sipping a moscow mule
July 20, 2012
just in case any of you were worried
i am, in fact, still alive.
a real post is forthcoming.
until then,
edith and i are going to spend some quality time together.
at gate a18
June 22, 2012
airport blogging.
it’s become a cliché, i know.
but it’s really one of the best places to get writing done.
i feel super slick this trip,
since i managed to pack only one carryon bag.
gone are the days of a dedicated shoe suitcase.
(anyone else miss the falsely inflated economy?)
this is also the first time i’ve got my boarding pass on my phone.
the airline just texts you a qr code, and bob’s your uncle!
i feel like a jet setting businessman.
except in basketball shorts.
and flip flops.
in coach.
though i guess i lose coolness points for being so desperate for wifi that i accidentally signed up for a monthly subscription to boingo wireless. i mean, i do travel a bit more than the average knitter, but i don’t need access to airport internet every month. anyone know how i can cancel that shit?
in knitting news,
the second sock is well underway.
i have more than five hours to finish (they’re a gift)
and i’m feeling pretty confident about my chances for success.
after which,
i’ll be casting on this.
i suggested a weekend knit along for the retreat
and this is what i suggested.
i love it.
here’s hoping for a f.o. this weekend!
i realize this post was basically a glorified status update. i can never sleep before a trip so let’s blame my lack of wit on exhaustion. no? you demand entertainment? hmm. alright. here’s a random arabic song my friends and i used to rock out to. enjoy the utter randomness!
color up
May 9, 2012
after turning in my final papers on monday,
a combination of
poor diet,
lack of sleep,
and caffeine overdose
reduced me to a bedridden shell of a man.
so of course i got up at the crack of dawn on tuesday
and drove forty minutes for a knitting class
with the yarn harlot.
i knew my knitter buddy melynda was going to be there
and that she was bringing friends.
so i re-upped my starbucks dosage,
hid my raccoon eyes with sunglasses,
and headed to howell.
while i learned all about color knitting techniques
(fair isle, stranded, intastia, slipped stitches etc.)
my favorite piece of info was how colors are put together
and how we are instinctively drawn to put certain colors together
unless, of course, one is color blind*.
(can you guess which block belongs to me?)
more than anything,
i was happy to hang with melynda
and make new knitterly friends.
(erica is an excellent colorer)
(and knitterella can put away more burrito than you think she can!)
as usual, beth harassed me,
telling me how i needed to be a better spinner and knitter
i retaliated with my camera.
most of the day, we all laughed hysterically;
i had the best table mates!
i have dubbed us
the heathers.
our one table mate, kelly, is actually a reader!
(i never, ever get used to the fact that people read my blog)
she called us the “knitterati”, and had us pose for a photo.
(photo courtesy of knitterella)
while i would never put myself on their level
it was flattering of kelly to include me.
memorable quotes from the heathers’ table
that are probably only funny if you were there:
“it’s a different green!”
“i’m just going to make it done”
“sucking on a scone”
“something’s sucking something”
“i blew the blue”
“owl pellets”
as you can see, there was an . . . oral theme at our table.
after all the color hilarity and stress bombs,
i returned home to some neutral heaven.
*no, i’m not colorblind
microblog 13
March 30, 2012
what i’d like to be doing
what i’m actually doing
pilgrimage
March 25, 2012
depending on which side of the family tree you look at,
i’m either fifth or sixth generation michigander.
i’m also the first generation
not to grow up in detroit.
my family emigrated from ireland and settled in detroit
and did all those big life things in the motor city:
work
school
marriage
death
burial (i discovered our family plot)
all with a particular irish catholic flare.
my grandmother’s grandfather was chief of police.
my grandfather’s grandfather built a house there for a staggering sum.
(though that might be the german side. not as popular in the family lore)
last time we checked, someone’s still living in it.
the same feeling that made me weep when i found my ancestral knock in co. kerry i often feel when i go to detroit.
getting to know detroit
makes me feel closer to my family history.
it may be silly or illogical or whatever,
but it’s something i enjoy doing.
this saturday,
i was lucky enough to make it to john k. king used and rare books.
(sorry for the photo quality. clouds + iphone + no photoshop = reality)
the connection to my knitting blog?
it used to be a glove factory!
though, i think they may have been sewn,
not knitted.
still,
walking around a factory
that purports to have 1,000,000 books. . .
overwhelming just isn’t a big enough word.
being there ignited the hoarder within
and i left with more books that i need.
while i doubt any of my family members went there
it’s still a really cool piece of detroit history.
and now, it’s part of mine.
mo wanted me to inform you
March 11, 2012
that we’re not dead.
we’ve just been on spring break.
we’ll be getting out of bed shortly
to show you some yarn.
promise.
bedfellow
February 10, 2012
microblog 9
December 25, 2011
just over three years of knitting
and i finally got my mom to try.
she’s a natural.
(those are my great grandmother’s boye knitting needles)
merry christmas, bitches!
bathtub blogging
November 29, 2011
today has been
a day.
the end of which is me being soaked by a car
splashing me as i walked home from the bus.
i am now doing something i never do; i’m taking a bath.
there are candles.
(i’m told they help)
there is traditional japenese music on my iphone.
(i like the shamisen)
i’m all crammed into the tub
trying to fit my five foot eleven and a half self
into a much smaller space,
and blogging.
i’m not normal.
first day of school
August 20, 2011
in a way, anyway.
classes and teaching at msu don’t begin until the 31st,
and my need to vomit is diminishing.
today, i teach my first ever knitting class.
the important word there is “my”,
my take on beginning knitting.
i thought about taking the approach i was comfortable with,
the way i was taught or the way things were done at natural stitches.
both are excellent, and get the job done.
instead i’ve stolen a bunch of ideas from other people
and mixed them together to make “my” class.
and in about an hour and a half,
it will make its debut.
all i can do now
is go over how i want to begin,
and prepare in my own way.
breakfast of champions.
wish me luck, bitches!
