000 items.  Another way knitting makes positive change for the world.

I'd even managed to deliver more skeins of handspun to Ram Wools--they are selling some of my yarn, which is great, because it boosts their locally made products AND helps me empty out some of my stockpile. (I've been spinning while watching the boys play in the basement playroom after school.  It helps me sometimes catch their fights and keep them from killing each other...)

(L to R: Naturally brown 2 ply Shetland, Brown Sheep wool mill ends/brown wool/blue soysilk and blue mohair, white skein is one ply of Romney/Texel wool, plied with commercial cotton/viscose yarn which holds in bits of shell colored silk waste thrums)

Yesterday, I noticed that the twin sweater I knit in November was already unravelling at the neck edge where a strand of the yarn had broken already.  I caught it quickly and managed to re-knit a new edging before the whole sweater unravelled.  (Note: Use more hearty yarns to make little boy sweaters next time...)

It was foreshadowing.  We got home yesterday, had lunch together, and I put both boys down for a well-deserved nap.  By 2:30, the first kid was wide awake and screaming...and the stomach bug was back, with a vengeance.  I was up nearly all night with the second kid while he was ill.  So, you know, just when things seem awesome and I'm too big for my britches, it is an important time to stay humble.  Cause there were at least three sets of bedding to change, and kids to mop up and comfort.  Cause this part, the virus part, is real life, and the other stuff?  Not nearly as likely to happen again any time soon... Oh well.

If you're local, this yarn might be waiting for you at Ram Wools on Portage Ave...but maybe wait until tomorrow, when the winds and snow die down and the yarn shop opens again?!

making the best of things

I've been trying to see the bright side of things.  Really I have.  A few days ago, this article came out on the CBC.
Low loonie brings lustre to buying local, Joanne Seiff writes

I was keen to post about it, but on Wednesday night, the stomach bug disaster struck.  I was barely over that first cold when a 'healthy' twin (the first twin to catch the cold), was absolutely laid low by a second virus.  The poor kid was up all night, and so was I.  Roughly 4-5 loads of laundry later, we lay in a sodden mess on separate couches...and there we stayed Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  By Sunday, the kid was well enough to go to dance class, and I went off to teach spinning.

So, what's the good news?

Well, so far, only one twin has had the monster bad stomach bug, and everyone but me seems to be over the cold.  I am hoping passionately, crossing all my body parts, etc. that no one else gets sick.  To give you an idea of how bad all this was?  I did not even want to knit.  Not at all.  I sat on the couch and just gave in to the yuckiness of it all.

However, my class went really well.  It was small, but I helped three new handspinners learn to spin. They were fascinating people and despite the tail end of my cold, I enjoyed it immensely.

Both twins seem to be on a foot growth spurt...which means the wool socks they own don't fit too well, and we seem to be wearing through and running out.  This won't do!  Here's a quick snapshot of the second pair of toe-up socks I've produced...this pair is almost finished, and the third is started.  I used Tiny Treads as a rough guideline and just jumped in.  It is hard to create generic socks that fit both boys, since they are shaped differently, but I think I've got it now.  I won't lie though, I am getting tired of little boy socks. :)

Also, we're hearing lots of updates from our relatives on the east coast of the United States.  They've had somewhere between 20-30" of snow (that's up to 76 cm, folks) in the last couple of days.  Once past the thrill of a snow day or two, cabin fever sets in.  I was reminded of someone who seemed absolutely boggled by the idea that we could not just go out to play structures at parks in winter here in Winnipeg.  (well, we could, but we'd need to wade through a lot of snow and it wouldn't be fun once we got there!)  The snow never melts here.  Instead, we play outside in the snow, we take walks with sleds, and we go out on the river.  (We'll likely go next weekend for the first time this year, I think.)

On days when it is too cold, or we are sick, we play inside.  The imagination games are endless...Here is one of the boys, with a paper collar around his neck (dress up) and he is playing "stage coach driver."  He has a horse stuffed animal in front of him, and he's used his big plastic cubes to build the coach.  When I asked where he was going, he said 'China town.'  (We'd discussed going out for Dim Sum that day downtown.)

Note: It was maybe -25F (-31C) that day, with the windchill, so maybe a sleigh would have worked better!?

Even so, the imagination keeps the living room interesting around here, from November to April or so.  Stay warm and dry...and please, avoid all those scary viruses, wherever you are! :)  Joanne

Cold Snap-a sale!

It's been genuinely chilly here the last few days.  (-40 windchills) Plus, we've been fighting a cold virus in the family; it's slowly making the rounds. One or two of us are sick at a time, which means that I've had several quality days at home with somebody sitting on the couch, watching kids' programming on PBS and CBC... but that's not all bad.

First, both twins suddenly made this huge connection... their Daddy (aka the Professor on this blog) is a scientist, and on an episode of Sid the Science Kid, they learned about how scientists use computers to do science and send emails reporting on their findings.  Whew, that suddenly explained why Daddy uses his computer all the time!  Pretty cool stuff to ponder when you are four and sick on the couch with a cold.  We experimented with an iPad later; we sent an email and watched it arrive, imagining it flying invisibly through the air.  Wow. Magic.

Second, I got to do a lot of productive knitting.  When I might normally have gone out to buy a birthday present for a friend of theirs or rummaged among our special home gift box, instead I stayed home and made a hat.  I used this pattern, but revised it to suit a girl who likes purple and flowers.  The crocheted flower rosettes were actually not made by me, either!  Long ago, I got them in a stash exchange, a half finished project was included.  This was some creative re-use!  Here's the project page on Ravelry.

NOTE: no preschooler noticed the photo shoot, was harmed in any way,  or even asked to move from his comfy spot while modelling any of this. :)

The skein of Quince & Co. Puffin yarn was really lovely stuff to work with, and I thoroughly enjoyed knitting up a second hat to be donated to a newcomer to Canada who might need woollies this winter. Information on creating a liner for the hat are included in these Ravelry project notes , these big stitches will not keep out prairie winds on their own!

Playing with this yarn made me realize that it would also work really well for Over, my new sweater pattern.  (Alas, with the current Canadian dollar exchange rate, I'm probably not going to be able to swing that, but another good Lopi yarn substitute might be  Briggs and Little Super here in Canada.

I also sent out a newsletter this week to my mailing list...(want to sign up?  Check out the sidebar to the right of this text on the blog)
and I included a little sale information.

I'm having a January sale.  Use this coupon code:
Cold Snap

and get 20% off of any of my Rav patterns or my eBook until the end of January.  Happy knitting!  Happy winter!  Now you can enjoy the sale too!

Oh...and don't forget!  Please remember to register if you'd like to learn to spin on Sunday, January 24th, here in Winnipeg.  I can't wait to meet you and spin with you!

Wool 'n won't

A few days ago, back when I was feeling well (more on that later), I washed fleece.  I had this gorgeous fleece--waiting to be washed-- from my friend Gerry's farm sitting in my basement since June. The professor bought it for me as an anniversary gift!

It is a Romney/Texel fleece, and according to her notes, 8.5lbs before washing.  It was pretty clean, but even so, it took many trips up and down the basement stairs to wash it.  I had to use the washing machine as a set tub, divide the fleece in half, each 'half' had one hot water wash and 2 rinses, AND because our hot water heater is not set to "very hot", I boiled water in my electric kettle (upstairs) to raise the temperature of the soak water.

(A note on childproofing: our hot water heater can't be really cranked up because the water can't be so hot as to burn twins' fingers.  Perhaps with one kid at a time, you can monitor whether or not they've turned on the hot water by accident, but with two?

Better safe than sorry...  our house is full of gates, latches, and other minor adult inconveniences which keep our offspring from killing themselves or others.)
---PS: The professor also fixed our 100 year old laundry chute as another anniversary gift.  It is bliss to be able to pitch down the dirty sheets, etc. to the basement from the second and third floor.  Yet, in another note on childproofing?  It is a secret amongst adults here.  The boys do not know it exists. SHHH!  We do not want anyone throwing toys or brothers down this chute....

The fleece is gorgeous and these basement snapshots do not do it justice.

Plus, taking a day to submerge my hands in fleece was really therapeutic.

In the midst of all this, my CBC piece on how Manitobans can pull together to welcome Syrian refugees came out.  

--Another Note: Please don't click on this if  you have small kids around or if you haven't already seen some of the graphic refugee images in the news.  I didn't choose the photos, and these were upsetting so that I had to hide the iPad from my kids when I saw the article online.

Despite the overwhelmingly negative comments on the article page, I got a lot of positive feedback as well from other sources, so I am glad it got published.

In a rare confluence of fiber/knitting and social justice, Ram Wools, one of our local yarn shops, is cooperating in the 1000 stitches for Syria campaign.  I discovered this group on Ravelry and wanted to participate.  Basically, since Canada is welcoming lots of refugees here during the winter time, knitters are trying to work together to provide each newcomer with a handknit woolly item--a hat, mitts, scarf, etc. to help make it through the cold here.  I was also thrilled to see the effort written up on the local CBC Manitoba website.

Now on to the "won't" part of my post.  A week or two ago, the professor and a house guest of ours both had bad colds/viruses.  We tried to take good care of them and I thought we would either be lucky (hah) or it would only be a matter of time until the rest of us got sick.  The professor got better, the house guest went home, and bingo!  The virus didn't want to leave.  On Sunday, we were at home nearly all day with two under-the-weather four year olds.

On Monday, one kid was well enough to go to preschool.  I spent both Monday and Tuesday on the couch with the other kid, watching WAY more Sesame Street and Sid the Science Kid than I'd prefer.  Now, the kid version of this seems to include sniffles, a cough, usual cold thing.  I have a virus too, but mine is world's worst fatigue, achey, hurt, sore feeling all over.

(Hint: It was so bad that I couldn't cook at all so gave everybody hot dogs, baked beans, and leftover brown rice for dinner on Monday.  The boys liked it anyhow.)   It was also so bad that any big ten years of blogging celebration has been scuttled.  Pffft.  Just like that. I'm sad about that, but seem to lack the get up and go to try to make a fuss.

Have you been reading this blog for ten years?  more? less? If so, say hi!?


It is now Wednesday, both boys are back at school.  Not all better, but getting better, and missing friends and school activities.  I, however, feel so limp, tired, and hurty that I am wary of attempting much.    I did gather this bag of three clean and new/nearly new knitted items and a whole lot of wool or wool blend yarn for others to knit up.  I want to bring it to the yarn shop to donate.  My stash is so deep that collecting this only took about five minutes, and I don't  feel I will miss any of it!  (wow.  That is saying something....)  I am even giving away some gorgeous lite-lopi (I love that yarn) in an electric blue that I just cannot see anybody being willing to wear.  It's a very 80s color.


OK, I'm off to do some more groaning on the couch.  At least it is quiet today, and I have the couch to myself.  I'm trying to transport myself back to that fleece washing day, where the wool locks felt amazing and I too felt strong and able....oh well.

flashback...

For those of you who have been blog readers a long time, you may remember that I used to write on separation of church/state issues when I lived in Kentucky.  Oddly, that was good training for an article I wrote last week...and it came out on Saturday.  Here's a CBC opinion piece on why I think there is no such thing as a "secular prayer" and why I think it shouldn't happen at city council or at the Manitoba legislature.  Turns out that the Canadian Supreme Court thinks that too!

Like a prayer: Rethinking traditions at city council

In other news...our radishes are coming up, little bitty green things, in our raised garden beds.  Both boys had the sniffles so we spent a lot of the weekend playing close to home.  This playing alternated with small boys throwing cranky tantrums.  We also attempted a trip to Fort Whyte for their Earth Day festivities.  It was gorgeous weather, very crowded, and a bit hard to maneuver with two hungry, cranky and sniffley guys.  We did see pigs, chicken, rabbits, bison, an owl and a snake, lots of geese and other birds and lots of touchable wildlife taxidermy (which I found gross, but the boys loved).

The most interesting part of the visit, for me, was the Pioneer Sod House.  here's a link to some photos.  I had never been inside a sod house--I believe I have seen some collapsed ones out on highways as we drove someplace, but this was a real live example.  We have a great kid's book:
The New Land: A First Year on the Prairie

That helps us explain to the boys what the first European settlers on the prairie experienced when they came here...and it has a sod house in it.  What a rush it was to see light dawn for both three year olds as we went into a real (very small) sod house.  We all wondered what it would be like to spend winter in one.  Very close quarters!

I also recently came across some Manitoba legal codes from the 1870s that said which belongings could not be confiscated in case of bankruptcy.  Luckily, a spinning wheel and weaving loom were stipulated as among the essential items that could not be taken.  Whew.

Of course they were absolutely necessary to keep the family warm and clothed, but also?  for mental health reasons....

OK, that's enough prairie talk for today!  Have a good one. :)

Tidying up...

Some news:
First, it's occurred to me that I have been writing this blog, in one form or another, for nearly 10 years!  Whoa.  Anyway, a lot of the details on this site are out of date.  I am slowly trying to fix that.  I've just cleaned up part of the list of blogs...all of those folks are still friends/interesting people/good reads...but many of their sites have not been updated in a while.  I decided to check and see what was still live and had been updated in the last 6 months, and go with that.  I'll try to make updates a little more often now. :)

It's a slow process!

I'm also trying to keep links to my newest articles up to date, so here is my latest:
Transforming Tu B'Shvat

Other good news...if you're interested in learning to spin, there are still a few spots left in my Learn to Spin Class on February 22nd.  Cloverleaf Fibre has registration information.

There's been some wonderful interest in my new Yarn Spinner Story + Pattern, The Hole Inside Mitts!  I've been very excited to see it and am beginning work on the second story + pattern.  (Hint:  On Ravelry, you can gift a friend with a pattern.  Maybe a Story+Pattern would be a great Valentine for a friend?  ....Just sayin')

Finally, I am hopefully getting over the bad stomach bug that first the professor had, and now I have.  I remain optimistic that it is-slowly- going away.  I also hope the twins don't get it.  That would be a real drag.  So, let's stay hopeful...have a sweet week!