BeverlyArmyWilliams – Page 105 – Beverly Army Williams

New World Don’t Break the Ice Champion

When Scout’s Supergirl told me they owned Don’t Break the Ice, I begged to babysit so that I could play. It’s one of my favorite games; my youngest godson got me into it, and I love to play. The Superkids and I decided we were playing for the World Championship. Can you guess who’s the new Champ? No…not me–it’s Supergirl! I had a fabu time with the kids, enjoyed Scout’s crock pot Mac & Cheese (she’s promised the recipe. If you ask nice I bet she’d share it with you), got to watch my Netfix’d Sex and the City dvd (after the kids went to bed, of course), worked on Shadow Shawl, and came home with a lovely thank you gift and Pinky T. The camera batteries are charging, but you can see some of it here and here.

Two drawings tomorrow: Race for the Cure and Name the Beaver. Aren’t you just tingling with anticipation?

Love is in the Air

Or maybe on the ground. Right near my feet. My happy feet wrapped in the world’s prettiest and softest socks. They fit perfectly and are beautifully knit. So beautiful that I have them sitting on the futon next to me where I can stop, look, pet. My pal went above and beyond, though. She also sent me a go knit pouch in green, a green chibi, an adorable Lantern Moon sheep tape measure, and a skein of the yarn I’ve been longing to try but haven’t purchased: Socks that Rock in Colbalt Bloom–one of my favorite colorways! So who was responsible for all of this goodness? The wonderful Ann of Annie Knits. I’m just bowled over by her generosity and craftsmanship!

That’s not all of my news for the day, though. My e-mail box had a surprise in it, too. Last summer I submitted an entry to Parade Magazine’s National Trust Historic Preservation "Tell America’s Story" contest, and today I found out I was a runner up! Out of 2,500 entries, the one I wrote for Stepping Stones Foundation won an honorable mention and will be posted on their website some time soon.

I finished up my big seminar project for the semester, and the presentation went pretty well…with that out of the way I feel like the worst of my work is finished. Now I’m on to revising stories and finishing up with my grading. There’s an end in sight. An end in which I can chill out in the evening instead of trying to cram in a little more work. Yeah!

Someone Needs a Name

My last Creative Non-Fiction workshop of the semester. I’m starting to feel the load lighten. I have a 20-ish page paper and two presentations tomorrow, then the fun stuff (I’m being sincere)–revising stories and essays. I love revision, but that’s a post for another day. I got home to find this tucked into an Air Mailed package. From Australia. I carefully opened it, and who should I find?

My new pal, custom made for me by Sooz! He is so well made; I’m impressed. Look at the teeth. Check out his tail. Her shop has lots of other cutie pies, but as you may know (I stole that phrase from my youngest goddaughter), I adore beavers (stop laughing, Mona!). You’ve read about my name meaning meadow where the beaver dwells (stop, already, I’m still being sincere) and how ever since childhood I’ve considered the critters (I know, they’re just overgrown rodents, but awfully creative and industrious) among my favorite animals. So this guy came into my life just a few weeks before the Big Road Trip Back East…and I suspect there will be photojournalism (humor me) on that trip that involves this guy. He needs a name, though. I’ll dig through my stash for a nice skein of yarn for the person who does the honors. Shall we say by Sunday morning?

In knitting news I cast on for the Shadow Shawl with my girls yesterday. As much as I learned from knitting the socks, I was worried about them the whole time…worried about getting the measurements right (my pal’s shoe size is three larger than mine, yet in inches, our feet are the same length…), worried that they are too plain to deserve to be given to someone else. I’m relieved to be knitting something that doesn’t have a deadline, that’s just for me, just for fun. Not that knitting isn’t fun in general, but sometimes it seems there is always pressure (inflicted on me by myself, of course!) to get an item finished for a particular date…and I’m looking forward to a lazy knitting project that I love.

So, yeah. Name the beaver, win some yarn. And let the countdown to the end of my semester begin (one week, if you really want to count).

Sockapaloooza Socks: Finis!

At 11:42 p.m. I finished my Sockapaloooza socks! They are rather plain, but my pal is a skier, and I imagine her wearing them after a day on the slopes when warmth will be welcome. I used Nature Spun in "Spring"(hey, my first Project Spectrum item for May!), and I pieced together a pattern from a number of places: Laurie gave me the number of stitches to cast on, then I looked at Weekend Knitting for an idea of how much ribbing, how much leg to knit (one inch, six inches). I made an Eye of the Partridge heel, then turned to Sock Knitters for most of the rest of my sock engineering help.

Despite the lack of fancy knitting, I am pretty pleased. I learned a lot about the construction of socks while making these, and more than anything, I love my newest skill: knitting two socks on two circulars. I wish Addi would make circs in different colors to make it easier to know what needle to pick up…the nailpolish wore off of the tip of the needles, although it stayed put near the join.

Thank you, everyone who has donated to Jessie’s Race for the Cure fundraiser. Not only is she running in the desert (as jickymcjickster pointed out), but Jessie had a baby in February. And it’s May. And she’s running this race. Go on…go make a donation and enter my contest!

A Breakthrough Moment for PoMo!

Noelle and I met at Flying Star for an impromptu, two-hour SnB. I was back home by 9:30 and set myself down on the futon to dig into my end-of-semester projects. I’m writing a discourse analysis paper about how to shift from shorter to longer fiction. Fascinating. I know you want to read the paper, but you’ll have to wait.

So here’s the big moment. I decided I needed to keep working on the Sockapaloooza socks. I also needed to skim through a book of essays to see if anything useful was buried in the pages. Without thinking about it I began to knit (stockinette in the round–sock feet) and read at the same time. Do you understand? I KNIT and READ AT ONCE! I’ve been griping deep in my heart for ages about how if I could just knit and read simultaneously I would be good to go. Carole once said she just tried to knit while watching a movie (you know, without looking at the knitting) and found she could do it, and I’ve been secretly jealous since then. Granted, I’m skimming, not studying, but it’s a start!

Back to the books and needles.

Help My Girl Jessie Out: A Contest

My pal Jessie is participating in the Race for the Cure in Las Vegas on May 6. Please help support not only Jessie, but the search for a cure for breast cancer by donating to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. It will make you feel good. I promise. To encourage donations, I will send a festive skein of yarn to one lucky person who donates via PoMo Golightly. Just leave a comment that you’ve made a donation, and I’ll have a random drawing from the donors next Sunday. I can’t wait to see how generous my knit-blog community is!

I filed this post under the "I must protest" category. I protest that there is no cancer cure yet. I know there will be one day. I just know it.

Sweet on My Ears

Driving home from my afternoon errands I tuned into one of my favorite radio shows: A Prairie Home Companion. When it’s warm out, and I’m back east, Neal and I will sometimes bring the girls to visit their Uncle Brian, Auntie Laurie and cousins Bonnie and Daisy (and now their new little brother Charlie). We take the short walk out to the lean-to where Brian starts a fire and Laurie lays out a spread of treats and the dogs run around like crazies. The radio goes on, and we listen to that all-American voice of Garrison Keillor. Well, I’m a long way away from the lean-to, but I do try to tune in on Saturday afternoons. I’m glad I did today because I got to hear Nick Curry play a cello that was made in 1563. I wish I could have been in the same room as that cello, but even over the magical airwaves the sound was so sweet.

In knitting news I have finished the gusset decreases and am working on the foot. My pal’s shoe size is a few bigger than mine, so I’m going to have to rely on my measuring tape to get an accurate foot length. I’ve been picking up some treats to add to her package, which I plan to mail out bright and early on Tuesday morning. I’ll post a photo of the finished socks. I can’t stress enough how much I adore two socks on two circulars! Try it, you’ll like it!

Childhood Favorites

I saw this over at Soozs’s–if you’re reading, consider yourself tagged. Give us a list of your childhood favorites:

Favorite special treat food – Hot tea with milk and sugar and crumbled up milk crackers (another regional food, I discovered over the winter. My mom shipped me two boxes of milk crackers as I couldn’t find them in New Mexico at all!).

Favorite real food – Spinach. Corned beef hash a la my gramp’s recipe.

Favorite thing to wear – In middle school I had this peasant-style blouse and skirt that I adored.

Favorite place to go – The library. Libraries in the neighboring towns were an extra-special treat!

Favorite person – My father. I’m a daddy’s girl through and through.

Favorite event/occasion – My birthday!

Favorite pet – Norman. I loved him so much I wanted to marry him. He died when I was 12, and it was as though the world had ended. He was the best cat evah!

Favorite thing to do – I loved to read. I also liked to take my father’s White Owl cigar boxes, have him cut a hole in either side and create a mini movie theater. I would tape strips of paper together to make the film, then draw on the movies. Geez, thinking about it makes me want to make one right now!

Favorite TV show – As a little girl I was a fan of Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room. I liked Star Trek (yes, I had a secret crush…try to guess on which character!) and later Charlie’s Angels.

Favorite book – No Flying in the House. Little House on the Prairie. Wrinkle in Time.

Yummy!

Thanks, Sheila! My Whoopie Pie arrived today. I popped it in the fridge as I like them cold, then enjoyed a sliver (I’ve got to make this baby last!) with a glass of my new favorite drink, pink grapefruit soda from Trader Joe’s. I’m nuts over this soda, which is a little strange since I generally avoid soda. Sure, I love me a ginger beer or ale, but that’s my limit. Carmela brought a divine lemonade to the last Crafty Friday, and I’ve been trying to find it. I bought some lemonade at TJ’s, and said "what the heck" when I saw the grapefruit soda. The lemonade didn’t turn me on, but yowza! Just sayin’.

Speaking of yummy, you might have heard: Scout has opened an Etsy shop! I longed for Pinky Tuscadero when I met her at SnB last night, and this morning she became mine. LOVE Scout’s colors. Superboy is still available if you can’t wait until she gets her next lot up for sale. He’s pretty adorable.

Tonight I finished turning the heels and picked up the gusset stitches on my Sockapaloooza socks. I really like the look of the eye of the partridge heel flap (although if someone can give me the etymology of that name, I would be grateful). My pal is overseas, but I’m going to use international priority mail and ship out on Tuesday along with everyone else. This means that I have about 9 inches of knitting to do in the next four days. I plan to knit in my seminar tomorrow night, so as long as no one is offended and wants me to stop, I should be able to get a few inches done.

It’s national tv turn off week. I haven’t had tv since 1992. This past year I’ve been catching up on my Sex in the City via Netflix, and I watch tv when I’m at Neal’s (it’s going to be weird to live full time with a tv for the first time in 14 years…), especially UCONN Huskies men’s basketball. I kind of like the quiet of my world sans tv, though. Too much of it, and I start to feel numb. I’d rather listen to music or podcasts!

Thanks for all of the nice comments about my first yarn dyeing attempts and the Madison bag. I’m just so pleased with the bag…I sometimes feel like my crafts turn out looking less than lovely, that I have so many problems with my knitting that I’m always fumbling through. So it felt really good to sew up a good pattern with nice fabric and to create something I’m really proud about. What creation (kids excluded!) are you most proud of?

Two Birds or One Bag

For the last two and a half hours I’ve been warming up Sally Sewing Machine for Sewing Sunday with Carole…creating my Sew?I Knit! project, and embracing some Project Spectrum.

Specs: Fabric from Hancock Fabrics, both are from their line. The exterior fabric has orange, green, and yellow in it and is called Anemone. This took me about 2.5 hours to cut out and sew.

I used a white fabric with lilies of the valley on it for the lining. I wanted to find something with ferns on it, but didn’t like the choices. Look how adorable with my Sockapaloooza socks stuffed inside (I’m halfway done with the heel flap)! This is the Madison Uptown bag from Amy Butler, and I thought the pattern was well written and easy to follow. If I make another one, I would add interior pockets. The only thing I don’t like about it is that it calls for a velcro closure. The bag is swank. Velcro is not. Also, I have nightmares about velcro that go back to my synchronized swimming days (yes, you read that right. I was a Dolphinette) when I had to sew endless velcro onto sequined bands for costumes. I’m not sure what, if anything, I’m going to do about replacing the velcro. I’ll just live with my pretty, new Uptown bag.

Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams