Strings and Yarn

You are planning a wedding and building a career.  I’ve had quite the crazy last few months including opening up my own violin studio/school in downtown Eugene.

The Eugene Suzuki Music Academy opened up in January and has been going strong.  My students have been liking the move, and I’ve gotten several new students as well.  Right now it’s just me teaching there, but I’m hoping to expand within the first 3 years.  It’s been great to have my own space, handle the business end of teaching, and having control over my own schedule again.  You can find more pictures of my studio here.

Of course I’ve also been busy spinning and knitting.  I’ve started my wedding shawl, and am about halfway through the knitting.  I have about 1200 yards of yarn, and I think I’ll be needing to spin a little more.

The yarn is 50/50 merino silk.  It was a lot of fun to spin, except for the silk wanting to get everywhere.  I found little bunched up bits of fiber all over for quite awhile after I was done spinning.  I ordered some more fiber, so I can spin up some more, but I’m hoping I don’t need to much.  What I really want to do is dye my left over fiber for another fun project!

Knitting white is pretty scary.  This is not a travel project!  It stays at home, as far away from coffee, wine, and animals as possible.

Now, I’m not going to say I’m back to blogging, and I’m not going to set any number of posts per month.  I do feel like things are settling a little right now, but you never know when things are going to pick up again.  I do know I have tons of blog fodder, I need this space to be here when I’m ready to post more regularly, or to do the occasional post when I feel like it.  I have realized that I need the blog for my own documentation of my knitting, food, garden and home.  I miss the inspiration that I get from using this space and reading other blogs, and I miss using it regularly and I’m sure at some point I will be sharing often again.

I however do not miss the constant feeling of “keeping up with the Joneses” knitting community.  The strange feeling of competition, and showing off recent purchases.  The chum feeding of yarn, and feeling inadequate with what you’re currently doing.  The need to have the hardest, prettiest, most commented on projects.  I’m hoping that by having this break from blogging, I will be able to distance myself from that mentality, and that type of blogging.

Stepping away from my blog has definitely given me a chance to examine why I want to (or don’t want to) pursue this and why it’s important to me.  I’m looking forward to a renewed outlook, and hopefully renewed inspiration.

Anthony, Ella and I have been sighted on the tv’s all around Eugene (which I have to admit are few and far between).  We had to have someone tape it for us (we have a TV, but no channels), but luckily it’s on the internet for anyone’s viewing pleasure!

So why would our little family unit be on TV?  Our beautiful bike is the reason!

For more info about our bike, check out Anthony’s blog Ride Three.

To see the video clip, check out KVAL’s website.

Hello? (tap, tap tap)  Is anybody out there?

I would completely understand if I don’t have any readers left.  I up and dissapeared for several months. (About 5 to be exact.  Could it really have been that long?!)  However, I am here to tell you that I’m ready to blog and I have built up plent of blog fodder.

My summer was full of fun and exciting activities.  Here’s a quick overview.

• May:  Going to my first national Suzuki Conference in Minneapolis.  I was very inspired and learned a lot.
• June: Spent a long weekend in Colorado and tried on wedding dresses.  Really started in on some hard work with our garden.  Went to Black Sheep Gathering, and had a great time with Black Sheep Bingo!
• July: Lots more work in the backyard.  We traveled to the Fingerlakes region of NY for Matilda’s wedding.  I also started playing in the pit orchestra for two musicals.  All knitting time has now become rehearsals and performances.
• August:  Decided I would audition for ESO.  Didn’t make it, but am glad I got some quality time with practice.  However, I did not touch the spinning wheel or needles during this time.  All extra time was dedicated towards practice and musicals.  At the end of the month we left for Brisbane, Australia for Ging’s fabulous wedding.
• September:  Resumed knitting.  Had a wonderful trip to Australia and am looking forward to going back.  School year has started up, so teaching is in full swing.  Managing schedule and new fun activities for students has taken priority.

So that’s the run down.  Unfortunaly, our computer doesn’t have enough room for all the photos we took on our trip, so that means there is also no room for the wonderful FO’s I have to show off.  Seems I have been trying to make up the knitting time I lost when doing the musicals/practice.  However, we’ll be getting an external hard drive soon, so I will be able to display my finished knitted items.  Meanwhile I’ll continue to post highlights from the very active summer and hope that a few of you are still out there in the internet abiss.

Flat Stanley arrived at our house and he spent some time here learning all sorts of fun things to do. Instead of taking him around Eugene (we had a lot of yucky rainy weather), we decided to show him what we do with our spare time. If you would like to check out what Anthony did with Flat Stanley (vroom vroom!) check out his site, Ride Three.

First I took Flat Stanley out to coffee.

You just can’t visit the Pacific Northwest without getting coffee. Flat Stanley didn’t like the coffee that much, so I drank up the coffee while Stanley got to work. We went to the coffee shop to learn how to knit. I showed him the cuff of the sock I was working on.

Learning to knit and purl.

Then he started working on his first project, the Ripple Dishcloth.

Look at him go!

He had gotten quite a bit done on the dishcloth when he went into my knitting bag and we had to go home. After our trip to the coffee shop, I had to go to work, but now Flat Stanley had something to do with his spare time. So when I got home I took him out of the knitting bag and he had finished the dishcloth!

He gave it to me as a gift for showing him how to knit! He must have know that knit dishcloths are one my favorite things! I have to stay that Flat Stanley was an excellent guest. He was very kind, considerate, and we had a great time!

Flat Stanley wrapped up in a Baby Surprise Jacket.

Thanks Flat Stanley! Hope you enjoyed Eugene, Oregon!

I’ve tempted the fates, I have knit Anthony’s first sweater and we are not married. However, just to try and find a loophole in the curse I have told him it’s on loan until we’re married. If something was to happen, the sweater is mine.

I love how it’s turned out! The pattern is the Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd. It’s in the Summer 2006 Interweave Knits, and the Best of Interweave Knits Book. I knit the body in the round until I got to the sleeve openings. I knit both sleeves at the same time to make them identical. The sleeves ended up being too long, so I simply folded under the excess and sewed the hem. The pattern called for a single crochet stitch all along the bottom edge to help it from rolling up. While this did help, it didn’t eliminate the rolling all together. However, with it’s first washing (I’m a bad knitter and don’t block out before wearing) I may be able to block it slightly straighter. The yarn was purchased in June 2007, started knitting in August 2007, and finished in March 2008. I could have finished this much quicker, but it got shoved aside several times for things with deadlines.

This sweater began on our trip to Albuquerque in June last summer. I had actually already started spinning yarn for a sweater out of a dark blue wool silk blend (this will someday become a Cobblestone Pullover). Anthony has gotten pretty used to me wanted to hit a yarn store on our travels. As we were perusing Village Wools, he came up to me with a skein declaring his love. He was even brilliant enough to find some buttons of his liking! (I think he’s a keeper.) Of course we went straight to the cash register and I immediately had a vision of the finished project.

After the sweater was finished we went for a walk around Mt Pisgah. We had known that I wanted to give him something to wear for our engagement, and a few weekends before we found a pendant that suited him. It’s funny because even though the jewelery makes more sense, (you just can’t wear a sweater everyday, people start looking at you funny) the sweater meant more to me. It was important to me that the sweater and the pendant went together as a gift symbolizing our commitment to each other.  Now it’s time to decide what gets knitted for the wedding!

My Grandma’s birthday is on Valentines day. This year was no small birthday either, she turned 80. I knew that a trip to Las Vegas had been planned for her birthday, and I knew that my parents were going to surprise her by showing up on the trip.  Since I wasn’t going to make it out to Las Vegas for the trip, I couldn’t let the occasion pass without sending her something hand knit and hand crafted.

My Grandma and I in front of Village Wools in Albuquerque, NM.

Before my Grandma moved to Albuquerque to be closer to her family, I remember being so excited whenever she flew in to visit. She was sure to bring a few goodies in her carry on and her visits always made me feel special.

Then she moved to Albuquerque and it felt great to have another family member in town.   My family is scattered all over the west, I didn’t grow up with grandparents, cousins or aunts and uncles near by.  Her close proximity proved to be incredibly important when I was diagnosed with cancer. As soon as I started feeling better after each chemo therapy treatment she would be sure to bring me my favorite first meal. Egg Drop Soup from Ko Palace, the Chinese restaurant down the street. It always helped me feel stronger and more importantly, ready to eat more substantial food.

My parents moved to Colorado the same year I went to Northern Arizona University for my degree, but staying at Grandma’s as I went through town became essential. It was wonderful for us to have that time together, her all to myself.

I needed to pick something very special to knit her for her 80th birthday. I had red sock yarn and originally had thought socks would be the best thing to make. However, I couldn’t remember seeing my grandma wear socks. Slippers yes, nylons yes, but socks? If she did, they were short and thin, not really something special to knit. Plus, I knew whatever I made her, she would want to show off. I couldn’t imagine her showing off the short anklets she would usually wear.

That’s when I decided on a lace scarf. Something delicate, soft, slightly elegant, but could be worn whenever the inspiration came.

• Pattern: Strangling Vine Lace Scarf by Nicole Hindes (Ravelry links)
• Needles: Knitpicks Options - Size US 6
• Yarn: Knitpicks Essential Sock in Burgundy - 2 skeins
• Started: January 2008
• Finished: February 5th 2008

I was actually extremely monogamous with this knit. Mostly because I was pressed for time. However, it really reminded me that if I had less on the needles I would feel like I got a lot more accomplished.

Even though I started it in January, this may be the only thing for Project Spectrum that I get done for Fire. However, it is my small contribution to the many wonderful PS projects that are being done. If you haven’t yet, check out the Flickr group to see what people are doing.

When deciding what to knit, I tried to imagine my Grandma wearing it and showing her friends. This scarf, the lace, the color all matched my mental image perfectly. Now I just need to get out and visit again so that I can see her in it.

I don’t know if it’s spring, but I’ve been feeling the need to clean up, re-prioritize and reorganize. I am ready to shake off those winter doldrums and air out the house, the blog, and me. Here are some of the things I want to work on freshening up.

My violin. Since I stopped school, I’ve taken a long break from playing. I’ve done a few gigs here and there, and I’ve learned one movement of one sonata. It’s been well over a year since I’ve had lessons, but one movement! That’s nothing. So I’m hoping to order a few new concertos to start looking over and working up my chops again. I miss the mental challenge of playing regularly and vigorously.

My garden. This is just a general spring sort of thing. I’m ready to go to work and get some serious revitalization in our back yard. We live on almost 1/4 of an acre and most of it is in the backyard. We have some big plans this year, including converting a large portion of the lawn into raised beds for more veggie space. Plus I’m planning an area that will be dedicated to plants for natural dyes.

My blog. This one isn’t a huge overhaul, but a little sprucing up. I’m hoping to fix some of the old broken links from when my blog had a different url. But most of the refreshing will be in the content. I’m hoping to make my posts more personal, more thought-out, and hopefully more meaningful.

My house. I constantly feel like I’m learning how to keep our house cleaner and more clutter-free. I am a clutter bug and have pack rat tendencies. I have piles of stuff (paper, mail, knitting, books) that seem to spread everywhere. I’m hoping to make simple things like vacuuming and dusting a more regular part of my life.  Plus we have several house projects that have been left to languish.  After we first moved in, we did so much work that both Anthony and I needed a break.  We are now feeling ready to finish up some of the projects we started and start some of the things we have dreamed up.

Time will tell how much I accomplish this year, but just putting it out into the world feels like a good first step.

We have had quite the momentous holiday season here. Well, first of all, Anthony’s birthday was December 24th, and this year was 30. We had a great time staying in the house, and lazing around.

He got a great Life is Good shirt from my parents. Ella was posing with him to duplicate the picture and show off her cuteness.

Here is a picture of our tree.

We had such a great time decorating our house for the first time. As you can see the wheel fits right in with the decorations. Again, Ella is posing to ramp up the cute factor. It is absolutely necessary to put animals in pictures to keep readership up.

I designed, knit, finished, and stuffed Anthony’s new stocking. With an extra large foot to hold extra goodies. Obviously I couldn’t blog about this one because it was one of those secret projects. I’m sure I’ll be revealing secret projects over the next several days.

The biggest news though is that Anthony and I got ENGAGED!

He got me a beautiful ring. We decided not to get a diamond, but instead got a color changing garnet. In artificial light, it’s purple.

And in natural light (or full spectrum CFL’s like we have a lot of in our house) it shows blue.

It is such a beautiful ring. I think all that threatening I’ve been doing about not finishing his sweater until I saw some sign of commitment has been working. I guess I need to get working on the sweater now. Of course we haven’t done anything like setting a date yet, but we’ll probably start planning before we know it.

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life. Plus this blog is partially responsible for us meeting. It only seemed right to share the news here.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season. I’m hoping to catch up on blogs while I have a little time off!

Time for something non-knitting. Anthony and I are devoted This American Life listeners. I have a secret (or not so secret) crush on Ira Glass. I also think that Anthony will look somewhat like him in 10 - 15 years. Anyhoo, a few weeks ago they featured a segment off of Radio Lab. We liked it so much that we started downloading Radio Lab too, and if we didn’t sound like NPR junkies before, we certainly do now.Every time we are at a party or a social function, somehow this show comes into the conversation. Radio Lab is a show that explains the science of life. They explore topic such as Sense of Self, Morality, Beyond Time and Mortality. Anthony and I listen to them together so we can have discussion, often times pausing in the middle.

I have to say this is one of the many reasons I love Podcasts so much. I love that we have access to shows we wouldn’t normally know about, can listen to them when it’s convenient for us, and stop in the middle if need be to discuss what we just heard.

I immediately felt that Radio Lab was an audio version of Good Eats. They both explore things by look at them through science and they have great little sound effects to make the point more interesting.

Have any podcasts/radio shows you regularly listen to? I’m always looking for something new to listen to while knitting away.

Wow! Time to wipe the cobwebs off the ol’ blog.  I think that’s the longest I’ve ever gone without posting, but I do have to say, that it has been a crazy few weeks.  Just to catch up, we’ll make this into a bullet point post.

• First, my violin professor from my undergraduate degree was in town.  We had her over for a lovely dinner.  It was great to catch up.
• Second, my friend Roma came through Eugene.  We had her and her sweetheart stay over for a night.  It was good to catch up with her too.
• Then my sister visited for a week.  We had a great time knitting, talking, showing her the Pacific NW.  We event of a Tsunami on the Oregon coast.

• I finished a sweater, which I mentioned in my last post.  It is my own design, and should be easy to write up.  However, I’m going to have to reknit it in some nicer yarn.  I don’t think most of you have any desire for a sweater made out of Red Heart.  I’m weird that way.
• After Amy left, we had a great visit with my parents for a week.  Including a camping trip to the coast.  It was the first time they had been out to see our house, and my dad helped us put the light up in the closet.  I’m so glad I was able to spend some time with them this summer and show them my life out in Oregon.
• I have been working on my first pair of socks for the Sock Knitters Anonymous on Ravelry.  They are flying on my needles and I’m very happy with the progress.
• I have been working hard this past week getting ready for teaching violin at my school.  I thought I would seriously dread it with considering some of the difficulties I faced last year but starting a year fresh (instead of in January) will make a big difference.  I get to teach 3rd, 4th and 5th graders violin this year!
• Really good things are happening in my private violin studio.  Things are really starting to fall in place which means I’m going to have several recitals, lots of small events, and weekly Suzuki Group classes starting this fall.  It’s a bunch of work, but I’m really enjoying it.
• I’ve really continued to enjoy dying yarn and fiber for Strings and Yarn on Etsy.  There are some things still for sale, but during the school year updates may become less regular.  I’m hoping to get some dying in this weekend, but nothing is for certain.
• With all of the people visiting, I missed my blogiversary!  I wanted to do a contest (and hopefully still will) in order to thank you for coming by, participating, and reading in on my little section of the internet.  Thank you!
• I had an even more important anniversary go by.  Anthony and I have now been together for two years.  I continue to be amazed at how wonderful, rich, and beautiful my life has become since I met him.  I love you babe!

Whew!  I think that sums up the last few weeks.  Hopefully work won’t completely overtake my life, and stay posted for an belated blogiversary contest!