Reflections on the comments section

 A few weeks ago, I submitted a piece on provincial outsourcing policies to an editor.  She responded in a way that made it unclear if she was going to buy that piece.  Instead, she asked something like, 

"Honestly, I'd be more interested in hearing from you in terms of your observations on COVID-19 and anecdotes from the world you are living right now."  

I responded with this piece which an editor bought quickly. It went live over the weekend.  I received multiple private notes and thank you comments from women. Meanwhile, the comments sections of the CBC article (and its facebook repost) were roughly the equivalent of dumpster fires, in another friend's words.

 Multiple surveys and media reports have shown the employment/career issues with the pandemic when it comes to inequality in women's lives. I saw no reason to rehash that. Instead, I provided anecdoctal evidence of the pandemic's effects on women's careers--anecdotes from my life and 5 or so other women's lives (I described them vaguely and with composite vignettes, to preserve their anonymity).  These stories "from the front lines" weren't good enough for individuals who wanted to comment on all aspects of women's personal lives, bodies, marital and reproductive choices.

Nobody commented on my professional work credentials or education -nothing about book publications or degrees, but rather on my reproductive choices and personal blog posts! There were questions on why I'd bothered with graduate education (My undergrad advisors at Cornell thought I should?! It helped me teach at community colleges and universities in the past?) and rude comments about the rug I wove for Sadie's water bowl. It's sort of amazing what people feel emboldened to say online.

This is one reason why I like to write more on ideas/policy...but until then, I need to write what sells, and what I know.  It's not always the most intellectual stuff.  My articles on knitting, canning, baking, etc. sometimes sell faster than more academic or political critiques. People ask more about my children  than about my work...and all this is a sign of how women's work is valued in our society. (This isn't really a measure of my skills, it's about society's priorities for women.)

I'm going to keep posting here about my writing life as well as my 'home/making/creative life.' For me, they aren't really separate professional/personal spheres right now.  (I loved getting comments on the blog when folks used to leave notes!  It was a great way to build bridges.)

Many writers don't ever read the comments on their articles. I hold out hope that the feedback would be on topic and relevant so I read them. (...Although it often feels like self-flagellation.) Then I take a moment to remember something.  If these folks wrote opinion pieces and submitted them rather than filling up the comments section, they could also share their experiences and ideas.  Better yet, I think about the rug I made, or more generally, the work of my hands. I wonder if they are all capable of making rugs by hand when they need them. If not, there's no room to belittle others for their labours.

We can all talk about ideas and agree to disagree in a civil way.  Commenting negatively on people's bodies and choices doesn't push your views, ideas or agenda forward. It casts a shadow--but it's not a reflection of my work.  It reflects on the commenter's character..not mine. 

September happenings

We're slammed with produce in Manitoba in August.  In July, it's a little berry jam warm up, but then by the beginning of September, there may even be frost.  So, this year has been something of a canning frenzy.  I've been canning for sharing, so my shelves are full now.  Some of it is mundane: apple sauce, chutney, cucumber pickles...and some is a surprise.  My kids found these (extremely long in the tooth) okra in a neighbourhood schoolyard garden.  They'd never seen okra before! (haha, I have eaten so much okra during my time in Kentucky and North Carolina...) So, I quickly shoved it into a jar and soon we'll try some refrigerator pickles. 

Meanwhile, I continue to write at night and whenever I can fit it in.  Here's an opinion piece I wrote for the CBC-Manitoba website.

It's fair to say that Manitoba's back to school options have left me very stressed.  We have been offered a "go back to school in person with some safety protocols" or a "withdraw your children and homeschool them."  This isn't a fair choice--we pay for our children's public education and kids with challenges can only get special needs support in school here.  It's hard to find privately and expensive.  There's no remote schooling option.  While I used to teach and hold a Master's in Education, I know when I do not have the training to meet some of my kids' needs.  So, today we sent them back.  I've been doing a lot of cooking to comfort myself.

Stuffed grape leaves from a friend's grape arbor... and pie.  Lots of apple pie from apples we picked at a neighbour's house.

Also, the hundred year old house next door has been demolished and there is excavation taking place for a new house.  There was no architectural salvage done, the shaking has been affecting our house, and the noise and motion have worn me out.  This photo taken from our dining room window is cock-eyed, but it sort of represents how I feel.  (Yes, that digger was 18" from the window.  Maybe 2 feet.  No kidding.)  This just makes me sad.

It's noisy and dusty and dangerous to sit around outside...but this is what Sadie the dog was doing before the demolition hit.  It has made me realize how much the out of doors helped us all this summer...and now who knows how long we'll be unable to use our yard again.

In an attempt to brighten up the inside, I wove this rag mat for Sadie's water bowl.  Making things makes me feel better....and keeps the stress level down.  Perhaps that's why I've been canning, knitting, weaving, baking and more...at this frenetic pace.

Stay well!  Happy and healthy new year to all who are getting ready to celebrate 5781!

Make money: Invest in student research

Every so often, I write about a topic that is important to me--but nobody wants to buy it.  Maybe the draft wasn't good enough, or they have too many other pieces to run?  Maybe the publication thinks that the topic isn't important enough to their audience.  In other words, they don't think anyone cares enough to publish it.

This is hard because I've already invested the time in researching and writing it.  The hardest part though is when it's an important topic, but nobody has aired it sufficiently.  The Professor and I spent a lot of years as graduate students.  Since then, we've also mentored graduate students--in the classroom, the lab, or by feeding them on a holiday.  It was important to me to speak out about the poor levels of financial support grad students get in Manitoba.  Here's my piece on this issue.  It was just published in UM Today--despite the proximity to the end of the academic term, I hope folks read it!  I'm thrilled this piece found a home. I hope it might make a difference.

Op-Ed: Make more money: Invest in student research

Short version: Investing in undergrad and grad research offers huge positive outcomes from a financial perspective.  Personally?  It means grad students can afford to eat without using the food bank and avoid living in rooming houses while they continue their schooling.

In family news, we have continued our hibernation and making frenzy despite several viruses.  Here is a beet chocolate chocolate chip Bundt cake...Maybe the second or third time I have ever used this bundt pan we got for our wedding!  (we get a lot of beets in our farm share at this time of year.  It's a root veggie time of year..)

This year, my kids decided our gifts for teachers would be all handmade.  This morning we gave out four bags with homemade jam, pickles, handwoven and handknit items made by kids AND beautiful hand done colouring and cards from kids.  I was proud of my twins.

One of my guys is currently alternating between wearing only two handknit sweaters.  They are: Freestyle Super and Stripe Freestyle.  (The dude likes stripes.  A lot.)  We are now collaborating on yet another one, with hand-dyed yarns that both kids helped make last summer.  This sweater will be a mommy hand-knit, but I'm not going to write another pattern.  To my surprise, those patterns do not seem to be as popular with other kids as they are in my house.  Again, it's a mystery...but I'm glad the designs find a home on my kids' backs all winter.

Last but not least, one twin is exploring crochet.  This is his version of a lion, before he put on the mane.  Can you see it?  (This is an abstract thinker, I was  impressed.  Rorschach Tests are like this...)

Hope you are having a wonderful December, no matter what you make or celebrate! :)

You take care now, y'hear?

This time of year, my household does a lot of hibernation.  It's a busy time for those who celebrate Xmas, but for us, it's much quieter.  A time to play at home and focus on each other as it gets cold.  It's really cold this week, which apparently will have some very cold windchills...-36, last I heard.

The Jewish Independent in Vancouver ran my article last week called:
You take care now, y'hear?

(Just in case you need some reading from a friendly voice over here.)

In other news:
Sadie the dog has gotten so used to having someone with her that when we leave her at all, she breaks out of all the childproof gates and has gotten into some messes.  Last week, she ate all the high end dog training treats (like eating your way through a steakhouse, frankly) and got into our kitchen trash.  Although we compost and clean most everything that goes into the bin, she still managed to stain the front hall somehow with the trash.  I've already washed it three times.  It's hard to be a dog around here...?!

Happier 'making' news: I have finished a huge undertaking, a wool jumper I made, with a lining, based loosely on the 100 acts of sewing dress no.1.  I lengthened the dress, put in the lining, skipped the bias tape, and it took a while to do.  I'm looking forward to wearing it this week during our cold snap, though!

We've also done some weaving at home.  It was a good weekend to sit near Mommy and the fireplace and hang out.  (This kid has big plans to make things for his teachers.)  The handknit sweater modeled by this kid is Freestyle Super,  with a colour scheme he helped to design.

Finally, since someone has recently asked me...is there a way to buy my Yarn Spinner collection of patterns and stories,  Three Ply ---without buying it through Amazon?  Answer? Absolutely!

Support Ravelry, a small business (and me, as Amazon takes a big cut) by purchasing it through Ravelry right here.

Stay warm and safe!  Hope you're having a great December!

Preparing

This past week, I did a little tour around my house and collected samples that I'll use for teaching my class on how to make and use recycled yarns.  It was a good opportunity to give beloved household items a good wash and airing!

Remember, if you're interested in taking this class on Friday at the Manitoba Fibre Festival, please register here!

These are only some of my supplies, but a short summary...the baskets.  These knitted baskets were taken directly out of household use.  The flowered one is used to hold medicines and odds and ends on a high up shelf in a kids' bedroom.  The white one sits in a hallway, usually filled with dog toys.

(We are still helping Sadie the dog realize that she can also return toys to this bin as well as distribute them around the house!)
This braided rug usually lives in the guest room.  It is made entirely of old clothing and is aging very well.  I recognized most of the clothing from around 1995-7 or so.  I made this rug for our first home in Durham, North Carolina, around the time we got married.

I wove this rag rug on a floor loom for an outdoor exhibit at the Forks in 2010, I think.  When it came home (a little worse for wear), I washed it, it cleaned up nicely and it became a rug in my guest bathroom.

Part of the reason it was easy to gather all this?  The professor and my kids have been working to paint our guest room recently.  It was an ugly brown color...we inherited it this from the last owner.  When we had our house insulated in June, the workers decided they could not insulate the house on the third floor from the outside.  (too high up, too hard to drill into the stucco to shoot the insulation in the walls.)  So, they drilled inside, and we've had a lot of chaos in cleaning up from this.  Because of the big bore holes, it was a good time to repaint...and we chose a cheery pistachio green shade.  The guest room is mostly reassembled now and looks so much better.  I feel relieved every time I see the new color!

Last but not least, I had an article come out recently in the Vancouver Jewish Independent about the start of the new school year and what we share when trying to connect with others.
That's the news from here!

Passover snapshots

The last few weeks have been a real blur.  Two weeks without preschool, a major Jewish holiday, a really helpful and valued visit from Didi and Bop (grandparents) and a few medical issues, too.  Here's a shot of our table, all set up for the first Passover seder.  This year, we hosted two seders.  They were not big or lavish, and it certainly was a lot of work!  However, both of my boys had a fabulous time.  They recited the four questions and were fabulous participants.  They loved the seders and were truly disappointed when the first two nights were over.

I have a love-hate relationship with Passover, but here's a link to my Jewish Post & News column about that:
Culture Clash, Pesach, and Why We Do It

Note: Yes, there are two cups on our seder plate.  They are both Elijah's Cups because both boys made one at preschool.  There's only supposed to be one cup, but I have twins.  Oh well.  Maybe next year one will be for Miriam instead!

Didi and Bop came to visit and brought lots of beautiful handmade gifts.  Didi wove me a new shawl for winter out of some of my handspun.  (I spun it and gave it to her so long ago that I cannot remember it...but then, I don't sleep much since having twins and can't remember anything anyway!)  She used her triangle loom--I love these shawls, this is my second. I aired it out on the porch in the sunshine.  Warm sunny days are such a novel thing right now that everyone has to be photographed and enjoyed...

We had lots of fun outings, good food, and playtime with grandparents, and both boys were thrilled.  Having the extra adults around has been very helpful for us, too!  We will miss you, Didi Bop!



Over the last few weeks we've had a bunch of medical stuff, and it has reminded me of the respite we had this winter.  (thank goodness for breaks in this stuff, it is stressful.)  The good news is that everything is fine.  I've had a couple of growths removed from my arm--resulting in a pretty big Frankenstein scar that the boys remain vigilant about.  Sally the dog has now racked up about $2000 in vet bills--she also had a growth removed, plus what seems like an ear infection.   She is doing ok, but it is a little reminder that our dogs are getting older.  We need to take care of them now; they take very good care of us.

Finally one of our twins had a minor surgery.  He is doing very well and started right back at preschool this week.  Hurray!

Last but not least, I came across a couple of really good articles on parenting.  One is about twins, and while our situation was not so severe and our twins were not born premature, it expresses a lot of the struggles that we have faced...and it is a beautiful piece of writing that includes bugs, the professor's favorite, so here it is:
The Loveliness of Ladybugs

Here's the second.  This is a very good analysis piece about mothering and its depiction in the media.  It's particularly relevant to me because many people have urged me to write more about my experiences.  Yet, when I do, I can't get anyone to publish it.  It seems as though nobody actually wants to hear about the real nitty gritty when it comes to any difficulties in twin parenting.  This article indicates that I am really not alone...and again, it's a good read.
Glass Half Full

Hope you are enjoying sunshine and some signs of spring!

We did it!

The first Manitoba Fibre Festival was on Saturday.  It was a rousing success, despite pouring rain and cold temperatures.  (It never topped 13C --about 55F)  I was there, helping out and teaching, from 7:45 AM until about 4:30 PM, and the venue was about 25 minutes' drive from my house.  I spent most of the day in an outdoor tent, helping with the information booth, the wool show, and teaching. Gosh, I was chilled to my bones by day's end.

However, we had over 20 vendors, great big crowds, and successful classes.  Aside from one or two class snafus and a very damp tent (it was pitched over a drainage ditch), things went smoothly.  Overall, I am thrilled to have been a part of it.

One of the most interesting parts of the experience for me was seeing how incredibly excited everyone was to finally have this experience.  Many of them knew of festivals elsewhere, and some people had travelled long distances to go to festivals in the past.  However, some fiber-arts people took even bigger risks, considering this was the first time we'd had a fibre festival in Manitoba--one group travelled 5 hours from Sioux Lookout, Ontario.  The fabulous wool judge came from Saskatchewan.  There were so many people committed and thrilled to be a part of our one day, pop up, festival extravaganza.  Spinners, knitters, weavers, felters, rughooking, basket-making, dyeing--it was all there.

What would I dream of for future events?
1) A warmer and/or drier day --but we can't control that!
2) A bigger space
3) More volunteers and help
4) More cross border diversity in terms of vendors...I wish there were spinning wheel vendors, a huge number of fleeces of different varieties on sale and at the wool show, and more.  By cross border, I mean--from the US (just an hour away by car) or from Ontario or Saskatchewan or beyond.  I was thrilled by our local representation but wanted more more more...including chances for people to try out wheels, touch large  varieties of sheep breeds, and talk to more shepherds.
5) Some animals would be nice, but this ties into #4.  We need a way to get shepherds to believe in wool sales, and come along for the ride... never mind those who raise alpacas, llamas, goats, rabbits, etc.

It took me a long time to post about things, to dry out my teaching supplies--heck, even to get warm myself. (a big bowl of soup and a hot shower only made a small dent in it!)

Finally, it took a long while to get my household back to normal.  The only way I could be so involved the day of the festival was by having a lot of help from my family.  My parents flew in from Virginia (thank you!!) and with my husband's help, all three were on twin duty for the whole day.  Their hard work kept everybody on track and prevented 2 year old meltdowns on a cold, wet day without Mommy.

The photo here is perhaps incongruous, but it makes sense to me.  For the past 6 months or more, I have had a basket of spinning in our basement playroom.  Believe it or not, that is where I get to spin most--while supervising the boys as they play (and beat up on each other.).  I brought these tools out of the basement and wandered the tent, spinning as I talked to people.  Many were excited to talk about my spindles, and wanted to learn about how one could walk and spin and answer questions about the festival at the same time.  What I wanted to say was--compared to corralling the twins?  It was easy.  Like being on a one-day vacation with like-minded friends. :)

See you next year at the festival?

meetings?

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...

Spill Over

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.

Snow!!

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...

Random

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.

KAL starts tomorrow!

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?)

creating stuff from scratch

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

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...)

new projects for a new year

The Jewish New Year started last week (Rosh Hashanah) and the new year is 5771. It's a tradition to wear new clothes for the new year, and I wanted to finish that endless purple sweater so I could wear it to a friend's house for a holiday dinner, and for services on Thursday. I managed it. I haven't managed a photo of the sweater in use, as taking pictures isn't really something we do on this holiday. It's really supposed to be a time to go to synagogue, to see friends and family, to eat great big holiday meals and to rest. No errands, no chores, etc. I did rest, although I had a hard time avoiding the outside world this time...others' errands and a doctor's appointment happened "to me" even though I tried to avoid them!

Anyhow, I caught a photo of this sweater today while hanging it on a radiator. Our heat is now coming on occasionally as we're beginning to see cooler fall temperatures. This is a Debbie Bliss pattern, knit with Zara, a DK weight Merino wool. I sometimes knit other folks' patterns to see how they do things. My favorite part of this pattern was the pleated "bustle" in the back. I managed to catch a photo of that today, although I'm wearing blue jeans and not dressed up to match the sweater.

I was also able to finish the weaving of this rug made from mill ends that I purchased in May at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The edges still need to be finished, but it is now off the loom.

Last week I dyed some of the Brown Sheep Wool Mill Ends that I also got in May. I did a pound of this as a dusty rose (pictured here) and a pound of bright red. Here's the start of the next rug. When I dyed these, I discovered that the wool is mixed with a bit of mohair in places, so there is a shimmer and luster to this rug that I wasn't expecting. I'm enjoying seeing the surprise of it as I weave it up!

Now I am on to thinking about designing myself a new sweater. When I am not designing for others, I delve into my stash. I like to buy "souvenir" yarn when I go on vacations. This combo is now enough for a sweater...but the mohair/wool boucle (on a cone) is from Cushendale Woollen Mills in Ireland-I think we were there in 2005. The DK and laceweight weight wool is from a trip to New Zealand and Australia, and I used some of the DK yarn for my Two Point Scarf design. (the pattern is available for download both on Ravelry and from my website.) I was worried that I would not have enough matching yarn for my sweater ideas, so I visited my closest Local Yarn Shop--Wolseley Wool. (They've just moved to a new shop down the block from Wolseley Wardrobe!) There I found some Peruvian alpaca in just the right shade at my local Canadian yarn shop...on close out because they were in the midst of moving.

I'm looking forward to making the sweater...and I'm pretty sure there won't be another one like it! Not anywhere in the world! It's the souvenir Ireland/New Zealand/U.S./Canadian/Peruvian yarn.

Finally, I am inspired by all this red to mention one last thing. I discovered that I have been written up in the Cornell Alumni Magazine this month. Scroll down, I'm just past the person who does President Lincoln re-enactments! It makes me sound a little more clever than I actually am--I'm no expert at sewing, for one thing--but I'm honored to be mentioned there. I'm a proud Cornellian.

...So, got any neat new projects for fall?