January One -- Blog
July 23, 2009
It's Alive!
Oh my god! I really thought I had killed my blog.
So I post this super long post in a super long while and... nothing happened. As far as I was concerned I didn't get a single comment. At first I thought this was weird and then I did some snooping around - no comments in MT in the comment section OR the entry. Nothing in my email. The comments appeared to be working. This precipitated an existential looking back on the last almost five years of this blog and an OH MY GOD I KILLED MY BLOG! It was my own fault. If you don't post, people don't read and with all the competition out there (twitter, ravelry, facebook) who can blame them?
In the end I was surprisingly okay with it all.
Then I posted again and still no comments and I was curious but resolved that if I was going to continue with the blog, well, it WAS really only going to be for me! I said it all along and now it was really true and that was OKAY. Pressure was off and maybe I could even get back into writing again the way I used to about things I love and excite me and I could be all funny and pithy and I could build it all back up again. Or not. I did it once I could do it again and besides I'm doing it all for me anyway so what's the difference if it works or not. I've always said you have to write for yourself in the end or it doesn't really work even though the audience is a super big plus.
I end up being all proud of myself for not being so upset that I've lost you all and gone ahead and killed the blog and I'm sitting here patting myself on the back for being so grown up about it (I will be 40 in January and I've been thinking a lot about being grown up) and then I get a hit on bloglines from my comment feed and WAIT... there actually ARE comments!
Turns out that there were actually quite a few comments (THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!) and that somehow they had all been trapped by the spam filters and ended up in the junk bin. That's why they didn't show up on the blog - at least most of them didn't - and they didn't hit my email and they didn't hit the MT entry and I have no idea why all of this happened but in the end I'm glad. (The truth is my MT needs desperately to be updated but I don't have it in me to do it anymore. I used to be able to stay up for days figuring it all out but those days are long gone. I'm not sure what I'm going to do here.)
It was an excellent exercise in the long run because I'm still here. For better or worse. With you all or all by lonesome. Seems I'm not quite done yet.
Thank you for reading!! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your presence.
Posted by Cara at 07:34 AM | Comments (32)
February 02, 2009
Poem for the Fourth Annual Brigid Poetry Reading
Thanks to Deb for the reminder.
After Making Love We Hear Footsteps
For I can snore like a bullhorn
or play loud music
or sit up talking with any reasonably sober Irishman
and Fergus will only sink deeper
into his dreamless sleep, which goes by all in one flash,
but let there be that heavy breathing
or a stifled come-cry anywhere in the house
and he will wrench himself awake
and make for it on the run -- as now, we lie together,
after making love, quiet, touching along the length of our bodies,
familiar touch of the long-married,
and he appears -- in his baseball pajamas, it happens,
the neck opening so small he has to screw them on --
and flops down between us and hugs us and snuggles himself to sleep,
his face gleaming with satisfaction at being this very child.
In the half darkness we look at each other
and smile
and touch arms across this little, startlingly muscled body --
this one whom habit of memory propels to the ground of his making,
sleeper only the mortal sounds can sing awake,
this blessing love gives again into our arms.
Galway Kinnell
1980, 1993
For more information about the Annual Brigid Poetry Reading, go here.
Posted by Cara at 01:31 PM | Comments (12)
October 01, 2008
Scrumtrilescent.
Posted by Cara at 01:01 PM | Comments (11)
October 04, 2007
Read or Don't Read, but PLEASE...
feel free to NOT tell me about it.
I received this comment today:
Commenter: .
Email: no@where.com
Comment:
Cara,
Perhaps a baby blog to share vomiting and incontinence issues would be appropriate?
I have to say that even though I've enjoyed reading your (mostly) knitting blog for a couple of years now, the pregnancy tales from the gross side are not my taste.
I'm happy for you, and congratulations on fulfilling your dream of motherhood, but I did not subscribe to a pregnancy blog and I will no longer be reading.
Dear Anonymous Commenter:
While I appreciate your opinion very much and I'm sorry my blog is no longer meeting your expectations, why do you feel it's necessary to leave me a comment that you won't be reading my blog any more? The comment, in and of itself, is respectful and nice, but my life is stressful enough these days without you making me feel worse. I take my blog very seriously - ie, I WORK HARD to bring you all the pretty photos and knitting. I'm just barely hanging on here; I don't have the energy, inclination OR desire to start another blog.
As I said, I'm sorry the blog is not what you want it to be. Maybe a private email? My email address is cara AT januaryone DOT com. Maybe not say anything at all - JUST STOP READING!
I'm sorry if I'm being ubersensitive, but if you puked every day and occasionally peed your pants chances are you wouldn't be in the best mood either.
Thanks for understanding. I wish you all the best as well.
Best,
Cara
Posted by Cara at 11:51 AM
April 12, 2007
Bad Moon Rising
This is a long post that has to do with blogging - not really knitting - and there are no pictures. You've been forewarned.
The other day, after receiving a not so nice comment, reading this article, and hearing from blogger friends who had been abused in comments and blog posts recently, I came up with a BRILLIANT IDEA! I sent out this email:
BRING IT ON! An Experiment in Blogging
Dear Friends and Fellow Bloggers,I hope this email finds you happy and arms full of yarn. So - I've had a CRAZY idea. I know, you're shaking your heads, but this one is even CRAZIER than usual and I'd love to hear your opinions.
I'm thinking of a BRING IT ON day on the blogs - or at least MY blog. Lately I've had some not so nice comments - both on the blog and behind the scenes - directed at me and my life and coupled with the article that appeared in the New York Times the other day, I thought that it would be really really interesting to just see the comments fly. I'm proposing a 24 hour period where people could leave, in the comments, the best criticsm they could come up with for me. I would set some ground rules - nothing about my family or religion or stuff like that - just about ME. I would ask them to stick to what they've seen or read on the blog - or if they've met me in person - but it's okay if they don't stick to it. And I would welcome anonymous comments.
What do you think would happen? Would I need to be in therapy for another fifteen years? Would friendships be lost? Or would all the negativity cancel itself out and eventually, reading all those awful comments, people would see how stupid it really is. That the adage - if you don't have anything nice to say - don't say anything at all - really DOES make the world a better place.
I just hatched this idea. But I think it could be extremely interesting, probably very hurtful, most likely entertaining and hopefully a learning experience for all involved - bloggers and commenters alike. I'd like to think I'd be putting my money where my mouth is - but maybe I really have knit one too many miters.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Have a fantastic day!
Best,
Cara
One by one, people responded back and were overwhelmingly negative about my proposal - with some very good reasons. It would probably devolve into silliness - like a sixth grade slam book with comments about how my feet were ugly and my breath bad. Or that I'd actually be overwhelmed with POSITIVE comments instead of negative. Or that it would truly get very, very ugly and I might not be able to recover from it. That when the 24 hr period ended, I'd get even more badness for closing it down. I thought, the worst that could happen is that I would take down the blog. And I don't want to take down the blog.
I needed to further examine what I wanted from this experiment. Did I want constructive criticism? Not really. I'm plenty critical of my life and I have a VERY honest husband and family who tell it to me like it is, not to mention an excellent friend who's ready to call me on all aspects of my life. I often call Ann and ask her if I'm being ridiculous about something - and she always lets me know how she really feels. Honesty is a fantastic gift in my life, even if the criticism is sometimes hard to hear. But there's a difference between criticism delivered safely, lovingly, RESPECTFULLY as opposed to just dumped in your lap without regard. You catch more flies with honey than you do with shit.
Speaking of shit, I was working with an analogy when I came up with this experiment. I thought, if I fill the room with shit - here I'm talking about the comments - and people really really let me have it - let out all the petty jealousies, the legitimate gripes, the suggestions on how to make my world better, i.e. more like THEIR world - well then, in the end all the badness might cancel itself out. Like if you fill the room with shit - eventually you're not going to smell it anymore. You know what I mean?
If your blog has more than one reader (who's not your mom - or maybe it is your mom?) chances are someone's thought ill of you. Either they thought your knitting skills sucked. Your design was a rip off. They could DEFINITELY do better than you. I would assume that the more readers you have, the more that negative number rises. I'm no saint here - of course I've thought (and even said) not so nice things about other people - even other bloggers - but I've never deliberately gone out of my way to make someone feel bad in public. Whether on my site or someone else's site or on their own site. In fact, I try to adhere to a strict policy of never saying anything negative about anyone in emails, let alone blogs. Does this make me a hypocrite? Sure! I can think it! But do I have the balls to put it out there?!? I'm not sure it has anything to do with balls. I think it has to do with thought and action. We can think many many negative things all day long, but it's acting on those thoughts that really says who we are. At least that's how I think about it. I'm not above petty jealousies. I'm not above lashing out if I think someone I love has been hurt. I'm not above idle gossip. Please. I'm a human being. But I don't think those are the types of things I want lasting forever - like emails or blog posts. They're not constructive. They don't help anyone (but maybe me for like five minutes and then oftentimes I feel guilty.) And they don't do anything to change a situation.
While I was thinking about this grand sociological experiment and how it could or could not work, I started thinking about what motivates people to be so mean. I'm sure you've all heard about the Kathy Sierra incident - a blogger started getting death threats and horrid pictures of her were photoshopped – for instance, a photo of her with a noose nearby - and posted on a blog that seemed to exist only to bash other bloggers. What could she possibly have written to garner such meaness? What makes people be so mean? [Read the NYTs article above and this link I found through MJ. Thanks MJ!]
I can only speak to knitblogs because that's really all I read - so let's talk about them. We've all seen blogs that seem to exist to denigrate other knitters. They're equal opportunity haters too - designers, bloggers, new knitters, old knitters, knitters who knit with one hand, two hands, their feet - whatever - everything's game! I guess a blog like this serves a purpose - on those days that you just hate the world and want to revel in that hate, it's sometimes nice to go over to a blog like this and join in on all the fun. Although at the end of the day, even when I'm languishing in the hate, it just makes me sad. I still don't understand what people get out of bashing other people. Most of all, I'm left wondering, why do people care so much? It's my experience that people don't do things unless they're getting something out of it for themselves - it's rare to find a truly altrustic action. I blog because I want to show off my knits and I love to write and I like to be funny - I get a lot back from it: lots of nice comments, inspiration, new friends. But what do I get back if I trash someone? Do I get to feel superior? Is it going to make my knitting better? Or make me feel better ABOUT my knitting? Anything negative I say about someone else is a reflection on me. What am I so unhappy or upset or unsatisfied with? What can I change ABOUT ME to make my life better?
Let's set a few things straight about what I think about criticism: if you want to criticise a knitting book or pattern or blog, that's perfectly acceptable to me. A designer puts those designs out there and once they’re in the world, you can't control how people see that design. You have to hope they either love it or hate it - some kind of REAL reaction. If you write a pattern and people start knitting it and it's full of mistakes and the schematics are all wrong and the actual finished garment is so ridiculously put together that you can't tell the neck from the elbow, well, then THE PATTERN deserves to be ripped a new one. But not the designer. Wouldn't it be great if we could talk about the problems with a pattern that would actually HELP the designer write a better one next time? Like some kind of collaboration? Why bring the personal into it?
I'm no stranger to criticism. I graduated from an MFA program in Creative Writing which means for two years I got to sit in a workshop where every week another writer was raked across the coals. I would spend hours and hours writing a story only to have my classmates sit around and talk about all the things that were wrong and bad and awful about that story. If you've never been through a critique it's a wonderful thing! Most of the time, the criticism that was valid was immediately apparent to me and I got really good at throwing out the rest of it, but it's still hard to hear negative-ness about your babies.
I’ll give you two examples of criticism I recently encountered. One had to do with a knitting project. A comment was left on my blog that basically said, “Well, I’m glad you’re happy with the project. I think I’ll keep my opinion to myself.” (Which in and of itself is kind of ridiculous because duh – the opinion was RIGHT OUT THERE.) I emailed the commenter and said – come on! Let me have it! Tell me what you really think! And she did. What ensued was a very nice conversation about what makes us tick as knitters and what we like and don’t like and it was civilized and THAT’S the kind of criticism I welcome. That same day I got another comment that basically said I was crazy and that all my knitting was a waste of time and I should be out helping people instead of being dirty and sitting on my ass all day making this waste of money blanket. (Incidentally, this commenter later apologized for her comment.)
That one I didn’t like. That one was personal. That one JUDGED ME. When you read someone’s blog, you’re really only getting a teeny tiny glimpse of their life. I share with you what I want to share with you. So maybe I’m out slopping soup at homeless shelters all day long or maybe I’m kicking puppies up and down the street – YOU DON’T KNOW. I would hope that you would judge me by what you read on the page and the way I behave through the rest of blogland without jumping to conclusions about the life you DON’T read about. I know this is a very tall order. We can’t help but draw conclusions – imagine realities that don’t necessarily exist – and pass judgment based on the little knowledge we have. I do it all the time. Once again, I believe it’s part of being human. But we DO have the ability to STOP ourselves and take a step back. In the five minutes you might take to write that scathing comment, take another minute to read it over and really think about what it says. Would you want to receive a comment like that on your blog? What if your friend got a comment like that? What would be your reaction?
And of course, we’re useless when we try to defend ourselves. I put it out there that I don’t shower on a daily basis. So if someone wants to judge me on that fact alone, well there’s nothing I can do. On the flip side, I know all about the arguments of free speech. It's my blog and I can say whatever the hell I want! Then why are we so upset if someone comes and disagrees with us? Why then does it all fall apart into a "you are censoring me because you don't agree with me even though I said these awful things about you on my blog!?" I can count many instances where legitimate discussions have collapsed in blog comments because someone, inevitably, writes "IT'S THEIR BLOG – THEY CAN SAY WHAT THEY WANT!” But what you say and put out in the world in your name has consequences. There are real live people sitting at home behind computers reading blogs.
There’s been lots of talk about codes of conduct on blogs and how we should act and decorum and decency and I’ve given a lot of thought to it in the past few days. I know, that were a code of conduct to come about, that I would have a VERY hard time adopting one for my blog. If I did, it would have to be the most lenient code available. Because, honestly, I do believe in free speech. And I do believe in the free exchange of ideas. And I do believe that I deserve to get back what I put out into the world.
And I believe that criticism can be healthy and constructive and very welcome.
If you threaten me, or my family, or steal from me, or destroy my reputation in some way – that’s no longer free speech. Then it becomes a matter of law.
So I’ve written a really long post, but have I really said anything? I’m not sure. But I wanted to put this out there in the knitblog world because I think it’s important. I really do believe that this is a COMMUNITY in the best sense of the word (and world - which is the first word I typed.) I have been fortunate enough to meet A LOT of knitbloggers and I hope to continue to meet more. One of the reasons I keep my blog as intimate and honest as I do is that when I meet a knitblogger I want them to feel as comfortable with me in person as they do when reading the blog. I’m anxious and crazy and I want you to be prepared when you meet me. No surprises. What you read is what you get. ;-)
Do I think that anything will change because I wrote this epic essay? That would be pretty narcissistic of me, for sure. Hopefully. Maybe a little. I’ve already seen some nice healing just from the email I sent out. Do I think we should all get along? ABSOLUTELY NOT. There are bloggers (and people) that just aren’t going to be your cup of tea. And that is perfectly acceptable to me. And if you have an opinion – by all means SHARE IT! But use a little common sense and common courtesy. Is it really that hard? Really?
In conclusion (thank god!) I would like to see a wonderful discussion in the comments – like the one that went on the other day at Steph’s. Dig deep and tell me why you think you were mean that time. Were you threatened by something? Jealous of something? (I would think that my petty outbursts are the direct response of envy. I want whatever it is that someone else has – as hard as it is to admit it.) What do you think about a code of conduct? Do we really need rules? Isn’t the Golden One good enough? What do you think would have happened if I HAD openend up the blog to all the negativity I could handle for 24 hours?
I leave you with this quote, found serendipitously while reading the NYT's obituary for Kurt Vonnegut:
“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies — ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’ ”
From God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.
Posted by Cara at 10:41 AM | Comments (189)
February 09, 2007
No Access
I've been blissfully Internet free since Tuesday, but now that we're safely ensconced in Silicon Valley, I'm back. Big Sur was big and sur and even though it was rainy and foggy and gray it was fantastic. Clothing Optional Japanese Baths. 'Nuff said.
Judging from my bloglines list, you guys didn't get the memo about no access - so pick your comment:
-- CONGRATULATIONS! That's GREAT! YAY!
-- I'm so so sorry. My thoughts are with you. Big hugs.
-- GORGEOUS! Fantastic knit! The fit is PERFECT!
-- I"m so so sorry you have to rip. I know just how you feel. In the end you'll be happier.
-- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
-- ugh.
-- ;-)
That should cover everything, no? I won't be posting again until I'm home and settled - probably not until Monday night or Tuesday. There will be pictures and stories and bloggers and a shocking lack of knitting. Hope you'll check in! HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
L, C
Posted by Cara at 11:42 AM | Comments (19)
December 27, 2006
Turnabout is Fair Play
Recently I received a letter from some kind lawyers asking me to take down some words on my website that infringed upon their client's trademark. Even though we all got a HUGE laugh out of it and talked about the ridiculousness of lawyers and putting words together seemingly erroneously, it IS serious business and I complied with their request ASAP. The words they asked me to remove have indeed been removed.
Imagine my surprise to find that the same thing has happened to ME! Someone has copied some of my words, written here on this blog, and used them as their own. Not only didn't they give me credit for the words, but they didn't ask my permission. So just in case anyone forgot:
Copyright 2004-2006 Cara Davis and januaryone.com.
All rights reserved.
DO NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE ANYTHING
ON THIS SITE WITHOUT PERMISSION!
As we all know, mistakes can happen. I didn't know that putting two words together would get me a letter from a lawyer, and once I found out, I fixed my mistake. Maybe this person doesn't understand that copying a post from my blog, or taking pictures without permission is wrong. Maybe YOU don't know that. And that's okay. Not everyone can know everything all of the time. But I'm telling you now that it's wrong. If you have any doubts at all, err on the side of caution and ASK the owner of said material. They may say yes, use it - they may say yes with certain qualifications or they may say no. Every answer is appropriate because THEY OWN IT.
I'm not going to say what it is I found or where I found it because I'm going to give this person the benefit of the doubt for a little bit. So don't go looking around trying to defend my honor or anything - thank you for having my back - but I'll let you know when I need you.
Thanks for listening and reading and not stealing, as always. ;-)
FYI: Linking to someone is FINE. That's what blogs are supposed to do - you link to another site. Do it ALL THE TIME. Even quoting a part of a post is fine, in my book, as long as you link back to the original and SAY where you got it from. In this case, someone copied an ENTIRE post of mine and published it AS THEIR OWN on their blog without any credit or permission or anything. That is BLATANTLY WRONG. Please don't go all paranoid on me. ;-) You can use brand names too, by the way. I was joking in this post when I wrote out Mac and Apple and Xerox and Kleenex with asterisks. You don't have to do that. And as to the question as to how I found the post, I happened to link back to myself in my own post, so it came up in one of the links to this site. HAHAHAHAHA! I caught myself! ;-)
Oh and It's NOT YOU! I have attempted to contact this person in various ways, so if you haven't received an email from me asking you to take down the offending material, then DON'T WORRY! It's ALL GOOD!
UPDATE! All over folks. The content has been removed and peace has been restored to this little part of the kingdom. Thank you all for playing.
Posted by Cara at 11:44 AM | Comments (21)
December 21, 2006
Cease and Desist!
Oh my! Santa brought me another present yesterday! I must have been a VERY good girl this year!
Yesterday I received a FedEx (almost didn't open it because I thought it was a work thing for G) and inside was a letter from some fancy schmancy lawyers in our nation's capital telling me I made a big big boo boo on my blog. Apparently I put two completely innocent words together in a blog title and once these words were together: KABOOOM! I set off alarms all around the trademark world.
Not to worry, I fixed the offensive pairing and will offend no more. I learned my lesson. You won't see Kle*nex here. Or X*rox. Or M*c. Or Ap*le. Or any other word that's going to get some lawyers on my ass. No siree bob.
The kind folks down there in Washington want me to send them a letter back letting them know I've complied with their demands. My good friend Ann drafted it out for me and I found my best purple pen to write it:
Seriously, though, I understand that according to the strict letter of the law I MAY have done wrong. MAYBE. The letter states I used the words together in a promotional capacity, which I think is arguable since I never made a cent on what I was "promoting" and in the end helped raise $19,000 for charity. That's neither here nor there. I immediately removed the words from my blog as per their request. And I'll be sending them a real letter stating as such. Honestly, this was a nice wake up call. I'm not sure I realized how important the blog is to me until it was "threatened." All in all, I'm just glad I've made some kid super happy on Xmas by helping their lawyer parent bill out $1000 to send a letter to ME, a completely unassuming KNITBLOGGER. (They printed out and sent me a copy of the blog post where I made my fatal mistake - did they bother to read it? I really have to wonder....)
And my Solstice present to you is a hearty laugh. Because I'll be guffawing over this one for QUITE a while and I hope you will too! THANK YOU PCH! And Merry Christmas one and all!
Posted by Cara at 09:09 AM | Comments (109)
December 08, 2006
Eff U!
I can't get off of level 3. Now I'm going to feel stupid all day long. Thanks, Internets. Thanks a alot.
UPDATE 11:22 AM - Okay I'm back and I got past 3 and am now stuck on 6. I had the right answer to 3 the whole time I just couldn't figure out the right url. Sorry everybody.
UPDATE 12:19 PM - Stuck on 10. I gotta go do some work. Or play Snood. Snood is the BOMB.
Posted by Cara at 09:46 AM | Comments (78)
October 26, 2006
Cotton
Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm feeling a bit better today, but I think the cold has just stalled out a bit. I'm sure it will come roaring back right in time for the weekend. And thanks for all the remedies - I'm kind of a complain and bear it martyr when it comes to being sick. I can't really take any over the counter medications - they leave me in a state of panic with a rapidly beating heart and swirling head. I'm in the sickness is better than the cure camp. Eh. It's just a cold.
I didn't get as much done on my Pomatomus sock last night as I would've wanted because I treated myself to some Vintage Bruce. We're talking 1978 - what some might consider the Golden Age. I turned off all the lights in my bedroom and sat with my lighter in hand with the music blaring and made pretend I WAS THERE. I don't care if you think I'm crazy because I had the time of my life. And when G finally got home from work I played him some of the highlights and then made pretend I WAS THERE WITH HIM. Even better. God bless the Internets. Seriously. God bless the Internets. I've said it once and I'll say it again - if anyone ever invents a time machine the first place I'm going, without a doubt, is a concert on the Darkness tour - preferably one where he does the whole Sad Eyes/Drive All Night thing during Backstreets and with the KICK-ASS intro to Prove It - me and G. Together. At the age we are now so we can really appreciate it but back then. It's a dream. Don't kill the dream.
Anyway, Pomatomus isn't a pattern I can knit in the dark. It also doesn't help that I had my hands clenched under my chin in a prayer-like position before the alter of my idol. Again. Don't kill the dream. Here's the sock as it stands right now:
The sock is STR - Sunstone - lightweight. I love it. Really and truly love it. I'm cruising along - got the pattern memorized and the yo/purl thing going good and I hope to get to the heel tonight - lots of good tv tonight. I know Cookie knit the pattern in a variegated yarn, but I really think it was made for a semi solid. Thanks again to Elli for inspiring me with her phenomenol P-socks! (If you're looking for the Sunspot color and you can't find it on the Blue Moon website - you're allowed to call or email and order it - actually any color you see here can be ordered through Blue Moon - whether it's on the website or not.)
On to the Rhinebeck stash! I think I did pretty good. Rumors abound that I bought a wheel, but I really didn't. All I did was put some money down on a Robin - but that gets me on the list. There's a TWO YEAR wait. I can get off the list at any time and get my money back. So I think of it as a maybe/maybe not purchase. A lot can happen in two years, so it's like insurance. It's a gorgeous wheel though - birdseye maple. Just beautiful.
Okay - now the real purchases!
The Sheep Shed at Mountain View Farm - 2lbs of Merino - 1lb each blue. I'm envisioning the two colors plied together for a gorgeous sweater - and maybe doing just a bit in the solids as accents. Especially the dark blue. The color isn't the best in this picture, but the dark is a very dark teal and the light is a very light teal. ;-) They are perfectly complimentary. This will be a big project, obviously.
Silk Merino blend from Cloverleaf Farms - 8oz. Celery colorway - I love how there are some blues sneaking in among the light greens. I bought this envisioning a shawl. Every festival I've ever been to I've bought something from Cloverleaf. I guess I like their stuff.
From Foxfire Fiber, I bought some GORGEOUS silk and cahsmere blend - 2oz. This is the Mt. Greylock colorway. I wish you could touch this stuff. It would make a grown man cry with its softness.
Then I came back to Foxfire on Sunday and went a little bit crazy!
This is a POUND of cormo/silk blend and it's like air. It doesn't even need to be drafted. I honestly would love to sit down RIGHT THIS SECOND and spin this until there is no more. It is that perfect.
I loved the gals at Foxfire! They were so great - and even better - they're totally into Spin Out 2007! So look for some fine Foxfire products in the prize packages this year.
Last but not least, I stopped at The Fold to say my goodbyes to Toni. I just love me a Toni hug! She wasn't there at first so I left her a note and then looked around the stripped clean booth. LOW AND BEHOLD!! What did I find?
SHEEP TO SHOE! It's a new kit from Blue Moon where in you can spin up the famous colorways for your own handspun socks. This is Carbon and I took the picture with my Carbon Jaywalkers on top. I just think it will be so very neat to spin up my own yarn and compare it to the socks I already have in this colorway. Call me crazy, but I'm loving it.
So, that's what I bought. Actually there was some sock yarn at Spirit Trail and some fiber from Indigo Moon but those are gifts so I'm not showing them and since they aren't for me they don't really count anyway. Now if only my WooLee Winder would get here I could start spinning! I don't want to start any projects until it's here!!!
Yesterday I told you today was kind of sort of special and it is. Today is my two year blogiversary and I'm going to get all mushy on your asses whether you like it or not. As you all know, I spent the weekend with some of my favorite people in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE and I met them ALL through this here blog. ALL OF THEM. How ridiculous is that? Over the past two years I have been inspired, moved and entertained more than I ever imagined possible. I have been amazed and awestruck. I have laughed. I have cried. I have been annoyed and angered. I have loved. I have hated. I have been loved and been hated. I have been taught invaluable lessons. I have been saved on numerous occasions. And I thank you all.
Thank you so much for reading my blog. Cotton for everyone!
Posted by Cara at 01:13 PM | Comments (93)
January 20, 2006
Thank you.
Right off the bat I want to say THANK YOU for all of your comments on my last post. They really helped me. I'm feeling much more positive about any surgery G may have in the near future and a lot of it has to do with your anecdotes. I really appreciate you all coming out to support us - it means so much.
I'm glad that I feel comfortable sharing these aspects of my life with you. I've read some posts lately about what makes a good blog and one of the things that struck me (I'm sorry - I don't remember where) was the idea that people share a bit more of their life than just the knitting. I'm one of those people that puts it all out there - not just on the blog but in my life in general. I have a hard time being anything but honest, so it's not unusual for me to tell you I'm having an anxiety attack five mintues after meeting you (and please - if I do meet you and tell you this - do NOT take it personally.) I am the way I am and every day I learn to love myself a little bit more - warts and all. I like to share my life with G - at least a little bit - because he is such a huge part of who I am. We've grown up together and he is my best friend in every sense of the word. We work extremely hard on our relationship and I am so proud of what we've built together - why not shout it from the rooftops? Thanks for indulging me.
I feel it's important for me to share the not so great parts of my (our) life too. The infertility, the anxiety - all those warts I've grown to love. Or at least tolerate. Love might be too strong a word here. Every time I've put that part of myself out there I've gotten wonderful comments and emails thanking me. Supporting me. If I can help one other person say to themselves - I AM NOT ALONE IN THIS - then I feel like I've accomplished something and maybe, just maybe, the pain I've had in my life wasn't just for my own torture. We all have our own pain. It's NOTHING to be ashamed of - it is what it is and maybe putting it out there smooths the way for acceptance, and hopefully, ultimately, relief. Peace of mind. That's the end goal always. Peace. Of. Mind.
Which brings me to the point: One of the other things I've been seeing in blogland lately is stuff about blog etiquette. Do you reply to every comment you receive? Do you return the comment on a commenters blog? It's been weighing on me lately because I fear I've been really lax with my reciprocity. Back when the blog was young(er) I tried to respond to every email. And comment back to those bloggers who came to visit. I'd like to think it's how I cultivated my best blog relationships. You see, I take relationships VERY SERIOUSLY. I try to be polite to all people I meet because that's how I would want them to treat me. (Oh and the guy I flipped off the other day in the car - DOUCHE!) If you are my friend I will give you the shirt off my back with no questions asked. So it's become a little bit overwhelming to me IN THE BEST, MOST WONDERFUL, INCREDIBLE way to see just how many of you have started reading this blog and coming out to be my friend and give me support. I'm afraid I don't have enough shirts.
I haven't had time lately to answer every email and visit every blog and I feel bad about that. Please know (and I'm incapable of lying so you have to know it's true) I APPRECIATE every visit and comment I get. And I THANK YOU for your friendship and support and well, just plain reading this blog day in and day out.
Between the JKAL and a big project I've been working on, I've been a little bit nuts. Add to that the fact that I'm crying half the day away, and well, let's just say it's a good thing email is paperless. Otherwise you'd all be getting waterlogged drippy letters and how much fun is that? I'm trying my hardest to keep these connections, new and old, alive. I may not be perfect, but I'm trying.
One last note - the Jaywalker KAL. I fear my last post - the big update post about how the JKAL has taken on a life of its own - may have left room for interpretation. I am not turing people away. I don't want to turn people away. I'm keeping it under my control until the prizes are given away on the 14th. Then, I'll revisit what the best course of events is for the KAL. I enjoy it. I'm glad people are still getting involved. I just never imagined it would or could get so big. The rest of that post was a philosophical examination on trends and why people decide to get involved or not. Nothing more. Nothing less. That said, the updates will be late today. I'm waiting for the cable guy and have to move crap around in the house so he can get to the TV.
Thank you again for reading the blog. It's such a warm and fuzzy kind of validation. You know?
L, C
Posted by Cara at 09:22 AM | Comments (41)
December 18, 2005
Bloglines
Have you seen this? To quote:
"We Feel Your Pain
We're not going to beat around the bush about this. Bloglines performance has sucked eggs lately. [emphasis mine] Why? In short, Bloglines has been busting at the seams like the Incredible Hulk.
All of us here at Bloglines have been foregoing sleep and social lives over the past several months to keep Bloglines running and preparing for our move to a new access center (with bigger britches and a very elastic waistline).
So hang tight because there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The move will happen soon; we'll keep you posted.
- The Bloglines Team Wed, 15 Dec 2005 7:00:00 PST"
There's a scheduled outage for tomorrow. The timeline is in the link above. What do you think? I'm all for companies stepping up when things go bad - I mean, nothing is perfect and shit happens. For pete's sakes - it's FREE, so how much can we really expect? I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and crossing my fingers things will improve. I'll also be blogging way early tomorrow, even though I doubt an update will come. ;-)
Posted by Cara at 07:26 PM | Comments (8)
October 11, 2005
Clean Feet
for Mim!
Fresh out of the shower! Happy Blogiversary Mim! Mim is asking for pictures of feet for a contest - go enter - you have until Midnight tonight. (But Katy, please refrain from showing your freaky bumpless feet yet again!)
Now yesterday, buried among the Junior Caramel accolades and AEC woes, was a contest of my own. Barbara was my 3000th comment! YAY! She will get an extra special something from Rhinebeck. My own blogiversary is this month - so expect another contest toward that day, which I think is somewhere around the last week.
I woke up yesterday morning - I don't know what time - to find that sometime in the night the power went off. My husband has a thing about time - not being early or anything - in fact he's frequently late - he just has a thing about clocks and time. All the clocks in our house (of which there are many) are set to atomic time or nuclear time or whatever kind of time is the most accurate BEST time. So when the power goes out and the clocks all over the house are blinking, G can go a little bit nutty. But of course this was discovered in the morning and things were already a bit hectic (read late for work) so he didn't fix any of the clocks. I'm a bit reluctant to fix them myself because god forbid I don't set them right, but I couldn't stand the blinking.
Last night I was in bed finishing up the buttonhole band on AEC when all of a sudden everything flashes off. I'm sitting in the dark. Georgie and I call to each other in the apartment - he's cursing up a storm because he had just spent an hour on the computer and lost everything - and he just finished FIXING ALL THE CLOCKS!!!!! It was about 11:30 I think. I finished up the button hole by flashlight and lemon verbena candlelight. It doesn't matter though - it needs to be ripped. The button holes are too big. I started with four stitches, went to six, ended up with five. They need to be four. They should be a bit tight right? Anyway, back to the clocks. We went to sleep eventually - isn't it funny how quiet things are with no electricity? - and when we woke up the power was back and the CLOCKS ARE ALL BLINKING AGAIN! So distracting.
As soon as I finish this, I'm going to put on my gas mask, spray every surface of my house with Tilex, and rip and finish my button hole band. Then sew on the sleeve. Question - what's the best thread to use to sew on buttons - regular sewing thread is too thin right? Do you need something like needlepoint thread? The yarn is too thick I think, unless I find one of those really thin pieces.
Before I forget!
Love,
Sistah C
Posted by Cara at 09:40 AM | Comments (10)
June 27, 2005
Cheeseheads and Sharpies
I’ve been avoiding blogging about the last few days, not because it was awful or disappointing – but because it was so good, so lovely, so RIGHT, I’m at a loss for words.
Admittedly, Thursday was a bit stressful. I had been designated cruise director, a job I’m not often given, and since I’ve got that debilitating perfectionism problem, well, you guessed it. I wanted everything to be perfect. Doesn’t really leave you a lot of time to enjoy yourself. But I managed. ;-)
Jen and I headed into the big city around 9:30 and met up with Vicki at her hotel. Lauren met us there and when we could pry Vicki off her bed with seventeen thousand pillows, we headed up to Tender Buttons. I think Vicki got a good picture of the place. It’s basically nirvana for buttons. Button Heaven if you will. VERY overwhelming. But somehow Vicki, Jen and I all managed to find the PERFECT buttons for our projects. (Lauren didn’t need any – but she was essential in the choosing.) Here’s what I found for Bohemia:
Lest the picture isn’t revealing enough – these babies are LEATHER. Aren’t they super perfect for the aran delight this sweater will (hopefully) one day become? As perfect as my buttons are, Vicki’s are better. I hope she shows a picture.
After TB, I took Vicki on her first ever subway ride to meet up with the rest of the gals at School Products. Ann, Nancy (go wish her a happy birthday today!), and Cassie joined the rest of us – I didn’t get anything, but a few of us walked away with goodies. Sadly, Jen had to leave us after School Products (hope you’re having a good time basking in the Caribbean Sun Jen!) but the rest of the troops made our way to Habu. Again, I’ll let others tell you about this place, since I’ve already given you my first impression.
With the tantalizing deliciacies of Habu under our belt, (that’s two yarn stores down, no yarn for Cara) we headed off to the Shake Shack for lunch. Vicki’s husband met us there and we stood in line for supposedly THE BEST BURGER in New York. (I’m sticking with the Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien, but it was very good.) Some guy asked me if they were like In-N-Out. No. They aren’t like In-N-Out. Nothing’s like In-N-Out – but that’s a whole other post.
We ate, we knit, we relaxed on what had to be one of the top ten weather days OF ALL TIME. Seriously. Vicki got really lucky considering the gross, disgusting weather we’ve been having. I’m sure she had a taste of it on Saturday, which I think was one of the hottest days in the city. But on Thursday it was clear, no humidity, blue sky beautiful.
Satiated by our burgers, we took the subway down to Seaport, leaving Nancy to go back to work at my old stomping grounds. I knew I recognized her from somewhere! Great to meet you Nancy. Seaport Yarns is crazy. It used to be a consulting firm, but post-9/11, the proprietress decided to follow her heart and open a yarn store – right in the middle of the consulting firm – at least that’s the story I’ve been told. I welcome a correction. (One thing to note is that of the four yarn stores we went to that day, NONE of them were storefronts. Meaning, three were in office buildings and one was in a residential building on the second floor. Gotta love NYC!) Seaport pretty much has everything and anything and I did come away with a purchase, even though I was made fun of mercilessly. (So what if I’ve only finished ONE pair of socks?!? Can you EVER have enough sock yarn?)
While Seaport has A LOT of yarn, I’d have to say their book/pattern selection is second to none. They have everything.
Cassie had to go after Seaport, so Lauren, Ann, Vicki and I headed uptown to the Yarn Connection to meet up with Kathleen, who was joining us for dinner. By that time, we were pretty much spent. The day started at 10:30 (9:30 for me) and I think we were yarn crawled out. The Yarn Connection provided a lovely table, some punchy conversation and a couple balls of yarn for me.
I’m thinking this will be trim for a long sleeve v-neck sweater (Nothin’ But a T-Shirt? The Vogue Tennis Sweater?) I have a bunch of chocolate brown Calmer, so these two balls will be the accent. What do you think?
After YC, we walked around aimlessly because by that time all my planning skills had pooled in my feet with about ten pounds of water weight (can you say swollen tootsies?) We ended up at some tables off to the side of THE New York Public Library building. Yes, the one with Patience and Fortitude. (How apt!?! We knitters should adopt them as our mascots. Anyone ever try to knit lion mane?)
Soon after, Lauren had to catch a train and the remaining four needed something for dinner. I seriously couldn’t think at that point. What should we feed Vicki? Something New York. Something she can’t really get in Wisconsin. Of course! Pizza! And not just any pizza, but John’s Pizza. My fave. (Okay, they have cheese in Wisconsin, but mozzarella? Please!) So Ann, Kathleen, Vicki and I had pizza. And beer. And laughed and teased and laughed. I had a great time all day, but this was the highlight for me. These girls are irreverent and bitchy (in the BEST sense of the word) and funny and loving and just a BLAST! I’m so glad I got to meet ALL of you. Thanks for giving as good as you got.
Suffice it to say, I didn’t get home until after midnight. Apparently Kathleen and Ann got home much later – but hey – that’s what happens when you live on LonGUYland! ;-)
Want to hear about Friday? Read on…
Friday I gave Vicki (and myself) some time to recover. I felt bad that we didn’t get a chance to see any of the prettier yarn stores in the city, so I went in around 2:30 and we headed down to Purl. (I knew Friday was going to be a great day because I immediately found street parking everywhere we went. I parked a total of FOUR times on Friday and never needed a parking lot. I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but in New York City? That’s a parking day from the gods. And Vicki even got to witness an awesome parallel park job by moi.)
I really only had a couple of things on my shopping list – and number one was sock yarn and a pattern for my Socka-Pal-2-Za. I hit paydirt at Purl: some beautiful tomato red Koigu and a lovely lace pattern from Evelyn Clark. That woman can do no wrong in my book. I also picked up the Koigu colorway I liked and didn’t get the last time I was at Purl.
What’s even better is these new socks will fit in the Knit Red AND Summer of Lace AND Socka-pal-2-za KALS. I’m such a sheep.
While at Purl, we ran into a bunch of the Drafty Ladies and another out of town blogger. It was nice to meet you Alison! Hope you had a great visit! Cassie so kindly pointed Vicki and I in the direction of The Point, where we were supposed to meet Colleen for some knitting time. Colleen was lovely, as always and I’m so glad we got the chance to meet up with her. Cassie and Anne were fabulous knitting companions as well and I even got to see my potty partner Joy again! Best of all, Vicki found the super special yarn she had been wanting – but I’ll let her tell you about it.
After The Point, I got to take Vicki to an exhibit – and not just any exhibit, but the reason Vicki got to come to New York! Seems she really is Royalty! Her husband has developed his own country – with gorgeous maps and money and a compelling history and brilliant paintings. The exhibit was intensely fascinating, as the idea of micro-nations is something I never knew existed. The amount of detail invested in these “nations” is just amazing. Really, truly amazing. I was honored to be their guest. (And the ULTRA UBER COOLNESS that was there was crazy. I mean, all of nerdy super cool NYC seemed to come out for this exhibit. I was impressed!)
Anyway, it was time to say goodbye to my friends. Vicki – I can’t tell you how happy I was to meet you! Completely genuine in all respects, I’m proud to call you my friend. I’m glad I could make your visit a little easier.
Sappy moment over. I’ve got lots of work to do this week. Two jobs in the hopper, the kids are coming for July 4th weekend, I’m still exorcising demons and Georgie needs a ride to the train. Have a great Monday!
Posted by Cara at 08:41 AM | Comments (16)