Two folks whose blogs I love and respect, Margaret Roach and Adria Richards, both use and love Word Press. That’s good enough for me! (I love name dropping these two brilliant women, I so respect their work, I feel fortunate to know them both!)

I will miss Blogger – I’ve been with them since I started in 2002 – but the time has come to take a bit more control of my blog, and I’m happy to do it.

I’ve been non-blogging because I’ve been rather ill again this week. Two episodes where a backslide into wheat (one semi-intentional, one absolutely innocently) caught me up and wore me out SO much that I was blindsided by how rotten I felt.

In one way, it’s very good. I was able to bounce back rather quickly with some Vitamin D, a LOT of water and some aerobic Wii bicycling. Work that poison (to me) out of my system, baby!

And it also points out to me that my suspicions are valid – the wheat really is one culprit in my muscle and joint aches and my overal malaise/fogginess of brain. I’m also beginning to think that one of the reasons I got so sick around Christmas was the amount of holiday cookies I was digesting.

So I start this week rededicating myself to a wheat-free existence, with a bit more emphasis on eating less sugar, too. We’ll see…

That’s the main reason I’ve been so quiet on my blog and in Twitter. It’s astounding to me how little I feel like doing when I’m down and out, but there it is!

While all this rolling around in the bed in agony was going on, I was approached by Interweave Knits and IK Crochet to do a project for each, which is wonderful. I love working with them, such a great company!

I’m also working on a flowered cloche for Crochet Insider (the hat CAN be worn outside, too…) and it’s more fun that should be legal. Alls I’ll say is that I LOVE ribbon embroidery!

The online classes are going beautifully, I’ve got a LOT of students in my classes this month, and I’m working up a free “How To Knit” class which I thought would be finished by now. More’s the pity that it’s not, but with any luck I’ll have it done by the end of the weekend.

However, when it’s done you’ll have a place to send your non-knitting friends where they can learn both Western AND basic Combination knitting. Or, in the off chance that you don’t knit, you can visit and hone your mad knit chops.

More info when it’s ready to go, stay tuned!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Gerry turned 51 yesterday and we’re pretty stoked. We were going to go to Pizza Luce where I can get a gluten free slice and a gluten free beer, but I was feeling SO under the weather we stayed at home and had some gluten free birthday cake (courtesy of Betty Crocker and Hannah)

I love that ad from the American Cancer Society where they say they’re the Official Sponsor of Birthdays. Obviously this really resonates with us – we are VERY lucky.

But the truth remains that with so many Americans uninsured and under-insured, many folks can’t get the help they need without going into bankruptcy (and even then getting the correct health care is an iffy proposition.)

RANT
I’m amazed and astounded at how the anti-health care folks who are fighting against a Public Option in DC have been able to paint their position as even slightly humanitarian.

Through fear, a LOT of expensive ads, lobbyists cash to Congress and a successful campaign to polarize the American Congress (if not the American people), they’ve convinced some naive folks that a majority of citizens is against a public option, but an interesting ABC / Washington Post Poll refutes this.

I’m sick to death of hearing the twin lies that:

1) Insurance Portability Across State Lines Will Save Us and
2) Tort Reform Will Save Us.

The only people these two strategies will help are the insurance companies. They’ll be able to charge what they want with very little regulation, and patients won’t be able to sue to overturn bad insurance company decisions (usually based on raising profits) which cause severe injury or even death.

Lie #1
The state by state portability issue would allow states with good regulatory laws (like Minnesota and California) to be brought down to the lowest common denominator – to the level of states with BAD consumer protection laws.

Jerry Flanagan, a patient advocate for Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog, is quoted in an article in the LA Times, “The insurance companies will all run to Wyoming to issue policies, and Wyoming laws would rule in California.”

Think of what’s happened to consumers under the thumb of credit card companies who all flocked to states with very bad regulatory laws. 30% interest rates and crushing, hidden “fees” are NOT uncommon. This usurious situation has flourished because the banks issuing the cards are able to base themselves in states which allow these practices.

Lie #2
Right wingers like to use the Bar Association as a whipping boy because – well – everyone has heard some story of folks being screwed by a lawyer. Even Shakespeare wasn’t fond of them.

But the deeper reason is that many attorneys actually fight FOR the rights of citizens who are all but powerless against large entites, and this is anathema to the multi-billion dollar corporations.

It can be expensive, but anyone has the right to seek council and sue a company which has caused damage. To take away this right is to further reduce the strength of the average American against the monied large corporations.

Now that Corporations – masquerading as people – have been sanctioned by the Supreme Court to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of political campaigns, my own fear is that more and more Americans will be convinced by expensive ad campaigns to vote against their own best interests.

No one, no group, has the kind of money the corporations control to work against the multi-million dollar ad campaigns that are on their way.

What’s the cure? Education and information. Don’t take my word for any of this, but don’t take anyone else’s word for it, either. Use your brain, educate yourself, make yourself informed.

We got a HUGE thumbs up from the docs on our planned trip to Ireland. One of our docs, who’s had her own cancer adventure, was positively giddy for us. (Extra bonus – with just a small amount of begging I was complimented for my weight loss.)

The trip just about took it OUT of me entirely, though.

I’d been feeling so hotsy-totsy, feeling SO much better than a month ago, sticking my face up in fibromyalgia’s face and staring it down.

However, doing something like our round of tests and doctors visits at Mayo that I’ve done a dozen times before really highlights how diminished my strength is.

I’m getting stronger, getting better, but realism is a virtue as long as it’s married with hope. Days like yesterday keep me honest about the effects of the fibromyalgia on my daily energy and pain levels.

When I got home I was SO exhausted (I do the driving, Gerry’s concentration for long periods to drive isn’t as good as mine is – we’re a real pair!) and dear Hannah, who woman-ed the fort by getting Max up and ready for school (we’d left at 6:30 am), left a sink full of dishes, bowls and pans (she made pancakes for Max) which had to be cleaned up.

It seemed churlish to demand that she clean up the mess, especially when she’d been very responsible and had done exactly what we’d asked. (Besides, as any mom knows, we clean the pots and pans better…)

So a clean up of the dishes, a quick bite for dinner, then to my hour-long chat for the January Online Combo Class, which went beautifully. Sometimes we talk a lot about knitting, sometimes we just build our cohesion as a class, but it’s always fun.

Then the Prez’s speech (which I feel was exceptional – exactly what we needed to hear, with a masterful amount of push, stroke, admonishment and praise) and then to bed.

My reward? This morning I woke up with a clear idea for a new hat pattern and ideas for some other stuff. I was explaining to Gerry that sometimes taking a break from the designing is so good because then stuff will come to me without being forced. I can’t blog about the hat pattern because it’s for a magazine, but it’s crocheted and will involve embroidered flowers.

Part of today will also be dedicated to creating a FREE online “how to knit” class, covering the basics of knit and purl (from a Western and Combination perspective) AND casting on and binding off.

It will be free for 2 reasons: 1) to get more folks knitting, and 2) to give folks a chance to take one of my online classes and see if it would be right for them.

So stay tuned. If all goes well I may have the class up by the end of the weekend, then those of you whose interest has been piqued can sign up, take the class, and decide if my online style works for you.

And we could always use more knitters, right?

I’ve been working on my online classes – no big surprise there – and they’re doing REALLY well [I have to admit, I'm a little suprised, happily, that they've been filling up so well!]

ONLINE CLASSES
I’ve just added a class on making my Universal Mitered Handbag (I’m starting one up in Feb, it’s VERY soon, but it will give me a chance to try out a project-class with a smaller group.)

I’ve also added a self guided Combination Knitting class for folks who don’t want to stick to a schedule or don’t care for online chats. The self guided class is also $10 cheaper…

Registration for both these new classes and the original Combo class is through my Ning networks. And there’s even more information on the classes here.

And, just for fun, here’s my overview video from the Universal Mitered Handbag class. Watching it is a great way to find out if my voice or teaching style will make you nuts before you sign up for the class!

And, for even MORE fun, here’s a link to a video I made on Blocking with Steam. (The videos are a lot of fun to make, but I really should buy stock in Scunci…)

FIBRO FREEDOM
Every day I’m feeling so much better! It’s amazing when I think of how low I was in December (this is when it’s good to have to blog, to remind me of how painful it was and how far I’ve come!)

The acupuncture/massage and chiro have been miraculous in my healing, but the Vitamin D is the big boost. I’m still going gluten free, and I DO feel very good, so I’m thinking no wheat may have something to do with it. As always, thank you so much for your kind wishes and suggestions.

As great as I’m feeling, I still tire very easily. I had lunch with a friend yesterday and it almost wiped me out. Today I went to Target, came home and dyed my hair (another sign I’m feeling better, I’ve noticed my roots) and I’m just about out for the count.

THIS is when I’m tremendously grateful that I have work I can do in my bed, on my laptop, editing videos for the online classes and writing new patterns. Overall the last few days I’ve been off; tired and wheezy.

I figure this is all part of the process of working my way out of a fibro flare up. It seems to be a lot like losing weight. Up a little one day, down a bit the next, but at the end of the week if all goes well (and if I pay attention) I’m better off than I was a week earlier.

The hard part is paying attention to the small victories. Remembering how just the thought of driving to Target - let alone walking in and shopping for a half hour - exhausted me completely.

I’ve said over and over how lucky we are. Through Gerry’s union [thank you, IATSE] we’ve been able to keep our insurance, and in addition to the doctors it covers the non-traditional practitioners I’m seeing for the Fibro.

They’re been helping SO much. I can’t imagine feeling any better had I stuck to mainstream medicine only. I feel I have a good blend of traditional and non-traditional going on right now.

However, a lot of fibro sufferers don’t have this option. Many insurance companies won’t cover “new” treatment options (my own insurance won’t cover acupuncture for asthma, but they will for fibro – go figure…) We have a long way to go as a nation to marry common sense with medical availability.

So – not in a gloating way – I’m very lucky. Reaching the point where I’d trust acupuncture / massage / chiro so completely wasn’t an overnight journey. I think it’s easier to travel this route here in Minnesota, where I’ve noticed a marrying of traditional and non-traditional therapies.

MAYO
Speaking of traditional, we’re traveling down to Rochester tomorrow for Gerry’s checkup. We missed the last one because of the December blizzard, but the weather looks good for tomorrow so all systems are GO. He’s been having more pain than usual, more tiredness, but at the same time he’s been energized by his online classes through St. Paul college.

I’m interested in hearing what the doctors say about his current test numbers. And I’ll also ask them if they think some Vitamin D might be beneficial to his mood and pain.

On Friday I drove up with my friend to her cottage on Lake Ida, where others from our knitting group joined us for some very low-key and loving conversation, wonderful food – just some nice down time.

I didn’t do much – well, not much compared to what I would have done a few months ago – but it was MILES more than I’ve been doing. I carried in bags from the car (yay me!) and when everyone else went cross country skiing I went for a long walk across the lake.

I didn’t make it all the way, but Emma the dog and I went pretty far.

Here’s a video I shot of the frozen landscape. It’s so beautiful – and I was coat-less, just my hat and sweater and was very warm*

Now I’m home after so much relaxation and peace. And also more activity (mental and physical) than I’ve had in a long time. And EXCELLENT food! I’m almost afraid to hop on the wii…

I’m getting the feeling that rest is a very good idea for the balance of this active day, so this afternoon I’m surrounded by half finished projects from HoTN, finally trying to get some knitting and swatching done that I’ve put off for many weeks.

I’m firmly planted on my bottom, watching The Heiress and knitting. Who knew the frozen Minnesota waters could be so salubrious?

*yes, and pants and socks and shoes, too. Good grief.

With all the physical pain of the past few months, the unwanted drama (actually, it’s been pretty drama free…) and other life events that have ‘enriched’ my life in the past few years, I am SO damned lucky.

But yesterday was a hard day physically.

YESTERDAY
I had planned to take my driving test. Then I thought I couldn’t. Then I wanted to. Then I didn’t want to. You see, I’ve failed it twice since we moved here from NJ. I allowed myself to psyche myself out. I kept seeing THIS

And Here was my horoscope for yesterday (Mr. Levine, are you watching me…?):

You can’t decide whether or not to go ahead with your plans because the pros and cons seem pretty evenly balanced. But even if you finally choose against pushing forward today, you might surprise yourself and suddenly take the next step anyhow. Be careful; if you make a false start, you may just have to begin anew next week.

And damned if I didn’t drive to Eagan, take the test, and score 100%!

But damn if I also didn’t forget my 2 forms if ID… So back home I drove, picked up my passport, then returned and waited in line AGAIN.

The drive(s) to Eagan, the waiting in line(s), the test itself, it all just exhausted me.

When I got in the car to drive home I realized how tired I was. Across the street was a movie theater, so I figured I’d see ANYTHING just to sit down for an hour or two.

Happily, I saw most of The Young Victoria – it was lovely. I’m afraid I didn’t like the bonnets as much as I’d hoped, but the dresses and men’s clothing were brilliant. Sandy Powell continues to be my heroine. I am proud to have worked with her once upon a time (I knitted a sweater for Dennis Quaid for Far From Heaven back in 2002, she was the designer.)

Then I drove home and rolled into a little, tiny ball and wept in pain until I slept. A rich and full day. And that’s the price we pay for 100% scores on driving tests in Minnesota.

TODAY
I started the day with a wonderful session with my acupuncturist at Crocus Hill Acupuncture.

The woman is a genius. She cupped me – which my father-in-law would call toten bahnks – and oddly enough much of the continuing pain in my shoulders and neck was beautifully reduced. Huzzah!

Before I left, she put little ‘beads’ on points in my ears, stuck with clear plastic, so I can self-pressure -point myself to help with my breathing (she said one client kept them on for a month!) AND my breathing is so much better today.

Then home to work a bit – polishing up videos for my next online class, The Mitered Handbag – and then continuing my day of leisure for a massage in the afternoon.

Several years ago I got a pretty ‘severe’ haircut at a local salon. To apologize, the manager gave me a gift certificate for a massage, but their massage guy left soon after. The gift certificate sat unused for 3 years.

When I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia this past Christmas I dug up the certificate, saw that it had NO expiration date, and was gratified to learn that they now have TWO massage therapists on staff!

Let me tell you, aside from a massage I got from a friend in Colorado a few years ago (my first – thanks Ruth!) this was the BEST I’d ever had.

This, joined with the acupuncture, created the PERFECT day for a woman with Fibro!

TOMORROW
I miss travel. I don’t miss the pain, the exhaustion, and I don’t miss missing my family (what a dream it is to be able to hug them, kiss them, whenever I want…)

But I miss being on the road, and I miss seeing friends. So guess what Mr. Levine had to say to me TODAY?

You may be frustrated by the lack of fun in your life now. Even if you have attempted to make time for some pleasure, it’s been hard to make much progress these last couple of weeks. Don’t lose faith; things are going to loosen up very soon. In the meantime, try to get your ducks in a row so you are ready to fly when given clearance for takeoff.

My local knitting group is going away for the weekend, women who are good enough friends that I can just sit on the sofa and rest – they’ll let me be a piece of broccoli and stare out the window. But it will be insanely good to be with friends all weekend. I miss seeing friends.

I’m going up tomorrow, back on Sunday, and I’m taking my gluten free snacks with me.

Dorothy Reade was an expert knitter, spinner, and designer who was a publishing knitting patterns at the same time as Barbara Walker, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and Mary Walker Phillips. In fact, some of her original lace stitches are included in Barbara Walker’s Treasuries.

Anyone who knows me or my knitting knows that I love lace – but the dirty little secret is that I used to HATE lace. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t make sense of the written patterns, and sort of gave up on lace. Then I saw a book about lace charts by Susannah Lewis, and I was in love.

Dorothy Reade was charting lace patterns long before they were part of the mainstream. Folks who appreciate lace knitting owe her a great deal for her furtherance and refining of the craft.

The focus of Donna’s book are the charts that Dorothy worked up, interpreted by many designers in various ways. My own design in the book is based on a floral Lace chart. I took the motif and refined it further into a colorwork pattern, then blended the two into a soft & warm, easy to wear Wimple.

I chose Artyarns Silk Rhapsody because I knew it would work well with both the lace portions of the wimple and the colorwork areas, too. The mohair is a lovely choice for the lace portions, and the silk/mohair blend ‘fills in’ very nicely to create a rich colorwork fabric at either edge of the finished piece, and to give the piece weight to frame the face and neckline.

I’m SO looking forward to seeing all of the other projects in the book – it looks fascinating!

This is something I need to get a handle on, I need to work through. From what I’ve read, just IS an up-and-down road, but mentally coming to terms with this is almost as hard as physically coming to terms.

I see myself as a Warner Bros. cartoon character, just waiting for the anvil of Fibro to fall. Okay, that’s a little dramatic. Sorry.

Yesterday I had a massage (I bought a gift card last year, 3 massages for the price of 2!) and had an adjustment right after (the massage therapist works through my chiro’s office)

I hurt. Sleep has been hard the past 2 nights, and I can REALLY feel the lack of it in my shoulders and joints.

The night-before-last the pain was so bad that I was incoherent when I woke up, and I missed the online chat I’d set up with my Combination class students. Bad teacher…

The students were very nice about it, but I felt like doggy doo.

Oy. I think I’ll just rename this blog, “Come and hear Annie whine…”

However, getting out yesterday felt very good. I don’t get out much now, but it was nice to see the ‘hood, to visit Target (I had to buy some gluten free flour and earbuds) and feel a little bit alive.

Yay, alive!

And I got a small virtuous internal squee when I told my chiro that I’d been taking Vitamin D and cutting out wheat, and he got a very, “That’s impressive…” look on his face. I rarely get that look.

So today my job is to edit a few videos, shoot a new one for the Combination class (on binding off, how exciting!) and create a few pdf files from existing videos. And I’ll do it all from my bed with a heating pad slung around my shoulders.

And, if you’re in the Twin Cities and you can refer a good cleaning person, I’m in the market for that. I can’t clean – when I try I hurt and I become insanely winded. Gerry does his best, but he’s not that far ahead of me in the pain department. Hannah’s a great kid, but she’s 13 and Max is 11.

The result? Our house is making me CRAZY. I do NOT want to end up on some basic-cable clean-your-damned-house show.

REMISS
I have had TWO spectacular yarns in my hot little hands since this SUMMER and I have not blogged about them. I am remiss in this, it’s wrong of me, because I LOVE them so much!

I also just received a box of BRAND NEW yarn line with some economical, interesting products which have an incredible palette.

I will now attempt to make up for my lack of gushiness (I felt it, I just didn’t blog it..)

FYBERSPATES SCRUMPTIOUS
I first used this for a sweater I’d made for Yarn Forward in the UK. Customs mishaps ended up keeping the sweater out of the magazine (and costing me $70) and it’s STILL looking for a home. Pattern written, ready to go, I just have lacked the energy to put it together and post it.

This yarn, though, is wonderful! It’s not tightly spun, so it can be a little breaky/pilly if you don’t treat it with a firm but gentle hand, but the results are WORTH the effort.

While in Shropshire this summer I scammed some from Jennie, the Fyberspates Queen, in a most beautiful gray color (charcoal) which I was going to use to knit Gerry a sweater. That hasn’t happened, but it WILL. Yes, it will. Yes. It. Will.

In addition to being a lovely yarn that feels great in the hand and makes a beautiful fabric, it’s one of the few yarns my son just LOVES to roll into balls. Sometimes he can balk when I ask him, but he was happy to roll this up for me. Hmmmm, maybe I should knit HIM a sweater…

BTW, here’s Jennie’s current SALE page – it’s worth a look!!

GREAT NORTHERN MINK YARN
I’ve had a few “manly” colors of this yarn for MONTHS and I keep promising the company that I’ll work something up with it!

Well, I finally am! While I’ve been laid up I have a lovely black and tan hat pattern that I’m working up for Gerry. If it’s good, I’ll offer it in some way, but right now it’s just something to keep my hubby’s head warm.

This yarn is spectacular. And – bonus (especially for the minks) – no minks are harmed in the manufacture of this yarn.

This yarn is direct from the producer, not available through yarn shops, which keeps the price reasonable. They have a mitten kit for $24, which seems like a steal to me!

At the time I got the yarn, only natural colors were available. Beautiful jewel tone colors have been added to the original hues, though, and they’re stunning!

So between taping the new “how-to” video and editing today, I’ll be doing some more work on that MINK hat for Gerry (his grandfather used to be a furrier in the garment district in NYC, he was born to it!)

And he can use it – it’s supposed to be -15F today (with the wind chill…) so I’d better get it done fast!

This can be a very enjoyable day even if there isn’t very much going on. The simplest tasks can bring you great pleasure today, so don’t go out of your way trying to make something special happen. Just settle in for some well-deserved rest and relaxation. Don’t worry; your life will get busy again soon enough.

Am I going to start EVERY blog post with my Twitterscope? Maybe.

Am I reaching for things that will make me feel there is more shape to my days than it seems right now? Probably.

But I like this horoscope, and it fits well with what I need right now. We were going to take Max skiing today, and take our little cat in to have her stitches removed.

However, the high today is supposed be between -5 and 0, so skiing is out. And the vet center is closed today for the holiday so no cat trip. That’s FINE with me! I’m currently in bed.

I think after the Fibromyalgia diagnosis (which I still feel odd about… can’t quite explain) I was hoping that the pain would magically diminish.

That didn’t happen. I’ve been wheat free (-ish) for about a week, taking my vitamin D, sleeping as much as I can but also doing yoga with the Wii at least once a day.

The pain remains. In some ways it’s worse, the pain across my back and up either side of my neck is so bad that I can’t turn my head very well. My knees and shoulders are burning with pain.

I’m seeing my chiro and the massage therapist in his office on Wednesday, and my accupuncturist the following Wednesday. I am EXTREMELY fortunate to have health insurance that covers this (they won’t cover accupuncture for asthma, but they WILL for pain!)

I’ve also been reading about a lot of stuff the Mayo is doing on Fibromyalgia. The next time I see the rhematologist (to hear the test results from my blood work on Christmas eve) I’m going to try to get a referral to the Mayo.

I’m on the hunt for ways to make my pain less of an adversary and more of an un-welcomed friend. A friend who, despite the annoyance, sometimes brings some good stuff (wisdom? patience? perspective?)

Well, THAT’S the mental exercise for this week. We’ll see how that goes!

REST AND WORK
I’m very lucky that my work can be done while sitting in bed. Whether I’m knitting, working on class materials or writing, I can do it in a semi-reclined position (why is this night different from all others?)

So I’m plugging along, sleeping a lot during the day but trying to focus. Focus is hard – my mind wanders, I forget stuff. I’ve been this way for a LONG time, but I had chalked that up to my hysterectomy.

It’s worse now. Stupid things like Gerry telling me he’d fed the pets at 8:30, and me asking Max to feed them at 9:30. My ability on the phone is worse than ever, and I’m beginning to think that my inability to remember things said on the phone, my strong desire to NOT use the phone, may have been a symptom of this FM which has been increasing in severity.

I had an episode while living in NJ where I could hardly move out of my chair (my working chair) for over a month. I had pain, but my breathing was also very bad, so I figured it was all tied up with the asthma. Now I wonder.

I watched a show where folks were building a cat play room for an animal shelter, and I thought, “I wonder if I’ll ever have the energy to engage in something like that again…” I know I sound self pitying, I apologize for that, but I think I’m at the low point where the diagnosis is just reaching me and the pain is still hard.

That period when you seriously wonder if your body will ever feel better.

I know it will. I just have to keep believing that.

Soon I’ll be able to bike again, and in the mean time I have the Wii to keep me moving at least a few minutes a day!

I really miss seeing people, though. Leaving the house is SO exhausting, SO full of pain. Oh, wah wah wah.

ONLINE CLASSES
I started my online classes this week, it’s SO exciting! I had intended to make a “Welcome to class!” video but I’m just so exhausted, and look so bad (dark circles, shadows on my face, I just look “in pain”) that I thought it would be more frightening than welcoming!

But even without that extra special Welcome Video, it seems that folks are taking care of themselves; logging on, checking out the materials, doing their swatches and having a good time.

If you’re interested, here’s the syllabus for the class, and here’s a link to read more about it. They’ll give you an idea of what the Combination Class entails.

I’m really excited for the text chat tomorrow, to see what folks want to talk about!

Ironically, I saw that after I’d had a good heart to heart with myself about my ability to finish History On Two Needles on my own. I don’t know if I can do it, given my diminished energy and my new diagnosis of Fibromyalgia.

The book WILL get done, but I have to face the fact that things are different now – at least for the short run. I’ve been beating myself up for not getting more done on the book, but when I look at the last 6 months I realize just HOW MUCH I’ve been in pain, how difficult life has been, and how I’d been avoiding seeing that.

Barrelling through IS a good strategy, but it doesn’t work forever.

So now that I’ve been sidelined, seriously, I need to reconsider how I’m going to go about publishing this book. I think I’ll contact publishers I’ve wanted to work with for a while and see if they have any interest. I’ve already done the research, and most of the patterns are written and finished garments are ready to be photographed. I just cannot see myself arranging that as I thought I could a year ago.

I can’t tell you guys how sad this makes me. But to have the book not see the light of day would make me much sadder. So, we pick the level of our sadness, I guess, and we pick our battles.

I think the Trazodone has been helping my sleeping. I don’t think I’d realized that my sleep WAS being interrupted by pain, but it had been. I have half-awake remembrances of rolling one way and finding it agonizing, then rolling the other and finding THAT agonizing, too.

I’ve also been waking up between 5 – 7 every morning. Nothing wrong with that, but I’d been going to sleep later and later. Laying in bed felt good because I was tired, but it HURT to be in one position for very long. The Trazodone is helping me go to sleep at 11 and sleep, FULLY, until I wake up at 8 or so. Very late for me.

I guess that’s what vacations are for!

ONLINE CLASSES
And – irony of ironies – how brilliant that this is all coming to a head right when my first online class is about to start. It’s a beautiful thing, to be able to teach and not have to drive, carry bags (the hardest thing for me) walk up stairs, carry bags up stairs.

It’s nice to not have to unpack all my stuff, dance around a classroom to act out Stitch Theater, move from student to student bending over and looking at work (I’d been doing more “gather ’round me, students!” moments) and then packing everything up, carrying it out to the car and driving home. It’s good to not have to do that.

What’s been hard is finding a day when I look halfway like myself to make videos. I look at myself in the mirror and I hardly recognize myself. I look very old, very wrinkled, very tired.

So I brush my hair and put on makeup and I feel better. And today I WILL make several videos and thus be finished with the pre-recorded portion of the Combination Knitting Class.

I’m blown away by the fact that the January Combination Knitting class is sold out, and February is one space away from being sold out. I’m contemplating adding a second section to February, there’s no reason why I can’t, but I want to get an idea of how much email / chat I’ll be fielding on a week to week basis before I make that commitment. I’ll decide by mid Jan.

In the mean time I’m making a few samples for a new class, the Universal Mitered Handbag, and I cannot WAIT to get going with that class! I’m thinking hard about how best to feature a project class, how much can I expect from the students when we don’t have the 3-hour time constraint. This new way of working out classes is fascinating!

CRAZY LACE
Something else that’s fascinating is a new book I was just sent! Myra Wood’s new book, Crazy Lace, is just lovely! It’s well photographed, laid out in an easy-to-read manner, and has a lot of useful images to help a knitter through the concept of creating your own lace.

I really like the “go for it!” attitude it has about lace, that you should approach it fearlessly, with a bit of a ‘go to hell’ attitude about making sure everything is perfectly symmetrical. I think this will free up a lot of folks to begin to play with their lace.

It’s through this kind of play that we become the knitters we want to be – folks who don’t lose themselves in their knitting often have a hard time finding themselves in their knitting, too.

One thing that I thought was odd was Mrya’s use of the left leaning triple decrease in all the patterns. I think it would have been helpful to introduce the concept of a centered (or vertical) double decrease, which can add such a dramatic effect. And, like many books, this one works on the assumption that every knitter is a Western knitter (all decreases are described as if all stitches were seated on the needle in a Western fashion)

It’s understandable, but I keep hoping that as wonderful books are being independently published, the concept of a universal knitting pattern style will begin to take hold (describing decreases as left and right leaning – k2togL and k2togR – instead of using the terms SSK and K2tog, which only apply to Western knitters.)

One thing I really liked was the encouragement to BLOCK. I’m often surprised when I meet an excellent knitter in a class, someone who obviously knows all the ins and outs of creating beautiful knit fabric, but is wearing a garment that COULD be really stellar if only it were blocked.

When I mention blocking in class, often this same student will shake their head and say, “I never block!” Such a waste – to be SO close to an amazing garment and falter in the last few yards.

Blocking is easy. You don’t have to wet down your garment, you can use steam to block just about anything (I use it for EVERYTHING except mostly acrylic fibers, which can stretch out) and the results of blocking are so easy to see, it feels like you’ve just performed a miracle. This is especially true in lace knitting, when the increases and decreases need to be opened up as only blocking can do.

If folks who read Crazy Lace start blocking more, it will be a wonderful thing for all knitting in general!

FAMILY TREE
I’ve discovered Ancestry.com and it’s a real work stopper. Fortunately I can’t afford the $155 for the whole year, so I’ll be out before my 14 day free trial is over. But I’m enjoying it right now!

Here’s one branch of my father’s family that I’ve been looking up. Is it true? Who knows.

Click for larger version

This does, though, give a good amount of information so I can begin using other resources to verify what I’ve found. I know the connection to the Cunninghams is solid (we used to go to the Modesitt/Cunningham reunion when I was a kid) and the walk back from Cunninghams to Scotland seems pretty firm. Maybe this is why I felt so at home in Scotland this past Summer?