May 3, 2003

Greetings, y'all.

Today is busy, busy, busy. I seem to remember more energy when raising our older boys, but then I was 19 and 22 when I had them. (DH and I like to freak them out by saying "when we were your age, we were already parents.) DH and I expected to be 45, the parents of 2 college graduates and free, free, free. Then, the fates decided that all those parenting skill should not go to waste while we were so "young". Now we'll be 59 before we are free, free, free. Raising younger kids again, 12 and 7 year old, at 40+ is very tiring. I need a nap.

We have elections today. I'm running for school board, a thankless job in these days of budget crisis. We have the new electronic voting machines, so by 7 tonight I should know if I'm giving my acceptance speech (or not).

Today is a display by the Viz lab kids at TAMU (Texas A & M University, for anyone who does not live in College Station). These kids go on to work on films such as the Matrix and Shrek, so their work is very good. 12 year old gets extra credit if we take him there. Extra credit makes me all a-twitter, so we'll be there when they open.

We also have a wedding at 2 and the crawfish boil at 7. I don't think I'll be getting that nap (big, sad sigh). I will have lots of KIP opportunities. Older Son's cardigan is almost at the Joining Stage (heavenly chorus and a beam of light descending) , so it will be staying at home. My Shapely Tee is too big - 3 large machine knitting cones is too much even for me. My surprise project ( made especially for this blog) needs full attention since I'm writing instructions as I go. I suppose the Harry Potter scarf is going. I may start something new. I need my own sherpa whenever I go out these days. I carry a knitting project, a book, possibly a magazine, my day planner, a legal pad portfolio and anything the kids had me that they're tired of carrying. That's just the big stuff. This explains why I was 5'10" in my youth and why today I am 5' 9 3/4".

I'll probably carry the kumihimo project as well. If you've been following this project and are waiting for the instructions, I'll give you the first step. You must go and purchase a pint of Haagen Daas ice cream. Do whatever you want with the ice cream (there must be SOMEONE who likes ice cream in your life), keep the lid. More on this later.

It's frogging for the blanket. I deliberated over it, got DH opinion. The question I posed, "Do you feel that in 50 years you will still like this blanket and want it around the house?" Hmm, thinks he, declares it too "frou-frou" (I'm not sure what that means, but over the years it has been the kiss of death for many items. A layette I made when Second Son was born was too "frou-frou" and the child never worn it. I gave it as a baby gift later.) Before it is frogged into its primordial state, I will photograph it.

Slight hitch with photographs, I got some pictures the first time and now I get nothing. DH will help this Sunday, so soon, very soon.

Thanks who has emailed encouragement and anyone whom is reading and enjoying.

Take care, I'll be posting to you later.

-Gari

May 1, 2003

Greetings, y'all.

I just pulled out my cheesy little digital camera and amused myself by taking snapshots of myself. Hm, I sure am pink and have a big nose and lots of freckles (skin blotches). Maybe I'll get Bob to take a good picture.

Ranting time (I am poised for flames, should any come my way):

I hear the term "serious fiber artist" from time to time. What does this mean? Is each and every stitch created with deliberation and is gravid with meaning? Does the SFA only work with expensive esoteric substances such that we mere mortals could not begin to plumb the depths of their meaning? Do they not own T-shirts or - shudder - wear them? Does nothing synthetic enter into their sphere? I've seen on several blogs that the blog owners want to only hear from "serious" commentators, they don't want to see comments unless they add meaning to the discussion. These folks have their reasons, I'm sure, but it seems terribly elitist and exclusionary to me (oops, judgement is creeping into my rant!). I live in a void, down a well if you will. Any voice shouting encouragement from the top or tunneling into my location is welcome. So today, I'm crowning myself an Un-serious fiber artist or UFA. Perhaps the years of kudos, fans clamoring for my autograph, crowds screaming "UFA, we love you", seeing yet another of my original designs "interpreted" in colors and materials I would never choose will cause me to become jaded and lofty. (I vant to be alone - with my vicuna fiber).

We're all at different levels in our development. The person you see today working on something that makes you retch could, through the passage of time, become a major contributor to the great creative universe. We need to nurture anyone with a creative spark, even if today the creative spark is being used in ways you judge to be mundane. I would rather spend a day with a beginner than a minute with someone who won't even try.

So, please knit dishcloth, tear up rags and make crocheted rugs, cross stitch on a t-shirt, quilt a potholder. Make something today, the esoteric will wait until you're ready.

End of Rant.

Pictures are SO close to being a reality, truly.

The kumihimo braid project is almost finished. I think I've found a way to teach kumihimo (hey, I'm one lesson ahead, I'm qualified!) without the investment in the lovely stand. I will, of course, be saving my pennies for the lovely stand and tama (which I think means soul in Japanese. We're currently watching an anime "Inuyasha" and they mention the "shikon no tama" which is "jewel of four souls". I could be wrong. I'll have to ask OS).

I pulled out an afghan that I started about 2 years ago. I worked with a woman who knitted, but only simple garter st on the diagonal baby blankets. She made a large not-pastel version for her two married children for a wedding gift. Her not married gay son complained that he should get one, too. She decided to go all out to make up for not thinking of him and bought a complicated pattern and yarn (from a company that will not give you knitting support without your order number and the secret handshake. Hey, they have to make a living. ). I mentored her through the process, during our lunch hours, after work, and over the phone. She was in tears many times over this pattern. I finally wrote out -in English, thank you, no deciphering needed here- each of the rows on a separate piece of paper - it was a 48 row repeat - and started to work on the same pattern myself to get her through it. She finished it and it was just lovely and her son was very happy with his gift. Now I have 9" of this blanket on needles that I take out, look at and then put away after 1 or 2 rows. So, is 9" of completion enough to make me finish the other 54"? Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of "Will she rip it out?".

Take care, I'll be posting to you later.

-Gari

April 30, 2003

Greetings, y'all.

Today is dear SIL birthday. I picked a bouquet of the Louisiana Iris variety named for her and put it into a vase I rescued from the trash. Yes, I am a CURBSIDE CONSERVATIONIST, also known as a trash picker to the great unwashed. The college students in their lemming like desperation to escape College Station will cast aside all of the their belonging, much as a trapped animal will gnaw away it's own limb to save the rest of itself. They throw away perfectly good things that the raised-by-depression-era-parents frugal idiot that possesses me can't bear to walk away from. Anyway, the vase was labeled "Sasaki" and looked very nice, so I had no problem presenting it to her.

I started writing the instructions for Oldest Son's cardigan and doing some figuring and muttering and re-figuring and more muttering. I think I have a mostly coherent plan. Question of the day, should the bottom point of a V-neck cardigan hit the bottom of a person's breast bone? Pictures and instructions as soon as I can work out more on blogging technology (such as how to the the knitting ring logo to show up? I"ll tackle it another day.) I'm almost ready to start on the sleeves.

I've made 4 loaves of bread in the past 2 days. I make white bread, kneaded by hand, using the King Arthur's flour recipe. Dear Bob (my favorite palindrome) can't tolerate whole wheat, I make those for his parents and Second Son, also using King Arthur's flour recipe. I make bread and then sweep and mop the floor and remove obvious clutter and it looks as though I've slaved all day. The secret to my success - bed made, sink empty, floors swept and fresh bread. Anything that I'm not dealing with goes behind a door that I can shut. Then, I can knit, or sew, or quilt, or spin, or weave or whatever.

I'm reading tons of blogs (I knit while I'm reading so it is NOT wasting time, really, no, really) and have been welcomed to the exciting world of the internet by several very nice women. Thanks for the emails and thanks to anyone who visits

Dear Bob is out tonight, eating Chinese. He's working with a professor from the University on a Science Fiction categorizing project. Our main decorating item is floor to ceiling bookshelves crammed with books. The Prof saw this during one of our 4th of July's Fireworks and BBQ parties and asked Bob to join the group. Bob is also trading more anime with one of the grad students, so we'll have more to watch. We don't have regular TV, we watch Japanese animation. OS and SS grew up on this and know Japanese, it also improves reading skill when watching a subtitled show. On a knitting note, if you get to watch Miyazaki's "Spirited Away", there's a scene with knitting and spinning. They actually do it right! Unlike Wilma Flintstone! Not that I'm worked up over it. So, I'm feeding the children canned pork and beans and we'll be looking forward to whatever Bob brings home.

Take care and I'll be posting to you later.

-Gari

Monday April 28, 2003


Greetings, y'all.


This weekend was packed, yet somehow low key.


We raise Louisiana Irises on our 5 acres of heaven (see www.pocketponds.com). Everything is in the last stages of blooming, and is just gorgeous. We tried to have our first annual Iris Festival, but the weather defeated us (real winter in TEXAS?!?!?!), so we just have had informal groups visiting this spring rather than a commercial "happening".


Our group on Saturday arrived at 9 and stayed until 1:30. We served them tea and the strange dip (recipe below). They were a group of terrific women who shared lots of interests with us, so it was a day of networking and arranging future events. When they found out we have a concrete mixer, they were in raptures. We'll be having a group come over and make stepping stones. One of the women has a pallet of broken glass and another offered to bring the cement if we were agreeable to having them descend on us. One of the women who visited on Saturday has an annual crayfish boil potluck at her place and we were invited. For the uninitiated, crayfish are lobster's poor second cousin several times removed. They are usually served boiled and spicy hot. It's a potluck so we'll be bringing Bob's (my favorite palindrome) latest mad creation:


Japanese Cream Cheese dip:


Several packages of Cream Cheese

Bunch of parsley chopped

Bunch of green onions chopped

Wasabi paste (found in oriental stores, look for the real thing, not just horseradish tinted green)


Proportions are approximate, taste as you go. It should be very dense in parsley and green onions. Watch out for the Wasabi, it is a hot that will sneek up on you. Mix everything together. Serve on Matzo Crackers.



Knitting:


I'm still working on the oldest son's cardigan. I wonder if there are knitting patterns available for Mr. Roger's cardigans? Someone should look into that and get back to me at gari_strawn@hotmail.com.



I'm working on something just for fun with leftover Reynold's Debut (65% wool, 35% mink). I'll be posting pictures as soon as I'm happy with the results. I'm also still working on the Shapely Tee. Of course, I've got a Harry Potter scarf going. I worked on it while watching younger home-grown son Saturday night at the last show of the season. See his work at www.freudianslipimprov.com. They're young, profane, and vulgar, but they're funny.


Other Stuff:


I picked up one of my Handwoven magazines on Sunday and found an article on Kumihimo weaving. I've seen the stands, but since we are chronically short of funds, I've put off learning it. This article suggested using a cardboard circle. Hmm, I always grip whatever I'm working on so tightly, I did not think that cardboard would survive the experience. Bob is always burning CD's (we watch Japanese animation instead of regular TV, more on that later) and some turn out to be duds. CD's are the size the article recommended, so I tried it with some embroidery floss. It worked! Okay, the braid is lumpy and has loops protruding, but it is recognizable as a Kumihimo braid! This is not the fault of the tool, I attribute it to my own inexperience.


It is a very meditative experience, somewhat like knitting in the round.


I will post pictures and instructions for using a CD once I get a respectable looking braid.



If you're unfamiliar with Kumihimo, see http://www.mtnloom.com/Kumi.htm.


Just what we all need, a new interest!


Take care, I'll be posting to you later.


-Gari