Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams

Going to the Chapel

Right about now my cousin Lisa is getting married here.  She and her new husband, Richard, have four dogs between them, and they wanted Lightning, Smokey, Cookie, and Charlie there along with Lisa’s three kids and both sets of parents.  Like me and Neal, they are opting for a big party in July as a follow up to a smaller ceremony.  Maddie and Tilly are not invited to our wedding, though, as they hate being in the car, and Topsmead is about an hour from home.  I don’t think they’ll feel left out.

Tonight Neal and I are going to look at invitations for our May ceremony.  I’ve got a fabu letterpress picked out for the July invitations, and I debated just hand writing notes for the May invites.  I’m afraid that I would get cranky hand writing 25 invitations…I’m hooked on typing and don’t have very pretty cursive.  Here’s hoping we find something we like; I’ve picked a few out online, but want to see some in person before I compare prices and commit to anything. 

Thanks, by the way, for all the good health and birthday wishes.  I have a pretty wimpy constitution, but this "cold" hit me harder than most do.  I hope none of you are experiencing the same thing.  You can’t get that kind of virus from the computer, right? 

Tap, Tap. Is This Thing On?

Last you heard from me it was to whine about being sick on my birthday.  I’ve had a slow recovery, and today was my first really good day.  Neal and I will have my birthday re-do on Friday, so things are looking brighter in my world.  Since I’ve spent most of the last ten days in bed or on the sofa with occasional rallying for a walk or trip to the library, I’ll fill this post with pictures of some of my recent crafting.

Img_0510_1 A pincushion made from a Wool and Hoop kit and an unsuccessful covered tape measure.  It looks fine in this picture, but I made the yo-yo incorrectly (it was my very first yo-yo).  I used Heather Bailey’s tutorial.  Her instructions were fantastic; I just messed up.  I’ll make more of these, though, once I get a pile of yo-yos.   

This fall I dyed some of the three pounds of Romney in my fiber stash, and I spun it up for the Interweave Spin to Knit swap.  I tried Navajo plying for the first time and was giddy with how the yarn came out.Img_0502_2

Img_0514 Finally, here is a little sweater–my first "real" sweater–that I made for a new arrival, Hannah, the daughter of my dear friend Cae.  Making this little sweater has given me a lot of confidence as I contemplate making a grown up-sized sweater.

Elizabeth is on television this afternoon.  I know I’m not alone in this.  I could watch movies about her and read biographies and historical fiction about her endlessly.  Even though I’ve seen this at least five times, I’ll be watching it again.

Does It Count?

If you’re too sick to celebrate, does your birthday still count?  I’m not trying to get out of an extra year–I love every year more than the one before.  But, golly, gee whiz.  Neal had big plans to take me on a fun-filled day out.  Instead, I’m on day two of full bed rest.  Seriously.  Yesterday I cancelled classes for the first time in the seven years I’ve been a teacher.  I couldn’t even stand up for more than a few minutes.  I’m a bit better today, but just a bit.  Not well enough to knit, though.  Are you welling a tear for me yet?

I guess the upside is an extension of birthday festivities, right?  And.  I know there’s a Whoopie Pie waiting for me for dessert in the fridge.

Pictures Tomorrow-ish

Other than adding a button, I finished my first Calorimetry while watching Oprah this afternoon.  (Did you see that gorgeous 70-year old woman?)  For reals it took me only about 3 hours.  After reading lots of feedback about how folks have adjusted the pattern, I decided to follow Shiney Red Type’s mods:  88 stitches, fewer repeats, using Malabrigo.  I didn’t have any US 8s handy, so I used 7s.  As far as I can tell (sans button), it’s a perfect fit.  I may try it with 8s just to get a little more extra room at the end, and I may make the next one a bit wider.

What’s got me really excited is that Calorimetry and Fetching will make the perfect set for a lot of young women on my holiday list.  I know, it’s just over ten months until Christmas, but I’m trying my best to be an Organized Elf!

Silent Poetry

My best friend at graduate school (well, and in life) is a poet and essayist.  This poem appeared in Prairie Poetry.

During Harvest

My father laughed louder, smiled
quicker. Even when the wheat
measured only thirty bushels per acre,
he’d tell a joke, wink. Riding home
from the field, he’d calculate bushels
to truck loads to bills he could pay.
Once home, sleep came like a thunderstorm,
unavoidable and full of rain.

–Dana Salvador

Wish Me Luck!

About ten minutes ago I finished the grant I’ve been working on for ages.  Tomorrow I print everything out, make a copy of the whole piece for me, and I give this baby a kiss and send it on its way.

Could you send a little luck, karma, whatever ya got out there for me, too?  Because I’d really like to get this grant.  And I’d really like to run the program I developed for it. 

I’m taking tomorrow off from writing as I put in seven hours today.  I’ve got my lovely lunch plans, followed by a walk with the dogs, followed by…something every engaged couple probably does.  I did the first time I was engaged.  Any guesses, K.?

Plum Wore Out

My pal K was a T.A. mentor during my first year at UNM.  One of her bits of advice that I distinctly remember was not to over-schedule student conferences. 

Did I take that advice to heart?

No, dear reader, I did not.  What did I do? 

I scheduled 38 conferences for the day.  One student didn’t show, and I’m not sure I’m going to dock her grade for it.

Prof. Beverly is a tired lady.  I really need to find my reading glasses.

I should work on my grant that’s due on Thursday, but I can’t think any more.  I might be able to knit.  I have some finishing work to do on a baby sweater, but it may be too much for me right this moment.  I’m thinking the sushi wallet kit I bought from my favorite on-line shop might be the perfect post-conference day project. 

Besides.  Thursday I meet my newly-minted MFA friend Amy for sushi in Northampton.  Amy introduced me to sushi (I only eat veggie rolls…even before I became a vegetarian I abhored seafood of all sort), and I’m always just a little extra happy when I share it with her.

New Skills

I subscribe to a number of Yahoo lists, and one of my favorites is the Spindlers list.  I like the tone of the posts to it, and I have learned quite a bit from it.  Recently one of the Spindlers posted a review of her new stone whorl spindle.  I’d seen her sign-off before, but only after reading her review (I lust after one of these, but need to touch before I buy) did I contact her.  I found out that she lives in the CT town where I grew up, only about 20 minutes from my location now.

On Thursday night we met over coffees (well, mine was a dolce latte) and knit and chatted.  Jenny showed me all sorts of lovelies…angora yarn she’d spun, a beautiful scarf she’d made, her Kundert spindle.  Best of all, she demonstrated how to Navajo ply for me.  The video that I linked to is great, but I wanted to see it for myself, in person, when I could ask questions.

Tonight I finished up about a single of about 150 yards spun from my hand-dyed Romney roving and guess what I did?  Yup, I Navajo plyed it.  Thanks to all the comments about my shawl yarn, I don’t plan to use this technique for it, but I loved–yes, loved–the process of Navajo plying.  It makes me want to spin more, more, more.

I’m happy to have met another spinner who lives close to me.  She’ll be at the Guild meeting on Saturday, and I’m looking forward to seeing her there and thanking her for the mini-lesson in person.

Runagogo check-in:  20.5 miles. 

One Gone, Two Left

I caved so quickly.  It’s because I was all full of myself and how easy it was to knit from stash.  I love my stash.  I know there are lots of folks proclaiming that they are not in any kind of stashalong this year, and I envy them a little.  But I’m glad I’m doing it.  I honestly could knit for at least a year with what I have.  I want to become the kind of person who buys (most) of her yarn for a specific project, and then she makes (gasp) that project. 

Well, as I started to say, yesterday I caved.  I stopped at Marji’s to pick up something for a friend (really) and left with a skein of Karabella Gossamer.  Just one.  Because it was marked down from $24.95 to $10 and I always fondle it when I go in there.  And I like this smokey shade of gray.  And it would make a pretty ruffle scarf for someone on my list.  Or maybe arm warmers for me.  Or something. 

Neal chided me when I told him, but I reminded him that I gave myself three free days of yarn buying.  He didn’t believe me, but you remember I said that, right?  Right? 

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