A quickie!

Just a short post today, heading into the studio to work on a piece or two that's been languishing in Garageband on my laptop.

Thought I'd share what's inspiring me this week.

Last weekend I started exploring Ted talks, music-related ones to be specific. A few of my favorites:

Mark Applebaum keeps asking, is this music?

Michael Tilson Thomas goes through the development of notating and recording music

Maya Beiser, cellist, plays some freaking amazing multi-tracked pieces using her cello and her voice

And! We at Quince & Co are hosting a knit along on Ravelry for our 4th annual Scarves, etc collection, and though it doesn't officially start until tomorrow, I found myself with some free time yesterday...so now my Wending cowl is well on its way:

This lovely shade of Owl is Amethyst. 

Have a happy Sunday. xoxo

Some belly dance love

Last night I went to the dance studio where I am learning belly dance to see the second night of their 4th anniversary showcase--it was so wonderful and inspiring. Though I didn't get to see Friday's performance, I spent some quality time on youtube this morning to check out belly dance fused with Celtic dance, Rwandan dance, and Martial Arts...and more of the styles I did see, theatrical belly dance, Egyptian folk dance, all kinds of fusion styles, and Chinese ribbon dance--all are fascinating. I had to really try hard to keep myself from grooving along with the dancers. We did get to dance though! My teacher, Rosa, got us in the audience up during the intermission to teach us an Armenian line dance. Super fun, she dragged us all around the (very crowded) room.

I get so inspired by the music that dancers choose for their pieces. I have yet to learn how to choreograph a specific dance to a piece of music for a performance, but it does seem to me that it's kind of like writing lyrics for a song. Most of my own music is written music first, lyrics after. Instead of adding words, melody, and harmony to the instrumental bed to expand the mood and feeling of the piece, you're adding a visual interpretation with movement, costume, facial expressions. And...the dancer uses movement to highlight certain rhythms--could be right with the percussion or something that complements or offsets it. As a person obsessed with rhythm, that's my favorite aspect of belly dance.

As I mentioned last week, this past September I collaborated with my friend Aepril (whose blog I visit almost daily) on a performance for the annual Occult Salem festival in Salem, MA. She is an extremely multi-skilled individual: she is a singer-songwriter, belly dancer, poet, astrologer, photographer, the list goes on. She wrote a few songs and poems that I played cello on, and for her I wrote a dance piece on my cello (using this fun piece of equipment), which was something completely new and fun for me. The experience of the dance and the music evolving together was really interesting, and something I think about every time I go to a belly dancing show. Maybe there's more of that in my future ;) I definitely cozied up to that Boomerang pedal, and now have hours and hours of crazy noises and loops I love with weird harmonies and fun rhythms...*sigh*.

One of the amazing parts of coming up with this performance was the fact that we live in different states, and all of our rehearsals except for the one day of show, were done via Skype. Yes, I said Skype. Also something completely new to me, even as a piece of technology, let alone as a way of rehearsing a piece of music with someone. To put this in perspective...I still have a flip phone, folks.

In knitting news, I totally cheated on my blog on Friday...once in a great while I get to write on my company's blog and share cool new knitwear designs I find on Ravelry that we didn't publish, but that use our yarn.

I haven't been knitting much lately, but I do want to get back to the idea of making this sweater (the pullover version--read the story about the sweater in this post), especially since now Quince has made the perfect color for me to make it in--take a look at Audouin (second to last color on the bottom row). Perfect, right?

Oh and...last week's show at Local Sprouts was such a great night, so much love, so many friends, so much awesome music. Really grateful for that night. Our South China set sounded so good with the extra special musicians joining us that recording those versions of those songs seems like a really good idea right now. Give us some time, we might just do it!

Sunday

There's not much I want to say here about the great loss that we (family, friends, and musical community at large) went through last year. The path of all our lives has changed--Dave's gift to us is that he comes with us in our hearts as we move forward.

In that spirit, here's what's new in the last year:

First off, my crafty pursuits have fallen way off the radar. And by that I mean, I only made one of these, this, this, this, one of these, this, one of these...hmm, the list goes on for a bit, so I guess that's not true at all is it? Still feels like a record low looking at the last 5 years.

Last July, I started taking belly dancing classes with this amazing dancer at her studio in Portland, which has become a fixture in my life that I don't think I can let go of. Did my first performance in December. I have to say...the scariest thing about the recital? Getting my makeup done. Two words: fake. eyelashes. Oops--three words: jail. Otherwise, everything about the night was incredible. One of my favorite performances? Heather, co-manager of the studio. I couldn't find my teacher's dance for this recital, but you can see Rosa and her supremely inspiring work here.

For the last few years, my mother and I--avid pedestrians and not great hikers--have become keenly interested in the East Coast greenway. Since we can really only do one long weekend's worth of walking per year, it's very slow going, but it is always a highlight of my summer. The first two years we did all of the off-road portions and some on-road portions of the Eastern Trail that runs from Bug Light in South Portland to Portsmouth, NH. This past August we went up to Machias to check out the 85-mile long Sunrise Trail, which according to the folks who take care of it, is "the longest off-road section of the East Coast Greenway". Pretty impressive for a walking trail that runs from Maine all the way to Florida! Neither of us had ever been to Machias, so it was a really new and wonderful experience for both of us. We stayed in a motel on the Machias river (gorgeous) and in addition to walking on the trail, we took some scenic drives through blueberry fields--some overlooking the ocean, some just rolling away as far as we could see. Photos next time, I promise!!

In September, I went to one of my favorite places on Earth, Star Island, for a conference called "Writers in the Round"--this conference was born from a radio show of the same name broadcast at the Portsmouth Community radio station. It was a real eye-opener and really shook up how I think about writing songs and music. A fantasy weekend of only doing intense songwriting on a wonderfully stark New England island that was once home to a raucous lot of fisherman (you'd be surprised how I can go on and on about this 42-acre rock 10 miles out from the mainland)...magical.

I also did a set with my beautiful friend Aepril at this festival in September, which I will talk about in another post.

In the fall I started playing with this lovely violist, and we formed a duo called Vaga Sidera. We played some Christmas music around town, and are now gearing up for wedding season.

And tonight? Jeremy and I are joining up with some very amazing friends to play some music at Local Sprouts in Portland. We'll be joining up with some dear friends in Eric Schwan's long-running project Orchards; and then they (and Anna, said lovely violist) will join Jeremy and me on a rare South China set. It'll be a short and sweet show, Local Sprouts has great food and drink, it's a suggested donation kind of thing, so consider coming out! And...it's warm today--35 whole degrees forecasted as the high. Looks like it's the last bit of "warmth" we'll get for a while. Hope to get some good photos of the night to share, though I'm not promising anything. As you may know about me, even if I have a camera in my hand when out on the town, I am usually too busy enjoying myself to use it.

Tomorrow night, a show in the Biddo. And more knitting.

Yes. This Friday, the first day of summer, at the Oak and Ax in Biddeford, Hersey State will be playing a set with the amazing Vio/Mire (from Providence/Portland) and Laughing Eye, Weeping Eye (from Chicago). Show page here. We Herseys believe this is the first time we've played a show together since the O + A festival last September. (!) The thing I love about Hersey is that all of us in the band, 8 in all, are each songwriters--so whenever we play, we have a lot of songs to choose from. We each bring our own thing to the table and somehow magically make it all sound cohesive.

Here are some things that are in progress. I've been enjoying photographing my knitting first thing in the morning!

First, a log cabin blanket:

Started with some odds and ends I had around, but now it's getting serious(ly big) so time to step up my game. I would like to make this double bed-sized, but it's a square, so the plan is at some point to add just some stripes to either/both ends to make it more of a rectangle. It's fun (read: supremely dorky) to try and guess which yarns I will run out of first, and which colors the stripes will be.

 There's some Quince Lark in there (Bark and Twig), some Tess Designer Yarns left over from the Crocodile (by the way, that was a project from Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen. Ridiculously cute stuff. Also made the elephant.), some Cascade 220 that I never used for my Master Handknitting course, also some Manos and Malabrigo in there. The pattern is from Mason-Dixon Knitting. It has inspired me to check out what other quilt patterns have been translated into knitting...more on that later.

My Caramel, in CEY Princess, which I've heard isn't made anymore. Bummer, because my Effortless is also in Princess (next time!) and it is so nice to wear. The fabric stays a little stiff in the knitting but relaxes and softens up perfectly after blocking.
As an aside, I will say that for a long time, I was a broke musician whose source of yarn consisted of the yarn I was paid in exchange for sample knitting, and any Goodwill sweaters I had the patience to unravel; so I really haven't explored fiber too much over the years. I can say the same thing about music, where I was so wrapped up in my studies as a voice major studying classical music that I didn't start getting into the great Indie bands of the 90s until a few years after I graduated in '98...but I digress. Suffice it to say that I feel I'm always just behind the curve. (Also, I'm the only one in my office that doesn't have 1) wellies; 2) toms; or 3) a smart phone.)

And this...? This is my first design that is slated to be published. I will say no more! Except two words: Chickadee. Lichen.

A Brown Bird Benefit and some Knitting.

I realize now that trying to play catch up is the exact thing that's keeping me from posting regularly. Well I'm here to share just a couple of things:

Thing 1

Jeremy and I are preparing a few old Brown Bird songs for this benefit. This will be a very sweet show. You might have seen my post a few weeks ago about our dear friend and former band mate Dave, who is currently being treated for Leukemia. The fundraiser they put together to offset the costs of medical care and not being able to work brought in nearly $68,000 with over 1600 supporters, which is amazing. We are happy to be a part of this. We have to play the old songs, because we don't do that crazy thing he does with the singing and the drumming and the guitar playing all at the same time, (not to mention the fact that neither of us play violin or upright bass) and also, more importantly...these are songs we've loved playing with him over the years. They still need support, so please please come! You can keep tabs on Brown Bird here.

Thing 2

Some knitting-related photos.

Here is an adorable stuffed crocodile I made for my friend's baby. I started this when he was born, in 2010. I mailed it in March. His little face just kills me.

And here is a photo of the swatch that will become a sweater for my sister:

I'm working it in Chickadee by Quince & Co.--colors from the bottom up are Clay, Leek, Lichen, Clay again, Bird's Egg, Delft, Petal, and Chanterelle. Can't wait to get it started!

A few candids from some recent photo shoots I got to assist with. Keeping the garments organized, schlepping stuff around, holding an umbrella over Carrie so her camera doesn't get wet, running out to get coffee and snacks...and of course, enjoying the beauty of Maine! So nice to spend the work day on the beach (even though a few hours later it poured on us).

The top photo was taken at the Black Point Inn during the Knitbot Linen shoot. See some more candids of that shoot here. 

The works of Lamb

I had planned another catch-up post about finished objects over the past year plus, but this weekend I decided that I wanted to instead tell you about my friend Dave. He and is fiancee are musicians playing under the name of Brown Bird. For over 10 years, Dave has written and performed songs as Brown Bird, and through the years, he seemed never to get too discouraged about the difficulty of making a living as a musician. Whatever he's done to make ends meet, no matter where he's lived, he always has he energy to devote to working on new ideas--his prolificness is matched by few that I've known. How wonderful it was when he and MorganEve told us over a year ago that they were going to be able to quit their day jobs and be full-time musicians! They have a great support team between their tour manager, Dan, and their label manager, Tom. They've been touring pretty constantly all over the US when not recording, and I'm so proud of their achievements.

Last Sunday Jeremy and I got an email from Dave saying that he'd been at a hospital in Houston, TX, for severe anemia. They'd done several tests with no results pointing to anything specifically wrong, and Dave's had more than several blood transfusions--they are home now, but still waiting to hear the results of a bone marrow biopsy. As you can imagine, they've had to cancel the rest of their tour, and Dave's expenses for the extended hospital stay and all his tests have been formidable. Double whammy.

To offset all the losses they've suffered and will continue to deal with as Dave recovers, they've set up a fundraiser, an opportunity for friends, family, and fans to help make soften the financial blow of both canceling their tour and being stuck in a hospital for nearly a week, and far from home. Not surprisingly, our sweet friends have already reached their goal of $40,000 in three days! They will likely need more support, so if you love Brown Bird and would like to keep seeing them out on tour and following their passion, and don't have all of their albums already, follow the link above to help them get back on their feet; and if you don't have all of their albums already, you can collect them all (well, almost) here and here (and they have other things for sale too!).

That's it. More about knitting next time.

Catching up

OK, everyone I work with is managing to keep up with their blogs, and I've missed mine terribly--so I'm trying really hard to get back into it. Here's a broad-strokes guide to my life since my last post:

Last February (2012) I went to the Fashion Institute to take a Knitting Instructor course, which was really great. I learned a lot. A couple of days after I got back, I had a meeting with Pam Allen at Quince & Company, and instead of hiring me to do some sample knitting, she pulled out a list of things they could really use an extra hand for: customer service, wholesale, sales reports and royalty statements, etc. (I thank my lucky stars that I had a friend who encouraged me to get in touch!), and would I be interested in doing all that. Furthermore, the space is shared with Knitbot, and would I also be interested in managing Hannah's wholesale and trunk shows and other odds and ends. Well. A job was born. In fact, the job I've been searching for since I admitted to myself that I didn't want to be a professional musician. And with the company that I wanted to work for--I'd had my eye on Quince since they launched in 2010. I mean, come on. Who does that happen to? (Seriously, I love to hear stories like this--please share!)

Since I've been with this team of amazing knitwear designers and creative folk, I've gotten into tech editing, which is basically why I was born into this world (other than to marry Jeremy Robinson). I love it. It's only part of my job and I've got tons to learn and practice, but it is definitely my favorite part. Also, I do a lot of proofreading, which I love just as much as tech editing.

Last summer I took a tech editing course, and this winter I started a course on sizing patterns. I learned how to make charts and schematics on the job, which is the most fun part of tech editing--kind of like playing a video game. All these classes include a crash course in knitwear design, because of course, a tech editor needs to be familiar with how a sweater is supposed to get put together--so they've kind of been like a gateway drug, and now I'm feeling ready to put some of my ideas into action. Right now it's like I'm standing at the edge of the rocky outcropping, psyching myself up to jump into some cold Maine ocean water. I'm nervous, people.

And of course, I knitted. And knitted. And knitted. And so on and so forth. There is lots more to share in this department but maybe next time, I have photos!

And I played some cello and did some singing. Definitely not nearly as much as in previous years, but a little performing and a little recording here and there. And the second record from Plains is done, which we plan to release later this year. The link provided goes to our first recording, which was live at the radio station down at MIT.

I won't say too much about this right now because it's still sinking in, but I am going to be teaching knitting classes, starting late summer. More details to follow.

How do I still have time to eat, sleep, and hang with my husband? Well...I don't know. Sometimes it feels like I don't do any of those things.

I feel like a bad blogger for doing a long and wordy post with zero pictures, but...it will be short and sweet with photos next time, I promise. :)

Teacher-in-training

Happy new year, friends!

So much goes on in everyone's lives, it's always amazing to me. Since the new year, I've lost my full-time job, finished an album, and signed up to become a certified knitting teacher, for which I'll be traveling to the Fashion Institute in NYC at the end of February. A lot for just under three weeks, eh? Even though I'm sad that the place I work for is going out of business tomorrow, it's a kind of bittersweet feeling that one thing has ended to make way for something new and exciting.

Anyway, I'm determined to keep this little chronicle going. Got lots of projects on the needles, and as soon as I find my camera, it'll be all show and tell. One barrier to my blogging fun has been that my trusty little mac is in pieces on my husband's work bench, and with it, my ability to upload photos from my phone via Bluetooth. Can I do the same with a PC? No idea. Technology is my friend, but I'm lazy about getting in touch. I'm the bad friend to technology.

Since I have nothing current photographed, I want to share with you this really special thing. My father's mother, Georgia, was a knitter. She knit a sweater for my dad, which I promptly stole when I was old enough to wear it. I've had this sweater now for a good 18 years, if not longer, and I still wear it, though I've worn a hole in the elbow. I have always wanted to re-create it, not only because it's falling apart and also too big on me, but because I love the cable pattern and thought it would be fun to do myself. I never had the time/skills to figure it out until I got serious with knitting a few years ago, and even then, other projects have always been more pressing. I wished I just had the pattern, so that I could use the pattern my grandmother used. I imagined it had her handwriting in it (she died in 1996). None of my aunts or my dad seemed to know where the pattern was. I went to my aunt's house when my mother's mother passed away in late 2010, and she let me paw through all of her old patterns. And lookie what we found:

Hurray! And yes, it does have her handwriting in it. I'm so grateful that my aunt let me have this.

Hey for those folks in the Portland area...it's free to go into the Portland Museum of Art on Fridays after 5pm. Perhaps you already knew that. Well this Friday as in tomorrow, if you go into the Museum between 5 and 7, you will see local artists at work all over the place, as if they are working in their studios. Go into the Maine Contemporary artists' room on the 3rd floor, and you'll hear beautiful music from Plains and Hersey State, for free, surrounded by gorgeous art. Holy cow. For a list of participating artists, go here.

AND...Drab Pony strikes again, this Sunday at the Oak and Ax in Biddeford.
http://somewheretwoanimalsarehiding.blogspot.com/

Has it really been that long?

Three months have past since my last post! Feels like I've been busier than ever before in my life, but I'm sure that is not quite true. Before I really lay into what all has happened in the last few months (will have to wait for another day, I'm afraid), I wanted to post this lovely post card for an event I'm helping with this weekend:

If you can, check out the Designing Women website, which provides a list of the vendors. It's such a great idea, to have a group of artists and crafters put on shows and invite a non-profit they care about to come and raise awareness and funds. Women, Work, and Community is an organization that helps folks with new businesses, public speaking, financial awareness, and exploring career options, free of charge. This Saturday you'll find me in the kitchen serving up goodies donated by individuals and businesses around Maine.

Well that's my spiel for today. Coming up next...home decor disguised as de-stashing...
Plus, check out the calendar page. A few sweet shows coming up.

Weekend Update

Updated to add: Just added a new show to the calendar page, where Jeremy and I and many sweet friends will be backing up our friend Emily Thomas at the Oak and the Ax this coming Thursday.

Who here has been to the Frontier Cafe in Brunswick? Such a gorgeous spot, right on the water, with huge windows, and a sweet little menu. We (Plains) played an early show with Arborea, in a little theater with long tables off of the main room, to a wonderful crowd. I get chills whenever I see Arborea. They are about to go on tour for three months, all they way across the country, so please, if they come through your area, GO SEE THEM. They are enchanting folks. Such a great evening. If you get the chance to see a movie or some live music, or just want to go and have a meal, GO. Brunswick also has a pretty great downtown, which I had never noticed before--the only place I've really been to in Brunswick is the massive flea market in the same mill building as the Frontier. Check this place out! I can't wait to spend some more time up there.

On Friday, Jeremy played (and was joined by our friend and Plains band mate Pat Corrigan) a solo show as Drab Pony. The evening also featured wonderful sets by Manners, Aleric Nez, and Nuda Veritas (all the way from Burlington, VT). The set that Jeremy and Pat played was largely improvised, and instrumentation included drums, a grand piano, and a metal detector, on top of Jeremy's normal set-up of various loop pedals, SK-1 Casio keyboard, and guitar. He inserted a small mic into the piano and was able to loop it, which sounded incredible. In a particularly intense moment, Jeremy actually struck the keys with various body parts, such as a knee or his rear end. We in the audience lovingly referred to this maneuver as "Butt Piano". Drab Pony was called back twice for encores, and we are all hoping that they play together more often.

Pat waves the metal detector over various objects to make a lovely electronic pulse.

If you look closely, you can see the microphone coming out of the piano.

Rebecca setting up

Nuda Veritas, otherwise known as Rebecca Kopycinski, is touring on a new album. Go here to read an interview with her before the show. She used pre-recorded and live loops to create rhythms and gorgeous layered harmonies, just with her voice. Her instrumentation included a small harp, guitar, and a keyboard.

One of my favorite graphics at the Apohadion. Drawing by Pat Corrigan. (Sorry it was dark in there!)

In other news, I present to you...Bayarri:

The seaming of the sleeves went better than I expected, as it was my first time seaming the sleeve first, then sewing the sleeve into the body of the sweater. As time goes on (this is the third sweater for me this year, which is the most I've ever made for myself, ever, after deciding I needed to spice up my wardrobe), I've become more and more intrigued and delighted in the process of finishing a sweater, and not just loving the knitting part and dreading the making up part. Sample knitting and working through the Master Hand Knitting course (more about that later) has really ramped up the quality of my knitting, though I've now been a knitter for 15 years. It's a slow and amazing journey. Sometimes I wish I had a machine.

Anyway, I seem to get an awful lot done when I have two days off in a row. Yesterday was one of the laziest days of the whole summer, where I spent many hours watching movies and knitting up swatches of one of the new yarns that have yet to be released by Knit One, Crochet Too. Well I guess that was pretty productive. Perhaps a crafter who can do things while watching Netflix can never be unproductive. (Unless wine is included in the mix, in which case that is possible, for sure.)

'Tis the week of shows.

Well last night we played what we believe to be our last South China show until we can write and release something new. It was a beautiful show, and if Cross Record is coming your way, please check them out. Tonight they play at the Whitehaus in Jamaica Plain, then it's off to Cake Shop in Manhattan. Aleric Nez nailed an interpretation of "Tell Ol' Bill", one of my favorite old time-y songs. The things that man does with his voice are a marvel. Every few months you can catch him at Blue on Congress St. in Portland, backed by a small and mighty string section and other special guests.

So the week is young, and the coming days are filled with more opportunities for us to play for folks:

This Thursday, we'll be playing a Plains show up in Brunswick at the Frontier Cafe, sharing the bill with our friends Arborea oh my wow is that going to be a gorgeous show. If you've not hear Arborea, think traditional English folks songs and drones that are at once soothing and intense. Go here to listen to them and think of how happy you'll be when you're sitting right in front of them while they make this music. And? They live in our great state, right up the road in Lewiston. If you buy tickets for this show ahead of time, you can save two dollars.

On Friday, Jeremy will be playing in Portland as Drab Pony, hosting a show with our friend Rebecca of Nuda Veritas all the way from Burlington, VT. Experimental loops aplenty, with very different results. Rebecca can sound like a church choir all by her lonesome, and Jeremy can sound like an encroaching hurricane, and both also create achingly beautiful melodies.

The details of these two shows can be found on my calendar page...

Still life with concert

Blocked sleeves before they were seamed, plus unblocked body.

Body, spritzed into submission.

 So close to being able to wear this...at one point I actually ripped back about 15 inches due to a tension issue. It was a sad moment that I'm trying to block out. (Oh, the puns, the puns!)

This morning, after being released early from a slow day at work, I was able to participate in brunch at the Oak and Ax. Jeremy and I will be back there tonight as South China, sharing a bill with Aleric Nez and Cross Record (from Chicago). Here's a link to the event on Facebook.

The details:
The Oak and the Ax
140 Main St, Back Alley (park on Main St. and follow the signs)
Doors at 8pm, music shortly thereafter.

We've been working on new arrangements of older songs, and realized recently that this will be our last show for an extended period of time, as we turn our focus to other projects. Some of them are South China related but won't be ready for quite a while, and others are solo projects and collaborations and as soon as I can let the cats out of the bag, I will.

Dear blog. (An apology.)

Dear blog,

I'm sorry I abandoned you for so long. I kept thinking about posting, but my life has been moving at a pace that I haven't really been able to keep up with. My excuses for not writing since May are many, and perhaps you would deem them meager, but hear me out:

1. In early June, I changed jobs, and am now doing prep work in one very tiny kitchen in Willard Square, and it is a fountain of delicious marvels and happy folk. I work there full-time.

2. In mid-June, Jeremy and I packed up our belongings and moved them into an 1880s farm house in Biddeford, for a super sweet house and pet sitting gig. Our friends went on a long road trip across the country, and if you are interested in reading about it, go here.

3. In late June, before moving into said super-sweet house, we went on a little tour with some friends.

4. In early July, I began a freelance knitting pattern editing gig.

5. In mid-July, we celebrated both Jeremy's birthday and the wedding of my sister and new brother in-law! (Another sister, remember how many I have?)

6. I finished Estelle in mid-May, wrapped up some projects for Tess Yarns, suffered an attack of Startitis, and now am blocking and finishing Bayarri.

7. Jeremy and I have been busy working on some secret recording projects. So there.

Other, more lame excuses:
8. Guitar Hero World Tour (Hey Corrals...there will be way more songs for y'all to play when you get back...xoxoxoxo)
9. Netflix (goes dangerously well with knitting! Good thing I have a job that gets me out of the house)
10. The commute from Biddeford to SoPo and back makes me super tired.

My plan this summer was to embark on a day-to-day account of life in an old house taking care of three turtles, a lop-eared bunny, and a huge lawn, and the creative pursuits we've undertaken while being spoiled with so much space. However, we are now halfway through our stay here, and I have not written a word. Here are some of my favorite photos from the summer so far:

Chopping baby red peppers for roasting at work. They look like strawberries! (I don't think my phone did the colors justice...)

Estelle on the Lee River in Swansea, MA

On tour: Jeremy and I went to Richmond, VA, a night early so we could visit one of our favorite haunts (pardon the pun), the Hollywood Cemetery.

Here are some hilarious and ridiculously spoiled turtles.

 Dearest blog, I am hereby renewing my promise to post regularly. My life does move at a whirlwind pace, but writing and taking photos of what's going on inspires me to keep being creative.

Oh and...here's a brand new blog to keep an eye on...

Plains on the Radio and Bayarri on the Needles

Estelle is currently getting her front border put on. Completed sweater photos will be forthcoming in a couple of days.

As far as mail goes, there is no greater feeling than receiving a box of yarn or books in my PO Box:

What's that you say? Where are my other projects I was working on? Irmo? Morganeve's Mitts? The master hand knitting swatches? All got packed up in the move, and ended up E V E R Y W H E R E. Who here knows the reality of being diligent in well-organized packing for about two days and then saying "Meh!" and throwing it all together in a random location and not labeling anything and figuring well we don't have THAT much stuff and we'll be moving soon again anyway, etc? Anyone? Other professional subletters out there? While it's true that the four pieces of furniture we own makes it seem that we don't have a lot of stuff, our books, music, instruments, crafting supplies, and kitchen gadgets say otherwise.

Well I did eventually find these things, so they will be moving forward as soon as I finish Bayarri and some secret items. I've actually never made myself a summer jacket before, and this will also be my first real-live Intarsia project. Thus far I've only tackled stripes (jogless jog jedi, right here!) and any attempts on Intarsia have not made it past the swatch stage. So far it looks passable, though I might have to jostle some weird-looking stitches...

It seems a bit crazy to be knitting with 8 different balls of yarn at the same time, but it looks pretty darned cool...

Tonight, Plains will be heading down to MIT to play on WMBR during Pipeline! with Aleric Nez. If you are in the Boston area, tune in to 88.1 FM--if not, you can stream live at wmbr.org. The show runs from 8-10pm. Always a blast. Jeremy and I have played on Pipeline! as Brown Bird, Plains, and South China. This trip will include Plains' traditional post-show trip to Gilley's in Portsmouth, NH, for our midnight sliders and fries. Imperative.

What's a girl to do when her bosses go to MDSW without her?

Well. While packing and moving me and Jeremy as well as our room mates out of our place at Revere St, I was also assisting Tess' Designer Yarns in getting ready to go down for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival: photographing Tess in the newest garments; packing yarn, garments, and patterns (and everything else); creating, printing, and laminating signs and garment tags; and of course, knitting. I finished a Falling Water Shrug by Margaret Radcliffe in their newest yarn, Kitten (65% Cashmere, 35% Silk, 100g/410yds per skein):

And I blocked out the most gorgeous cobalt Summit Shawl, also in Kitten, made by another sample knitter:

I've been feeling more comfortable taking photos of Tess in the garments. After all, she is a pro, and her mother, the dyer and owner of TDY, has been photographing her and the yarns for over 25 years. So, I have good coaches. They are patient and encouraging.

I didn't accompany them to MDSW because I had a show in Brattleboro, VT, which had to be rescheduled due to a five-alarm fire which destroyed an historic building in the downtown--the fire happened in late April, but there was a benefit concert for the residents of the 59 apartments that were destroyed, as well as the businesses that called the Brooks House home, on the same night that we were to have had our house concert. We'll be doing the show soon, and I'll post details when we know exactly when.

So, when my bosses are out of town, and I have absolutely no plans for the entire weekend, what is a knitter to do? (You're not really going to dignify that with an answer, right?)

Well, as I was helping pack the last bit of odds and ends into the van headed for MD, my boss put an Addi Knitting Machine in my hands:

I knitted a sample scarf for Knit One, Crochet Too:

On Friday, I went to a show at the Apohadion at which my darling husband played. The evening ended with an exciting theatrical number, which you can watch here.

On Sunday, I started blocking the sample scarf, and I swatched for Estelle...

And here, a week later, I am starting the first sleeve, but my photographer has gone to work for the day, so the photo of me wearing the sweater will have to wait.

On Monday, I went into a frenzy of baking, making a few of my greatest hits: Chocolate Mint-Chip Cookies (from Still Life With Menu by Mollie Katzen), Cheddar-Dill Biscuits (my fave recipe is on epicurious.com), and unsweetened granola with almonds, coconut, and raisins (from The Joy of Cooking).

When I drove up to Knit One, Crochet Too in Windham on Tuesday, I met the owner, Helene, and several of the staff that work there. There's a tiny office space that opens into two large warehouse rooms FULL of yarn and sample garments. Deb, the shipping manager, graciously sent me home with a sample ball of Baby-Boo, their bamboo yarn. I picked a light lavender color that I can't wait to swatch. They do a podcast about the inner workings of a yarn company, from designing yarns to designing garments...it's fascinating. Here's where you can listen to it.

Still more to catch up on, it's been tough tearing myself away from my needles...

Back to the land of the living

Wow, I've been gone for a month! Jeremy and I moved to another apartment in Portland, attended my cousin's wedding in CT, and have generally been packing and repacking and unpacking boxes and engaging in some other activities that are as yet under wraps. Lots of news has piled up, a few items of which I'd like to share with you:

News item #1:
The Tea First compilation, that South China contributed a track to (remember the fire ladder?), will be released very shortly.

News item #2:
South China now has a whole slew of shows coming up at the end of June, which you can find out about on my calendar page.

News item #3:
I finished up those mitts and that hat for Mel many weeks ago now, and she loved them. I didn't get her to model them for me, so you're going to have to deal with this weird photo of me:

And look at what she made me in exchange!

I have literally been trying to get a good photo of these cross-stitched/embroidered pendants, but as it turns out, both camera and phone are far-sighted. I'm working on that. In any case, Mel's a genius!

I've been really lazy about taking photos of my own sample projects, though I have begun taking photos at work of Tess modeling things that I've either made myself or blocked out to make photo-ready.

As I mentioned before, we moved a couple of weekends ago. We had one last craft night before we really started packing things up:

The bottom photo is a killer chocolate pudding recipe that came from my dear friend Greg's cousin's friend's blog (phew!) and I had Jon take his portion before he left for his show at Port City because I knew this was all going to disappear fast, which it totally did. The best part about making this pudding was watching each person put a spoonful in his/her mouth and make the exact same wide-eyed expression and say the exact same thing, every time: "Oh my god."

And our final moments in the house:

Our bedroom, where most of my blog and Ravelry photos were taken! If you can't see the gorgeous brown walls that Jeremy painted (his color choice), visit my Ravelry page.

Our kitchen, where we made many many batches of wonderful things. Including that pudding.

Our living room, where we had craft night...

Well there's lots more to tell, and far more photos of current, recent, and stalled knitting projects, but this post is already very long. More soon. Sorry, I will do my darndest not to hide for a month ever again.

Most boring blog post ever.

Hey friends, I'm one of those people that leaves doing the taxes to the last possible moment. Probably because painting season starts up again in the spring and we never have the money to pay the taxes early, say, in January.
So during my breaks while doing a year's worth of accounting in five days, I am doing some knitting, but photos will have to wait. I apologize for the silence. Really, it's kind of screechy on my end. Maybe this year I'll train myself to stay on top of these things...

Plains, Brown Bird, and Al Scorch in Portland this very night.

I do have a lot to catch up on here, but I waited too long this morning to get all the photos and links in place before heading to work.

So for now, I'm just going to say that tonight Jeremy and I are playing a show at the Apohadion Theater, which is located at 107 Hanover St in Portland. Tonight we're playing in Plains. Brown Bird and Al Scorch are also gracing the stage. Show will start 8:30-ish, please bring a donation for the traveling folk, and your beverage of choice.

Everyday life is so fascinating and rife with possibility and small wonders. I can barely keep up with myself. Raise your hand if you feel the same way.

Couldn't leave without one photo. Here is Fyvush, our resident kitty, facing down our resident dragons.

Home again, with lots more yarn and a new brother!

It seems like we were away for a whole week.

On Friday, Jeremy and I left the 4 inches (and counting) of snow in Maine and headed south to CT for the rehearsal. The wedding on Saturday was beautiful and super fun (and probably the shortest ceremony I've ever been to) despite my being extremely nervous about getting all of my notes right. Jeremy and I cut the rug big time at the reception. Literally, I have danced with my husband twice in the 9 years we've been together. I don't even remember much of his dancing, since the first time he got up I was laughing so hard I couldn't see him through my tears, and the second time I just couldn't keep up with him. The owner of the Saybrook Point Inn herself came to check out his moves. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the Saybrook Point Inn staff, who were so gracious and sweet. Everything about this day was perfect. And now I have a brother!

 I have my sister Katie and future brother-in-law Jason to thank for these photos, as it is difficult to take good shots with my phone...none of the photos I took came out well. Here we are missing Andrew's forehead, but the shot was so cute I couldn't pass it up. Rest assured, his forehead is as cute as the rest of him is.

 My sisters. A lot of people seem to think we have an endless supply, but in reality there are only four of us. Aren't they gorgeous?

After the reception, we went to Mohegan Sun, my first (and perhaps last) casino experience. I came out of there after a half an hour with ringing ears and a stunned look on my face. Plus my eyeballs were totally dried out.

On Sunday, we drove to Providence and I may have bought some yarn at Fresh Purls.

Berroco Weekend, and the phone camera doesn't do the delightful orchid color justice. The other color is Mouse.

We then visited Dave and Morganeve at Machines With Magnets, where they were working on a couple more songs to add to the upcoming Brown Bird album. (We've met the resident hound there, sweet and friendly!) We were so lucky as to get to listen to the rough mixes late Sunday...we ended the day celebrating a friend's birthday and enjoyed some freakishly delicious cupcakes and carrot cake.

On Monday, chilling in Warren after a crazy weekend, I may have visited Bella Yarns:

More Berroco Weekend in Taffy, plus Pattern Booklet #296, and about 275 yards of Haze by Queensland Collection, Cotton/Corn Viscose fingering weight goodness...perhaps a summery shawl will come from this...

Taking a load off at chez Brown Bird

Next family wedding is in less than three weeks!

Recording and more recording...

Monday night Jeremy and I met up with our sweet friend Dave to do some overdubs for the new Plains album, a record that's been in the works for over a year:

Tuesday night Jeremy, Dave and I gathered again to lay down cello, banjo, and trombone for a Tin Ceilings track, to be released on the next Seasonal Disorder compilation from Burst and Bloom Records.

Wednesday night was for mixing...a perfect activity for starting my new sample project...

Pat Corrigan, amazing artist, illustrator, designer, and musician, has made a short film. If you're like me, and watching cats doing ridiculous things is one of your favorite pastimes, you won't be disappointed. The conclusion of the film is particularly riveting.

There's much more to this week than I'm letting on, but it will have to wait--we're driving down to CT for the wedding rehearsal in this special April Fool's Day blizzard. Slow going.