Meeting Phyllis A. Collman

One of the perks of running a craft sale or a knitting group is you meet a bunch of great people (you meet some not so great people, too, but you don't count that because they probably feel the same about you.)

The show last Saturday brought out the wonderful Phyllis A. Collmann. Mrs. Collmann is the author of a Pioneer Book series featuring Rose Donlin. Rose is a young woman (think Little House on the Prairie) who finds herself sold off for $50 to a man because her father cannot take care of her after the death of her mother.

Mrs. Collmann has been married for more than 50 years and decided just 8 years ago to become a writer. She is a self-published author and promotes her books both on line and at various shows. She came all the way from Iowa to promote her book and I intend to make the offer for her to come back to Chicago to our sale when we have more steady traffic. She was kind enough to give me some tips and pointers and to answer all the questions I had about being published. She also came with her husband, Conlin, and he was just like the other husbands (Mr. Honey included) who give over some of who he is so his woman can live her dream. He was very kind and I enjoyed them both immensely. I purchased the first of her books, Rose's Betrayal and Survival and sat down to read it.

Mrs. Collmann is a gentle writer and very descriptive. From the very beginning of the book you know Rose is going to a bad situation but we meet someone early on that we hope Rose will manage to be with. She has an easy, elegant style that is relaxing to read.

I purposely put the book down so I wouldn't read it all in one sitting. My intention was to buy the entire series, but I didn't get to Mrs. Collman in time to purchase them before she packed up (odd of me considering she was right next to me!) so I want to make sure I have the others so I don't frustrate myself with not being able to see how she will get on. I mean after betrayal and survival life has to get better, right?

Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Collmann for gracing our sale with your presence. I hope to have you back very soon. And thank you, too, for sharing your information and encouragement.
The link above will take you to Mrs. Collmann's website where you can watch her video and read about her book series.

A Return to Normal and A Book Excerpt

I know when I asked what book I should get started on, most of you selected My Father's Son
the story of two men born of the same father but one mother is a slave mistress and the other the mistress of the plantation. I meant to start with that book, but when I sat down at the computer, the first chapter of The Coffee Club came out. That's the story of the five women who have been friends since high school and college. So that's the excerpt I am going to share - a part of the first chapter. But do not fear, the first chapter of My Father's Son is also started. It came out a little later, that's all.

Excerpt from The Coffee Club:
“Hey, Eden! What? Slow down. What about Freddie? No. You’re kidding. When? Yeah, I’m on my way. Is she OK?” She started towards the staircase and climbed. “Gina’s probably in court. I’ll try her. No, I’m at Loopy but I drove. I’ll try her in the car. Is that Halle I hear?” She stepped out into the street and rushed down to her car. “I’m at the car. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She was halfway to Freddie’s house when the car phone rang. The radio went off. “Gina?”
“I’m already on my way. I was in a deposition but Halle left a very detailed message.”
“Well, then you can let me know what’s going on. I was talking to Eden and couldn’t get much out of her other than Freddie was in a bad way.”
“Isaac left.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he left her. He didn’t come home last night. Didn’t call. She found an email from him. He left.”
“Email? He left her via email? Good God.”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t see this coming.”
“We weren’t looking for this to come. She didn’t know she was supposed to be unhappy.
How far out are you?”
“At least thirty. Luckily traffic is light on the Ike.”
“I’ll probably beat you. See you when you get there. Bye.”


***********************************************************************************

Yesterday was a fluke.
And thank God for it. After ranting on about how I called acrylic yarn fake yarn and how it wasn't fake and I was in love with the stuff - trying to convince myself it was true-I started yet another hat last night and I am happy to report:

I am so back.

The hat was knit with Norville's Chunky Weight yarn in Forest. The hat is a simple done hat with an cast off edge done in brown suede. Hat and camera downstairs - writer and computer upstairs. You'll just have to wait for the picture.

But while I was creating the cuteness, I was saying to myself: 'This yarn is so soft. It feels so good." See, the acrylic fairies (who are real and not fake fairies) are smiling down on me and welcoming me back to the fold. Of course, I also had to admit the softness was not the same feel as the natural fibers, but that's OK. It doesn't have to be the same - it just has to be soft. And it is dreamy soft. So instead of moving from one horizon to the other, I have brought those horizons together.

So, will I incorporate some natural fiber in the knitting as I suggested I might? Well, considering the yarn I got in St. Louis is natural fiber, I've already started. I actually pulled out a skein yesterday and thought it would make a great hat but decided it would make an even better scarf.
So there you go. Nor will I abandon the acrylic yarn - that stuff is good and it provides more variety for my knitting and the items I make and sell.

Whew, I am glad we can all get along.

041004

Ode to Billie Joe

I'm convinced if someone had shown this poncho to Billie Joe he never would have jumped off that bridge. Of course, I think the reason he jumped because his mama made him spell his name with Billie instead of Billy. Boy probably was teased something fierce.

(For those of you young folk, read here about Ode to Billie Joe. It's a great read)

This is a cute poncho, but you have to be a little adult to wear it. It's made for a littler woman so I can't wear it and doesn't even look good on Joe. But Kenya here can wear it just fine.

This is Hobby Lobby's Angel Fleece and it is a really soft polyester/acrylic blend. This wasn't the yarn I intended to use for this poncho but you know what they say about intentions...so I finished it anyway.

Thanks to everyone who sent me folks to interview. I just got word I need to have some of my interviews done by tomorrow! (gasp) So Susie - I'll be contacting your friend today to interview her for the magazine. Thank you for the intro!

Well, back to work!

Never Say Die

I know I showed you the scarf a few days back and said the hat was coming. And then it seems I dropped off the blogging face of the earth after telling you about the Sit & Knit. But I haven't forgotten about the hat - here it is. Nor have I forgotten about the blog.

The truth is, I've been playing on Helium, a site for writers. I've been having a lot of fun writing articles and participating in contests. Well, one contest, and it appears that right now, I am in fourth place. If you land in the first three places, you get a cash prize. Not a great deal of money, but certainly enough for a yarn shopping spree - which I would not take because I had a ton of yarn - I'm just saying this as a way to compare. Of course, I could just say first prize is $60, second is $40 and third is $30 and not mention the yarn at all. Maybe next time.
In any case, the hat has been waiting to be photographed and placed in the shop.

This hat is so darn cute! It goes down over Calvin's head (yes, he's wearing a girl's hat. He's quite comfortable in his maleness) it's sized for a small head which means it would probably be at the ears of a human.
What I like about the hat is the star in the back. I didn't even know it was forming until I was done with the whole thing. It's one of those nice knitting surprises that happens every once in a while.

I should also go ahead and confess I've signed up for Facebook. I haven't made the pages live yet because I haven't completed the setup. I am going to have to embrace the technology. Not that I am against it - used to make my living installing hardware and software and troubleshooting PCs and if I didn't embrace technology, who would I be talking to right now? As soon as I've launched, I'll let you know. It is strictly a business decision - though I will probably manage to have some fun - I mean, I have fun with my work - or why do it?

I'm almost finished with a pair of legwarmers and they will go up in a few days - then, frankly, I have no idea what I'm gonna make next. I can't wait to find out!

Then What Should I Say?

I found this blog entry on Firefighter Nation because I was doing some research for an assignment I have on becoming a firefighter. The entry deals with questions one should not ask the wife/girlfriend/spouse of a firefighter, police officer or soldier serving the in military.

I understand where the writer is coming from. I get how people sometimes ask insensitive questions and make some really stupid comments ("Don't you miss the sex?' or "This shouldn't be so bad once you get used to it.") and I also get I was slumming on a website that has a specific audience so the venting that goes on can be in house where everyone who reads it understands. But I do wonder:

What are we to say?

I have to believe the vast majority of us don't wish to be either insensitive or stupid. We feel we must say something and in the light of not being able to relate one scintilla to what your life is like though I feel the anxiety when I place myself or my husband in that spot if only in my mind, I want to say something useful - if not to calm you then to calm myself.

I don't know what that is.

Besides, I don't think everything on the list of what not to ask is insensitive or stupid. Rebecca takes offense because someone says they don't know how the wives manage it. I think that's perfectly valid. I don't know how they do it - I know they have to do it - I don't know how they have to do it. I do think they are a special breed of women (and men) who have had to learn to adapt and change all in one motion and that's hard under the best of circumstances.

My husband used to fix copy machines and that meant driving a good deal of the day. There were several technicians who were killed in car accidents. I had a fear of his driving and becoming a victim of his job. This is nothing compared to having a mate who is on foreign soil, may not know the language, is being shot at and may encounter explosives with every turn of the wheel.

I don't know how you do it. I think you're remarkable. Perhaps if my husband was still in the military (he served in Viet Nam) I would be able to summon up whatever I needed in order to be remarkable, too. But I don't have to do that - I don't even have to think about it. So I appreciate your strength. I appreciate the support you give. I appreciate the depth of love you have to keep it as together as you're able in order for your spouse to do their job.

Someone teach me what to say because no matter how this election turns out - we're going to need to say something for quite some time.

Knitting One Project at a Time

Here's the thing: I used to have up to seven knitting projects going at one time. I would alternate them every day. Then one day, I thought I was driving myself crazy. So I changed my chaotic way and went down to one project at a time and I think I've probably been that way for the better part of a year.

Every once in a while I would put down a project to whip off a quick prayer shawl because we needed one at church or a hospital would contact us saying they needed more preemie hats, but as a rule, I was doing just one project at a time.

At the moment, I am working on some squares for an afghan I designed and I have the itch to begin another project. I find there may be several reasons for this:

1. We have a sale coming in November and I am always worried about not having enough items to sell.

2. My next 10 projects are full sized afghans (I don't work on more than one, but I know what they are) and I am a bit afraid of never leaving the afghan world if I don't get through these next ten projects.

3. I have a ton of yarn but I always have the urge to buy more. However, my house already resembles a LYS so I have to use it up before I can satisfy the gnawing urge to order more.

4. I'm stalling because the colors I chose for my design is not as stunning as I thought, but I have to carry it through. (None of the photos in this post is the square - under wraps it is.)

5. The squares will take a bit of time to complete and I have the attention span the size of a newborn gnat.

Now, I personally believe there's a little bit of all those reasons in the itch I have, but the last two are probably the most true with reason three a strong next in line.
So, will I start a new project? Not today. But I have solved the problem by putting a new item in my schedule: "New project" Yep, it's an actual part of my schedule like my workout and cleaning the kitchen. My weekly schedule takes about 10 days to get through so I suspect I will start the next afghan around Tuesday or so. I believe I can happily alternate between two projects and by the time I get around to that entry in my schedule again, one of them will probably be very close to completion and I will be ready to begin again - because hope springs eternal.

The Knitter as a Writer

I had to change my profile and I've changed my schedule. I use an Excel spreadsheet to hold my weekly schedule and the days are broken down into hours.

This is the hour I am to be a writer. I have two clients, I have the blog, I have to source new clients (because I freelance) and I have my own projects I would like to work on. So, this writing session (which includes this blog) will take about five hours and I work five days a week. Doing the basic math, that means I work about 25 hours a week.

Not bad.

I understand how blessed I am. I understand how many talents gifts I have been given - and I really understand how long it has taken me to acknowledge the creativity I have because I was so scared people would call me arrogant.

And they have. But I don't believe I am - I believe I have a great capacity for it - but I do believe I fall short of it. (Thank God!)

I am coming to believe how incredibly important it is to recognize what God and the universe has given each of us in the way of lights to shine. I think we need to tell what gift we have that we can offer to others and learn what they can offer to us. We share that knowledge and share the gifts because we share the planet.

It just makes sense.

So, I have several hours to go on my job. I have some hours ahead of me. I am going to look for some new clients. Then work on the projects of the clients I have and end the session with working on my next project - I think I know what it is - but I'm not letting the cat out of the bag just yet. And I will knit. I was knitting right before I started working. I am working on a nice afghan that I designed. I am eager to see it finished and placed on line - I am eager to see if anyone finds it.

Smooches.