Auntie

What does one do when one is overflowing with happiness?

One tells the internet.

So, Internet, you should know... I'm going to be an Auntie! My beloved sister & her fantastic husband are expecting their first child. I can't wait to support them however I can during their journey as parents.

I also can't wait to spoil & love the hell out of my future niece or nephew. ;)

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, 2009 Edition

I bought more than I wanted to this year, but I blame two factors: a) this was the first year I waited in line to get into The Fold [the vendor who sells Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Socks that Rock] in the morning when the stock is most plentiful, and b) I'm a sucker for rich, saturated color.



Clockwise, from top left:

1. Meadow Medley Dragon's Stash superwash sock yarn - 1 skein
2. The Barefoot Spinner superwash sock yarn - 2 skeins
3. Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock, Mediumweight - 3 skeins of mill ends
4. Tess' Designer Yarns Supersock & Baby - 2 skeins
5. Still River Mills Cashmere - 1 skein
6. Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock, Lightweight - 6 skeins
7. Gale's Art roving sampler pack & a drop spindle - I think the spindle had a name of its own (trindle?); it was designed by a high school physics teacher to spin longer. The shaft is black wood, the center bead is wooden, and the edge beads are pink glass. This is my first foray into spinning, and thus far... I'm finding it more difficult than expected. :)

Upcoming things

I feel a need to list out what I have going on in the near future.
* Neko Case show this Friday
* Ten-year anniversary next weekend
* ladies' weekend in the Poconos the last weekend in April
* Maryland Sheep & Wool festival the first weekend in May
* town-wide yard sale & a wedding the second weekend in May
* family wedding in Atlanta the third weekend in May
* friend's comedy show in NJ the fourth Saturday in May
* Memorial Day weekend
* my birthday in June
* friend's wedding in the Catskills the first weekend in August

Pshew! April and May will be busy.

Ray at the Tower Theater

Saturday night, I saw Ray LaMontagne & his talented band play at the Tower Theater outside Philadelphia. He was fantastic just as I expected, and he played a really good mix of songs from all three released albums. I also found a new group to enjoy: the opening act, The Low Anthem, was right up my musical alley; I already bought the three albums they have available in the iTunes store.

What I *didn't* like was how jerky so many people around me were acting. Talking through songs, taking many flash pictures, shouting at the band during songs rather than just between songs, repeated trips to the bar for more beer... ugh. There was even a fight of some kind that disrupted one of the slow-tempo songs (my favorite one, naturally). A fight! At a singer-songwriter show! I mean, I could understand & overlook a fight at a rock show, but his music just isn't that way. There's no mosh pit at this kind of show. Grr. I know, I know... You kids get off my lawn!

Oh well. I had a really good seat (~6 rows back from the stage, in a curved section, on the aisle so no one was directly in front of me) and the sound seemed really good to me. At times, it was fiercely difficult to be there without Star, but I'm glad I went.

Friday night is Neko Case's sold-out show at the Keswick Theater; that should be another excellent show.

Springtime Socks

I finished the first of a new pair of socks for myself; I didn't use a real pattern but instead used a recipe that'd fit my foot & a cable stitch pattern from a dictionary. It's probably the most complex & prettiest sock I've made yet, and I can't wait to design more. Next up will be a pair for Mom for her birthday & Mother's Day; I think I'll create a design instead of using a dictionary or a pattern.

Side view:


Top view:


Close up:

Another way in which the internet is odd

Those of you who know me realize that I have a... thing... for knitting. Love it. Seriously, love it. Love it so much that I read all I can about it when I'm not actually doing it.

There's a lady in the knitting world known as the Yarn Harlot (aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee); she's been described as the "Michael Jordan of the knitting world" so non-yarnies can get a sense of how wildly popular she is with the yarnies.

Anyway, I've been following her blog & books for years. When I started reading her blog, her nephew Hank was young enough that she was knitting him dragon mittens. Now, Hank has just turned nine.

This fact is relevant to my blog post's title because when I read that Hank was turning nine, I thought to myself "Wow. I can't believe Hank is nine already."

How odd that it would make me stop & pause for a moment that a kid I've never met and never will meet is older than I expect him to be, and that I remembered when he was wearing dragon mittens. I mean, I have moments all the time where I'm struck by how mature & grown the Young Sir is, but that's to be expected. I live with him!

But to pause because Hank's turned nine? AND, I'm not the only one! I skimmed the comments for the post where Stephanie mentioned Hank's birthday, and lots of people were struck by the same thing.

Is the world really this small now?

Here I come, Maryland

I've been wavering about taking the delightful & comfortable & super convenient bus from Rosie's Yarn Cellar down to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this year. Should I go at all? It's not like I need more yarn. Do I want to take the bus, which leaves before the nighttime parties start? I mean, last year I missed the Ravelry nighttime party and was sad. Some Pantsers are talking about getting together at Rhinebeck, which I haven't attended yet... should I go to Rhinebeck instead?

Screw it. I booked my seat. I love going to that festival, so by gosh... I'm going. I'll deal with Rhinebeck decisions later. Maybe it'll work out so I can go to Rhinebeck for the whole weekend & go to nighttime parties there.

I wish I could have been there

Our CEO sends out daily Thoughts on a variety of topics; some are anecdotes while others contain important company news; because I never know which it'll be, I make sure to read them all.

Today's was about stopping to appreciate beauty; it featured a true story about the master violinist Joshua Bell playing complex classical pieces, incognito, in a Washington Metro station for 45 minutes. He played on a Stradivarius created in the 1710s during the height of Stradivari's proficiency.

If I had been there, I know - I *know* - I would have stayed for the whole concert. Even if I were on my way to work... I would have lied and said I was late because trains were late or something. I wouldn't have recognized Joshua Bell, but I would have stayed.

One of the things I miss most about taking violin lessons was the private concerts; my teacher was the concertmaster for the local symphony orchestra, and he was Good. Before my lesson would start, I'd talk him into playing pieces he was working on for the symphony as inspiration for me. I'm pretty certain he saw though me, but he'd play anyway. It was inspiring & powerful, but I also knew that no matter how much I practiced, I'd never make the instrument come alive like he could. Eventually, I quit trying.

I wouldn't have been able to leave Mr. Bell's social experiment of a concert because

"Most people, they play music; they don't feel it," Tindley says. "Well, that man was feeling it. That man was moving. Moving into the sound."

I would have been drawn to that kind of powerful music.

PawPaw Retires

My PawPaw made the local paper today; my sister (thanks, Sissy!) scanned and emailed the article. He's so cute. I can hear him saying the things he's quoted for in the article. :)

Savina's Socks

I finished the socks I was making for my lovely mother-in-law; they took just 15 days of SEPTA (~1 hour each workday) and 2 statistics class (5 hours total) to complete. Each sock has ~5500 stitches for a total of ~11,000 stitches. They'll go in the mail on Monday. I hope she likes them. :)