TrickyTricot

Finished sweater, weekend plans

Another late night.  Cooling down outside - rain somewhere off in the distance (like, Iowa distance - not PG County distance).  It's cool outside - the air feels very *easy* and I very much like that.  Quiet city tonight - on my street anyway.  I'm sure folks who live on 17th (Dupont) or 18th (Adams Morgan) are having a different experience.

Another late night, did I mention in my last post I've been having trouble sleeping? It's true.  It's not really trouble - it's more like I am not actually going to bed until 1230 or 1, and I'm waking up at 7, and going to work in a good way.  This is very unusual for me - usually, if I'm up this late, I'm working (and no one should think I haven't been) and when I wake up, I'm so exhausted that the idea of going to my job job is sickening.  But not recently.  I mean, I'm not complaining - it's just an odd body thing that's going on right now I guess.

I had an appointment with my bodyworker today.  A good friend of mine who lives on the west coast, acknowledging that I've pretty much given up all hope of ever having a social life so that I can pursue my big knit-dreams, told me one of the most important things for the self-employed (even if they're employed elsewhere while they're also self-employed) is to be sure they "pay themselves" before they pay elsewhere.  Now, admittedly, I've been tempted to ask clients to write checks directly payable to 'Bank of America' - and thus, haven't really been paying myself - BUT, really, to get him off my back, I opted to go see Reya (my bodyworker) once a month.  Now, I think for a very long time, while I was in therapy, I think this is what I really wanted.  AND, if I had been going for weekly massages rather than giving Bob a check for a hundred bucks a week, I probably would have been way happier, faster, but I digress.  When I go see Reya, it's awesome.  The first 20 minutes or so are spent catching up - like old friends... Where have you been, what's been going on, how're you feeling, and so on.  This part of our connection is very much like therapy (for us both - I think).  Speaking for myself, not having the same kind of connection I've had with friends in college or high school (where life is a constant stream of open-mouthed-self-reflection-with-another), having that space with someone is great and very meaningful.  From here, and I think based on that connection, I get bodywork done for an hour or so - this includes accupressure, massage, reiki, and more - it's always a powerful experience for me, and essential time I'm finding.  Afterwards, we connect again... How was the experience, what did you learn, how did things change... and so on, and then I'm off and onwards.  Today, I felt as relaxed as I think I've ever felt - I left feeling like the best possible way to continue the day would be to find a pool to sit by until twilight (which of course didn't happen - but it was nice that the experience took me to that level).

Post work, I came home and finished my sweater for KNS - the next issue, 157.  Without taking pictures of it - I can tell you, I'm pretty freaking thrilled with it.  Lately, in design, I've been experimenting a lot with cables - taking repeats and breaking them down, combining them, exploding them, imploding them - in every way.  In music, I love when a theme is taken and layered - or re explored in multiple movements or the same piece - and find myself approaching design with that goal in mind.  In this one, I gratefully had the chance to work with Kokopelli - a wonderful wool mohair blend from Fiesta in a beautiful oliv-y tone) to create a cabled raglan, with a short v-neck (a design element which just came to me tonight and pretty much is the icing on the cake).  It's on the wooly board now, going through a light block - I can't wait to show it when the magazine hits newsstands (mid July / August).

Finishing the sweater leaves a bit of breathing room in my schedule for the weekend - which will be great.  I have some tech editing to do for a small client which I've been putting off (note to clients, please, don't ever tell me "do this when you have time" because unless you give me a deadline or we work out a mutually agreeable timeline, I really will wait until I have time - and you might not be pleased), and need to start on articles due in July - and want to cast on for the next sweater (a steeked Fair Isle cardigan - using Harrisville - awesome tweeds!).  Moreso, I need to clean - hardcore.  I'd take pictures of this mess, but, well, no, I won't.  The main issue is organizing stash.  Can't wait til it's organized!

Got a couple nice emails asking about the Opal Nera in my last post - Opal Nera is the queen of all anisettes - it's deeply purple, beautifully sweet, and a wonderful taste.  I love Sambuca - don't get me wrong, and have a bottle of Sambuca (clear) which I sometimes add to coffee in the morning (my father likes the Sambuca Black for coffee - it's sweeter),  but Opal Nera can be drunk in small glasses and is wonderful.  If you're an anisette fan, try twisting a bit of lemon rind, pouring some Opal Nera over it, then adding an ice cube.  It's a great drink to cool down with after a great meal.  Me, I've been angsting for some Campari - never tried it, but in my appreciation for all things Italian, I want to give it a try.  I like bitter liqueurs (Chartreuse Vert was an early favorite of mine), but hate the idea of buying a bottle that'll cure under my sink, if I'm not a fan... Campari, after all, isn't on many bars in the US.

Onwards, next post (man, i hate those words - next post - they assume there'll be one), I'll show some spinning - I'm damn near close actually being able to spin sock weight yarn. Can't wait to show some recent results.

Springtime Hello

Monday night, late late.  I've been having a little trouble sleeping lately - it's the opposite of many season changes to this point in my life - where I've often felt as though Mother Earth pulls on all her inhabitants to help her make the transition from winter to spring, summer to fall - but this year, I feel quite enlivened by it. Many trees have soon-to-be full fledged leaves on them, and where very recently you say a green brown haze wrapping branches and stems, you now see a lime-y lush beauty emerging slowly.  The deep, old green of summer will be here soon - I can't wait.  I love summer.

We've had two days of rain in DC and I can truly say, it's been invigorating.  I love the hardness of the rain - and how it cools down the afternoons and nights.  It makes me want to toss on some Vaughn Williams, and sit and write, but mostly I just work.  Work work has been very busy with the development of a new publication (a cd-rom toolkit for workshops we're designing this summer in fall around the US) and I've been deep in it with my Editor hat on, managing content between the copyeditor (who really should be doing this) and the designer (who I finally emailed directly last week, without waiting for the contact to, uh, make contact, and got a proverbial slap on the wrist for breaking the designer-contact wall.  Stupid). Outside of work, in knit work, I'm working feverishly to finish a mens turtleneck pullover in Fiesta's Kokopeli (a wool, mohair mix - yes, men, I love a man in mohair), finish editing a book due out this summer, getting ready to put on my hat for Knit n Style tech edit duties, and start on a sweater due in July, plus two articles. 

Knit work is going very well - I've had several articles published, have been designing and doing more and more work.  I feel like in a lot of ways, it's not the most extraordinary work.  I mean, you think of designers like Annie Modesitt and writers like Stephanie, and you see how volumnous that are in their output - then I consider the work I do in a month or two, and while I think it's exceptional (considering I'm trying to hold down a 9 to 5), it doesn't have the same whirl and mastery as publishing KwB did.  But, I'm happy with where I am with it.  It is of course challenging - managing the details, getting through the workload, and still trying to have time to actually have a life (and post to this blog which *always* falls to the bottom rung - in fact, I probably wouldn't be posting now, if I could sleep. I just had some Opal Nera.  That'll put me out).

In travel news, I've been accepted back to Knitting Camp - I'll be at Retreat 3 with the OftTimers, which should be wonderful and humbling.  I'll try not to make a fool of myself and say something offensive in the first 10 minutes (which I tend to do, but amazing missed last year).  And, I'll be at the Mens Spring Knitting Retreat (MSKR) in May - just booked a plane ticket - AND plan on heading to the Spin Off Annual Retreat in October - and likely skipping out on Stitches (and what is inevitably a set of classes I don't much care for), but being sure to stop by the market. TNNA Columbus is still up in the air - need to think about the expense.

Jumping around a bit here, the Anisette is setting in... I went to a wedding this weekend.  I've been to a few gay weddings in my day - tho this one was Hetero all the way (not a bad thing, straights need love too). Still, I found myself saying that this experience was unlike other weddings (gay ones) that I'd been to. For example, it was nearly 90 degrees in DC on Saturday and despite the invitation which clearly read, no suits, all the guys (except me - who wore some seersucker pants and a buttondown- and my birks) were in wool suits.  Needless to say, I felt extremely underdressed (whereas at a gay wedding, I don't think it'd ever cross our minds to put fashion over comfort - in my circle anyway).  Moreso, I felt a kind of swelling happiness at this wedding, which I've never felt before.  Maybe it was because of the closeness, maybe it was seeing their parents there, maybe it was having a crush on the groom: watching my friends get married, I came to understand why people cry at weddings (I shed a tear or two, or maybe it was the dust).

I skipped out on the reception (someone there, who shall remain nameless) made a snide comment about my state of underdress, which left a very sour taste in my mouth; and as I was walking back North-Easterly to my home, I found myself experiencing that good-bad feeling.  You know these feelings, it's like when you spend a great night with friends drinking, then have a hangover the next morning; have a great yoga class, and then are sore as hell the next day; or eating a pint of headache and getting a really bad headache... I had this sobering moment where feeling really happy for my friends, I, at the same time, felt awfully lonely and single.  Weddings do that to single people I think.  I wonder if there's a term - do we call that 'wedding remorse'? Or does that reference something else?

Otherwise, been working lots and all that jazz - and endeavoring to have a social life beyond yoga.  Looks like the spring mens gathering will be cancelled this year; we're having trouble with the site, and I'm exhausted 'donating' my time to causes that just seem to sap me (though very much honor and miss those gatherings).

Hope to see some of you soon - check out the latest issue of Knit n Style to read my latest article, an interview with Meg Swansen.

The Crown Diet

Well, kids - I'm back for a moment. It has been an incredibly busy month or so since Christmas... I did go back to CT for the holiday which was wonderful - and got quite a few nice gifties, including a Rosetta Stone CD in Spanish (no soy una doctora!) and a great pair of cuff links... Time with the fam was wonderful, I think I actually gained more respect from my sister, when I got her a few substantial gifts.  Diamonds ARE a girls best friend (actually, it was pieces from Paris I bought for her - but they required some thought). Anyway.  Still tech editing - which is going very well - this last time around was the largest issue I've done for Knit n Style (well largest contribution to the tech editing) and the experience continues to be fun, interesting, and a source of personal learning for me.

For folks who are big TrickyTricot fans, my first article has been published in Knit n Style (an interview with Kaffe Fasset) and I'm pretty stoked with the way it turned out - go, run, buy the issue, and be amazed.  I've got another interview with Meg Swansen coming out in the next issue - so keep your eyes peeled.  AND, I've got 7 designs in the next 6 issues (that's six sweaters plus two vests) of KNS for men in the next year... some really cool stuff.  I'll do my best to let you all know, when the issues hit the shelves.

For now though, I present to you, my most recent endeavor from life at the dentist - and the newest addition to the celebrity diets (file it right before the tapeworm diet in severity):  The Crown Diet!

Objective: Go one week (or more) with a temporary crown in your mouth, without having it fall out.

Definition: A temporary crown is a piece of plastic - often hard, sometimes soft-ish - which is meant to symbolize a real tooth in the back of the mouth, while scientists in Switzerland are handcrafting a metal (or porcelin) tooth to replace the actual tooth which has wasted away by the tender young age of 29, due to most likely, repeated fillings.  A temporary crown's primary purpose is to trick your other teeth into believing everything's ok, and the same fate doesn't await them.

Process: There are any number of ways to have need for a temporary crown - here are a few suggestions to get you started, but creativity towards participating is encouraged:  crack a tooth on someone's (uh) personal jewelry, don't brush, instead of brushing with toothpaste cover your teeth with sugar every night, grind your teeth for no good reason, chew on marbles (don't swallow - you'll choke), have another dentist do shoddy work - then go to a new dentist and she'll tell you it needs to be replaced (this one happens to be my invitation to participate - bonus points for this one because crowns aren't covered unless they've broken after some 20 years), or borrow a dental drill and do some damage.

Rules of Engagement: Temporary crown must be on a back tooth - close to the tongue, preferably on the top, and one that is essential to chewing on that side of the mouth. You may not chew on that side of the mouth at all.  No sticky food - including candy, chocolate, bread, bagels, chewing gum, or fatty meat (not a concern for us vegetarians). It is recommended you don't floss between those teeth (the crown and the one before/after it) - but bonus points if you do, and it stays in. Complaining about the crown to everyone - including strangers and especially co-workers is encouraged.  I recommend composing staff-wide daily crown updates.

Suggested Diet: Though you may eat whatever you like, I encourage you to follow the TrickyTricot recommended diet - you may actually shed a few pounds too. For your benefit, I've given you a daily account of what it might look like.  Tea, water, and juice are suggested in addition - but not listed below.

Day 1, Delivery of Temporary Crown: Dental appointment at 8am - no breakfast.  Arrive back at office, with Robek's Passionfruit Cove fruit shake in hand, half finished.  Learn from office mates that straws aren't a good idea when you've got a temp (which hell, I never knew - but could explain why temporaries have fallen out in the past).  Note to self, no more straws - they're an environmental waste anyway. Lunch: vegetarian chili, rice, and sour cream.  Dinner: Goat cheese pierogies from the farmer's market.  Hmmmm... pierogies..

Day 2: Breakfast: Skip breakfast and have an iced latte from Starbucks (notably, you learn a latte has more protein than two eggs.  Hmmmm... eggs...).  Lunch Vegetarian Chili, rice, and sour cream.  Yogurt for dessert (for good behavior).  Dinner: Tofu, rice, and other grains from Whole Foods. Bonus round: You find an abscess in your mouth (on the other side) and it pops. (Words can't describe how this tastes, friends). Freak out, and call the dentist the next morning.

Day 3: Crown is still in, but you end up going back to the dentist to check on the abscess (which happens to have been a piece of food caught between another crown and the gumline.  She cleans it out and you shed a tear of happiness, for not requiring a root canal). Breakfast: Yogurt.  Lunch: Rice bowl, with tofu. Piece of carrot cake for dessert (it's been a traumatic day, give me a break). Dinner:  Skip dinner.

Day 4: Breakfast: eggs and a soy sausage or 2.  Lunch: Tomato soup and a piece of bread (cheaters never win, and in this case, they lose).  Piece of whole grain bread gets stuck underneath temporary crown.  It doesn't hurt, but this bodes bad for you. Dinner: Chinese food - two kinds of tofu and brown rice.

Day 5: Yoga first thing in the morning - feels good. Breakfast: Yogurt and fruit salad.  You go to whole foods and buy strawberries and blackberries - then realize that those damn seeds are going to get stuck under the crown.  Just an apple and some yogurt. So yum. Lunch: Left over Chinese.  Bonus points for making left overs and not going out. Dinner: Goat Cheese pierogies from the Farmer's market.  Hmmmm... goat cheese...

Day 6: Breakfast: Reward yourself for not eating seeded berries by getting an omelet.  Give the bread away to a coworker, who throws it out.  Give him the other half of the omelet you can't finish and he eats it  Get a latte mid morning. Lunch: You guessed it - veggie chili, cheese, and brown rice.  Dinner:  Bulgarian Pepper casserole. 

Day 7: The home stretch. Pray to G-d your crown has come early (which it doesn't). Skip breakfast, in hopes you'll get a call (which never comes). Lunch: Chili routine. Dinner: Left over chinese food.

Day 8: Latte for breakfast.  Slim Fast shake for lunch.  A sensible dinner.

Day 9: Delivery of crown.  Yogurt and a latte for breakfast.  Skip lunch in preparation for crown delivery.  Get a call from the dentist 45 minutes before your appointment.  She's had an "emergency" and needs to go to an appointment.  Get incredibly angry - to the point of going ballistic and force yourself to leave work.  Throw caution to the wind, and order a pizza.  Eat the whole thing and don't even pretend like you just fell off the wagon.  Polish it off with a pint of ben and jerry's.

Day 10: Overtime. Latte for breakfast.  Skip lunch.  Go to the dentist and get new crown.  It's very shiny and pretty. Early dinner:  Chick'n rice bowl and two pieces of cake.

Results: Co-workers notice you've lost weight.  Your pants fit better.  And, you made it 10 days with a temporary crown on (a personal best).

Epilogue: Continue to wear nightguard as requested by dentist.  Approximately 8 days later, notice a huge hole in night guard where crown is now, and realize the crown broke the night guard.  Opt to wait to get it fixed.

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Hopefully another entry to come before i disappear again.  I've spent the better part of the weekend at the spinning wheel, getting reacquainted with it (for reasons I can't say or blog about under penalty of breaking the rules.  Just telling you this, I've already said too much), and spun 4oz of BFL, 2 oz of Alpaca, and half a silk hankie.  Silk hankies are new for me - and I'm LOVING the experience of working with it.  Who knew I could spin so fine!  Well, ok, half of it is the silk - but still.  The alpaca and the BFL are both from Sakina Needles, purchased from my friends at The Loopy Ewe and I highly recommend them both. The colors are beautiful, and I can honestly say, this is one of the first times I've spun fiber so easily.  The alpaca is like butter. Plus, I have a near-complete Ram's head to show for and a few other projects.  Pictures to come (maybe) - spring's coming early.

PS I am incredibly looking forward to the Mens Spring Knitting Retreat, and can barely believe there are 30 guys in this country who knit, who'd want to visit and be socialable. If this is the first you're hearing about it, call Easton and get on the waiting list.

best to you all - mdv