BeverlyArmyWilliams – Page 99 – Beverly Army Williams

Favorite Thing Friday

Oprah is probably gathering all her favorite things for that big giveaway episode of hers, but I can’t wait any longer to reveal one of my most favorite things: my Bonjour Caffe Frother Turbo. My sister coerced me into buying at the Tuesday Morning in Albuquerque. It was about $5, but I had just closed on my house and was an impoverished graduate student. Five dollars was a meal. I resisted, she insisted. I bought it.

I. Love. My. Frother.

I’m newly re-smitten with it because it has gotten cold enough in CT for a mug of hot chocolate or creamy chai in the evening. And let me tell you this. Hot chocolate or chai made with skim milk tastes FABU if you froth it up a bit prior to sipping.

Go get yourself one. I promise it will make you happy.

What’s one of your favorite things? Not the big ones like your spinning wheel or laptop or dog (oh, wait, that’s me), but one of the little ones that just makes life a little more fabu for you? C’mon, share.

UFO to FO

There are three hours left to UFO August. I’m about to pop in a movie and knit the last two LONG rows of my Think Pink spiral scarf, which will bring my UFO to FO count to six, plus a sweater headed to the frog pond, leaving only three items from my original list of ten (like how I did that math?). Jeanie, the UFO August organizer (thanks Jeanie!) suggested that to celebrate, participants list our WIMs–Works in Mind, so here goes:

1. Remaining UFOs: Clapotis, Shadow Shawl, Jaywalker #2

2. Gifts Owed: Neal’s 2005 Christmas socks (to be cast on as soon as the spiral scarf is done) & MB’s 2005 Christmas socks (yarn purchased, need to decide a pattern).

3. Dreamy Projects: Simple Knitted Bodice (waiting for that first paycheck to purchase some pretty yarn), Cozy (using my Dye-o-Rama yarn from Heide); Mrs. Beeton (thinking about using the cashmere I bought in Rome. I can’t keep hanging on to it forever, can I?), One Skein Wonder (yarn from Noelle), Loop d Loop Capelet (yarn frogged from sweater maybe?), and Loop d Loop paisley carpet bag (more yarn from Noelle. Yeah. Her yarn rocks.). Of course, more socks. Always socks. Always and forever. Socks.

Ahem. Chicken Run is on…time to get back to the spiral scarf.

Happy World Blog Day

I read about World Blog Day in a few different places and thought it was a good idea. Here are the guidelines if you want to post on your own blog (and if you do, please leave a comment so I can take a look at the sites you list).

BlogDay posting instructions:
1. Find 5 new Blogs that you find interesting
2. Notify the 5 bloggers that you are recommending on them on BlogDay 2005
3. Write a short description of the Blogs and place a a link to the recommended Blogs
4. Post the BlogDay Post (on August 31st) and
5. Add the BlogDay tag using this link: http://technorati.com/tag/BlogDay2006 and a link to BlogDay web site at http://www.blogday.org

So. Here are my five new blogs:

1. 43 Folders. I just found this today through the latest Whip Up post. I’ve downloaded and listened to the podcast, which I like quite a bit. The site is dedicated to personal organization and productivity, one of those things that come and go in my life (I want it to come back, by the way).

2. Indie Shopper. Also found through Whip Up (apparently my resource for everything!), this site is great if you’re interested in buying goods from Indie companies. My ex started an indie recording studio/label over ten years ago, and since then, I’ve tried to support indie businesses over big corporate giants, and this site gives me more resources. Plus there is that adorable embroidery bag tutorial that I MUST make!

3. Turkey Feathers. I’m smitten with a thrift/sewing/vintage-y kind of feel in blogs of late, and this is one I’ve been enjoying. Everything just looks so pretty on her blog.

4. Bella Dia. From the adorable illustrated banner (hmmm…I like those illustrations!) to the lovely photos of her studio, and again with the thrift/vintage, etc. feel, this site has some good tutorials, too. Um. That was a really poorly written sentence. Sorry. The sentences on Bella Dia are not poorly written.

5. Needle Book. Another discovery just today, found from clicking on Bella Dia’s blogroll. ‘Cause that’s how I like to spend my time once in a while. Clicking the blogrolls of others. So Needle Book makes lovely illustrations (including her wedding invitations…go look!), and she also makes really pretty sewn, knit, and crocheted items.

I’ve got other things to post about later, but do leave me a comment if you participate in World Blog Day, ok?

Happy Birthday, Gram!

If she were still alive, my Gram would be 100 years old today. This picture was taken on her 90th birthday, after she’d had a stroke.

My Gram was a heck of a lady. And I mean lady. Shoes and purse always matched (see that’s why I need so many shoes and bags), and she was always tidy and well put together, right until the end.

As a child I was a little afraid of Gram. She was a tough bird, with good reason. She didn’t like excessive giggling, which always made the older siblings giggle more (and the balloons flying and squealing around the house? Not my doing!), but worried me. She loved her grandkids so much, though, and always was glad to see us.

When I was 19 she joined my folks and me on a road trip to Ohio for a family reunion on my dad’s side. During the long car ride, Gram taught me to crochet. She was by no means a natural teacher, in fact, my mom says that’s why she doesn’t like to sew or do needlecraft. But, I was stubborn and wouldn’t let her do the crochet for me; I forced her to let me learn it. And by the end, I did.

During that reunion it was fun to have my two grandmothers at the same place at the same time. My dad’s mother was pleased that I’d taken up crochet and gave me her mother’s yarn carrier. It’s a tin canister, black with little pansy boquets all over it. So, yeah. Crochet reminds me mostly of Gram, but also of my Grandma A.

Every now and then on the face of one of my sisters, my cousin, my mom or aunt, and sometimes on my two goddaughter neices, I see the teasingly disapproving look that Gram would give when amused and pretending to be shocked. She was, after all, the ultimate lady. I’m sure I give out that look too. Cause we women descended from her have something strong in us, something that can take a little shock with humor, take a lot of sadness with dignity.

Thanks for being a great example, Gram. And thanks for the crochet. I’m giggling now just for you.

My Post-Pre-Pubescent Night

My dogs are snuggled on the couch. I got some smooches from my guy before he turned in. I’m watching horse movies. I cried when Hidalgo got hurt, and I welled a tear when he joined the other horses to run free.

Best of all, I’m knitting with pretty pink yarn. I ditched my original pattern and yarn for the Think Pink scarf. On my way home from work (man, that feels so good to think and write and live) I stopped at Marji’s Yarncraft just to see if something pink caught my eye, and the Cascade Bollicine Etoile did. Marji has a stack of free patterns, so I grabbed her "Simple Fancy Scarves" sheet and cast on for the Spiral Scarf. You’ve all seen a version of the pattern, I’m sure. Cast on a ton of stitches, knit a bit, then increase in every stitch. Repeat until the number of stitches on your needles numb your mind. Yeah. I haven’t reached the mind numbing part yet, but it’s just around the corner. I think it’s going to be pretty, and I know it’s going to be soft. Something to bring a little comfort to a sister going through a rough time. And in between sighs for Hildago (ok, and a few for Viggio), I’m trying to think thoughts of health and happiness and joy for the wearer.

I’m going back to my horses and dogs and pretty yarn now. I’m bound to have sweet dreams!

The Best Sister EVAH

My oldest sister, MB, is my best friend. I’m lucky that way. I’ve got other really close friends, but you know when your friend is also a relative, well, they’re really stuck with you no matter what. Plus you get to have your best friend at family functions, which makes for a lot of laughter.

She’s so generous and thoughtful. See, MB works a heartbeat away from my absolutely fabufavorite yarn store, Threaded Bliss Yarns in Brentwood, TN. She knows that going to TBY is better than going to a spa for me. She knows they’re having a blockbuster anniversary sale, and I’m salivating every time Sheila updates the blog. So MB went in there over the weekend and filled a little shopping bag with pink and purple King Tut cotton. Wanna see?

Thank you so much, MB! Love you tons!!

Yay FO August

UFO August is about to wrap up, but I’m still working hard on getting my list whittled down. Last night, for instance, as the Cardinals played the Cubs, I finished up my Cascade Fixation ankle socks. This is my first (and possibly only) pair of socks for Summer of Socks as well. I like working with the Fixation, and I really like that less than one ball makes a pair of anklets for me. Great for a girl on a tight budget. I see more of these in my future. I used the KAL pattern, but I also referred to Alison’s pattern, although I didn’t go with the short rows. I’m not happy with my toes, and there was some funky laddering going on. Luckily, Kirsten sent me some toe help for my next pair of socks, which I’ve promised to make for Neal. And I know the laddering is easy enough to remedy. Since I like this sock, I’ll invest in two size 3 circs rather than using dpn’s next time.

And here’s a peek at Margene’s prize for the 500th comment contest.

Anniversaries and a Book Review

Today’s my Blogiversary. A year ago I was on the phone with my oldest sister and our brother as I debated what to call my blog. I hadn’t had a television since 1992, and blog reading had become my main source of entertainment. I wanted to join the fun, and I’ve enjoyed the blog community, so thanks to all my blogland compatriots!

This weekend I had another anniversary, one that I got the mean reds over. I’m not going to dwell on it any more. Crazy Aunt Purl wrote a post that suits my mood. Yay for the sisterhood.

I read the greater part of Laura Dave’s London is the Best City in America while lazing about in bed with a cup of coffee this morning. As a graduate student, I’m a fussy reader. I don’t have a lot of time to read purely for pleasure. I need to multi-task in my reading, so most of my reading is either dry pedagogy or well-established (and fine) writers from whom I expect to learn something about my craft.

I met Laura at the Taos Summer Writers’ Conference. She was a load of fun, so I was excited to hear her read from her novel. I wasn’t disappointed by the reading. The Prologue is told in third person, and then the book shifts to a first-person, present action. Laura was articulate when asked about that decision, as well as when she spoke about anything to do with her novel (ok, about anything). Of course I had to buy the book and ask her to autograph it for me.

But this isn’t a review of my hanging out with Laura; it’s a review of her first novel. So we’ve got a point of view shift that makes sense. We’ve got a situation of Emmy returning home to Scarsdale for her brother’s wedding a few years after she called off her own. We’ve got a story of a young woman trying to figure out, through her brother’s situation, what her own means. Best of all, we’ve got a mother who in a few sentences provides a lifetime of wisdom.

Laura’s characters are well developed. There are a lot of characters (it’s a novel, after all), but never once did I feel confused about which guy was on the page–each of them was distinct. Emmy as a narrator kept me aware of everything she understood about the men and about her own feelings for them.

I trusted Emmy as a narrator. She’s mixed up, but she’s clear in her narration, which makes the mixed up-edness even better. I want to hang out with Emmy, really with all the characters.

So, my short little review is really in praise of character. The story is compelling–I want to know what choices everyone will make. There’s a strong sense of place (I know Scarsdale, and it’s obvious that Laura does as well.), as well as believable dialog.

Most of all, though, it’s the wisdom that makes me love this book. Need a little wisdom? Then I recommend it to you. Just want a good read? You’ll get that, too, so you may as well embrace the wisdom.

PTL, Not PYT

Why the songs belted out to the sky?

I just looked on the website of the closer LYS. Go on, take a look.

I missed the Yarn Harlot in TN. I missed the Yarn Harlot in NM.

I will not miss her in CT. Alright, Scissorinas, you all gonna join me? By the way, Granby High is walking distance from my house. Ok, a little bit of a walk, but not that far!

Sheila saved me an autographed copy of Knitting Rules, so I’ve read the book, but I cannot wait to hear Stephanie speak.

ETA: Marji just e-mailed me that tickets will go on sale September 15. I’ll keep you posted!

Who else is going?

Bells

When I lived in New York I used to make fun of Neal for thinking his road was busy. He also claimed that our little New England town suffers from insufferable traffic jams in the evening. Now that I live here in our wooded haven, I have to agree, at least about the busy-ness of the road. He’s planted over 200 little trees this year in an effort to one day block the sound of passing cars. Now and then, though, no cars pass for a while and all I can hear is birds chirping and breezes in the mature oaks that ring the yard. Just now I heard church bells from town.

I love the sound of bells ringing. They remind me of the summer I spent at St. John’s College in the city of dreaming spires. That summer was the first time I had ever lived alone, the longest time I’d ever spent away from my then-husband. It was liberating for me to realize that I enjoyed my own company quite a bit, that I didn’t at all mind eating alone in a restuarant or seeing a play by myself. I was 30 that year, older than most of the other students, and I soaked in everything I could. I felt more at home there than I had before or have since. If I had the means, Oxford would be my permanent home. The president of the college, at a dinner one night, shared that he had only spent four weeks away from Oxford in his life, and I can understand that.

One of the most magical things to me was to work at my desk in my little cozy room, a half-pint of warmish Guinness from the college pub at the ready for sipping, and the sounds of the many bells ringing out, some near, some far.

Author: BeverlyArmyWilliams